Welcome back to the #1 MTB newsletter brought to you by RECON, mountain biking’s fastest growing media brand and online store.

On today's ride:

•  🏁 Joined forces: Crankworx & FMBA pushing Slopestyle

•  ⚡️ Gwin is in - official Riders list Red Bull Hardline Tasmania 2026

• 🚵‍♀️ Europes finest: The Thok TP4 Special Edition E-MTB

👇 Quick Picks

🚨 Red Bull Hardline is rolling back into Tasmania in 2026

Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet will hit Maydena Bike Park on February 7–8, aiming to hold onto the titles they snagged in 2025. The track will change a lot and the builders are giving 100%. Goldstone will be back in the men’s field with Asa Vermette, who’s rolling in after his Hardline Wales win and a strong second place in Tasmania, plus Aussie legend Troy Brosnan, who locked down third. On the women’s side, Hemstreet is set for another showdown with Lou Ferguson, the current Hardline Wales champ.

🚲 DJI Osmo Action 6 - Innovation on the digital market

DJI just dropped the Osmo Action 6, a fresh flagship that levels up action-cam tech. It’s the first cam in its class with a variable aperture, giving creators more control when the lighting gets messy. The new square-format sensor delivers cleaner footage, punchier colors, and stronger low-light performance. Built tough for rough weather and wild adventures, the Action 6 targets anyone who wants pro vibes in a compact, go-anywhere camera.

🚵‍♂️ New Owner for the MTB cult brand Felt Bicycles

Felt Bicycles has changed hands once again, according to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. It’s the brand’s second new owner in four years and the fourth since 2017. This isn’t exactly a fresh acquisition. Instead, it wraps up a deal that began in 2023, when Pierer Mobility Group decided to pass the brand to a consortium led by Felt’s own management team along with minority shareholders Florian Burguet and Cesar Rojo. We are wishing the the best for the future of Felt!

SCENE

🚵‍♀️ Crankworx & FMBA Launch the Slopestyle Super League

A new era of slopestyle is coming: Slopestyle mountain biking is getting a full upgrade. Starting in 2026, Crankworx and the Freeride Mountain Bike Association are launching the Slopestyle Super League, a new system that finally gives the sport a real season. Instead of scattered one-off events, fans get a clear storyline and riders get more chances to show what they can really do.

A quick throwback to how slopestyle even started

Slopestyle might look polished today but it began as a wild side branch of the early 2000s freeride boom. Back then the focus was on going big and surviving massive drops. Younger riders started blending huge freeride hits with the trick culture of BMX. Events like Crankworx 2003, the Adidas Slopestyle in Saalbach and the very first District Ride in 2005 mixed freeride features with jumpable trick options. From 2006 on the courses changed fast. They became more compact, more flowy and better suited for trick combos. Riders moved to pure hardtails or purpose built slopestyle full suspension bikes and the tricks evolved with every season. Names like Paul Basagoitia, Cam Zink, Andreu Lacondeguy and Brandon Semenuk (plus many more!) pushed the limits so quickly that the sport barely had time to process one level before the next arrived. After twenty years the progression still has not slowed down. Today riders like Emil Johansson, David Godziek, Alma Wiggberg and Patricia Druwen continue rewriting what is possible. With more events and more chances in the new SSL format the next generation will step into the spotlight even faster.

2026: A season that finally feels like a season

The idea behind the Super Slopestyle League aka SSL is simple. The sport needs structure, momentum and a way for fans and athletes to connect the dots from the first run of the year to the final trick of the season. With help from event organizers, athlete reps and the FMBA Advisory Board, the new format turns the global calendar into one smooth chain of high pressure contests.

The Regular Season is the backbone. Riders collect points at selected Gold and Diamond events, and these points decide the overall leaderboard. When the Regular Season ends, the top three men and top two women qualify directly for the SSL Finals.

The 2026 Regular Season looks like this:

February: Crankworx Christchurch Slopestyle (Gold), New Zealand
March: Crankworx Rotorua Slopestyle (Diamond), New Zealand
May: Gold event in Central Europe (announcement coming soon)
July: Diamond event in Western Europe (details still under wraps)
August: Crankworx Whistler Slopestyle (Diamond), Canada

Two more European stops are still secret which only adds more hype.

