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Racing World Cup DH isn’t easy under any circumstances, but doing so after a spinal cord injury — and needing to relearn how to walk, much less ride — is something else entirely. Brook Macdonald pulled it off, but he’s also struggled with bike setup, burnout, and more over the last couple of seasons. For 2024, though, he’s got a new team, a new bike, and a renewed hunger to race — we sat down to hear all about it.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Getting a fresh start for 2024 (2:24)
Coming back from breaking his back in 2019 (4:09)
What does (and doesn’t) work in a DH race bike (18:06)
Moving to Forbidden (23:40)
Hardline Tasmania (26:58)
Losing weight (35:44)
The evolution of DH racing (39:04)
Changing race tracks (50:05)
Brook’s 2024 goals (54:42)
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Georgia Astle is one of the many ultra-talented riders to come out of Whistler, BC — but she actually grew up kitesurfing and doing a whole bunch of other sports, rather than mountain biking. Once she fell in love with mountain biking in high school, though, her rise through the ranks was astonishingly rapid — first as a racer and later as a freerider — and we sat down with Georgia to hear all about it, including the state of Enduro racing and women’s freeride, Georgia’s goals for 2024 and beyond, and a whole lot more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Growing up in Whistler and not mountain biking (2:44)
Getting into racing (7:51)
Georgia’s meteoric rise (13:42)
DH vs. Enduro as a privateer (21:32)
The folly of eMTB racing (31:06)
Moving to freeride (34:04)
The state of women’s freeride (39:06)
Georgia’s 2024 plans (48:52)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Dakotah Norton finished the 2023 DH season strong, with two podiums and a 6th place finish over the final four races, but as he put it, the season started with “near failure.” We sat down with Dakotah to talk about the struggle of finding consistency at the limit; his move to Mondraker Factory Racing and the dissolution of his former team at Intense; the state of DH racing both at home and abroad; how to better develop up-and-coming American DH racers; and a whole lot more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Getting up to speed with the new team (2:20)
The 2023 season (3:45)
Finding consistency in a chaotic season (6:34)
The dissolution of Intense Factory Racing (17:35)
Finding a new team mid-season (21:38)
The state of World Cup DH racing (22:41)
Broadcasting races (25:34)
Running World Cup DH (30:25)
Developing American DH talent (33:42)
Dak’s 2024 goals (41:09)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Gravel racing has exploded in recent years and Sarah Sturm — who only started racing bikes in college, after burning out on competitive soccer — quickly vaulted to stardom in the sport. So we sat down with Sarah to hear the surprising and hilarious story of her path into gravel racing; chat about the struggle of not excelling at something you’ve dedicated a lot of time and energy toward; the evolution and professionalization of gravel racing; the overall state and health of the sport; and a whole lot more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Introducing Sarah (1:25)
Racing cyclocross & moving to gravel (2:49)
Sarah’s first forays into mountain biking (6:46)
Being the “doomsday prepper of bike racing” (19:20)
The evolution of gravel racing (27:37)
“Marginal gains people” (39:22)
The health of the sport (45:51)
Sarah’s 2024 plans & goals (51:22)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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On our second episode of Reviewing The News with hosts Simon Stewart and Ryan Palmer; Ryan may have uncovered what Kyle and Rachael Strait are keeping secret before their big announcement on Friday (March 8th); Simon considers adopting Ronan Dunne’s pre-race hydration program after watching his incredible Red Bull Hardline winning run; there’s a brake lever lawsuit to talk about; Ryan’s father-in-law’s souped-up scooter; exploding lithium-ion batteries; and Cannondale’s wild Moterra SL lightweight full-powered eMTB.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Fezzari name change (2:53)
Kyle and Rachael Strait’s new bike sponsor (4:38)
Red Bull Hardline Tasmania (8:44)
The dangers of racing Hardline before a World Cup DH season (12:35)
Brake lever lawsuit & the broken health care system (22:13)
Dutch police field testing e-bikes (34:22)
Lithium-ion battery task force in NY (47:18)
Frankenstein Batteries (49:40)
Lithium-ion battery safety (50:51)
Cannondale Moterra SL (1:00:32)
The future of lightweight lower-power eMTBs (1:13:28)
Cornhole College Scholarships (1:21:37)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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High-pivot bikes are becoming increasingly common but they’re still mostly reserved for longer-travel Enduro and DH models. Given that, Norco’s decision to move their 150mm-travel Sight and especially the 125mm-travel Optic to that layout was arguably a bit of a surprise — and it wasn’t one Norco made lightly.
So we sat down with Norco engineer, Colin Ryan, to get the rundown on the new Optic and Sight, including the decision to go high-pivot and the testing that they used to validate it; how the suspension design of the new bikes differs from their other high-pivot models (and the prior-generation Optic and Sight); their new Ride Aligned setup guides; and a whole lot more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Introducing Colin (2:50)
The new Optic & Sight (3:47)
Test mules for the new bikes & lessons learned (10:06)
Shock spec and developing tunes (19:29)
The new Ride Aligned setup guides (23:58)
Wheel sizes (31:37)
Geometry (37:32)
Sprindex springs & making setup easier (42:51)
Idler pulley testing (44:23)
The Fluid & getting weird with the Optic (46:23)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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The first Tasmanian edition of Red Bull Hardline is coming up, so we sat down with Ed Masters to talk about the event, building and testing the course, and getting prepared to ride it. Along the way, we talk about Pivot’s wild prototype DH bike, the state of Enduro and DH racing in general, Ed’s outlook on the future, and a whole lot more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Ed’s injury updates (3:49)
Hardline Tasmania (7:36)
The Pivot DH prototype (10:58)
Hardline course building and testing (14:47)
The state of Enduro racing (19:17)
How to fix racing? (24:39)
World Cup Downhill (37:14)
Coping with uncertainty (45:20)
Ed’s 2024 plans (48:31)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Continental’s overhauled gravity tire lineup has had a lot of success, both on the World Cup Downhill circuit and with everyday riders (we’ve personally been huge fans of the Kryptotals).
It’s a big departure from their prior offerings, with 5 new tread patterns to go with overhauled casings and rubber compounds, and we sat down with Alexander Hänke, the product manager behind the lineup, and Dan Brown, the CEO of Atherton Bikes and Team Director of Continental Atherton Racing, to talk all about their development, hear their takes on what makes a good tire, and a whole lot more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Introducing Alex and Dan (1:46)
Where to start when overhauling a complete tire lineup? (4:02)
Designing tires for World Cup Downhillers vs. mere mortals (9:24)
Beginning the development process (13:12)
Starting with casing designs & their importance (16:42)
Tread pattern design (22:38)
Splitting the Kryptotal into front and rear models (25:08)
The Continental gravity tire lineup (28:32)
Rubber compounds & why softer doesn’t always equal more grip (33:56)
Choosing which variants to offer (42:02)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Blister reviewer Zack Henderson makes his Bikes & Big Ideas debut to talk with David Golay about a bunch of the bikes they’ve been testing, including the Nicolai Nucleon 16 Supre Drive, Ibis HD6, and Chromag Lowdown (and they tease some other upcoming reviews that they can’t yet talk about in detail).
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Chromag Lowdown (2:10)
Orbea Rallon (8:57)
Ibis HD6 (19:36)
Nicolai Nucleon 16 (29:05)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Simon Stewart is joined by bike industry veteran, Ryan Palmer, to kick off the inaugural bike-focused edition of Reviewing the News.
Ryan and Simon tuck into what happened to Greg Minaar and Santa Cruz; Mondraker’s new focus on the U.S market and their stacked World Cup DH Team; the state of the industry in both manufacturing and retail going into ‘24; UK bike companies that are struggling; a quick look at some new products, and more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Introducing Ryan Palmer (2:30)
Greg Minaar, the G.O.A.T, leaves Santa Cruz (8:08)
Mondraker making a big push in the U.S market (15:50)
Mondraker also investing heavily in a stacked DH team (17:55)
Dakotah Norton and Ronan Dunne racing for Mondraker (18:19)
Dakotah Norton working with Yoshimura Cycling (19:18)
Turbulent time for UK bike companies (20:54)
Orange Bikes having difficulty (20:54)
Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof also in trouble (22:42)
Fickle time for the bike industry (24:31)
How will 2024 look for new products (27:20)
Made Bike Show & Artistry of handmade bikes (27:58)
Steel full-suspension bikes (30:49)
Trail access / B.O.L.T act (34:45)
OneUp V3 Seatpost (38:36)
Muc-Off gloves (46:04)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Moving up to Elite Downhill racing from Juniors is hard, but Rónán Dunne made that leap in 2021, and promptly started getting great results — despite only racing a handful of World Cups as a Junior and never even making it out of qualifying. After three strong years racing for Nukeproof, Rónán has moved to the new Mondraker Factory Racing team for 2024 and beyond, so we sat down with him to hear all about it, including how he started putting together such strong results so quickly; the state of DH racing in general; Hardline and its new two-race mini-series; and a whole lot more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Rónán’s introduction to racing DH (2:11)
Joining the Nukeproof team (3:36)
Rónán’s breakout 2021 season (5:21)
Putting together consistent results (6:57)
The Snowshoe 2023 race (12:31)
Leaving Nukeproof (16:06)
The team landscape for 2024 and beyond (19:03)
Joining Mondraker Factory Racing (21:39)
Hardline (25:31)
Rónán’s track preferences (27:04)
The state of DH racing & what Rónán would change (28:42)
The semifinal format (30:04)
Rónán’s 2024 goals (33:24)
Working toward a World Cup win (34:29)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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There are a lot of good reasons to try mountain biking at night, from simple necessity during the colder, darker months to seeking a new challenge and experience. We sat down with Outbound Lighting’s Tom Place to make the case for (safe) night riding, talk about light design, how to think about putting together a light setup for your needs, and much more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Tom’s background & founding Outbound (7:21)
What makes a good bike light? (14:04)
How to choose a light setup (22:14)
Bar vs. helmet lights and their different requirements (30:33)
Power output, battery size, and runtime (35:59)
Features (41:52)
Why ride at night? (47:31)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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When Ruben Torenbeek founded RAAW back in 2016, he had a clear vision for the sort of dependable, no-nonsense bikes he wanted to build. He clearly wasn’t alone in wanting a bike in that vein, because RAAW is going strong with an expanding model lineup, a bigger team, and so on.
