So, I signed up for
TotalVid and just got done watching three of their intro videos. Here are some quick reviews:
Performance Mountain Biking with Ned Overend
This video probably has the worst production values of the group. Which isn't to say that it's bad, just that it looks like more of a "backyard project" than some of the others. Bikes, gear, and clothing all look a bit dated. The skills covered are all pretty basic, but they're described in a logical order and the presentation is good. The video shows lots of shots of people riding, with voice-overs from Ned explaining what the riders are doing, why they're having problems, etc. Guest instructors include John Tomac, Julie Furtado, Daryl Price, and Greg Herbold. There are also a bunch of "regular people" shown in the video and they occasionally make mistakes, which Overend usually explains. This is probably a nice touch for a beginner; rather than seeing Pros bunny hopping onto the tops of parked cars, you see an older guy trying to clear a 4" log. Which isn't to say that everything is basic. The video does include a bunch of technical terrain, but it's the kind of difficult stuff that a regular rider might consider tackling, not 50mph downhill runs or 10' wheelie drops.
West Coast Style - Mountain Biking
Best production values of the group. The cameraman, sound guy, and editors make this video look better than the rest. Not as much action as either of the other two videos, unfortunately. Lots of shots of Elladee Brown and Joan Jones standing or sitting around talking about something. Seems like they're trying to give the impression that they're just chatting about riding, but some of the discussions feel very "scripted".
West Coast Style covers much of the same material as
Performance Mountain Biking, but the ordering and emphasis is slightly different. I think that both videos do a good job of describing the skills they're trying to teach; for any given skill it's a toss-up as to which video has the best presentation. Both
West Coast Style and
Performance Mountain Biking are about the same length, but
West Coast Style seems to cover a few skills that
Performance Mountain Biking doesn't. This is probably because
Performance Mountain Biking really spends a lot of time helping you to nail the basics. Most of the riding demonstrations in
West Coast Style are done on reasonable terrain. After presenting several skills, the video will often show a longer action sequence where the difficulty of the terrain and skills is ramped up. There are some cool sequences here and the Vancouver, BC terrain is impressive! Still, if you're looking for mind-blowing action sequences,
West Coast Style doesn't measure up to
Fundamentals.
Fundamentals
OK, first things first: the title for this video should really have been "Fundamentals of Downhill Riding" or "Fundamentals of Downhill Racing". In my opinion, this is
not a video for a complete beginner. There seems to be little organization. Mostly, it's random Pro riders talking about random skills in a random order. Production values are better than than
Performance Mountain Biking with Ned Overend, but not quite as good as
West Coast Style. This video has
lots of footage of world-class riders doing amazing things on bikes! Unfortunately, if you're not already a world-class rider, it may be difficult to discern exactly what's going on in some of the action sequences. The Pros make everything look so effortless and their runs combine so many skills that it's easy to get confused about what's what. I think this video strikes a better balance between people standing around talking and action sequences than
West Coast Style. The presentation of individual skills varies quite a bit, depending on which Pro they're interviewing about the skill. Some guys are good at teaching, some aren't. The goal seems to have been to put as many Pros as possible in the video, rather than narrowing the selection to a few who are really good in front of the camera. Because the video is so disjoint, it took me a couple of watchings to get through the whole thing.
If I could only purchase one of these videos, I'd probably buy
West Coast Style - Mountain Biking. It covers the basics and a bit beyond, the presentation is good, there are some interesting action sequences, and the production values are good.
Linear Mode
