HUMBLED: Nino Schurter vs. Mike Levy on Crazy XC Climbs & Descents

After being humbled by Brendan Fairclough, Richie Rude AND Gee Atherton we thought we would turn it up a notch and send Mike Levy to train with 8x XC World Champ Nino Schurter for the ultimate humbling experience. How hard could it be to complete interval sprints with one of the fittest cyclists in the world? Watch to find out...
Pinkbike Merch - pinkbike.link/merch
Watch more on Pinkbike:
Red Bull Rampage Highlights
pinkbike.link/rampagehighlights
Iago Garay Hot Lap
pinkbike.link/iagohotlap
2020 Pinkbike Field Test
pinkbike.link/2020pbfieldtest
Subscribe for more content from the pulse of mountain biking.
Website - pinkbike.com
Facebook - / pinkbikecom
Instagram - / pinkbike
KZbin - / pinkbike

[@TheyForcedMyHandLE]

The improvements in Nino's riding just over this short segment is absolutely remarkable. Imagine the results if he had a whole week with Levy!

[@jaroslavkeprt1151]

Nino building the rocks trap and laughing all the time about it, made my day.

[@JackMott]

He woulda made it too, lol

[@flyingnorseman]

You had him. Its only altitude sickness. Just keep telling yourself that.

[@Belchenradler-biketouren]

Nino's not just a master - he's a true legend of mountain biking. Go Nino!

[@allocke9446]

It's true.

[@drfishynoooo9960]

I laughed just reading the title. Hope you survive Mr Levy.

[@hiro111]

"Gee Nino, you're like real real good at going downhill on a mountain bike". Jesus Christ, Levy.

[@stevethebutcher1776]

After years of riding and racing dh and 4x (and writing about it for dirt magazine) I fancied a change of scene and tried my hand at xc racing. I was blown away by the skill level of the majority lycra clad brigade (both up and downhill). Loved this edit. Massive fan of Nino and Mike. Cheers. Steve 'the butcher'

[@MilatovichFamily]

Steve 'the butcher' you should also try enduro racing. We are the tough one, mix of both dh and xc.

[@stevethebutcher1776]

I do race enduro (but in the e bike class)!!! Does that count?!?!

[@pinkbike]

🙌

[@MaQuGo119]

What is 4x?

[@lamefart]

@@MaQuGo119 type it in the search bar...

[@IgorTurko]

Probably the best video with Nino in English at least. Nino this is how we want to see you, with jokes and relaxed. Good luck in 2020.

[@amblincork]

Yes I was thinking it is a much more relaxed Nino than we see in interviews before and after races - nice to see him relaxed

[@brentperez4700]

Hmm... was especially impressed with his descending skills... what about the 450 watts flame thrower during the VO2 Max intervals?

[@Fred_the_1996]

He's stronger than my dad's EMTB oh my god

[@kawirider338]

This just goes to show that it’s 90% rider and 10% bike. A good XC bike is so much more capable descending than the average rider believes it to be.

[@kawirider338]

Mathis Richards I said “good XC bike” (sorry Pole)

[@mr.d7429]

I agreed, the new Spark is completely underrated, it’s a very capable bike

[@georgmtb9671]

@Trump TheTerrorist if you would have decent technical abilities the tires shouldn't be the main problem. I mean beefy Enduro tires are obviously more grippy.

[@SnootchieBootchies27]

My full rigid singlespeed freaks everyone out but it's way more capable on the downhills than people think.

[@jorgscz9175]

"I can't do this I have a 90 mm stem"

[@Cybervogi]

Soooo good!! I looove this series! Nino is such a machine. Some of the top legs in the cycling sport.

[@polishguywithhardtospellna8227]

Spoiler alert: Nino got his ass handed to him

[@pinkbike]

Who do you want to see Mike Levy be Humbled by next? Let us know 👇

[@NorCalRide]

Richie Rude

[@oneillgatta5020]

Khaster 6 that already happened

[@creskuuurt]

Female XC riders

[@keithmicomonaco616]

Sam Pilgrim!!!!

[@jeremiahjohnson9942]

Danny McCaskill

[@takegoodcareoftheforestdew5339]

Fascinating, eye-opening, and hilarious to boot. Thanks for that. Very entertaining.

[@todduncyclist7974]

I really like this Mike Levy character, good personality.

[@wjhohn]

I think we all want to see Nino do a DH World Cup. Nino on a downhill bike might be pretty interesting!

[@mrhovil5466]

8:50 Balls of steel

[@abhinavsixfaces]

My parents think I'm watching porn...mike breath quietly next time please...

[@rictur649]

Hahaahah

[@Goodbarsix]

lol

[@jasonchow3491]

Lmao

[@zeuszuki6698]

People would be surprised at how capable an effective a quality 100mm travel Xc bike actually is.