So Ruben and David Golay sat down to chat about all of it, including why things like carbon fiber frames and fancy details don’t necessarily equate to higher performance; his philosophy on bike design and how he’s gone about designing bikes to both ride well and be easy to live with; the expanding RAAW lineup and how it’s evolved over the years; and a whole bunch more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Founding RAAW (2:12)
The original concept for the brand (6:36)
Bike weight & its relevance (or lack thereof) (11:03)
The V1 Madonna (14:59)
Cable routing (19:34)
Ride feel and being “in the bike” (23:53)
Launching RAAW & the initial reception (30:41)
Evolution and growth of RAAW (37:15)
The Jibb (44:05)
The Yalla! (45:38)
The Madonna V3 (47:15)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Vorsprung Suspension has been making a wide range of suspension upgrade products for quite some time now — and we’ve been very impressed with a number of them — but they’ve yet to offer a full standalone fork or shock. That’s about to change.
So we sat down with founder and engineer Steve Mathews to hear all about the new coil shock that they’re developing, including a whole lot about its design, Vorsprung’s goals for it, how the prototyping and testing process is going, and a whole lot more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Why build a shock now? (3:05)
Designing a new shock vs. tuning products for existing ones (10:21)
The design (14:01)
High- and low-speed rebound adjustments (24:52)
Why coil? (29:10)
Will there be an air version? (32:11)
Packaging & bike fitment (33:50)
Mounting standards (38:11)
The biggest challenges (50:21)
Picking test bike platforms (55:09)
Availability & pricing (59:20)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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We got the gang back together to recap a whole bunch of the bikes and other gear we tested in 2023, and Simon Stewart, Dylan Wood, and David Golay picked a bunch of our favorites, including bikes across the travel spectrum and a variety of softgoods. Along the way, we get into bike design and geometry tradeoffs, headset cable routing, and much more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Cannondale Habit
Velocio Trail Access Pants
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Forbidden might be *the* company most closely associated with high-pivot bikes, but Owen Pemberton didn’t set out with that goal in mind when he founded the company. We sat down with Owen to hear all about his journey through the bike industry, including a long tenure as an engineer at Norco; founding Forbidden; his philosophy on bike design and geometry; how he ended up settling on high-pivot suspension layouts; the new Druid V2 and Supernought; and Owen teases some future Forbidden models, too.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Owen’s path into the bike industry and tenure at Norco
Founding Forbidden
High-pivot bikes and the V1 Druid
Chainstay lengths & proportional geometry
Trifecta V2 & suspension kinematics
What’s next from Forbidden?
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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EXT founder Franco Fratton has more experience working on suspension than just about anyone, and today, we’re revisiting our first conversation with him that kicked off our “Very Deep Dive on Suspension” series, where we discuss all the details when it comes to suspension design and tech.
RELATED LINKS:
A Very Deep Dive on Suspension with EXT’s Franco Fratton, Pt. 2 (Ep. 146)
A Very Deep Dive on Suspension with EXT’s Franco Fratton, Pt. 3 (Ep.173)
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
TOPICS & TIMES:
Dampers vs. Shock Absorbers (1:42)
Sprung vs. unsprung mass (7:39)
Coil springs & the need for dampers (8:59)
History of damper design (9:31)
Adjustability vs. damper quality (21:28)
Orifice dampers (23:22)
Valve types (28:03)
High- vs. low-speed adjusters (29:42)
Range of adjustments (35:49)
Damping “knee” (41:47)
Twin tube vs. monotube dampers (46:55)
Damper design philosophy (59:25)
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William Boisvert made his first bike frame — a machined front triangle for a Devinci Troy — in just seven weeks for a college project, and despite the challenges that arose (and the fact that that first frame didn’t survive very long), he’s continued the development of a CNC-machined high-pivot Enduro frame, and founded Tool to bring it to market. The prototypes are visually stunning (and quite interesting technically), and we sat down with William to hear all about their design and the concepts behind it; why he’s opting to machine and bond his frames; what’s next with their development and when they might be available to buy; and a whole lot more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
William’s first bike project (7:12)
The difficulty of building something (11:44)
William’s first ground-up design (18:12)
Suspension travel, geometry, & modularity (30:23)
Prototypes (33:42)
Machining frames & “human scale” manufacturing (36:50)
Moving toward production (44:25)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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A lot of companies have offered bikes with a degree of adaptability in their geometry and travel configurations, but the Albatross Apogee Module is a very novel design that opens up a much wider spectrum of options than most. We sat down with founder and engineer, Will Hilgenberg, to chat about the concept; what he sees as being the advantages of the layout; frame materials and ride quality; his plans for production; and more.
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TOPICS & TIMES:
Founding Albatross (3:29)
Dropped seatstays (5:51)
Recumbents? (12:30)
Frame materials & ride quality (15:07)
Full suspension bike development (16:58)
The Apogee Module (18:38)
Suspension kinematics (22:41)
Flexibility & adaptability (23:38)
Geometry options & customization (31:45)
Moving to production (34:03)
Why “Albatross”? (36:36)
Hardtails (37:42)
“Bikes for everyone” (39:00)
The ordering process & customization (40:26)
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Two races into the 2022 EWS season, Katy Winton hit a breaking point and pulled out of the rest of the series to give herself the time and space she needed to get her mental health back on track. Having made a successful return to racing in 2023, Katy is now ready to open up about the experience.
We sat down with her to talk about burnout and what her experience with it felt like; when she knew she needed to punch out and step away from racing; what her recovery process looked like; how she managed to come back in 2023; what the future holds for her career and Enduro racing more broadly; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
The 2022 race season and pulling the plug (3:41)
Going public with the news (13:54)
Katy’s recovery from burnout (17:13)
Mental performance coaching (21:15)
Lessons learned (30:05)
Making a career of mountain biking (33:26)
Bike setup & feeling at home (38:03)
Getting back to racing & the 2023 season (50:52)
The 2024 season & what comes next (54:23)
RELATED LINKS:
Katy Winton on 2021, Life as an EWS Pro, & Signing With GT (Ep.103)
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OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Founding Intend (2:18)
Fork design & the first Intend offering (5:24)
Why inverted? (7:09)
Selling inverted forks & market acceptance of things that look different (8:52)
Designing a full fork (17:16)
Damper design (20:16)
The Infinity EN (24:42)
The Bandit (38:32)
The Hover shock (43:12)
Brake design (48:17)
Deciding which projects to tackle (57:07)
What’s next for Intend? (1:00:26)
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Neko Mulally’s Frameworks project has drawn a lot of well-deserved attention, and now he’s opening pre-orders for the production version of his World Cup DH race bike. So we sat down with Neko to hear all about everything that’s gone into the development of the bike this season; his experimentation with different frame materials; the wildly talented Asa Vermette joining the team; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Opening preorders for the DH bike (2:14)
Refining the details (10:02)
Changes from the prototypes to production (20:44)
Frame materials (31:14)
The Frameworks Enduro bike (43:00)
Injury recovery and 2024 plans (1:01:23)
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The stats of the Tour Divide route — 2,670 miles and 192,000 feet of climbing, mostly on dirt — are imposing, and Lachlan Morton just covered it in a record-setting 12 days, 12 hours, and 21 minutes. So we sat down with him to hear about what it takes to plan, prepare for, and execute such a wild undertaking, how it went, why Lachlan already wants to go back and re-ride the course, but slowly, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
The Tour Divide route
Record ethos & riding self-supported
Planning the attempt
Bears
Timing & mishaps
Nutrition
Payday bars
Sleep strategy
Decision-making, fatigue, and risk tolerance
Bike setup & gear
Derailleur mishap
The record
What’s next?
