Video: The Final Race, Part 1 - Pinkbike Academy Season 2 EP 9

 Some OTBs aren't so bad, but both of Laura's looked like bonebreakers. She's not short on toughness and guts.
As for Emmett's mishap - I wonder how the judges are going to take that into account.
Changing criteria for elimination? Dump the PR crap. It should be Enduro and bike related every week. Bottom man or woman goes home.
Or maybe the moo-off should be the tiebreaker?

 Don't hate on the moo-off.

 I had to fast forward through the moo-off. The cringe was too much to handle.

 @StrayLeafmtb: you're not the only one. Also serious run-time padding.

 She has less race experience than Flo.

www.rootsandrain.com/rider152419/laura-zeitschel/results
www.rootsandrain.com/rider138010/florencia-espineira/results

Both dudes have no racing record on R+R. :-(

 @iRiderPB: Emmett is on Roots and Rain, they just spelled his name wrong. www.rootsandrain.com/rider83512/emett-hancock/results

 @StrayLeafmtb: same, I didn't even watch it.

 @iRiderPB: Bradley got 5th place overall in the Crankworx Summer Series NZ (4 venues) that's just run.

 @StrayLeafmtb: In the realm of seriously undignified acts that was a cake taker. FF>>

 Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 Those were some nasty unplanned dismounts she popped up from.

 for real, I guess punctures add to the drama tho

 I was wondering why they don't use Cushcore or some other tire insert. It makes absolute sense to do so. Are there actual EWS riders that don't ride with tire inserts? If no, then why not use these for PBA and even though a tire flats, they can still ride it out. Seeing a flat and having to run, I don't think this is an EWS reality. You may run if you break a wheel or something else, but not a flat.

 @disruptiveone: Probably couldn't get an insert sponsor and no other sponsor (Orbea, Maxxis, etc,) wanted to supply inserts. With all the bikes and all the spare wheels, that a big chunk of change. Also possible Maxxis didn't want them running inserts.

 @disruptiveone: the one who won ews title 2021 is not running any insert, just dh chasing and he's quite big so i guess also on the heavier side...

 Inserts do not stop flats. He possibly could have ridden it out though

 If I would be Maxxis I would be concerned. Do they really ride Exo+ tires?

 @BikesNRussets: how is your race record with that setup?

 @juicebanger: Better than yours.

 @BikesNRussets: Roots must love you.

 @captbennett: I’m so fast that the roots can’t even comprehend that I even rode over them.

 @road-n-dirt: they def prevent pinch flats.

 @jessemeyers: Yeah but how many time are you pinch flatting a tubeless tire? Usually it is a cut not a pinch flat

 @road-n-dirt: with Cushcore you can ride just fine with a flat.

 @road-n-dirt: more often without cushcore. as well as burping under cornering loads and g-outs. and like @louiefriesen said, you can usually keep riding long enough to finish a stage without destroying your wheel.

 @louiefriesen: no you can’t lol

 @DHhack: You can usually finish a stage but obviously it's not as good as a properly inflated tire.

 Agreed. Assume they're using dd?

 @louiefriesen: As I said in my original post yes he probably would have been able to ride with it flat. The main purpose of inserts is to protect the rim not to prevent flats

 @jessemeyers: not with any kind of speed. I’ve burped and been at 14psi at the end of a run, it wasn’t unridable but I was beating up the dh tire, rim and the Cush Core pro. If the tire had been flat I would’ve been walking. I’ve got no clue why people think a insert that takes up maybe 1/4 of the volume inside a normally inflated tire can be ridden down a race run with no air.

 @DHhack: Cushcore literally says on their website that you can ride with a flat as long as you have Cushcore or Cushcore Pro. It's not ideal but it's far better than walking or blowing the tire off your rim.

 @DHhack: I would not start riding a trail with a flat and cushcore, but I would definitely finish a stage I've already started.

 @louiefriesen: you believe all the adverts? Vittoria says you can ride for an hour on their insert with a flat tire. I wouldn’t do that either but at least their insert takes up most of the available volume in the tire.

