The Red Bulletin September 2020 (UK)

Fabio Wibmer
SCREW UP
But even for a rider so experienced
in creating something from nothing,
success isn’t guaranteed. Wibmer says
many of his ideas end up going nowhere,
“because in reality they didn’t turn out
like I saw them in my head. Or they end
up being totally lame, even though I’d
imagined they were ingenious”.
However, according to the Austrian,
that doesn’t matter. Part of being truly
creative is allowing for mistakes and
potential humiliation, and being prepared
to do stuff that might end up being
useless. In fact, Wibmer says, it’s often
the very ideas that seem the most
hopeless that are most worth pursuing.
“There are people who give up on
a trick if they haven’t managed to pull it
off after 30 goes,” he says. “If I can do a
trick within 30 goes, I’m not interested.
It can’t have been hard enough. I’m only
excited by a trick if it takes me 200 or
300 goes to do, like in the Home Office
video where I flick a basketball into the
basket with my rear wheel.”
“Ideas and
stress don’t
mix. You have to
find what helps
you switch off”
When tenacity alone isn’t enough,
Wibmer still won’t give up. On those
occasions, he falls back on his creativity
to find a workaround that will help
bring a good idea to fruition. “Once,
when I was in the garage, a bike that I’d
turned upside down for repair caught my
eye,” he says. “I thought, ‘What would
it be like to jump onto a bike in that
position and create a mirror image?’”
His first attempts left him battered
and bruised. “Then I had the idea of
fixing the lower bike to the spot and
locking the brakes.” And the trick
worked. You can see it now in the
Home Office video, along with the
basketball sequence.
GET INSPIRED
“I’ve always been inspired by what other
people do,” says Wibmer, “and then
I’ve made it my own.” This is what made
a spring day in 2009 the most important
of Wibmer’s life. The rider, then aged
14, was searching the internet when
he happened across Inspired Bicycles,
a video by Scottish trials-bike titan
Danny MacAskill. “I knew right away
that I wanted to do something similar,”
he says.
Wibmer immediately switched his
motocross bike for a trials bike and used
MacAskill’s videos to teach himself
tricks. He began to post videos of his
progress, too, and gradually built up
a community of his own. He first met
his idol in 2012 at a Red Bull Wings
Academy workshop. “I was so nervous
I couldn’t speak,” says Wibmer. “He’s
such a big inspiration.“
They stayed in touch, and MacAskill
ended up making Wibmer an offer.
MacAskill was looking for people to
join him on a show tour, as part of his
professional street trials team, Drop and
Roll. Wibmer accepted. He’s now the
youngest member of the team of four,
who perform live across Europe, turning
fans’ heads with flips of all kinds off
ramps, down ladders and over bespoke
obstacles. It’s all a far cry from the
meadow in Oberpeischlach.
FIND SOLUTIONS
When it comes to seeking inspiration for
his next challenge, Wibmer doesn’t limit
himself to the bike community. Over the
years, he’s learned the value of looking
further afield. “I’m interested in how
other communities or sports approach
a problem,” he says. “Sometimes I
watch skateboarders and try to repeat
their moves. In Home Office, I jump off
the roof and onto a tree, then slide
down it sideways. I got that idea from
parkour videos.”
Once an idea is set, the Austrian gears
up to test it out. “Ideas and stress don’t
mix,” says Wibmer. “If you want to be
creative, you need something to help you
focus. You have to find the one thing that
helps you switch off and come into your
own.” Clearly, Wibmer has found his.
Watch Fabio Wibmer’s videos, including
Home Office, at youtube.com
76 THE RED BULLETIN