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The Contra MC — a US-made, steel, high-pivot Enduro bike — is an ambitious project by any measure, and designing and prototyping the bike is just half the battle. So we brought Evan Turpen, the driving force behind Contra, back on the show to talk about refining a prototype design and knowing when to stop tinkering; what goes into bringing a design to production and the challenges that arise from that; what he’s learned along the way; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
The MC (2:55)
Design refinement & knowing when to stop tweaking (4:29)
Ramping up to production (17:26)
Tooling and streamlining the process (32:14)
UDH compatibility & the SRAM Transmission (45:36)
The Beyond Racing team & the DH bike prototypes (52:49)
Future refinements (1:04:15)
Finishing & cosmetics (1:12:27)
RELATED LINKS:
Ep.118: Contra Bikes on Building a Bike From Scratch
Ep.176: Anna Newkirk and Abby Hogie on Beyond Racing, the Contra DH Bike, & More
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Privateer has been working on the second-generation versions of their 141 and 161 bikes for three years now, and Dan Hicks, the engineer behind the project, has a ton to share about the thought process behind the updates and bike design in general — and does a great job of explaining all of it. So we sat down with Dan for a very deep dive into the new bikes, and he shared a ton of thoughts that are going to be interesting to anyone who cares about mountain bike design — whether or not you’re in the market for a Privateer.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Dan’s background & role at Privateer (2:12)
The goals of the 141 and 161 V2 (2:55)
The E161 (6:02)
Sizing bikes & proportionality (10:13)
Geometry adjustability (25:34)
Suspension kinematics & shock tuning (29:16)
Sag & suspension setup (37:12)
Pedaling performance (44:16)
Pedal kickback vs. chain feedback (46:19)
Wheel sizes (56:26)
Cable routing (1:01:12)
Bottom-out bumpers & shock progression (1:19:46)
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When it was announced that Red Bull Formation wasn’t happening in 2023, there was a lot of hopeful speculation that, in its place, there would be women competing at Rampage for the first time. But that didn’t happen either, so we sat down with three of the top freeriders in the world — Casey Brown, Vaea Verbeeck, and Hannah Bergemann — to get their thoughts on how we got here, why they want a women’s category at Rampage (and what they’re doing to make it happen), why representation at the top tiers of the sport is important, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Vaea Verbeeck: (1:31)
How we got here (1:55)
Postponing Formation (4:32)
Formation as a stepping stone to Rampage (7:30)
How to get to a women’s category at Rampage (12:05)
Hannah Bergemann: (19:49)
Working behind the scenes to organize the riders (20:10)
Advancing the state of women’s freeride (21:57)
Structuring a women’s category at Rampage (23:43)
The growth of women’s freeride (26:14)
How to move forward (28:31)
Formation alongside Rampage (30:07)
The response to women at Rampage (34:26)
Casey Brown: (36:12)
Casey’s interest in Rampage (36:24)
Why hasn’t a women’s category happened yet? (38:33)
Organizing a women’s category at Rampage (41:00)
Why is a women’s category important? (42:59)
Growing women’s freeride (45:23)
RELATED LINKS:
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OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Simon Stewart, Dylan Wood, and David Golay sat down to talk about a bunch of the bikes they’ve been testing lately, from the short-travel Cannondale Habit to the very not short-travel Canfield One.2 Super Enduro; some eMTBs including the new Santa Cruz Heckler SL; a head-to-head comparison of high-pivot Enduro bikes from companies very large and very small; and a whole bunch more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Cannondale Habit (1:40)
REEB Steezl (6:24)
Santa Cruz Heckler SL (11:39)
Devinci E-Troy (17:52)
Propain Tyee (21:44)
Canfield One.2 Super Enduro (29:00)
Contra MC & Trek Slash (34:57)
Irish World Cup DH Results (43:40)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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High-pivot bikes are having a moment. Mullet bikes and steel full-suspension frames are too. And while gearbox mountain bikes haven’t achieved widespread popularity (yet?) they’ve got their ardent supporters. The Archibald Cycles AC1 brings all those elements together in a Canadian-made Trail / Enduro / Park bike, and the end result looks pretty interesting. So we sat down with Archibald founder and designer of the AC1, Alex Troughton to hear all about the bike, his goals for it, when it might reach production, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
The origins of Archibald Cycles (2:21)
The AC1 (4:30)
Frame design & material selection (12:37)
Alex’s fabrication background (18:09)
Geometry & adjustability (22:10)
Gearboxes (25:43)
Belt vs. chain drive (30:36)
Moving to production (34:34)
The Archibald name? (39:57)
Pricing (41:44)
Potential other models (43:18)
Tailored sizing (45:37)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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It’s rare for a small but well-established custom bike builder to make the leap to overseas-built production bikes, but Adam Sklar has done just that. While it might be easy to romanticize the idea of a custom hand-built bike made by a single builder, Adam speaks very openly about the ways running that version of Sklar had ceased to feel like the way he wanted to bring bikes into the world; the challenges (and high points) of building custom bikes; coming up with a production lineup after years of making such varied custom offerings; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Adam’s founding of Sklar (3:07)
Turning Sklar to a business from a hobby (5:22)
The custom era (6:34)
Surviving as a custom builder (7:58)
The custom bike-building process (9:33)
Evolution of Sklar’s custom business (19:22)
Adam’s North American Handmade Bike Show winning bike (21:28)
Material selection (22:33)
Working with titanium (25:26)
Moving to production bikes (28:06)
Sklar’s stock offerings (31:35)
Overseas production (34:40)
Lessons learned in production (39:18)
Dangle Supply (41:10)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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We recently launched Gear Therapy over on our GEAR:30 podcast and now we’re bringing it over to Bikes & Big Ideas, too. For our first session, we chatted with Blister Member Andy Majewski about his bike quiver and the ways it’s evolved; how he might better dial in his current bikes to suit his needs; what bike would make the most sense to add to his quiver; why he needs the Philadelphia Eagles to go back to the Super Bowl for that to happen (it’ll make sense, we promise); and more discussion of a lot of bike gear and its tradeoffs.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Meet the Patient: Andy Majewski (1:43)
Andy’s Bike Quiver (5:12)
Suspension Performance & Anti-Rise (8:44)
Suspension Setup (12:55)
Wheel Selection & Tradeoffs (21:09)
eMTBs & Andy’s Specialized Levo (28:52)
Quiver Expansion & the Philadelphia Eagles (42:51)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Trek’s new sixth-generation Slash has changed a lot from the prior-generation bike — including a high-pivot suspension layout, some big updates to the geometry and suspension kinematics, and a default mixed-wheel size setup — and we sat down with Matt Yerke, the lead engineer on the new Slash, to learn all about it. Matt walked us through the design goals for the Slash; their early experiments with high-pivot Trail bikes, including prototyping the layout on what would become the current Fuel EX; a ton of the design considerations that went into the new bike; how he sets up his personal Slash; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Introducing the new Slash (1:33)
Matt’s role at Trek (1:59)
Goals for the new Slash (2:52)
The first prototypes, and dialing in front-rear balance (4:01)
High-pivot bikes & choosing to go that route on the Slash (5:54)
Anti-squat & pedaling performance (10:38)
Idler pulleys and drag (14:20)
Geometry & other details (15:08)
Mullets & their tradeoffs (18:59)
Chainstay lengths for mullets vs. 29ers (22:35)
Axle paths & suspension kinematics (25:48)
Frame adjustability (33:33)
Matt’s personal Slash setup (36:18)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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D3O’s non-Newtonian materials are used extensively in mountain bike protective equipment from a lot of different brands, and David Golay recently sat down with their Senior Vice President of Marketing, Kevin Franks, and their Head of Product, Kevin Fleer, to talk about the state of the mountain bike armor market; the ways it’s changed in recent years; where D3O sees it going in the future; the tradeoffs inherent in designing armor; testing standards for armor and how D3O thinks about them; armor for kids + the challenges in designing it; and much more. Along the way, Kevin and Kevin talk about D3O’s use in everything from consumer electronics to Formula One, and tease some upcoming new bike products, too.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Introducing Kevin Franks and Kevin Fleer (2:09)
What is D3O? (3:13)
Differing formulations and applications of D3O (6:50)
Tradeoffs in armor design (11:08)
Testing standards for bike armor (15:26)
Limb protection standards vs. helmet ones (17:57)
D3O versions and their tradeoffs (23:06)
Areas for improvement in MTB armor (27:31)
Evolution of the MTB protection market (30:35)
Working with partner brands to design armor (32:52)
Fitting armor and army data (34:12)
Designing armor for kids (35:45)
The future of MTB protection (39:09)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Chromag has been doing things very differently from most bike companies for decades now, helping to pioneer modern hardcore hardtails — and doing so in Whistler, BC, in the shadow of the legendary bike park — not exactly classic hardtail terrain.
