Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Video: Amazing mid-jump bike switch

The "best bad idea" you'll see anyone pull off this week...

An old proverb says you shouldn't change horses in mid-stream, but nobody told BMX star Pat "Big Daddy" Laughlin that it's a bad idea to switch bikes mid-leap, a jaw-dropping feat that he achieves in this video.

It's all a bit blink-and-you'll-miss-it as Laughlin powers down a ramp, flies through the air, throwing away his first bike as he takes off, and then grabs a bike being held by a waiting — and very brave — helper.

Laughlin pulled off this astounding move during a practice session at the Kia X-Games in Shanghai. There were no money or prizes on the line, just the glory of doing something extraordinary.

The immediate question we asked was "How many goes did it take to get that right?" and the answer, as you can see in this second video, is "Quite a few."

Look out for the cameo appearance near the end by BMX Legend Matt Hoffman, who says: "It's all about having the best bad idea of anybody and Pat just won."

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

Add new comment

3 comments

Avatar
Matt eaton | 8 years ago
0 likes

Was kinda expecting something different from the title. Bike transfers are nothing new, but bike transfers this big definately are!

Avatar
brooksby | 8 years ago
0 likes

Wow - I can't even get off my bike without stopping it first...  40

Avatar
fancynancy | 8 years ago
0 likes

You have got to love BMX riders. Crazy mo'fos!  41  41  41

Latest Comments