Mountain Biking - Josh Bender

I've been reading around the internet and there is a lot of arguing as to weither Josh is a 'real' rider. Some people love him and think hes amazing and is pushing the limits to this great sport, then others think hes just a crazy guy who has no style and can't land anything.

So I was wondering how you guys felt about this whole thing.

My opinion: I think he is just a little bit crazy (but who isn't) and It's great what hes doing for the sport and no one should critisize what he is doing unless they're willing to drop 50+ ft.


Oh and if anyone has a picture of his CURRENT bike, please be nice and post it!

I've been reading around the internet and there is a lot of arguing as to weither Josh is a 'real' rider. Some people love him and think hes amazing and is pushing the limits to this great sport, then others think hes just a crazy guy who has no style and can't land anything.

So I was wondering how you guys felt about this whole thing.

My opinion: I think he is just a little bit crazy (but who isn't) and It's great what hes doing for the sport and no one should critisize what he is doing unless they're willing to drop 50+ ft.


Oh and if anyone has a picture of his CURRENT bike, please be nice and post it!

Bender is an absolute joke. I have "bendered" a few drops before.

Bender is an absolute joke. I have "bendered" a few drops before.

Well everyones entitled to their own opinion.

Its an old argument. I have vids where he is doing tricks (no footers and no handers manuals ect...) long before other riders. And yes landing stuff. He gets no props for being a rider because of the movies showing him crash constantly. He is also one of the very few riders to consistently (almost every time) land 30 foot drops and treat them like butta...

He will never get credit though. In interviews he sounds like a baboon with one liners who only goes big or go home. When in reality he is probably one of the fittest and hardest working athlete around (he is also an pro skier (he goes HUGE))....

He uses a Banshee now doesn't he.

Yeah he is a good rider and hey, don't critisise him until you land a 40ft drop, then you can have that right. Going huge is his style, not dirt jumping and yes he does sometime throw some style in his drops like no footers. It's like saying Cowan a bad rider, because all he does is dirt jump, and we all know he's a really good rider.

He does ride for Banshee. Even listed in the Team :)

bender has a stlye a shooty one, his only real probablem i see is his landings everytime he lands, well close to all the time his back end comes of the ground if he stops doing this no one will question him and just because all you see of him is going big doesn't mean he cant ride any other way its just what he is more well known for. And seriously what would you rather see some guy hucking 50+ft or just doing the same old crap like racing or pulling tricks, get it through your heads he's a freerider and the real essence of freeriding is to be free from riding (drop-in tv quote)

sorry forgot to add, his landing flaw where his back wheel comes off is the main reason he doesn't land some drops.

catch ya

I think that anyone that will even try to land 50+ drops is a good rider, i mean, how many of us here can honestly say we'll ever do that?

I think people forget or don't realize that style is like penmanship.

my sister has really nice looking, easy to read, almost sexy looking handwriting. that is her style of writing.
my penmanship, on the other hand, is scratchy, slanted and hard to read. that is my style of writing.

both versions of our writing have style.

riding a bike is the same way.

as for the topic of this subject, I don't care much about what others do. I simply want to ride my bike and have my own good time. If someone is on a bike, then they are a bike rider. think not? where do you draw the line? you have to have ridden for so long or you have to race or do certain tricks or ride certain trails or ride so many miles a day or......... it goes on and on.

ride a bike = your a rider.

after that, it's at what level are you a rider. and that's where I don't care.....
if you can keep up w/ me or make me laugh or smile while riding, your good enough for me.

Heres how it is right now:

He's a real Rider: 6
He's a joke: 1

Heres how it is right now:

He's a real Rider: 6
He's a joke: 1


updated total

real: 7
joke: 1

He uses a Banshee now doesn't he.

Yeah he is a good rider and hey, don't critisise him until you land a 40ft drop.


Land a 40 foot drop.........

All that takes are balls.......and a bike that has a foot of travel on the front and back (in his case).

I think I'll call him a crazy joke. (7-2).

Obviously he has a fair amount of talent, since he's not dead yet. To be short, I don't criticize his riding, but definitely his discretion.

Who are you anyway? How old? What bike do you ride? Do you have any pictures or video of you riding? Just wondering......


What does that have to do with the topic of this thread? Hmm think that over and maybe edit your post. Thanks!

