after the release of the new Cannondale Moterra I went for a ride and had a
sit-down with former downhill World Cup champion Josh Bryceland on his
thoughts on a e-mountain bikes so what did Josh reckon
Josh it's been too long, three years since you retired from World Cup
downhill but now I see you ride all kinds of bikes you ride enduro bikes,
trail bikes, BMX bikes but generally single crown right?
yeah mostly I would say that is a theme single crown on rigid on the BMX
What about ebikes is that going to be is that gonna be on your agenda soon?
yeah we have we're getting some this year. This one isn't mine to keep I just rode
it for this shoot but I'm very excited to get one for home, yeah. Why
you why excited about it? Just what.. like literally we've had about two or three days on them
them. That is all I've done on them and I've had a big smile on my face the whole time.
Filming on them is way easier. You've got an absolutely piss easy
easy job haven't you mate. Getting dragged up by them electric things
and trundling down. But then that, but surely that then opens up loads of
other possibilities especially in the Alps and stuff where you can just go
wandering off and ride stuff which you can't do where places ago not any access
by chairlift? Yeah absolutely and like we said before, scoping missions at home
like a lot of the projects we do now we're trying to build stuff with funky
features or you know take our BMX inspiration and build something in the woods and
looking for spots it takes days and days and days so getting on one of them and
just zip about it will just speed up the job a lot. Ideal tool for the job then? Yeah. How are
you getting on with the wheel size now this is 29-inch wheels? You're the last guy to
win a World Cup on 26 inch wheels right? Yeah that's correct, did that long time
ago yeah. yeah 5 years ago and then been riding a lot of 29ers since then so I'm pretty well
adjusted to the wheel size. Right I love it to be fair. Alright enough of the chitchat
let's go ride some trails. Yeooo!
Hey so are you are you likely then to become the next in line if you look at
former World Cup champions Nico Vouilloz or will champions Fabian Borel are you
likely to become the next e-mountain bike ambassador then? Not in the to soon
future I think I'll try and make the most out of normal mountain bikes as
long as I can, first year starting the Cannondale Waves team so want to just go go
as well as I can with that really and see the boys on their way, but yeah you
never know what the future holds do you.. It's definitely a fantastic way to still
enjoy mountain biking. So what about the boys then? What was their
reaction to you riding an e-mountain bike? Ah well we all got told at the same
time we'd be getting one and we are all absolutely buzzing for it. So
yeah I think without doing so many races in our calendar
we're probably.. I'm definitely not as fit as I was the last couple years when I've
been racing *Laughs* Hey so you mentioned that, you mentioned yesterday when we when we
arrived in these bikes in the hills you mentioned a dilemma so to be honest
you're a little bit of a moral dilemma for myself before having.. Another one?
number one personally was like what age is that acceptable to go on to an ebike?
Oh crikey, maybe when you're bored of sitting in
smelly vans hanging about on chairlift switch what wander around in
thunderstorms I don't know I do you need to worry about that? I see all these
people agonising about it. What do you think? I mean you ride everything you
ride BMX you ride enduro bikes you ride motorbikes you ride downhill bikes you ride
everything. I do but I'm also fortunate enough to get a lot of my bikes free of
charge which cuts out a huge expense. Now if I was gonna be buying one bike for
four or five grand whatever it is Yeah and the Moterra does come in at about
five grand remember. So I'm thinking I'd have to wait until I'm a bit older. But do you
know what me and Josh, the other Josh we've been in the forest dean and we see
17 18 year olds buying like last year's bikes
last year's e-mountain bikes and just go and shred in the trails practicing their
jumps because you can go back up and down the hill and practice jumps way
more than when you push the bike up and down the hill right yeah and of course you've
got new motors coming out which are actually cheaper these bikes will become
more affordable right in the future? Ah without a doubt it's still young though
isn't it, in as much as like it happened with the KTM e-bike It's like so
expensive I mean not because it's all new I think waiting is good because then
you yeah you're gonna get more money in the long run if you do wait. But, but in
the future then when the prices are maybe down two to three thousand pounds
do you reckon 15 to 20 year olds are going to be buying a mountain bikes? What
would you do and you were 15 to 18? Which is a long time ago now I know. *Laughs* It is a really long time ago now I know and
I think if you're a keen racer it is a great training tool yeah it is a
great training tool without a doubt especially if you've got one with a triple
clamps because then it's super comparable and if you can if you can get
one of them things moving getting on a downhill bike will then feel light yes
yeah and more nimble yeah yeah yeah as a race as training - it seems a no brainer
but I think I'm sort of riding we're trying to do more of it just like the
playful fun stuff and try doing a few tree rides and things. But, and the weight
was definitely difficult to throw around yeah but Bryceland you were riding a 180
mm travelled Downhill bike I yesterday you're trying to ride up trees? That's the sort of thing you do on a BMX!
I like to do that thing on any bike though! So you had no problem getting over that log yesterday did ya?
well that was the thing in some places that wall ride on the bench
on the back of that bench had an uphill run up and I'd
have probably struggles with speed on a normal bike and that was just assisting
me all the way to even have to like yeah crank a bit as I hopped to get the boost up
so it worked there in that situation yeah. When you slow slow mo the bit down when
you were not gone that log I didn't realize you actually bouncing the back
wheel off the ground before you get on the log it's bananas!
So using the front yeah and hop into back. So there you go
e-mountain bike tips from Josh Bryceland. Wise words then from Josh Bryceland
if you want more detail on the Cannondale Moterra check out the video we
have done and let us know your thoughts on it. In the meantime give thumbs up and
don't forget to subscribe to EMBN!