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Why Aren't Toni Bou & Dougie Lampkin More Popular ?


atomant
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i would rather watch the likes of bou, raga and caby do tricks in the parking lot then to watch them ride non stop. i do have to admit i do like the section time limit. makes them keep moving but allows for incredible riding that i can't do. what i do is boring what the top guys do is just amazing.

my 2 cents

rob

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Sorry this thread isn't about rules or what appeals to trials riders. Its about why trials videos are not as popular with the general public. Robbie Madison vs Any trials rider doing hops on the back wheel its no contest.

I think this is a good topic, unfortunately im beginning to think it proves a point made many times before. Trials isn't a spectator sport. Maybe thats because our bikes are actually very slow and do not have long suspension travel, this limits what you can do.

In our terms modern sections are spectacular but compared to other sports they are not. I have just seen another Bou video at the Montesa day. Its very similar to all the rest. Pulls up before the rock, couple of hops, revs, jumps up a step. Compare to Danny McCaskill jumping over a phone box or a forward flip off a building and it doesn't compare well.

Im not criticising Bou or any other rider here I know what they can do is fantastic.

Edited by baldilocks
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Ive just seen the Toni Bou world record attempt for a step video. He makes it look dull as dishwater even though I completely understand how difficult it is to ride up something that big.

Camera position is wrong, theres no atmosphere to it no build up no failed attempts. Bou extreme jump is much more impressive.

Trials is never going to compete with the American freestyle bloke who jumped up the arc de triumphe replica in vegas and then back down. That as a spectacle was fantastic and I still can't remember his name and I haven't bought an mx bike either !

For the record Robbie Maddison is Australian.

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I just watched the Bou step ... Stopping on top is what got me !!! What control !!!!!!!

And Billy , come ride my no stop , single line event in NC. come Nov. 2nd .....

Gordon will be there with bells on :)

Glenn

Edited by axulsuv
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The 'set' of skills displayed by a top rider are now all too familiar. Wheelies with a foot out.. boring , Endo's , boring back wheel hoping, boring - These are all skills I first saw Steve Saunders do on a Beta in the 80's and then it was impressive. And it still is impressive as it's skills I can only dream of possessing, but as a spectator, it's just so boring I don't go and watch it any more. There is the odd piece of sheer brilliance ( normally from Bou or Fujigas) that makes us go wow ( as the video below), but otherwise it's predictable and boring for the general public.. Maybe instead of people talking about innovation on the machines, what about innovation for the sport ? sadly lacking maybe?

Although , how could trials ever compete with this ?????

Edited by atomant
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Making the sport more spectacular just to make it more popular might have the opposite effect. You might loose (a lot) contenders.


Leave the real dangerous stuff to the stuntmen.


Also, it's not because some trials riders are bored because they've seen it al, a hundred times ore more, the general public thinks the same. Some will en some won't, like in a lot of other sports.

Edited by guys
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I'm not suggesting trials changes for the masses who ride now, I was just asking why Lampkin/Bou aren't more popular than they are.. after all , I read somewhere that Dougie Lampkin is the UK's most successful sportsman of all time. Simply because he has won more world titles in his chosen sport than anyone else has in theirs.. but still , he isn't a household name :(

Edited by atomant
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There are a number of factors which would make a video a success and make it go viral. First off it needs to be something that is virtually unique, ridiculously spectacular, stupidly funny etc etc.

I think Dougie has been the most famous trials rider that there has been in Britain. He's got himself on mainstream TV (Top Gear multiple Times) and has some high profile, blue chip sponsors despite no longer being a full time rider. It would take some effort to get more out the sport profile and financial wise than Dougie has, and fair play for doing it!

Toni Bou is missing a trick I think. He could be stepping up and putting his next level skills out there for the benefit of the sport. But it doesn't seem like that is happening. The videos you see are mostly short clips of a specific ride during practice. He should plan some of his most outrages stunts, get them filmed, maybe in an urban environment, or a mixture of that and more natural trials going to show the casual viewer the cross over, and get it properly edited. Then get the world out through general motorcycling press and websites, and before you know it there might be some volume.

Another video of a top trials rider stopping, hopping on the back wheel going round in circles, up a step or whatever has all been done before, and to trials fans (small sport) is technically interesting and amazing, but is anyone else bothered? Doesn't look like it.

Videos flatten obstacles and make things look easier. Maybe the fact that most people don't ride trials means they can't relate to what they are seeing. Millions of people cycle, every kid who rides tries to pull wheelies and skids, so to some degree they can relate to a mountain bike video. If I see another trials bike being ridden through a shop/office/house/factory I'll scream!!

But Danny Mac is right at the extreme end of that sport as could be argued are the top 5 or 6 riders in the trials world, especially the top one or two.

If you watch his first video it is essentially doing really cool things, that hadn't been seen before, in an environment that most people would feel familiar with i.e. his local streets, town centre, jumping from one shop front to another. From that success he has been able to go further and bigger. The one he did in Epecuan (spelling??) was an abandoned town, but actually I though it was like watching paint dry except for maybe one or two stunts. The latest one though, being that I'm from an Island and I've seen similar scenery really got me and some of the drops and stuff looked amazing on film.

And that is part of the whole thing, having the director and imagination to do something a bit different! Toni Bou's world record video was a total missed opportunity and looked like it was filmed on his mates crappy nokia as an after thought!

I made a video of the Manx 2 Day Trial last year for fun http://youtu.be/XqZLFpZXgBU , but also for a bit of promotion. It was filmed entirely with my Contour camera and I had a plan on how the film was going to be from the start. It went on a bit, 8 minutes or so, but it captured a bit of action from the weekend and wasn't bad for a first effort. But I know that much more could be achieved with limited skills, but could we really get something to go multi million viral??? Never say never, but without a big production budget and a star like Danny Mac who is a household name then I doubt it at the moment!

Edited by cubby
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I don't think the comparison of Bou with Danny is completely fair.

Bou's first "duty" is the trials world championship and if I was in his place, I wouldn't jeopardize that either for a cool spectacular and maybe unnecessary dangerous promo film.

By the way, many top riders do appear in City Trials which is also a way of promotion.

(I work in the nuclear industry, and from time to time have to do some very dangerous interventions.
But you won't catch me roaming Europe in my spare time, to do the same stuff just to promote my job.) :ph34r:

As far as I'm aware, Danny doesn't ride in any (bike) trial championship, so he's got more time and can take more risks, because the fims of Danny are most likely are a major source of income for him.

The first ones to promote the sport should be F.I.M. and the national federations and also the local federations. It's in their statutes if I'm not mistaken.

I have complained on the F.I.M. Youtube channel that it's a shame that their films are only about 2 minutes of which 1 minute is in- and outro, when they've been filming all day.

But I'm no professional film producer, so who am I to complain?

That said, I liked the Top Gear film of dougie racing against two parcours runners in the BBC building, but maybe Bou has done something similar on Spanish tv, I don't know.

And I agree bou's "crappy Nokia" films leave much to be desired.

I seem to be one of the few that can enjoy trial (bicycle, motorcycle, 4X4 and trucks) films, from modern riders to the very old stuff.

But I also like really spectacular down hill, enduro and freeride stuff.

Edited by guys
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