Martin Söderström Invitational Goes Off

Now that’s comp that breaks some new ground. At least for mountain bikes. It has to be tough for these guys to disinguish themselves from the BMX crowd when dirt isn’t a factor at all. But some of the tricks were in the realm of the virtuosity of the 20″ wheel set, with a frontie off a flat drop, a double front and a cliffhanger flip all tossed in off the meticulously manufactured features. In the end the top three were Antoni Villoni took third place, Nils Buller was second and Anton Thelander took the win.

As the riding ‘dirt’ jumpers do becomes less like mountain biking and more like a poor cousin to BMX you have to ask how that progression could unfold. It seems likely any of the top 40 BMX riders in the world could have slayed that course and the 26″ competition. But at least you can ride home on your26″ in relative comfort. What’s the future of mtb dirt jumping?