So when Chromag launched their first production adult full-suspension bikes late last year, it wasn’t a huge surprise that the Darco and Lowdown stood out from the rest of the bike market in a number of ways, from geometry to material selection and more. We sat down with Chromag engineer Joe Swann to get the story behind their development (which stretches back more than a decade); chat about the design goals for the bikes and the ways that Chromag went about achieving them; material selection and the ways that Chromag thinks about choosing the right one for a given application; our impressions from having spent quite a bit of time on the Darco recently (full review coming soon) and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Joe’s role at Chromag (3:16)
Chromag’s first full-suspension prototype (4:02)
Hitting the reset button (7:39)
The design goals for the Darco and Lowdown (9:07)
Chromag design identity, and carrying that over to the FS lineup (11:40)
Material selection (15:21)
Tuning frame stiffness (18:04)
The Darco (22:26)
The Lowdown (27:04)
Material selection, Pt.2 (29:36)
Brand identity & going FS (31:52)
The 155 prototype (34:05)
Upcoming models? (42:02)
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David Golay, Dylan Wood, and Simon Stewart sat down to chat about a whole bunch of the bikes we’re reviewing currently, from the Chromag Darco to the Commencal Supreme, with a ton of other ones in between, including the Pivot Shuttle AM and the Trek Fuel EXe AL. Along the way, we discuss bike design more broadly; eMTB drive systems and their tradeoffs; and a whole bunch more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Chromag Darco (0:56)
Pivot Shuttle AM (8:28)
Trek Fuel EXe (18:31)
Rocky Mountain Instinct Powerplay (26:13)
eMTB drive systems (32:38)
Canfield One.2 (38:39)
Commencal Supreme V5 (42:30)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Aptos, CA is a small beach town that has produced an incredible number of world-class mountain bikers, and Ryan “R-Dog” Howard has a lot of great stories to share about the scene that gave rise to him, Cam and Tyler McCaul, and too many more to list — not to mention serving as the winter riding escape for the likes of Brandon Semenuk, Martin Soderstrom, and many others. And along the way, we chat about everything from Ryan’s incredible catalog of custom-painted bikes and where he gets his inspiration for them, to building community around riding, “the best trip of my life,” as Ryan put it, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Ryan’s injury update (2:30)
The Aptos, CA MTB scene (4:54)
Competitive drive & finding motivation outside of it (8:57)
Rampage (14:23)
The Post Office Jumps & Ryan’s formative years (17:28)
Going pro as a rider (24:43)
Custom-painted bikes & design inspiration (26:23)
“Roadkills” & “the best trip of my life” (35:05)
The new company vehicle (39:29)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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When Jacob Rheuban founded Prevelo in 2017, he had no engineering background and no experience in the bike industry, but identified a need for better kids' bikes, and set out to fill it. And now, more than six years later, he’s got a lot of great stories to tell and insights to share about both what it takes to start a bike company from scratch, but also what makes for a good kids’ bike, and how their needs differ from those of adults; what it took to get folks (even dedicated bike riders) to accept higher-end kids’ bikes as worthwhile; where the kids’ bike market can and should go from here, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Prevelo’s founding (2:49)
Why kids' bikes? (8:06)
Designing kids’ MTBs (12:05)
The future of kids' bikes (19:39)
Customer adoption of higher-end kids' bikes (22:05)
Kid’s bikes and weight (29:05)
What makes a good kid’s bike? (32:40)
Testing geometry and feedback from kids (36:08)
Specialization of kids’ bikes (38:22)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Miranda Miller has done a lot of different things in her career, from winning DH World Champs to racing the EWS (and now EDR), but in the last few years she’s branched out more than ever and is having more fun than ever before. So we sat down with Miranda to chat about her DVRGNT Minds project and how she charted this new course for her career; getting into gravel riding as a gravity-oriented mountain biker; the Downhill Southeast scene and the return of grassroots DH racing; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
DVRGNT Minds & moving away from full-time racing (1:40)
Returning to DH? (9:35)
Getting into gravel riding (10:58)
Choosing riding destinations (16:46)
The Japanese mountain bike scene (18:27)
Racing goals (23:06)
Downhill Southeast, and the reinvention of the US DH scene (28:38)
Miranda’s 2023 plans (33:16)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Happy Hour (for Blister Members)
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When we first had Lal Bikes founder and Supre Drive inventor Cedric Eveleigh on the show about a year and a half ago, he’d just announced the Supre Drive — a wild take on reinventing the mountain bike derailleur — to the world. A lot has happened since then, including the first production Supre Drive bikes being delivered to customers, so we brought Cedric back on the show — joined by fellow Lal engineer Alex Ham — to tell their story of launching a new company and trying to get the industry and consumers alike to adopt a seemingly radical new idea for how mountain bike drivetrains could be laid out. Cedric and Alex do an outstanding job of peeling back the curtain on everything that goes into starting a new bike company and many of the inner workings of the bike industry at large.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Introducing Alex (1:41)
Delivering the first Supre Drive bikes (3:32)
Moving the company (5:13)
Alex joining Lal (16:17)
Getting bike companies on board (19:39)
The Nicolai Nucleon 16 & Designing a frame for the Supre Drive (38:18)
Ramping up into production (44:18)
RELATED LINKS:
Lal Bikes on Reinventing the Derailleur (Ep.94)
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Summer is in full swing and we’ve been testing a ton of new bikes and gear, so I sat down with Simon Stewart and Dylan Wood to chat about some of the things that have stood out to us the most, including a variety of bikes, SRAM’s Transmission (including the new GX version), and along the way, we veer off on a few tangents, including some discussion of the World Cup Downhill season so far.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Revel Ranger (1:56)
- Commencal T.E.M.P.O. (7:32)
- SRAM Transmission (8:28)
- World Cup DH (16:55)
- Fox Union Shoes (19:11)
- Yeti SB160 (21:18)
- Pivot Shuttle LT (27:01)
- Wolf Tooth Resolve (28:39)
- Akta Trail Knee Pads (36:49)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+ Membership
- BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Deviate Cycles is well known for their high-pivot Trail and Enduro bikes, and that concept has gained a lot of traction in recent years, but getting consumers to accept new ideas can be challenging. Deviate co-founder Ben Jones has a lot to say about the balance of bringing new ideas to market without alienating potential customers; the tradeoffs of gearbox bikes and why they haven’t widely caught on; and much, much more. In this conversation, we also talk about Deviate’s recent efforts to explore bringing production to the UK, including their wild 3D-printed titanium and carbon fiber Lowlander prototype; the Moroccan MTB scene; and the importance of clarity in a brand’s model lineup.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Ben’s Eurobike recap (2:04)
The founding of Deviate (2:43)
The Guide & gearbox bikes (5:51)
Consumer acceptance of new ideas (14:34)
The Highlander (19:12)
The Claymore (22:38)
Morocco’s MTB scene (33:16)
Deviate’s model lineup & the importance of brand consistency (35:06)
The Lowlander 3D printed Ti prototype (37:32)
The challenges and benefits of onshoring production (44:58)
Why titanium + carbon fiber for the Lowlander? (49:24)
Launching the company with Asian production (54:20)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Beyond Racing started as a pipedream of Anna Newkirk and Abby Hogie: wouldn’t it be cool to have a World Cup race team that you run and race for with your best friend? Few people have the skills or determination to make it happen, though, and the story of what Anna and Abby — with the help of none other than Eliot Jackson — have pulled off is a great one. So we sat down with the two of them to hear all about the founding of Beyond Racing; why they chose to go that route rather than getting on established teams; moving to Contra Bikes for 2023 and the wild tale of how that came about; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Crankworx Innsbruck prep (2:18)
Starting Beyond Racing (2:52)
Naming the team (9:49)
Launching a World Cup race team (16:35)
The Beyond Racing support structure (20:17)
Coaching (25:07)
Moving to Contra bikes (28:14)
Prototyping the Contra DH bike (35:28)
The 2023 season so far (48:19)
Anna and Abby’s goals for 2023 and beyond (57:09)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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We’re testing a ton of new bikes with more on the way (stay tuned!) so David Golay recently sat down with Dylan Wood and Simon Stewart to talk about the Revel Ranger and Commencal T.E.M.P.O.; offer more thoughts on the new SRAM Transmission; and give a rundown on a whole bunch of suspension we’re testing from EXT, Öhlins, and Manitou.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Commencal T.E.M.P.O. (1:15)
Revel Ranger (7:08)
SRAM Transmission (14:20)
Orbea Wild (25:11)
Öhlins TTX Air (41:55)
Manitou Mattoc (48:08)
RELATED LINKS:
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Making it as a World Cup Downhill racer is hard and, as we discuss in this episode, the new rule changes to the series for 2023 just might make it harder. So we sat down with Wyn Masters, whose incredible new Privateer Program — the escalation of his longstanding Privateer Award, whose past winners include Camille Balanche and Nina Hoffmann — to talk about all of it, including why he started the award in the first place, how the race landscape has changed over the course of his career, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Privateer Program (2:51)
- Successes of the Privateer Award (4:32)
- Privateer life (7:58)
- World Cup rules changes (9:41)
- Improving the format (12:25)
- Choosing winners for the Privateer Program (15:07)
- Lenzerheide 2023 (17:25)
- Changing approach for the new race format (19:10)
- Predictions (20:44)
- Rider’s Association (23:45)
- Fostering up-and-coming racers (25:27)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+ Membership
- BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
EXT Suspension founder Franco Fratton is a wealth of information when it comes to all things suspension, and in the third installment of our deep dive on suspension series, Franco and I cover everything from the tradeoffs between air and coil springs to the history of coil springs being used on wheeled vehicles; EXT’s new Aria air shock; inverted vs. conventional forks; and Franco teases an upcoming EXT project as well.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Air vs. coil springs & their historical uses (1:28)
Packaging limitations & the modularity of bikes as a double-edged sword (22:15)
Why EXT started with coils, and the lessons learned to get to building an air shock (32:55)
EXT’s upcoming dual-crown fork (38:59)
Inverted vs. conventional forks (39:29)
The future of MTB suspension (41:42)
Active suspension & how we could get there (52:42)
RELATED LINKS:
A Very Deep Dive on Suspension, Pt.1 (Ep.140)
A Very Deep Dive on Suspension, Pt.2 (Ep.146)
BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Designing, prototyping, testing, and refining a carbon fiber wheel is deceptively complicated. Things like weight, stiffness, vertical compliance, and durability are the standard buzzwords for talking about a new wheelset, but how do you strike the right balance between all of them, and how do you go about validating a new design? And what how does athlete feedback factor in, especially considering that the needs of top-level pros aren’t exactly the same as those of mere mortals?