But for now, My names Jeff, i'm fifteen. I ride a Haro X3 '04. No pics or videos of me riding. Considering I ride for fun, not to show off.

What does that have to do with the topic of this thread? Hmm think that over and maybe edit your post. Thanks!

But for now, My names Jeff, i'm fifteen. I ride a Haro X3 '04. No pics or videos of me riding. Considering I ride for fun, not to show off.




Don't mind Klien he tends to ... do his thing... yea. :rolleyes:

Don't mind Klien he tends to ... do his thing... yea. :rolleyes:

I know he's been annoying me since I started posting here.

I know he's been annoying me since I started posting here.



Every forum has a few.

Good, thats all I have wanted. I don't need all my posts critiqued by some guy on the internet. People come here and post with hopes of helpful information being provided by fellow riders. They don't deserve to be treated like you have treated them. Thank you.

Good, thats all I have wanted. I don't need all my posts critiqued by some guy on the internet. People come here and post with hopes of helpful information being provided by fellow riders. They don't deserve to be treated like you have treated them. Thank you.



Don't feed the trolls man. :(

What do you mean JasBike?

Pretend they don't exist and they go away. o_o

I know what you mean. He said he would just stop reading my posts. Which sounds like the best thing because its just an annoyance to me and everyone else who posts here.

If you 3 just clicked on ignore, you wouldn't have to deal with each other. Might be a solution.

bender is a good rider. this guy with shwartz, simmons, cowan and others contribute to the freeride movement

If you 3 just clicked on ignore, you wouldn't have to deal with each other. Might be a solution.


Good point mael! Why didn't I think of that.

I love ignore...have a couple people I don't read. It works wonders...besides online stress is fake. You guys obviously don't get along so why antagonize each other.

Yeah, I come online mostly at night to just relax and talk with other riders. Arguing with others online is a completely idiotic thing. I feel stupid for doing it. :(

I love ignore...have a couple people I don't read. It works wonders...besides online stress is fake. You guys obviously don't get along so why antagonize each other.


The Great One Has Spoken :)

Well in my honest opinion, mountainbiking has many forms, and if he wants to drops with a mountainbike of some description then he is a damn good rider, if he can do that and land them...damn, freeriding takes alot of skill and so do all the other aspects of mountainbiking like downhill, XC or dirtjumping. For people that think all it takes is balls, then maybe try and land one of those drops and then start mouthing off...

I'm just wondering what kind of riding is having true skill according to those who say he is fake. Yes, it does take a lot of balls to throw yourself down 50 feet(maybe some insanity) but to land it takes a huge amount of skill in my opinion. Are you saying that riding a bike on flat ground in dirt is hard? Hate to say it but almost anyone is capable of that. Having said that I have nothing against those who ride xc, I'm just trying to get my point across that it may not be the same skills you need for different types of riding, but it's still skill nonetheless. To say he is not a "real" rider is almost like saying that people with different skin colors aren't "real" people.

Personally, I think he's a joke. He's talking about doing a 100 ft drop when the most he has landed is a 41 ft in Utah? Now he is talking about a century? He would kill himself. Oh well, he won't be doing his century soon since he just broke his back, tibia, fibia, and ankle doing a 40 ft drop in Virgin, Utah.

Real.
Somebody has to top it all off, that's Josh.
I think he should chill though, he's already landed the big one.

I think comparing Josh or other riders is a joke.
Unreal.

He is what pushes the sport to new extremes; with his bigger and badder drops/jumps the suspension transforms and thus trickles down to us. It's kind of like drag racing, to me it's not racing, as fast as you can in a straight line but it's all about power and thus the technology trickles down to us.

to me it would seem like going big would the obvious next step when yu've become board with the mainstream. Think of it, you've done all these thigns that everyone else is now doing, what else can you do. GO HUGE! seriously, you F up a 30ft or 40ft drop and it's your life as with a lot of things in MTBing. Don't judge the guy unless know him and have had contact with him. Most time people percieve a person one way because all they see a small little side of the person not the whole person. Bender is known for his big drops and thats most of what you see

Oh and if anyone has a picture of his CURRENT bike, please be nice and post it!