[@blakebeyett6471]

zeus zuki yep exactly. It’s a good do it all bike for mountain biking and the road/tarmac.

[@ManuelMartinez09]

And some of us (proudly) do that stuff with no rear suspension or dropper post... Respect for those who ride with me and show so many skills This video is a perfect lesson

[@CragCatDad]

New to mtb, learned about Nino and found this vid after searching more of him. This episode was hilarious😂

[@wesleyfraser3058]

Love the leaking rear tire at 3-3:30. I guess even the pros have mechanicals. Lucky for them those are off camera.

[@christiantorres6118]

This was so funny!!! Great job

[@binkzera2777]

420 to 450 watts as VO2 max. That’s insane, he’s only 1.73 meters tall.

[@lfzawadzkyz]

And weigths around 65kg

[@w.o.w2801]

Cool, thanks!

[@FalcoBikes]

It's funny how US mtb media generally portrays XC racing as a less manly sport...

[@yengsabio5315]

Bad media! Bad, bad, bad!

[@jmd8270]

more of this @pinkbike please

[@Squidsonbikeswithhats3958]

great series!!

[@ramirozambosco]

Has anyone counted how many times he said 'Nino'?

[@massimocaradonna3857]

Lol I wrote same thing then saw ur comment lol

[@swflelite]

I second that... He couldn't get enough

[@kozepz]

26

[@outsidestuff4867]

Drinking game?!?!?

[@antjosh4507]

When in awe usually do that

[@bibiranzi8114]

Sempre bello vedere come guidi la bici. Per noi N°1 !!!!!!!!!!

[@alexienc]

Nice ride with Nino, i wish I can ride with him too,thanks

[@soulsurfer8797]

Nice video and Nino’s a beast. You should try one finger breaking to descend better. It gives you greater control of the bars, better response time, and ensures you can place the wheel more precisely😉

[@canmtb4676]

Simply amazing Nino !

[@giusvad6337]

Grande Nino ci hai fatto ricordare il mitico Frischnecht vincitore della prima marathon mondiale nel 2003 al monte Bar in ticino. Io l'ho disputata e il percorso era magnifico.

[@WattWireNet]

Good effort sort of hang'n with a world champion! I'm sure the camera did not do justice to the how steep those hills were, not to mention the altitude.

[@paranoidandroid4270]

Great video. Interesting to see how well he descended. I bet Kate Courtney could podium in a DH World Cup.

[@williamboler8709]

Podium is a little much. After a season, maybe. As intense as xc is, dh has much higher speeds and bigger features. I don't think any xc rider would go podium immediately. Sam Hill took a season to start really winning Enduro, so the skills are different enough

[@amblincork]

As an amateur trail/hill runner it is surprising how many good runners are not so good on steep downhills or at least they dont run dowhill as fast as might be assumed they would. I assume downhill cycling is a pretty specialized sport and requires particular skills and talent. Yolanda Neff has done some downhill races I think but I dont know what her results were.

[@saptarshisutradhar9379]

This guy is a legend..

[@RNicknackpaddywhack]

Pre-hydrate my man!

[@voltecrules624]

Great video.

[@garybrown9719]

That was hilarious adding more rocks to the trail

[@kiwijohn01]

What a great job you guys have!!! Well jealous...

[@HeretiCflow]

I LOVE "humbled".

[@pabloromar7413]

Un régale 👍

[@bobumbel]

So good

[@lennoxnimke8462]

Nice video

[@alvindiazmarquez]

Hey, what shorts does Nino have on? They're pretty cool! Kind of mix of lycra/baggy!

[@johannwinkler2183]

alvin diaz I think they are from odlo

[@ingemarvanwietendaele]

yeah, i'd like to know that too. Been looking on the ODLO shop, but can't find those :/

[@thincan007]

Dis anyone find them yet? Been looking for them on odlo and scott page without luck

[@ingemarvanwietendaele]

I asked Odlo (brand of the shorts) and apparently it’s only for their PRO riders. Not available in the shop 😕

[@Fred_the_1996]

They're custom

[@letterzx]

That hill must be steeper than it looks. I thought levy was the pinkbike climbing guy?

[@3dflyer87]

Nino is SO rad!!!!

[@Svenmpa]

The XCO-courses of today (world cup) are no joke. The men and women elite are not just physical beasts, they can also handle an MTB bike rather excellent. Don't know exactly how steap and gnarly that descent was, but generally you can go bloody hard downhill on an XC bike. You just have to absorb more with your body. And of course you can't descend hard for a very long time without getting rather tired.

[@ANTheWhizkid]

"No breaks in between the intervals!"