We sat down with Kell Kirby and Travis Tomczak of Forge+Bond, as well as F+B athlete Jill Kintner to talk about all of that, and along the way, we get into the differences between thermoset and thermoplastic carbon fiber, why Forge+Bond uses the latter when the vast majority of carbon wheels (and other carbon fiber bike parts in general) take the thermoset path, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The founding of Forge+Bond (2:29)
- Travis’ role (3:44)
- Kell’s intro & roll at Forge+Bond (6:10)
- How Jill got involved (7:48)
- The vision for Forge+Bond (9:35)
- Why thermoplastic carbon fiber and what is thermoplastic carbon fiber? (15:58)
- Why aren’t thermoplastics used more widely in the bike industry? (18:05)
- Where do you start designing a wheel? (20:57)
- Jill’s feedback and the role of athlete testing (30:39)
- Forge+Bond’s design philosophy (35:43)
- How to iterate on a design (39:45)
- Learning from prototyping (42:15)
- The current Forge+Bond product line & the recyclability of carbon fiber parts (46:33)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+ Membership
- BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jesse Melamed won the 2022 EWS Overall, and then, despite that success, made the move to Canyon from longtime frame sponsor Rocky Mountain. So we sat down with Jesse to chat about what he changed with his mental approach and bike setup to make the 2022 season come together; why it was time for a team change despite that success; his decision-making process in choosing his new race bike from Canyon’s extensive line; the start of the 2023 season, including Jesse’s insane save at Maydena; the new EDR point structure and race format; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Jesse’s 2022 EWS Overall Title (3:18)
- Bike setup for the 2022 season (8:38)
- DH vs. Enduro (10:20)
- Bike setup for racing vs. riding for fun (11:42)
- Richie Rude & the battle for the EWS Overall (15:28)
- Jesse’s race prep and approach (21:05)
- Moving to Canyon (25:55)
- Changing bike setup & approaching getting on a new one (30:28)
- The start of the 2023 season (43:10)
- The new 2023 Enduro point structure & merging with the UCI (48:21)
- Jesse’s “near-death” save (51:02)
- Growing and managing Enduro racing (55:37)
- Jesse’s 2023 goals (1:02:27)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+ Membership
- BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
After tackling broader questions like “which bike and ski brands are the current holders of their respective ‘Cool Kids Belts’” in Part One of Bikes vs. Skis, 2023 last week, we’re diving into the head-to-head comparisons: which bike company is most comparable to Rossignol skis? Who is the ski equivalent of Guerrilla Gravity? And many, many more.
And we’ll be back with a third installment next week, so let us know what your best comparisons are, what we got wrong, and/or if there’s a specific company you want us to touch on.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Santa Cruz (2:18)
- Road bikes as XC skis or frontside carvers (5:22)
- Santa Cruz, cont’d (11:24)
- Specialized (17:00)
- Major brands as innovators (20:41)
- Rossignol (25:18)
- Transition (27:33)
- Which brands have the best marketing? (29:52)
- ON3P (35:57)
- Yeti (38:32)
- K2 (51:06)
- Guerrilla Gravity (56:52)
- Atomic (1:03:38)
- YT (1:11:17)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+ Membership
- BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
- Bikes vs Skis, 4th Edition (2023): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 2
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Richie Schley is one of a kind — pioneering freeride mountain biker, former pro skier, hilarious storyteller, & much more — and in this conversation, we cover a lot of ground, from the early days of freeride MTB to the current state of the sport and what he’d like to see change, and along the way we chat about his recent bachelor party; how Richie was too early in adopting fanny packs; how hard it is to get new ideas to achieve widespread adaptation; and a ton more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Richie’s bachelor party (2:56)
- Early freeride & the Kamloops scene (4:44)
- Pulp Traction (11:55)
- The Fro Riders & things starting to click (19:02)
- Early freeride bike evolution (23:29)
- Balancing pro skiing & MTB careers (36:04)
- Refining bikes & gear (41:03)
- Bringing about change & consumer skepticism of new ideas (45:06)
- The growth and expansion of freeride (47:35)
- The “sanitization” of freeride (53:53)
- Rider empowerment & evolution of the sport (57:18)
- Richie’s 2023 plans (1:03:35)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+ Membership
- BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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When Payson McElveen rode across Iceland in a single pull a few years ago, he found something in that effort that’s not present in his racing career and immediately knew he wanted to follow it up with something in the same vein. So he dusted off his globe, and after an immense amount of planning, he put together a monster route across Tasmania, spanning 360 miles and nearly 35,000 feet of climbing — most of it on dirt — and set out to ride the whole thing straight through. And while the physical effort to do so was immense, Payson does an incredible job of telling the story through the lens of self-discovery and finding something different in this form of cycling than what he gets out of racing.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Recent race results & changing approaches (3:51)
- “Crossing Iceland” & The follow-up, “Crossing Tasmania” (6:37)
- Emma Flukes & local knowledge (11:44)
- Planning the route (18:03)
- Scouting and pre-riding (29:23)
- The ride (32:10)
- Racing mentality & switching that off (36:33)
- Payson’s takeaways from the ride (45:50)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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We just got back from the 2023 iteration of the Sea Otter Classic, and while we’re definitely still recovering, we sat down to chat about a bunch of the most interesting new gear we saw at the show — including Push Industries’ mysterious new fork, a bunch of new drivetrains / drivetrain components, a ton of new DH bikes, and a whole lot more. And we also discuss a few of the broader trends that we saw at the show, first and foremost the proliferation of headset cable routing.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Push’s new fork (1:38)
- TRP’s new drivetrain (5:13)
- SRAM T-Type derailleur disassembly (11:08)
- Classified’s two-speed hub (14:24)
- DH bikes galore (16:54)
- Headset cable routing (22:15)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Project Bike Tech was founded to answer the question “what if there was something like high school auto shop classes, but for bikes?” And now 15 years later, they’re operating in dozens of schools across a bunch of states, and are expanding rapidly. So we sat down with their Executive Director, Mercedes Ross, to talk about what Project Bike Tech does and how they designed their curriculum; what kinds of career paths their alumni have had; what it looks like setting up a new chapter & how you can get one in your community; & much more.
TOPICS & TIMES
- What is Project Bike Tech? (2:37)
- Project Bike Tech’s History (4:05)
- The Project Bike Tech curriculum (6:58)
- Expansion & opening new chapters (10:12)
- Project Bike Tech’s community impact (14:11)
- Alumni trajectories (17:36)
- Project Bike Tech’s goals (21:38)
- How to get involved (25:48)
- Project Bike Tech’s new trailbuilding arm (32:47)
RELATED LINKS
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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We’ve been hard at work testing a whole bunch of new bikes and gear, and David Golay and Simon Stewart sat down to talk about a whole bunch of it, including comparisons of two very different Enduro bikes, the Yeti SB160 and Cotic RocketMAX; two long-travel, big-battery eMTBs, the Pivot Shuttle LT and Specialized Turbo Levo; the new SRAM Transmission, and a bunch more — and along the way they tease some new bike releases that are coming very soon. Keep your eyes on the site.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- SRAM Transmission (2:51)
- Yeti SB160 (9:33)
- Cotic RocketMAX (13:42)
- Pivot Shuttle LT vs. Specialized Turbo Levo (17:38)
- Forge+Bond 30 EM Wheels (30:40)
- Fox Union Shoes (37:20)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Bikes have become much, much better built over the last couple of decades, but Jason Quade felt like the tools to work on them hadn’t kept pace, and (sort of accidentally) founded Abbey Bike Tools to fill that gap in the market. And now more than a decade later, Abbey has an extensive catalog of some of the best-quality bike tools out there. So we sat down with Jason to look back on the founding of Abbey and have him tell the (excellent) story of how it came to be; how they’ve built out the line after starting with a single tool; what it’s like dealing with the ever-changing standards of the bike world; how the industry could make life easier for mechanics (both professional and consumer); and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Abbey Bike Tools State of the Union (3:31)
- Founding Abbey & the Crombie (7:38)
- Growing & moving into a real shop (16:26)
- Jason’s background (18:10)
- Building out the Abbey lineup (22:13)
- Product development & the Abbey truing stand (25:40)
- Keeping up with ever-changing standards (28:16)
- The bike industry & streamlining things (33:26)
- SRAM Transmission (35:06)
- Origins of the Abbey name (38:49)
- Jason’s forrays into frame building (41:35)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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There aren’t many riders who do such a wide range of riding as well as Phil Atwill. He’s had great results on the Downhill World Cup circuit, his film parts are super varied and impressive, and on top of all that he’s also now running the Propain Positive team. So we sat down with Phil to get his takes (and stories) from all of it, including the burgeoning Greek MTB scene, the changes to the 2023 World Cup format, what it’s like running a team while also racing and filming a ton, and much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Phil’s intro to MTB (2:31)
- The Propain Positive Team (10:00)
- Greek MTB scene (14:13)
- Trail building (21:38)
- Phil’s filming process & “Clutch Kicking” (22:59)
- Valparaiso Urban Downhill (25:11)
- Hardline (29:52)
- Phil’s favorite events (30:56)
- Mental prep for filming (32:30)
- Doing shots with the Greek police (33:45)
- Phil’s favorite people to ride with (35:22)
- Changes to the World Cup format & the late start to the season (38:03)
- Phil interviews David (44:46)
- Running a team (48:31)