I've only seen pics of the Karpeil http://www.galbraithmt.com/images/josh_bender_bike_032302_585pix.jpg
Orange? http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.minus6.com/photos/wd1-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.minus6.com/bikes.shtml&h=500&w=791&sz=102&tbnid=bkRCWdibirEJ:&tbnh=89&tbnw=141&hl=en&start=2&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbender%2Bbike%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

Freeriding isn't really my thing. Seems like mostly what's involved is a huge set of balls and a big bike. To each his own, however.

Some of the canyon stuff is hard to look @.
Scary.
I fell climbing as a youth and am still scared of height.
I do like rocks.
I seek them..on a bike, big ones.

Ontopic
I asked 2 guys on fs bikes during a road commute tonight into town - Bender =You know?
Ya.....dudes ILL.
Icon.

Offtopic.
This pic makes my blood rush.






.

Kyle Strait is a true rider. Bender can be called one, but in my opinion, he gets too much coverage.

Kyle Strait is a true rider. Bender can be called one, but in my opinion, he gets too much coverage.

Ironically only by the haters. As one of the few who has actually seem him ride, I reserve comment.

I've been reading around the internet and there is a lot of arguing as to weither Josh is a 'real' rider. Some people love him and think hes amazing and is pushing the limits to this great sport, then others think hes just a crazy guy who has no style and can't land anything.

So I was wondering how you guys felt about this whole thing.

My opinion: I think he is just a little bit crazy (but who isn't) and It's great what hes doing for the sport and no one should critisize what he is doing unless they're willing to drop 50+ ft.


Oh and if anyone has a picture of his CURRENT bike, please be nice and post it!

a certain amount of what he is doing takes no talent what so ever. i don't get too excited over stuff i have seen on here.

All that takes are balls.......and a bike that has a foot of travel on the front and back (in his case).

see....i don't think it takes balls, guts, etc. it takes a willingness to be a quadriplegic.

Land a 40 foot drop.........

All that takes are balls.......and a bike that has a foot of travel on the front and back (in his case).


It takes a lot more than balls. It takes balls to try the drop. It takes skill to land it.

but to land it takes a huge amount of skill in my opinion.

uhhh..not really

It takes a lot more than balls. It takes balls to try the drop. It takes skill to land it.
i'd have to see a pic of which one you guys are talking about....it would depend on the situation

I've been reading around the internet and there is a lot of arguing as to weither Josh is a 'real' rider. Some people love him and think hes amazing and is pushing the limits to this great sport, then others think hes just a crazy guy who has no style and can't land anything.

So I was wondering how you guys felt about this whole thing.

My opinion: I think he is just a little bit crazy (but who isn't) and It's great what hes doing for the sport and no one should critisize what he is doing unless they're willing to drop 50+ ft.


Oh and if anyone has a picture of his CURRENT bike, please be nice and post it!
"a real rider"?? if the guy rides a bike he is a REAL rider..eh? SNAFU!
I would post pics of my bikes but i don't wanna be put down on the "poser" shelf :p

Funny thing is, show me any of the people who say he's not a real rider
do what he does. I dont think there would b any RedBull Rage type stuff yet
if it wasnt for him. He added something to the sport whether people think
its worthwhile or not.

Funny thing is, show me any of the people who say he's not a real rider
do what he does. I dont think there would b any RedBull Rage type stuff yet
if it wasnt for him. He added something to the sport whether people think
its worthwhile or not.

And beyond the hucking, he can likely outride any rider on this site. His hucks are featured, but the guy can rip it up on trails.

^^^^^:beer:
Also.....Technology follows.
Look at Downhill(?) bikes pre-Bender and look at them now.
It can be argued that they would be that way anyway but I
think he moved the curve of technology forward by about 10 years.
We all have benefited from Bender type insanity in some way.

Funny thing is, show me any of the people who say he's not a real rider
do what he does.

i know you didn't say i said it, but for the record i never said he wasn't real rider. i do claim that some of the stuff i have seen on here from guys like him is no big deal.

a 50lb bag of rice can fall off a cliff...i can fall off a cliff, wow... :rolleyes:

....and landing is not hard either. you either have a good down slope or not; if the latter, it will surely be a hard hit

this reminds me of when freestyle motocross was starting out in the mid to late 90's. a lot of stuff they were doing was nothing special. a knick knack patty whack isn't that hard. currently they are doing some real cool stuff.