[@MattGlynn]

awesome guy. xc is just crazy. far to much hard work

[@Jake-jx7hs]

And people say xc isn’t hard or knarly 😂 it’s so sick

[@cwsmith17]

I watched Nino all last season on Red Bull Tv and he is a beast

[@c.g.b.6307]

Nino, best off Mountain Biker..‼️👍🍀

[@dadventuretv2538]

Lol. Great vid. Welcome to the 90s mountain biking Mike. 90 mm stem. Hmmfff. Try 130s and smaller wheels and even worse geo. Beh kids today, get off my lawn. Lol. One pointer- on the gnarly downs bend your arms and legs more at the elbows and knees to flow with the bike more. You were so stiff. Without bike suspension your body has to become the suspension and you have to ride much more actively. Anyway, love these vids and what you guys do. Keep it up.

[@MaGrath_Gibbons]

I want to see nino on a dirt jumper

[@DanArnets1492]

Where is that exactly? I want to check the percentage with Google Earth! I tried to find the mountain with the huge cross but Google was of no help.

[@d.m7788]

monte bar near lugano

[@ashleyscarth8363]

Should have rode on the Polo stamina 140💪

[@johannessusewind8519]

Which shorts is nino wearing ?

[@MrWarlls]

2:31, the chain is not on the top of the cassette. It's not suprising he has so much difficulty to climb up.

[@henrydecastro1804]

Mike's saddle's too high😁

[@gcavy1]

time for Nino to switch to EWS and give those boys a run for their money!

[@MaQuGo119]

Whats his name again?

[@jonienglish3231]

Make a Video of the Silver Scott and Nino Scott

[@PaddyMcQueen]

Home sweet Home Ticino!

[@Ih8GoogleandApple]

Nino definitely the greatest XC 🚵‍♀️ the sport has come across. Such a positive role model for cycling

[@MCK75]

Nino the machine ,saw any clips with nino ,he is sooo fast and ruff,no matter where ,but in uphill he will kill every fkn goat ,with his race bike faster then somebody on a enduro bike

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

And here I thought Levy liked techy climbs

[@maxMax-ns9pg]

N1N0!!!!

[@raymondo162]

7:15: i'm surprised the donkeys aren't laughing at you. they quite often do a good laugh

[@emersonfnogueira]

Top.

[@mauromoser]

Ow choice the location? Mr. Lewy (Monte BAR)

[@danl5632]

XC racers are tough.

[@IanH-yf1go]

You guys should make nino do a enduro or dh “race”

[@420fittness]

Say Nino more 😂

[@cioxide]

5 min intervals it is hurting. This is true cross country.

[@facundogonzalez3513]

Necesito este video en español jaja

[@mohammadbahrami4013]

Nino Schurter lovve wowwww

[@anthonywalters7434]

As someone who had a 90mm stem on their bike for two years steep bits are so sketchy. I swapped to a 50mm stem and it was 100x better

[@RiddleDiddle]

Achtung! Fertig! LOS! :D

[@TranceFlug]

Schurter the muscle macchine :)

[@ln663]

Nino: No breaks between intervals Mike: Oh, sh*t

[@bryanmurphy26]

"Jesus Christ! ".. *looks back at giant cross*

[@masonrudolph7249]

Mike Levy Humbled: by his wife

[@MaQuGo119]

... and her bull

[@danielphythian76]

Class act Nino

[@liquidSpin]

A lot of people don't know or realize that Nino can do DH, Enduro as well as his preferred racing style in XC. There's a possibility that Nino once he's finished with XC will crossover to Enduro.

[@OMaldoBatt]

What a privilege! Feel the blood in your lungs..., that was good! 😁

[@otaviopaiva2274]

N1NO!!

[@gustavfourie5099]

What tires are Nino running, looks like an ardent on the front but i can't se the rear

[@mikkelsktt4543]

Gustav Fourie Maxxis Aspen 🤘🏼

[@mikkelsktt4543]

@Gustav Fourie

[@JackMott]

Imagine you are an old retired person going to visit this sacred cross on the mountain, and when you get there a world champion in spandex is sabotaging some fred while he tries to ride a bike up a bunch of rocks, haha

[@CWBmtb]

Pls get N1NO on a DH rig

[@Dovakhin94]

Wait a second......is Nino using a dropper post???????

[@erwanrc8117]

Yep, he's usually don't use one in races but he always as one when he makes "fun trip" with his friends or so

[@johnburmeister7167]

It gets easier!

[@MarArraes]

Schurter tem estilo para pilotar.

[@jeffreydzialo]

Nino is hilarious.

[@ltrtg13]

When Mike rode the downhill section. I thought he was going over the bar. He didn't look comfortable at all.

[@theupgradeshop1493]

Where in the world is this place???

[@muradtalukdar4401]

Just me and the donkeys.

[@alexmason7103]

Wow Mike looks really good in those rainbow stripes

[@dropdbass]

Nino is a living legend.