The Playoffs crank up the pressure

Once the Regular Season wraps, the Playoffs begin. This round brings together riders who barely missed the automatic Finals spots and athletes who climbed the FMB World Ranking outside the SSL schedule. It is a second chance for injured riders to make a comeback and a huge opportunity for new talent to break into the spotlight.

Round One is a single, heavy pressure contest. Twelve men and six women from the standings meet six men and three women from the FMB rankings. Only seven men and three women survive and earn their place in the first Slopestyle Super League Final. More riders. More pressure. More room for breakout moments.

A full reset for the sport

The SSL replaces the old Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship and builds it into something bigger and easier to follow. The 2026 season travels from New Zealand to Europe to Canada before the best riders in the world meet at Mont Sainte Anne in Quebec. That is where the first champions of this new era will be crowned.

What comes next

The league brings structure to a sport built on creativity and chaos. Fans get a proper season to follow instead of random highlight days. Riders get a clearer path to the top and more opportunities to build momentum and fanbases.

More details, rules and updates will land on the FMB World Tour website. With two European stops still waiting to be revealed the buzz is only getting louder. Keep an eye on @fmbworldtour and fmbworldtour.com for the next drops.

SCENE

⚡️Legends VS Young Guns - Hardline Tasmania 2026 Riders List 

Red Bull Hardline returns to Australia in February 2026, and the rider list for the Tasmania stop in Maydena Bike Park is now locked in. Twenty two invited riders will step up to one of the hardest tracks ever built on February 7 and 8. The lineup brings back last year’s champions Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet as well as rising star Asa Vermette and downhill legend Aaron Gwin - together with Sam Hill and Gee Atherton there seems to be kind of Team OG.

The Maydena track stretches 3.4 kilometers and is known for its fierce combination of speed, huge drops and unforgiving technical sections. Riders regularly break the sixty kilometer per hour mark and face features that reward absolute precision. For 2026 the top section of the track has been redesigned to push the riding level even higher. The original build took over seven thousand hours and nearly six hundred meters of vertical descent which shows how serious this event is about progression.

This will be the third Hardline event in Tasmania and the twelfth year of the series. The first edition in Wales in 2014 set the tone for the entire concept and it has remained one of the strongest tests of modern gravity riding.

A Quick Look Back at Hardline Tasmania 2025

Last year’s Hardline in Tasmania delivered one of the most dramatic weekends of the entire gravity calendar. Jackson Goldstone took the win with a run that felt closer to a World Cup final than a freeride event. His speed through the forest and complete confidence on the biggest features set a new standard for the course. Asa Vermette also turned heads with a mature and highly polished performance that secured his place among the rising elite.

The women made history as well. Gracey Hemstreet became the first female Hardline winner in Tasmania with a controlled and confident top to bottom run. Louise Ferguson impressed everyone by riding the full course for the first time and proving that the Hardline women’s field is ready for rapid progression. The weekend also included several heavy crashes which underlined how serious the event is. Despite that, the atmosphere was electric with a huge crowd and riders pushing the limits from start to finish.

A Stacked Lineup for 2026

This year’s rider list brings together a strong mix of top level racers, iconic freeriders and young talents. Goldstone returns to defend his title. Vermette, the youngest winner in Hardline Wales history, will be back as well. Riders like Gee Atherton, Bernard Kerr, Kaos Seagrave, Troy Brosnan and Sam Hill give the field serious depth.

The women’s list is compact but incredibly competitive. Hemstreet returns as the defending champion. Lou Ferguson heads to Tasmania after her groundbreaking full run in Wales. With Jess Blewitt and Mikayla Parton joining the lineup, fans can expect tight racing and a strong push for the next level of women’s Hardline riding.

