Instafamous: 5 of John Langlois’ personal favorites

John Langlois is a street trials prodigy, and one of the most tech riders out there. His ability to combine high level bmx tricks with high level trials moves has resulted more than 26000 followers on his Instagram. Out of more than 800 posts, we asked him to pick five of his personal favorites, and tell us what they mean to him.

First of all, let’s get some facts on the table:
Name: John Langlois
Age: 25 years old
Occupation: Professional rider and doing shows for Infinity Street
Lives: Antibes, South East of France
Sponsors : Inspired Bicycles, Sick Series, Game of Bike
Discipline : Freestyle Trials, MTB

What’s the best thing about trials?
You can practice it everywhere and whenever you want. You don’t need a lot of infrastructure. A sidewalk or a big wall are funny to play on for street trials riders. And it’s a way to express yourself.

What’s the worst thing about trials?
I think it’s the mental aspect. I mean, if you don’t have a determination, you can’t improve. It requires a lot of tries and it takes a long time to get a good level in trials. It’s so technical, and that’s why we don’t have a lot of riders in our discipline, I think.

Why should people follow you on Instagram?
I can’t say you should follow me. But if you want to see new combo lines and tricks, you can do it! I try to be creative and do stuff that has never been done before.

1. Show with Danny Macaskill
Probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. Like lot of people out there, I have been a fan of Danny since the day I started riding. In 2013 I did my first shows with the French show team Freestyl’air, after five years of riding. That was already a big personal dream achieved.

And in 2018, Duncan Shaw from the Drop and Roll team contacted me for a show in Zürich. I had already met the guys in Glasgow in 2017, so I knew them a little. But I was stressed out to meet them again, as I don’t speak very good English, so it was difficult to really integrate with the team. That was frustrating. But, the guys were so cool and funny. For the shows, it wasn’t any problem, because I’ve done a lot of them before. The guys were surprised of my riding and it was a good feeling for me.

Thanks to Dave Mackison for capturing this shoot. Every street trials rider want this picture, and I’m so grateful.

2. Riding in Thailand.
I was in Thailand at the end of 2018 for a trip with my best friend. But, without my bike, and this was my first time on holiday without a bike!

In Thailand, the riders contacted me and asked to meet up for a group ride. I really appreciated the request, and I met the guys later. At first I thought two or three guys would show up, because I didn’t think they had lots of riders there. But, when I arrived at the spot, I was shocked to see more than 10 street trials rider.

They even brought a bike for me, and we were riding until the afternoon. I have never seen so many smiles in such a short time! They didn’t speak English, but we had a good time together nonetheless.

After the ride, they prepared a BBQ in the street with Thai food! This is why I love the street trials community, you meet new friends and it’s like a family.

3. Solo sesh with world’s first trick.
It’s looks like a bad, tripod filmed clip, but I chose this post for many reasons. It’s here to prove that it’s all mental. I took my bike for a classic solo sesh, with my phone and some music. And I succeded to do a world’s first, with this 180 nose tap to tiretap tailwhip.

It took something like ten tries to do it. Sometimes you have a shit session, and sometimes you have a sick session. And when you succeed doing something hard, it’s the best feeling!

Quick tip: It’s really good to film yourself, because it’s a good way to improve and see your mistakes.

4. Inspired team video in Malaga
I can’t write about everything that happened at this trip, but it was one of my favourites. I’ve looked at bmx video trips in more than 10 years, and it was a dream to do the same stuff. Different riders from different countries, gathered for a video, and also for the fun.

I did some of my best riding in this video part, and the feeling was incredible. All the riders pushed their limits and it was so good! Can’t wait for the covid-19 pandemic to end, so we can do it again. I want to say thanks to Inspired Bicycles for this trip.

5. A trip to Barcelona.
In the early parts of 2020, before the covid-19 situation escalated, there was a big meet-up with more than 20 street trials riders in Barcelona.

Every street rider knows this famous spot. And I’ve had a dream to send a backflip in the streets, and even more there. Lots of riders motivated me and I had send it! I did it second first try, haha! Such a cool trip with the street family!

That’s John Langlois five personal favorites from his Instagram. Who do you want us to feature next time? Head over to our Facebook page or Twitter account and let us know.

Editor in chief. I'm a pro trials rider and six times Norwegian champion. I've been riding for almost 20 years! I founded Bashguardian because I love this sport and I like writing. Simple as that!

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