If you don’t know who Danny MacAskill is, you must either hate riding on anything other than a road, or not be connected to the internet. The Scottish street trials pro has made a name for himself through amazing YouTube videos going back to 2009. One of my favorites, Epecuén, was launched last year and is set in the flood ravaged resort town of Villa Epecuén, Argentina.
In the future, you’ll see MacAskill wearing Endura gear, and his feedback will be incorporated into new products and improving others. Beyond their Scottish heritage and off-road roots, MacAskill and Endura both strive to improve their performance and products, ensuring the partnership should be a very fruitful one.
“There is a self-confidence in the combination of a rapidly growing Scottish brand linking with a Scottish living legend in the bike sector,” said Pamela Barclay, Endura’s director of product. “We believe it is a powerful partnership for both sides, but also great for Scotland and reinforces this wee country’s position as a hub of biking excellence.”
Curious to know more about MacAskill? Endura provided a little Q&A session they did with the rider as part of the announcement.
Endura – When did you first realize that you had superhuman powers?
Danny MacAskill –Â “I suppose when I was about four years old and able to fly down a 20 foot nylon rope from my garden without burning my hands.”
Endura – Did you have a vision on how you wanted your talent to develop, or did it just unfold?
Danny MacAskill – “No, not at all, my kind of trials riding has really developed very naturally over the years when I grew up riding my bike to school every day and having various curbs and things that I jumped off on the way home. It kind of slowly developed; I started jumping off higher walls and trying to ride along the centers and things, and really to this day, it’s been a slow progression. Â I never had a goal of being a professional rider although I had my heels in riding. There’s definitely been no plan to it at all, and still isn’t, I just see what I can do on my bike and maybe film it from time to time.”
Endura – What do you want to achieve in the next five years?
Danny MacAskill –Â “I’ve got a number of different projects in mind; I’m constantly thinking: ‘What can I do next?’ Not necessarily to better what I’ve done previous to that, because it probably would drive me mad, but it’s more a case of trying to do something completely different. So I have a few big projects in mind. At some point, I’m probably going to try to do the sort of best video I could ever do filming on my trials bike, maybe go back to the streets and really try to put something down that I can look back on and that I couldn’t do better than. So that’s the plan.”
Endura – If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?
Danny MacAskill – “If I wasn’t riding my bike professionally, I’d be most likely tuning a professional mountain biker’s mountain bike. Just before I was turning professional myself, I had looked at joining the Downhill World Cup circuit as a bike mechanic and that would have been a way for me to see the world through bikes, like I get to now being on my bike, which is quite cool, but I think either way it would have been a fun time.”
Endura – You also said you wanted to run a bike shop?
Danny MacAskill – “Yes, that’s still something that I’d like to do, and something I see myself doing sometime in the future is starting my own bike shop and running it, or maybe getting someone else to help me run it because I’m terrible organizing myself.”
Endura – You’ve obviously got a big portfolio of sponsorship deals with really impressive brands. What was it about Endura that made you think we could be working together?
Danny MacAskill – “From working in the bike shops, Endura has always been the brand on the shelf that’s been the most reliable kit, and I think it makes a really good sync, especially being a Scottish brand as well. You have a lot of the same values as I do, so I think it’s a relationship that could work really well and also help me look good on the trails.”
Endura – How important is Scotland and being Scottish to you as a person?
Danny MacAskill –Â “Definitely being Scottish is a very important thing to me and it’s certainly something that comes through in a lot of the videos that I’ve don over the last years. I always keep thinking to myself that I’m going to venture further afield, but Scotland just keeps delivering the goods. You know, you kind of think, ‘There can’t be anything more here’, but then you come up with something completely different or something that’s bigger and better than you’ve done before, so I think that’s a very important thing and something that I’d like to spread around the world as well.”
MacAskill is currently working on his next video, while also maintaining his Drop and Roll Tour. Keep an eye out for the latest news on MacAskill at http://www,dannymacaskill.co.uk/
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
~Veggie Powered Athlete~
Location – Lancaster, PA
Current Testing Rigs – 2024 Van Dessel Arch65, 2019 Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie, 2018 Van Dessel Motivus Maximus LTD, 2016 Van Dessel Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, 2015 Bianchi Sempre Pro, 1978 Trek TX900
Dream Bike – I’ll tell you when they make it
Discipline – Cyclocross, gravel, road and duathlons (ride/run)
Favorite Rides – Quiet country roads of Amish Country, some of the best roads around.
Food of Choice – Sweet potato roll
Beer of Choice – Unibroue Grand Reserve 17, aged four years
Bourbon of Choice – Widow Jane 10 Year