 I'm not sure if this is sarcastic, but he already did one for brake levers saying not to do them tight in case of a crash, and it's extra funny they put a clip in of him talking about setting up the bikes.

 @iridedj: maybe the bars rolled - it seemed that way in some of the pics

 to be fair, elbow pads suck to ride with.

 @adrennan: Laura would agree with you.

 @adrennan: Yeah, grazed bloody elbows are way cooler!

 Yeah I'm quite surprised... Also what tires are they running?

 Who the f*** would do an enduro race without an insert in the rear?
answer: Jack Moir! and it seems he did pretty good this year...

 Yes. Where the actual f*ck is the insert sponsor, PB?!?! FFS you dropped the ball on that one.

 @WasatchEnduro: If that is your biggest complaint, then they are doing pretty well this season.

 @steflund:

I think it's been a good season and look forward to PB continuing to refine as they go. It would be cool to see if they could attract 2 frame sponsors/contracts next time, likely different brands, one for the guys and one for the gals.

I'd think the tire insert brands would be jumping for the exposure here too. Flats happen in racing no matter what, but damn, it would be cool to have seen Emmett take the stage win even with a flat.

 @NicolaZesty314: In one race that we know of and he probably regretted it. Probably opted to do the longest race of the year without an insert and just managed to get to the finish line so yeah. Not really saying much more than the fact that he got lucky that time!
Nothing suggests that he rode anything else than finale without inserts, or even the front in Finale.

 never rode Inserts at the bike park... i run proper pressure so i have no issue on a mix of exo+ and DD. i ride anything so that's irrelevant.
Theres alot you can do between rim choice etc to prevent the wheel from pinching
Remember DH pros run narrow rims often despite what everyone keeps going about with "atleast" 30mm

 @noideamtber: good for you but it doesn't work for the rest of us. Push a bit and a small mistake and you're where Emmet was. An insert makes a small mistake like his doable without a puncture or broken rim.

 @LDG: emmets Flat was pressure, you can literally see the tyre flop around before hand. I ride with a bunch of people and its always the same deal, the too low of Pressure guys will get flats at some point.
I've had tyres cut on things but thats nothing to do with inserts, i've had maybe 2 pinch flats when i ran tubes, but not tubeless. been riding for over 7 years.
Sorry if you run too low of pressure an have issues. When You start going faster, put proper pressure in and push the tyres into the dirt rather than relying on it folding for grip.

 I was also puzzled. Secret pros seemed like a pretty good way to judge female vs male competitors - not strictly "objective" but a pretty good idea. I'm very curious how they will decide

 Because Flo was smoking them !

 probably because the secret pro's contract was up with orbea.

 Here's my new conspiracy theory - both secret pros crashed, so they decided to edit them out rather than include them as pointless DNF results!

 @BikesNRussets: Idiot

 You try thinking of 10 mechanic tips that are only 10 seconds long and fit to run at the end of an episode. Although yes, I agree. Insanely irrelevant.

 Here's a pro tip, Addison:
If you are racing a particularly rocky track, consider an insert to get you to the end of your race run.

 Bikes without a steep C2 bangle are unrideable, what are you even doing?

 This already happens, no?

 @JonnyTheWeasel: Not at world cups, but we had it at the live Crankworx broadcast this year (although some riders refused). Footage was a bit hi & miss imo. Mostly because it was blurry compared to normal cam and couldn't quite manage this over-the-shoulder style - probably because of the trees and maybe also because the riders don't like it that close.

I admit, it looked great on here though, but I guess they can pick and choose which bits to show.

 @thingswelike: Ahh yea, that was it. Thought it was decent enough.

 @JonnyTheWeasel: I thought they had a stove in Leogang (I think).

 I need to know this too.

 More importantly, why doesn't he have contacts.... so he can wear goggles? So confused on that one.

 @bonkmasterflex: the make prescription google lens inserts

 @bonkmasterflex: some people can’t use/stand contacts.