Rider List – Red Bull Hardline Tasmania 2026

Men

Aaron Gwin
Asa Vermette
Kaos Seagrave
Bernard Kerr
Charlie Hatton
Dan Booker
Luke Meier Smith
Darcy Coutts
Edgar Briole
Gee Atherton
Rónán Dunne
Théo Erlangsen
Jackson Goldstone
Troy Brosnan
Sam Hill
Brook MacDonald
Connor Fearon
Matteo Iniguez

Women

Lou Ferguson
Jess Blewitt
Gracey Hemstreet
Mikayla Parton

Live Coverage

Fans can watch every run live on Red Bull TV and the Red Bull Bike YouTube channel. Both race days will be streamed so no one has to miss a moment of the action.

BIKES

🚲 Thok TP4 Limited Edition 2026: Gold vibes, top specs, only 50 bikes

Thok is back with a sparkling surprise for 2026. The TP4 Limited Edition takes the brand’s latest all-mountain eMTB and turns it into a true collector’s piece. Only 50 units will be built, each wrapped in an exclusive gold finish and loaded with premium parts. Price tag: 9,990 € – and yes, it looks every bit as fancy as it sounds.

A carbon frame built for serious riding

At the heart of the bike sits Thok’s UD carbon frame, designed to feel stiff, direct and ready for rough trails. A flip chip lets you tweak the geometry, while 150 mm rear travel keeps things smooth without killing efficiency. The setup works with both 29" and 27.5”, giving you freedom to run it the way you like.

Up front, a FOX 38 Float Factory fork with 160 mm travel and GRIP X2 tech takes care of control. In the back, a FOX Float X Factory shock tuned specifically for Thok keeps the bike glued to the ground.

Golden looks, high-end parts

The most eye-catching detail is obviously the gold paint. It highlights the clean lines of the frame and makes the TP4 look more like a showpiece than a trail bike – until you check the spec list.

Thok equips the bike with DT Swiss HXC1501 carbon wheels (29", 30 mm width) wrapped in Schwalbe Albert Gravity Pro tires: 2.6" in the front, 2.5" in the rear.

The cockpit features a Renthal Fatbar Carbon handlebar and a FOX Transfer Factory dropper that goes up to 210 mm depending on frame size. Braking is handled by Magura Gustav Pro stoppers with massive 220/203 mm rotors – easily among the strongest brake systems out there.

Bosch power, wireless shifting

The TP4 is powered by Bosch’s Performance Line CX motor offering 250 W, 100 Nm and peak support up to 750 W. An 800 Wh Powertube battery is hidden inside the downtube and can be expanded with the 250 Wh Powermore range extender.

Shifting is fully wireless thanks to SRAM X0 Eagle T-Type, which draws its power directly from the bike’s main battery. This keeps the frame clean with no cables running outside. The system is controlled via the Bosch Kiox 400C display and the compact Mini Remote.

Key specs

• Frame: Full UD Carbon, 150 mm travel, geometry flip chip

• Fork: FOX 38 Float Factory, 160 mm, GRIP X2

• Shock: FOX Float X Factory, Thok custom tune

• Motor: Bosch Performance Line CX, 250 W, 100 Nm

• Battery: Bosch Powertube 800 Wh, Powermore 250 Wh compatible

• Drivetrain: SRAM X0 Eagle T-Type Wireless

• Brakes: Magura Gustav Pro, 4-piston, 220/203 mm

• Wheels: DT Swiss HXC1501 Carbon, 29" x 30 mm

• Tires: Schwalbe Albert Gravity Pro, 29" x 2.6 / 2.5

• Cockpit: Renthal Fatbar Carbon

• Saddle: Fizik Aidon X5

• Dropper: FOX Transfer Factory (150/180/210 mm)

• Display: Bosch Kiox 400C + Mini Remote

• Price: 9,990 €

🏁 Video Of The Week

Winter time is even better with wild DH racing - thanks to Red Bull Bike & SLEEPER:

🎧 Podcast Of The Week

Rampage insides by Cam Zink - we talked with him about many topics:

🚵‍♀️ Giveaway Period Finished

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Forbidden Dreadnought 3 MX Giveaway. The winner is Kate M. from New Jersey and she has gone for her first shred on it! Stoked is an understatement… More to come, and keep your eyes peeled for the next giveaway bike!

This newsletter is written with ❤️ every week by the Recon Team with a special shoutout to Marc Brodesser!