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At I Street, if you build it, you name it. This local’s haven for riding has been a formative training ground for Bryn Bingham since he was 12 years old. You may also know him as Brynner the Pinner, but before Instagram pseudonyms replaced our actual identities, Bryn was a grom who simply loved to ride his bike every day.
Growing up, I used to ride in my front yard in a snowstorm on my 16” BMX bike, just trying to get better.
It all started with a red Schwinn that had been in the family for years. Bryn, his sister Lauren, and at least three cousins all learned to ride its fixed gear. Following in the footsteps of his dad, Bryn entered his first cross country race at the ripe age of 6 years old. From that point forward, when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, Bryn would intuitively reply with a “professional mountain bike racer.”
While racing remained at the forefront for the next several years, jibbing and practicing skills became Bryn’s pastime. A group of eight friends formed the R@ [Rat] Patrol. This motley crew of cross country, downhill, and enduro kids began frequenting I Street Bike Park – packing in lines of their own, adding to the street cred of the park that predated their very own existence.
“I Street was an underground riding spot for over 20 years, but it has made a huge resurgence more recently. I talk to people from out of state, and it’s the place that everyone wants to ride when they come to Salt Lake City.”
From 7-years-olds to 60-year-olds, I Street attracts every type of rider with its handcrafted mixture of turns, big jumps, and little techy features. On any given night, there’s 20 to 25 people sitting at the top, waiting to drop in. Where many local digging zones have a “no dig, no ride” mentality, the dedicated crew who digs at I Street consistently take pride in keeping everything dialed and safe for their community to ride.
There’s always new stuff being built. That’s why I Street is so cool because it’s built by riders, for riders, which makes it all unique. Everything flows really well because of that.
The inspiration that Bryn drew from riding at the local jumps was also heavily influenced by the trio of bike movies that shaped his generation – The Collective, Roam and Seasons. Riders such as Graham Agassiz, Matt Hunter, and Kyle Norbraten exposed what was possible on a bike.
“Since I was in the cross country realm for a good part of my childhood, I thought it was cool that you could do that stuff on a bike. It was so far out of my idea of mountain biking, it blew my mind.”
Bryn’s focus migrated towards enduro racing when he was 13 years old as more regional events began popping up. Three years later, Bryn and his sister were scouted to join the Yeti Devo Team and race at national events in 2018.
“Lauren’s been racing almost as long as I have. We got into it at very similar times even though we’re two years apart. It’s cool to have a family member to ride with. We both help and critique each other – it’s a good, healthy positive relationship. I’m super proud of where she’s taken her riding and racing.”
The deeper that Bryn dove into racing, the less time he spent time riding at I Street and riding for fun. The year that Bryn went Pro was the year that he took an intrinsic look at what fueled his motivation to ride.
“I still loved racing, but I wasn’t riding in the creative way that I liked to – that was a big internal dilemma for me. I missed making videos and trying to do weird things on the bike. I had been a racer for my entire life at that point. The skills that I built over the years had begun to fade away. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it well. It always bothered me being subpar at something. To walk away from racing was really hard and it took me months to decide if it was the right decision.”
If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it well. It always bothered me being subpar at something.
With the support of his family, Bryn stepped away from racing shortly after competing at the Enduro World Series Qualifier in Burke, Vermont at the end of the season. The transition from being a race to a media athlete involved evolving his style to meld his former influences.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m stuck between worlds. That’s been the hardest part of the transition. It can be tricky to decide what my riding style is and bring in elements of both. I would like to incorporate my jibby side with my racer side and push that as much as I can.”
The more time Bryn spent away from racing, the more his style has taken on its own persona and diverse his inventory of tricks has become.
This just scratches the surface of where Bryn wants to take his riding. “I'd love to keep being creative on the bike, learn new tricks along the way, keep my speed up, and incorporate the two. That’s what I plan on doing for the rest of my cycling career."
I aspire to be as flowy and crisp as Semenuk. How effortless and controlled he looks on a bike, that is the end goal.
With full-time school and part-time work, it can be challenging to fit it all in. That’s when rising with the sun and fine-tuning his lines until dusk gives Bryn the dedicated time to hone his craft. Like anything he does, Bryn invests his time and energy deeply into his riding, having logged at least 500 days at I Street over the past six years.
With his sights set on pumping out creative content and inspiring others to get out there and ride, Bryn is onto something.
The next trend is just having fun on your bike – no specific genre – just riding your bike and being creative. Jibbing is so accessible – anyone can do it.
–Bryn Bingham
Brynner the Pinner’s Set-Up
Frame: Yeti SB140 Medium Fork: RockShox Pike Ultimate 160mm/37mm off-set Rear Shock: Super Deluxe Ultimate 210x55mm Seatpost: RockShox Reverb AXS 170mm Crankset: X01 Eagle DUB Cassette: SRAM X01 Eagle Derailleur: SRAM X01 Eagle AXS Shifter: SRAM Eagle AXS Controller Brakes: SRAM G2 Ultimate 200 F/180 R Handlebars: Descendant Carbon Riser Bar 31.8mm x 800mm Stem: Descendant 31.8mm x 40mm
Behind the Set-Up
"At 6’1” I went down to a medium, and that’s made a huge difference with jibbability. I run my suspension stiff and quick – about 20psi above my weight. It gives me that extra pop, a little speed, and it’s better for rougher landings.
I like to keep my jib bike pretty light because I’m not the best at spins or 360’s so I need all the help I can get. I like the Pike because it has the perfect balance of stiffness without being crazy heavy. It’s a really playful fork and pairs well with my SB140.
The Super Deluxe makes the bike feel more planted on the days I ride the bike through rough terrain. I feel totally comfortable hitting a trail – it balances it out with the Pike and both give me a similar feel.
Getting rid of cables has made a huge difference. It’s made my bike quieter and I like having super clean cockpits for when I take my hands off of the bars. Learning new tricks, I’m throwing my bike on the ground quite a bit. It’s nice to know I’m not going to snag something or wear out my cables."
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