Words by: Joey Reinhart
Photos: Top Shop Media, Graham Trenholm
We're super stoked to partner up with The Flannel Crew for another wild ride of a year.
We caught up with the crew to do a bike check and see what kind of Knolly Bikes they’ll be shredding on the trails this year (full details about this to be revealed next week!).
As much as they might seem like a bunch of fun-loving dirt bags that love shuttle and park laps - they actually have very diverse riding backgrounds and the differences in their builds reflect that.
Before we dive into what they created, we asked the crew about their objectives for the 2023 riding season.
The Flannel Crew’s Mission for 2023
Although the boys have some lofty goals for the year, their core mission remains the same:
"Keep freeride alive, spread the stoke everywhere they go and give back to the community along the way."
From media production to trail advocacy, these legends are trying to do it all in order to make the sport better for everyone.
The Nomad Movie
In case you haven’t heard, they are working on their first feature-length bike film, The Nomad Movie.
Like it or not, the bike industry and mountain bike media has changed significantly over the last 10-15 years. In some ways, things have gotten better (hello, an abundance of machine built jump trails!), in other ways, the sport has strayed from its fun-loving freeride roots.
It seems like there is a ton of monotony entering the space with TikTok trends and cookie cutter riding, but The Flannel Crew is aiming to change that.
When you look at mountain bike media these days, all you see is people riding a big name destination (Whistler, Squamish, The North Shore, etc). The truth is, there is so much more great riding outside of those areas that just don’t get the love and exposure that they deserve. The goal for The Nomad was to venture out and explore the world, look at the landscapes with a creative eye, and ride some spots that haven’t been beaten to death by the industry.
The crew have definitely done their mountain bike movie homework. The Nomad is a nod to the great vintage freeride films of yesteryear, featuring all of the essential riding areas, with a modern twist that could only be brought by the creativity and literal insanity of the crew.
We have no doubt that this movie will have you on the edge of your seat and fired up to go ride your bike and try riding new and exciting things.
Stoking Up the Locals
As always, the crew’s number one goal is to bring the party to the trails. Regardless of who you are, what your skill level is, and what you ride, the goal is to get more butts on bikes and have fun doing it.
By the sounds of things, we’ll be participating in the Wolfe Auto Group x Dunbar Cycles Share the Ride event again. Last year, we headed out to the Stoney Nakoda Reserve and built 50 kids bikes for up and coming riders in a less privileged community.
Seeing the kids' faces light up when we gave them their fancy new bikes was absolutely priceless. Regardless of how stoked you are on riding, it’s important to lay a good foundation for future shredders and ensure you’re passing on the torch to them. This event does an incredible job of instilling a passion for bikes in kids and we can’t wait to see where it goes this year!
The Moose Mountain Bike Trail Society
Another big thing we try to give back to is our local trail society, MMBTS. We’re already set up as corporate sponsors for 2023 and we hope to be able to channel as much fundraising back to the mountain as possible.
I’ll never forget our first trip to Moose, back in 2014. We took a lap down Jean Guy on The Rocks and Bryant said “I think that is the best free trail I have ever ridden…”
The rest has been history. Joey has been volunteering on the board as VP since 2016 and we have run several trail days and fundraising events as a team to give back since then.
This year, we’ll probably run another whip off fundraiser on Flight 66, there will probably be a movie premiere from a big film studio to raise money if a good flick (other than ours) comes out, and we’re aiming to volunteer more by running trail days with the MMBTS trail crew this year.
The GROMS program
Stand by for next week's post featuring their 2023 bike checks, with some super sweet builds and athlete profiles!