 Gotta give full time to the moo-off - you don't want to leave great footage on the cutting room floor

 To be fair Big White opened in 2018 and the majority of the trails in this event are even newer than that. So Emmett definitely did not grow up riding at Big White.

 @DylanDaSilva: Even having a few days on a trail that someone has never ridden is a huge advantage. And when Emmett was on the phone, his dad was asking which trails the race was on so he and his family definitely know that mountain. That is why locals usually do well at EWS events...they know the trails.

I'd love to see Emmett and Brandon ride trails neither had ridden before. That would be more fair in the context of a competition for a contract. Based on the fact that Emmett is a local, the potential sponsors and us as viewers have no idea how he rides on trails that are new to him. No disrespect to Emmett at all as the guy def has skills, but how does that translate on new terrain? If I were the sponsor, I'd want to see how a potential enduro racer handles new and different trails rather than their home trails.

 @Jollytime1208: You are making something out of nothing. They have all been out riding these trails for the program for a few weeks. They all have good knowledge of the trails they are riding by now.

 @Mpblikes2ski: Not sure that is true... The whole PBA likely lasted a couple weeks tops and the riders were basically doing whatever they could in the small amount of downtime to recover from the daily events. So, sure, maybe during the couple weeks they were there they rode the trails a few times but that still doesn't give anyone the same level of trail knowledge as a local.

 @Jollytime1208: My EWS results- www.enduroworldseries.com/teams/no-team/riders/emmett-hancock-37051

Brad’s EWS results- www.enduroworldseries.com/teams/no-team/riders/bradley-harris-27637

 @Emmetth: Thanks Emmett! For some reason those links don't work. Regardless - you and Brad rip!! The show makes it seem as though no one has ridden Big White before and that is just not accurate. It is a critique of how PBA put the show together and not of you or Brad as riders. Others have stated similar issues with the show...

Regardless, I am a huge fan of you, Brad, Flo and Laura! All the best to you and I am looking forward to the final episode, and am sad it is ending. Cheers!

 @Jollytime1208: Put a "/" at the end of the links then they will work.

 The first 15 mins was skippable tbh

 They didn't hire some rando voice actor- Jason Lucas and his friends ("I'm faster than you", "I only ride park") have been around the BC mtb scene forever making vids and content, and the dude is also a proper ripper.

 you are wrong. It is both clearly. But multi thousand not million lol.

 I am great at spoilers, thank you for noticing

 @ididntknowhatomakemyusername:yes

 No kidding! At least they gave them a day to get used to it, I guess?

 They probably had all week to ride them. But yeah the cut makes it looks like they got the bikes the day before the race.

 Or not... It was Evan winning last years

 That's what I thought but it was from last year. Bradley and Evan share the same barber.

 @NatusEstInSuht: Yeah looks that way, with all of that hair sticking out of the back of the helmet it could be either of them

 Yeah, I think it’s made out of oak instead of an indigenous species of wood.

 If they were giving out multi-year contracts, maybe age would come into play more.

 It means nothing. Obviously no sponsor moves will be announced until the last episode of PBA airs. Emmet had been riding Norco before PBA. Flo's non-PBA related insta content doesn't show her on an Orbea either. I too think Flo will take it, but not because of the bike Emmet is seen on before PBA winner announcement.

 @bananowy: fair enough. I wouldn’t be surprised though if Norco shot him an offer

 @BCtrailrider: Oh yea agreed on that. If he doesn't win PBA that would be my bet too.

 Did you not see the spray of sealant? Neither a pint of sealant of a dozen co2 -shots would have saved that run.
Only a good insert and a total disregard for the future life of tyre, rim and insert would have allowed him to continue the ride after that puncture.

 @Der-Kaiser: Tis but a flesh wound.

 @Jacquers:

 He was a guest in one of the first episodes I thought.

 Negative...we're up front about whos behind our products! Be safe be well, Incognito Robin

 The End: Prologue

 It’s over, the bmx lady won.