- Phil’s 2023 goals (51:44)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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The new Eagle Transmission is a big addition to SRAM’s lineup and while it still uses a derailleur, cassette, and chain as we’re all used to, a lot of the details are very, very different. So we sat down with SRAM’s Chris Mandell to talk about the new groupsets and the thinking behind them, from the “Full Mount” derailleur, to all the ways that they’ve simplified installation and setup, the new controllers, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Why’s it called a “Transmission”? (1:58)
- The derailleur (3:50)
- Eagle Transmission tiers (14:12)
- Transmission compatibility & support for older drivetrains (20:48)
- Transmission setup (22:28)
- Shifting under load (32:08)
- Cross-compatibility (41:18)
- Cassette gearing (45:25)
- Controllers (47:15)
- New Stealth Brakes (53:52)
RELATED LINKS:
- SRAM Eagle Transmission
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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There are a lot of people doing amazing things on bikes and putting together mind-blowing video segments, but nobody does it quite like Caleb Holonko. His Lights Out edit from late last year was absolutely wild, and his recent follow-up, In the Know was a very worthy sequel. So we sat down with Caleb to chat about his approach to riding, filming, and building trails; the ways that growing up in North Vancouver influenced his riding; blending classic North Shore features with modern style; how he gets ready to go huge; risk mitigation; Rampage; & a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- North Shore influence & Caleb’s biking idols (3:16)
- Filming & digging to film (9:52)
- The double drop in Lights Out (13:15)
- Flipping the train gap (18:53)
- Getting mentally and physically ready to go huge (25:20)
- Building big features and figuring out what is (and isn’t) going to work (28:28)
- Risk mitigation (35:24)
- Caleb’s career goals (38:41)
- Rampage (40:53)
RELATED LINKS:
- Lights Out
- In the Know
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Cotic Bikes was an early pioneer in the UK’s hardcore hardtail scene, and now 20 years later they’re still doing things their own way — including making a line of (mostly) steel full-suspension bikes to go with those hardtails. So we sat down with their founder, Cy Turner, to get the super interesting story of Cotic’s founding and development; Cy’s approach to bike design and why they do things pretty differently from a lot of other brands; why Cotic puts such an emphasis on custom builds, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- 20 years of Cotic (2:51)
- Cotic moving from a side project to a career (3:17)
- Cy’s first real mountain bike (12:10)
- The first Cotic Soul (17:20)
- UK’s culture of hardcore hardtails (20:05)
- Cotic’s first full-suspension bike (22:34)
- Steel full-suspension bikes (28:02)
- The first Cotic Rocket (29:38)
- Suspension layouts & single pivots (35:06)
- Droplink suspension (39:31)
- Frame stiffness (49:12)
- Cotic build specs & customization (57:03)
- Our upcoming RocketMAX review (1:02:02)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Magnus Manson is just 24 years old, but his racing career has largely been on hold for the last few years as he’s battled cancer. And despite his young age, Manson has taken on his fight with remarkable poise and maturity. So David Golay sat down with Magnus — who is now officially in remission — to talk about his experience; how he used bikes as a motivational tool through chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant; racing while undergoing treatment; his 2023 plans and goals; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Magnus’ cancer diagnosis (2:22)
- Starting chemo (5:25)
- Returning to racing (12:26)
- Racing with cancer (19:33)
- Motivation (23:32)
- Training through treatment (26:42)
- Chemo, part two (30:35)
- Stem cell transplant (35:13)
- Magnus’ 2023 goals (41:06)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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The most interesting segment of the current mountain bike market just might be the 140–150 mm travel Trail bike range, with huge diversity in the on-trail performance and feel of the various options available. And so we sat down to chat about a bunch of the very different bikes in that class that we’ve been spending time on recently, including the Esker Rowl, Trek Fuel EX, Ibis Ripmo V2S, and the Starling Murmur. And we also touch on our impressions of the new Transition Smuggler and Pivot Shuttle LT, too.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Esker Rowl (1:55)
- Trek Fuel EX (11:06)
- Ibis Ripmo V2S (17:50)
- Starling Murmur (24:10)
- Transition Smuggler (28:28)
- Pivot Shuttle LT (32:53)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Chris Currie has worn a lot of different hats over several decades in the bike industry, and his latest venture, Ministry Cycles, is making big headway on a very, very interesting-looking machined aluminum frame, the Psalm 150. And so we sat down with Chris to hear about the origins of the project — which has its beginnings back in the 2000s — and along the way Chris shares a lot about his philosophy on suspension design; what goes into starting a bike company; how he’s gone about product development; why he named the company Ministry; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Chris’ ribs (2:28)
- 3VO suspension (4:08)
- Suspension design for early 29ers (7:49)
- Patenting a suspension system (12:43)
- Building sample frames (26:10)
- Licensing 3VO (34:41)
- Founding Ministry (43:58)
- Engineering a frame (48:24)
- Machining a frame (48:24)
- The Psalm 150 (59:41)
- What’s next for Ministry? (1:15:25)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Racing World Cup DH is hard. So is designing a bike to do it at the top level, and running a team isn’t exactly a cakewalk either. But after a season of doing all three concurrently, Neko Mulally is still having a blast, and is running his Frameworks team and self-designed bike back for a second season. And so we sat back down with Neko to catch up on how the 2022 season went, what he learned from year one, what’s changed with the bike (it’s a lot), and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Lessons learned from the Gen 1 bikes (2:48)
- Mid-pivot bike (10:18)
- Neko’s broken finger & the start of the WC season (17:23)
- The mental battles of racing (21:19)
- Regrouping between Lourdes and Fort William (23:18)
- Bike updates & development (25:40)
- Carbon fiber rear triangle (40:59)
- Steel front triangle? (56:16)
- Rock Creek (1:03:41)
RELATED LINKS:
- Neko Mulally (Ep.100)
- BLISTER+
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Climbing 8,600 feet is a pretty big day on the bike no matter how you slice it, but it balloons into something else entirely when it’s going up the Whole Enchilada trail in Moab, Utah, with a commitment to pedaling every inch, and cleaning every move. But Braydon Bringhurst pulled off that wild feat, and produced the excellent 8600FT film about the effort, so we sat down with him to get the whole story, including a ton of insights into his mental approach, the immense level of preparation that went into the climb, his bike setup, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Climbing the Whole Enchilada?? (3:03)
- Sports psychology & mental preparation (8:58)
- The crux moves (17:36)
- The Snotch (30:18)
- The Snaggle (38:11)
- Scheduling & planning (43:02)
- Gear & nutrition (49:01)
- Bike setup & Training (53:35)
- Overcoming doubts (1:00:07)
RELATED LINKS:
- 8600FT
- BLISTER+
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Geoff Kabush has been racing bikes professionally for longer than just about anyone — and at 45, he’s still going strong. So we sat down with Geoff to hear about his unconventional beginnings in mountain biking; how the sport has changed over the course of his career; what’s kept him motivated nearly three decades into his career; skiing; social media; and much, much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Starting “mountain” biking on a 10-speed (3:25)
- Social media & athletes (11:01)
- World Cup XC to a more varied schedule (20:41)
- Geoff’s favorite events (26:44)
- Underbiking (29:32)
- The evolution of XC racing (34:53)
- Product development (38:55)
- Longevity (43:17)
- Skiing (46:08)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- David’s Spot Testimonial
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Just a few years ago, Jakob Jewett thought he wanted to be a professional skier — and was racking up strong results in freeride competitions. But fast forward to 2023, and he’s now got his first season of Elite World Cup Downhill racing under his belt, and has just signed on as the newest member of Pivot Factory Racing. So we sat down to chat with Jakob about his move to racing bikes and what flipped that switch for him; his approach to racing & learning consistency from the one and only Troy Brosnan; the upcoming 2023 season, including the new qualification rules and race format; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Joining Pivot Factory Racing (2:53)
- Jakob’s 2022 season (4:17)
- Race Weekend Prep (7:40)
- Offseason prep, training, and mental resets (12:24)
- Bike setup (14:49)
- Track preferences (16:17)
- 2023 season changes (18:18)
- Evaluating risk and achieving consistent race results (19:46)
- Jakob’s 2023 goals (26:48)
- Racing DH vs. branching out (28:29)
- Freeride skiing (32:58)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- David’s Spot Testimonial
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Most small bike manufacturers don’t dive straight into running a World Cup race team, but Gamux isn’t most companies. So we sat down with their founder Pascal Tinner to talk about all the ways that Gamux is doing things differently — from putting such a strong emphasis on racing, to building a fully-machined DH frame, with a Pinion gearbox and a belt drive to boot. And along the way, we get into frame geometry, mullet bikes, some teasers of upcoming Gamux models, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Pascal’s lifetime in racing (3:10)
- Frame development (7:40)
- Andreas Kolb & working with athletes (12:08)
- 2021 Prototype (16:09)
- Pascal’s engineering background (28:03)
- Belt drives & gearboxes (35:49)
- Mullets (43:15)
- Frame geometry (46:28)
- Running a race team (51:12)
- Upcoming production bikes (57:11)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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2022 was Blister’s busiest ever year for bike reviews, and we’ll have even more coming your way in 2023. But before we dive headlong into the new year, we wanted to sit down and recap a bunch of our favorite bikes and gear that we tested last year, including suspension, brakes, tires, and more. And along the way, we chat about bike versatility vs. specificity, tease some upcoming reviews, and a bunch more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Orbea Rallon (6:30)
