over the weekend freeridermx did a real interesting interview with the one-and-only Robbie Adelberg, to find out what he thinks of the European FMX scene, his plans to move to the States, and if he's ready to be a Dad in a couple months' time!
It’s all happening for 21-year-old Rob Adelberg. As well as taking the European IFMXF series by storm, the easy-going Victorian is stunning the Nitro Circus audiences with his silky smooth style and massive extension, and in just nine weeks time he’s going to be a Dad for the first time. Simon Makker caught up with Adelboggie to get the skinny.
First up, Robbie, congratulations on your impending fatherhood! That’s going to bring a few changes to your life.
Yeah definitely! I’ve got 10 weeks left before me and my lady Stacey bring a little boy into the world, and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been pretty smooth sailing so far. We’ve just moved into a new house in Bomaderry, North Nowra, which is near her parents, and I’ll be able to ride at Maddo’s and Luke Stono’s compounds. We’ve got the house, but still need to move all my stuff up. Within the next week we should’ve moved in.
Exciting times! Now, you’ve just come back from Europe where you’ve had a successful campaign so far at the IFMXF series.
Yeah, my worst placing over there has been a third, so it’s going really well, and I’m tied for first place in the championship with Libor Podmol. I haven’t found it that hard to settle in there; everything’s been going pretty well so far, and I’m really happy with the results I’m achieving.
What’s it like competing against the Euro riders compared to Australians?
I think it works in my favour, actually. The European riders do all the big tricks, but a lot of them don’t have the style and bike skill, I guess you’d call it. I’d say I’m one of the smoothest riders in the championship, so that definitely plays into my hands. They’ve all got big Backflip tricks and Underflip tricks, but not really any decent upright tricks. I think that helps myself and the American rider, Brody Wilson stand out from the rest.
How hard is it communicating with the other riders? I know some speak good English, but it must still be hard.
The language barrier is definitely the hardest thing about it. There’re a lot of hand signals, but we sorta understand what the other person is trying to say. It’s especially hard with the track-buildiers, because most of them are German and can’t speak English very well, if any at all. They also measure everything in metres, so they’ll say “this is a 20m jump, this is 22m”, so I’ve got to try and convert that to feet in my head.
Wait… 22m is only like 66ft.
Yeah that’s right. That’s the distance of the jumps over there, but the ramps are 8m radius instead of 9m, so they’re steeper. The indoor set-ups are fairly small, so you have to hit them a fair bit slower than 75ft, which is hard to get used to. With flip tricks like the Kiss Of Death flip or any that you have to pull harder on, it’s easier to get good rotation, as the ramps are steeper at the top.
What do think of courses over there, being a lot smaller than the ones we tend to have here in Australia?
It’s not too bad. The Euro courses are really basic with two or three ramps, but the small arenas mean there is hardly any time to brake when you land, as the wall comes up pretty quick. It’s hard to do One-Handed Take-offs, No-Handed Landers or Side-Saddle Landers. The last round I rode in Basel was the tightest course and I hadn’t planned to do a Side-Saddle Lander, but during the run I thoguht I’d give it a go, as it’d play in my favour. I landed and came at the wall, and my front wheel washed out a bit, but I managed to still pull it up in time. It was close, but.
So are you planning on competing in the entire series?
I miss out on Turkey this weekend because of the Nitro Circus stop in Sydney, but I’ll do the rest of them this year.
Are you surprised at how good your results have been?
I know what I’m capable of, and I knew it’d be close between the top three. I was hoping I’d regularly be on the podium, so it’s been reassuring that I’m doing as well as I’d hoped I would. And that reassurance has given me more confidence, especially as I now know what I’m up against and what to expect. I don’t really have to do anything dramatically new or different tricks and still finish on the podium, but if I can go back with good Seatgrab Flip and a big Underflip, that’ll help me even more.
Your plans were to originally head to America this year. Has that changed now that you’ve got a grommet on the way, and your great results in Europe?
Not really, I still want to base myself in the US. For the first year I’m going to try and get ourselves set up and comfortable with baby, then bring the baby over with us. Hopefully by the end of next year I can buy a house in the States, get a good visa to stay there for a few years. All my sponsors are there and they’d love to have me living in the States. There’s a lot more happening, and it’s closer to Europe, so yeah, that’s still the goal at this stage.
Nice one. Thanks ,Robbie, good luck on the Nitro Tour.
Thanks mate.
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