Legendary mountain bike rider Sam Pilgrim signs for Canyon
Mountain bike rider and YouTube star joins the Canyon roster for 2023
Sam Pilgrim is one of the most recognizable figures on the international mountain bike freeride scene thanks to his passion and a long list of accomplishments in the sport. Starting in 2023, he'll be riding for Canyon, and as someone who can ride just about any bike, anywhere, anytime, Sam will be repping most of the Canyon mountain bike range.
At only 32, Sam has been riding competitively for more than 20 years and has amassed over 1.8 million subscribers on his wildly popular YouTube channel, where he prolifically updates his content with his new videos every two weeks.
Sam started his channel in 2015, having shifted his attention to content creation and it has quickly become one of the main outlets in the MTB industry. His challenges, journeys, and adventures are seen as a benchmark and a source of inspiration by a vast number of riders all over the world. Sam continues to work toward achieving his personal goal of achieving one podium finish per year despite the demands of running a hugely famous YouTube channel.
Before switching to content creation as his main focus, Sam earned his stripes by racing at the top levels of slopestyle, freeride, and dirt jumping. At the age of 17, his triumph in Austria's King of Dirt championship launched him onto the world stage. In 2013, he won the FMB World Tour Champion title. He followed up with podiums at Crankworx, Dirtmasters, Red Bull Joyride, and the FISE festival, with his popularity continuing to grow as a result of his notable appearances at the X-Games and Red Bull Rampage.
In his typically enthusiastic way, Sam talked about his move to Canyon "2023 with Canyon is gonna be epic. It’s a dream come true. I'll be riding the best bikes alongside the sickest team which means loads of amazing times, and a bunch of sick videos coming your way, I’ll be hitting a few contests over the year, and loving every minute of it." adding "I can't wait to try out the Canyon mountain bike range, their 'Category 5' abuse rating on the Stitched 720 and 360 are perfect for me! For trail riding, I'll be using the Spectral and Stoic models, and big mountain days the Torque. I'm stoked about trying the e-MTBs too, the Spectral:ON and Torque:ON look epic!"
Sam’s first project with Canyon is planned for February 2023 with a video expected in the spring and you can check out some of his previous YouTube shorts below.
Paul Brett joined BikePerfect as a staff writer in 2022. He has been an avid cyclist for as long as he can remember, initially catching the mountain biking bug in the 1990s, and he raced mountain bikes for over a decade before injury cut short a glittering career. An award-winning photographer, when not riding a bike, he can be found at the side of a cyclocross track or a downhill mountain bike world championship shooting the action. Paul was the founder, editor and writer of Proper Cycling magazine, and he's traveled the world interviewing some of the biggest names in mountain biking and writing about some of the biggest cycling brands.
Current rides: Canyon Inflite, Specialized Diverge, Marin Alpine Trail 2