- Revel Rail 29 (9:37)
- Pivot Shadowcat (11:56)
- Kavenx VHP 16 & Canfield Jedi 29 (16:50)
- TRP DH-R Evo (23:59)
- Hope Tech 4 V4 (28:43)
- SRAM GX AXS (31:44)
- RockShox ZEB (35:53)
- Ride Concepts Tallac Boa (39:10)
- Rimpact Pro (43:49)
- Continental Kryptotals (48:00)
RELATED LINKS:
- Eric Olsen (Ep.126)
- Matthew Fairbrother (Ep139)
- BLISTER+
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Velocio co-founder Andrew Gardner enjoys biking in many different forms, and earlier this fall, he and Jonathan Ellsworth went on a gravel ride through New England — which Jonathan, something of a gravel biking skeptic, found to be delightful. So Andrew, Jonathan, and David Golay sat down to talk about gravel riding and how / why mountain bikers might find it to be more enjoyable than we think; the ways that the various biking communities silo themselves off, and how that serves many people poorly; why “gravel” riding is a lousy term; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Jonathan’s introduction to gravel riding (4:50)
- David’s (lack of) gravel experience (9:58)
- Andrew’s background in all bike disciplines (12:11)
- Why the term “gravel” isn’t very accurate (20:36)
- Gravel as a race discipline vs. just a way people ride bikes (24:35)
- Identity as a bike rider & siloed cliques (31:22)
- Re-defining the term “gravel” (35:17)
- The case for mountain bikers trying gravel riding (44:17)
- Velocio (54:53)
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Ed Masters is always good for an entertaining story — and his recap of his extremely wild Vallnord race run from earlier this year is reason enough to tune into this episode. But Ed also has a whole lot of insights to offer into what makes a race season come together; how he approaches race day — on both the Enduro and DH bikes; the delicate balance of risk vs. reward and where to push the limit; and the importance of consistency and stability for a successful team. So we get into all of that, plus the upcoming management of World Cup DH by ESO and the pending rule changes; some of our favorite moments from the 2022 season; mentoring up-and-coming talent; and much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Hitting the reset button after 2021
- Goal setting for 2022
- Finn Iles’ Mont Sainte Anne run
- Bernard Kerr & Pivot Factory Racing
- The “extra 0.5%”
- Race tactics
- Fear
- Ed’s wild Vallnord run
- Risk vs. reward & taking chances
- ESO & the 2023 season
- Up-and-coming riders on Pivot
- Team dynamics & staying loose
RELATED LINKS:
- BLISTER+
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Ellie Smith is the reigning Australian National DH Champion (having won the race on an Enduro bike, no less), and that was just the start of her 2022 season. So we sat down with Ellie to chat about her breakout year and what she learned over the course of the season; racing many different disciplines; bike setup and European vs. Australian DH tracks; her mental approach to racing and what does (and doesn’t) work for her; welding food manufacturing equipment for Mars Foods (!?!), and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Getting introduced to MTB at school sports day (2:42)
- Clicking with racing (6:23)
- Australian National Champs & winning on an Enduro bike (8:39)
- Crankworx & forming a plan for the 2022 season (13:09)
- Bike setup (20:41)
- European vs. Australian DH tracks (22:42)
- Norco Range DH (25:06)
- Racing Enduro vs. DH & the mental side of both (28:23)
- Lessons learned from 2022 (35:16)
- Coping with pressure (37:53)
- Crankworx (39:17)
- Ellie’s 2023 plans (41:47)
- Privateer life (43:29)
- Welding & working on food equipment (47:59)
RELATED LINKS:
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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Though ski season is well underway in much of the Northern Hemisphere, we’re still testing a lot of bikes, too, and have updates on what we’ve been spending time on. So we sat down to chat about the especially-aggressive Canyon Spectral 125, the super-adjustable Trek Fuel EX, the impressive (and surprising) Santa Cruz Nomad, and a bunch more. And we also discuss some of the upcoming bikes that we’re most excited to spend time on soon.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Canyon Spectral 125
- Trek Fuel EX
- Ibis Ripmo V2S
- Fezzari La Sal Peak
- Revel Rail 29
- Santa Cruz Nomad
- Most exciting new bikes
RELATED LINKS:
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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We’re continuing our deep dive on suspension technology with EXT’s Franco Fratton, and this week, it’s all about dampers: how they’re built, how they work, how EXT goes about designing them, and more. And along the way, we debunk some common misconceptions about damper performance and design, too.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- How a damper is built (3:13)
- Orifice dampers (10:03)
- Oil displacement (16:33)
- Damper consistency (21:33)
- Hysteresis (30:48)
- Choosing targets for damper design (33:11)
- Critical damping (38:16)
- Rebound vs. compression damping rates (42:36)
- Mountain bikes vs. other off-road vehicles (47:31)
- Heat & dampers (53:46)
- “Living inside a damper” (1:05:14)
- Valve design (1:07:13)
- Shims vs. poppet valves vs. spool valves (1:14:11)
RELATED LINKS:
- Franco Fratton (Ep.110)
- A Very Deep Dive on Suspension, Pt.1 (Ep.140)
- Blister Summit 2023
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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A lot of small frame builders start out just making the bikes they wanted to ride, but not many come up with anything nearly as polished-looking — or involving as many exotic construction techniques — as Machina Bikes. So we sat down with Tom and Sion to talk about their wild carbon fiber / titanium / aluminum Enduro bike (which also features a gearbox and mullet setup for good measure). Along the way, we chat about their process of developing and refining the bike; how and why they settled on the design they chose; what they still want to refine; discuss potential plans for production; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Tom and Sion’s backgrounds (3:04)
- Tom’s original park bike (9:35)
- Development of the Enduro bike (15:27)
- Jointly deciding on specs & design (17:43)
- Prototyping & lessons learned (32:44)
- Choosing a gearbox (42:18)
- Mullets (50:21)
- Racing-driven product development vs. building bikes for fun (1:05:27)
- Production? (1:07:14)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
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We’ve been following the development of the Trinity MTB with a great deal of interest, and Mic Williams is back on the show to talk about the latest developments — of which there are many — including the now-operational custom gearbox, which is poised to pick up where Honda left off with their famous RN-01; some updates to the frame construction; and a lot of other details. And along the way we get into it about his experience testing the V3 prototype at Crankworx; “mistaking the way to perfection”; brain chemistry (?); the prototyping process; & much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Crankworx Cairns (3:16)
- Product testing on a public stage (10:57)
- “Mistaking my way to perfection” (13:19)
- The Gearbox (25:38)
- Prototyping & refining ideas (37:31)
- Status of the V3 Prototype (44:30)
- Handcrafted bikes (47:54)
RELATED LINKS:
- Trinity MTB (Ep. 125)
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Whole Enchilada in Moab is one of the best-known mountain bike trails in the world, but most folks take a shuttle to the top. Hannah Otto just demolished the FKT for the full loop, including the road climb to the top — for men or women — breaking the prior record by almost a full hour. So we sat down with Hannah to get the whole story, including her planning, nutrition, bike setup, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The Whole Enchilada trail (1:46)
- Planning the FKT attempt (7:26)
- Gear selection (11:55)
- Bike setup (15:20)
- Attempting the FKT (17:52)
- Pacing and goal setting (24:39)
- On-bike nutrition (29:47)
- FKT culture & setting personal goals (33:10)
- Hannah’s 2022 race season & becoming a privateer (35:15)
- 2023 plans & goals (44:13)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic\
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Pacific Crest Trail is well known in the hiking world and beyond, but what if there was a mountain biking version? Gabe Tiller has ambitions to establish a route — predominantly on dirt — from British Columbia all the way to the southern tip of Baja Mexico, and founded the Orogenesis Collective to make it happen. With the trail taking form — and slated for a “soft opening” in 2023 — we sat down with Gabe to get the whole story, including his vision for the trail and where the idea first took root; what’s gone into building and planning the trail; what still needs to be done; how you can help; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Origins of Orogenesis (2:20)
- Planning & the Orogenesis Collective (3:53)
- The importance of local relationships (8:43)
- Route finding (17:12)
- The route (21:28)
- How Orogenesis will be used (27:22)
- The name “Orogenesis” (31:21)
- The Pacific Crest Trail as a template (32:42)
- Challenges of building a 5,000+ mile trail (37:19)
- How to get involved in the project (42:27)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Traumatic brain injuries are an unfortunate reality of many outdoor sports, and after professional snowboarder Kevin Pearce suffered one that derailed his career, Kevin founded LoveYourBrain, along with his brother Adam, to provide resources and support for others going through their own journey of recovery. And so we sat down with Adam to talk about everything that LoveYourBrain does, the conversations around TBIs in the action sports world, and a whole lot more — including their fundraising raffle where you can win a Revel Rail29 or Rover.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- LoveYourBrain history & Kevin’s injury (1:57)
- The LoveYourBrain mission (7:19)
- Fostering community (9:31)
- TBI recovery & making peace with a new normal (12:35)
- Changing the perception of TBIs (17:58)
- Improving conversations about TBIs in the action sports world (20:55)
- Prevention education (23:20)
- Supporting someone recovering from a TBI (27:04)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
When we first had EXT founder Franco Fratton on Bikes & Big Ideas back in Ep. 110, we had plenty to cover with just the story of his long and remarkable career in suspension design and didn’t delve too far into the technical side of things. But Franco is an incredible wealth of knowledge when it comes to suspension design, so we’ve got him back on the show to share a whole bunch of that knowledge, in part one of a multi-episode series with Franco. So strap in, you’re going to learn some stuff in this one.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Dampers vs. Shock Absorbers (2:21)
- Sprung vs. unsprung mass (8:12)
- Coil springs & the need for dampers (9:32)
- History of damper design (10:04)
- Adjustability vs. damper quality (22:01)
- Orifice dampers (23:55)
- Valve types (28:36)
- High- vs. low-speed adjusters (30:15)
- Range of adjustments (36:22)
- Damping “knee” (42:20)
- Twin tube vs. monotube dampers (47:28)
- Damper design philosophy (59:58)
RELATED LINKS:
- Franco Fratton (Ep.110)
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matthew Fairbrother showed up in Scotland for the 2022 EWS season opener, at age 17, having never left New Zealand before, and with no plan for what was going to follow that first race. And in what is one of the wildest mountain bike stories of the year, he wound up bikepacking over 3,400 km between races over the course of the season — and still finished 13th overall in the U21 Men’s category. So we sat down to get the whole story, which somehow just gets even crazier from here.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Planning the tour (2:17)
- Matthew’s gear (7:37)
- Bike setup & weight (10:55)
- Matthew’s approach to sufferfests (13:32)
- Hallucinations and “fluffy animals” (15:20)
- Motivation & the mental game (17:40)
- Sleep, nutrition, and animal attacks (22:20)
- Scotland to Switzerland to Slovenia & diving into races (26:17)
- Making it to North America (32:05)
- Other racer’s reactions (34:27)
- Whistler & over-enthusiasm (35:46)
- Moose encounters & crossing the US border (42:44)
- Burke & Sugarloaf races (46:28)
- Wrapping up the EWS circuit in Europe (48:00)
- Lessons learned (54:11)
- The MTB community (58:07)
- Matthew’s 2023 plans (58:53)
RELATED LINKS:
- Eric Olsen (Ep.126)
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We’ve been testing a ton of new bikes and gear (as always) and we’ve got updates on a bunch of it including the new Santa Cruz Tallboy and the RockShox Pike that came on it; the Intense Tracer 279; the Kavenz VHP 16; we chat about crank length and Hope’s new super-short 155 mm option; we offer some updates on our upcoming brake shootout, and thoughts on brake selection in general; and a whole bunch more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Intense Tracer 279 (2:21)
- Revel Rail 29 (15:27)
- Kavenz VHP 16 (18:36)
- Santa Cruz Tallboy (20:55)
- RockShox Pike (23:59)
- Continental Tires (32:39)
- Crank length & Hope 155s (42:14)
- Brake shootout (48:05)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
BTR Fabrications has a well-earned reputation for building burly, aggressive hardtails, and we sat down with Paul “Burf” Burford (the “B” in “BTR”) to talk about his design philosophy and pioneering aggressive hardtail geometry; racing DH on a hardtail; their wild one-off Gasser DH bike; racing with the Athertons; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Burf’s background & founding BTR (2:06)
- BTR’s history & the Belter DH hardtail (9:08)
- Hardtail geometry (15:34)
- The BTR customer (25:53)
- The Pinner Trail full suspension bike (32:39)
- The Gasser DH bike (45:43)
- Burf’s Big Idea (52:17)
RELATED LINKS:
- Ep.125: Trinity MTB
- Ep.93: Williams Racing Products
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Pete Fowler’s path to founding Pinner Machine Shop was an unconventional one, including teaching himself how to be a machinist, running a mill in his kitchen while his partner was at work, and a whole lot of other twists and turns. So we sat down with Pete to get the whole story, and chat about how and why he keeps Pinner running on top of holding down a job at Chromag; saving countless vacations from Whistler bike park carnage; where his product ideas come from; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Founding Pinner Machine Shop (2:17)
- Learning machining & kitchen milling (8:24)
- Sustainability & keeping bikes running (14:26)
- Pete’s design process (19:04)
- Learning, growing, and staying motivated (21:13)
- Chromag (27:59)
- Pete's favorite part of running Pinner (32:14)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
One of the biggest stories of the World Cup Downhill season that just wrapped up has been the formation of the new rider’s association to better collectively advocate for their interests and those of the sport. So we sat down with newly-appointed rider representative Emilie Siegenthaler to talk about why the riders decided to band together, what they hope to get out of the association, how the 2023 season is shaping up, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- What is the association, and why form one? (2:46)
- How Emilie got involved (7:21)
- Goals for the association (10:33)
- Rider safety & concussions (25:47)
- Discovery/ESO & establishing new lines of communication (28:17)
- What we know about the 2023 season (36:04)
- Voting structure of the association (40:42)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Vaea Verbeeck has had a very impressive and varied mountain bike career as a racer (across a wide range of disciplines), a freerider, and a whole lot more. And so just before she headed off to this year’s iteration of Proving Grounds, we sat down to hear her story about the wild early days of her mountain biking odyssey in Bromont, Quebec; the tragedy that got her to refocus and commit to being a full-time pro; what keeps her motivated, and how her ever-evolving riding style is a key to that; injuries and riding without an ACL; and a whole lot more.
And you can watch Vaea and the rest of the athletes at Proving Grounds starting on September 23 at noon Pacific on NaturalSelectionTour.com, and then on ESPN2 on September 25.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Vaea’s Background (2:10)
- The Bromont MTB scene (3:24)
- Stevie Smith & riding with legends (10:34)
- Privateer racing (15:41)
- World Cup racing (22:42)
- Career evolution & keeping things fresh (34:25)
- Formation (40:37)
- Injuries & riding without an ACL & Heading to Proving Grounds (49:28)
- Vaea’s Big Idea (56:09)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dillon Osleger is a man who wears many hats — he’s a professional mountain biker, the head of the Sage Trails Alliance, a climate scientist, a founding member of the Protect Our Winters Bike Alliance, and more. So we sat down with him to talk about all of that, and along the way, we get into how the mountain bike community is growing and evolving for the better; how cool historic trails can be (and how to resurrect them); and much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Rezduro (2:35)
- POW Bike Alliance (7:05)
- Dillon’s background in MTB (9:17)
- Sage Trail Alliance (17:34)
- Climate science (25:21)
- Resurrecting historic trails (31:38)
- Usufruct (36:04)
- Dillon’s Big Idea (48:59)
RELATED LINKS:
- Protect Our Winters’ Mario Molina on the New Climate Bill (Blister Podcast Ep.222)
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We’ve been testing a ton of bikes, suspension, brakes, and other gear, so Dylan Wood and I sat down to chat about a whole bunch of it, including the Pivot Shadowcat, Intense Tracer 279, Canfield Jedi 29, multiple versions of the Manitou Dorado, plus a whole lot more — and we tease a very big upcoming project that is going to be of interest to a whole lot of folks.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- David’s mustache (1:42)
- Rossignol Mandate (2:49)
- Pivot Shadowcat (8:45)
- Intense Tracer 279 (15:06)
- Santa Cruz Megatower & shock testing (20:15)
- RockShox SuperDeluxe Air vs. Coil (27:38)
- Canfield Jedi 29 (38:38)
- Manitou Dorado (45:45)
- O-Chain (50:51)
- Hope Tech 4 brakes (59:13)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Reynolds is one of the biggest names in steel and titanium bike frame tubing, and they’ve just released a very interesting report on the environmental impact of their various product lines. So we sat down with their General Manager, Martin Shepherd, to talk about why Reynolds went through the effort to produce the study and what they hoped to learn from it; what Reynolds is doing to curb their own emissions; how and why all recycling isn’t created equal; and along the way we get into Spitfire airplanes, Jaguar race cars, Roman swords, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Starling Cycles & the impetus for Reynolds’ study
- Spitfires, Jaguar race cars, & the lifecycle of steel
- Goals for the study
- What Reynolds learned
- Recycling, bulletproof cars, and Roman swords
- Reynolds’ next steps
- Where other companies should start
- Steel vs. other materials
- Martin’s Big Idea
RELATED LINKS:
- Protect Our Winters’ Mario Molina on the New Climate Bill (Blister Podcast Ep.222)
- Starling Cycles on Simplicity, Design, & Building Bikes in a Shed (Ep.105)
- Introducing: CRAFTED
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dillon Flinders has some very lofty goals for himself — both on a bike and on skis — so we sat down to talk about them, and how he’s arranging his life to chase both at once. Along the way, we get into the differing cultures of both sports; how a mindset change improved Dylan’s DH race performance; mentorship and fostering the next generation of American DH racers; & much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Dylan’s intro to MTB & Tuning skis to buy a DH bike(3:26)
- Juggling biking and skiing (6:53)
- Mental approach to racing DH, the Outlaw Bike Team, Injuries & recovery (15:49)
- Ski vs. bike race culture (29:10)
- Mentorship & American DH racing (39:09)
- Racing World Cup DH and competing on the Freeride World Tour (46:50)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: CRAFTED\
- Introducing: Open Mic
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Rae Morrison has been at the pointy end of the EWS circuit for the better part of the series’ existence, and we caught up with her shortly before the upcoming Whistler EWS race to talk about how the series has evolved over the years, and what Rae would do differently if she were in charge; the injury and recovery that spurred her to pursue a career as a pro racer in the first place; her bike setup preferences; her unique team setup and balancing both sides of her relationship with her husband and mechanic, Jesse; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Rae’s MTB origins (2:06)
- Injuries & committing to racing (10:08)
- Racing as a privateer (15:53)
- Making the leap to a factory team (19:54)
- EWS over the years (28:20)
- Rae’s favorite places to ride & race (35:32)
- The 2022 EWS season (36:45)
- Relationship dynamics (43:22)
- Bike setup preferences (51:22)
- Rae’s Big Idea (57:35)
RELATED LINKS:
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Crestline Bikes has been teasing some extremely interesting-looking prototypes — especially their high-pivot VPP DH bike — but details on the project have been scarce. So we sat down with founder Troydon Murison and suspension designer Jimmy Davis (of Cascade Components) to talk about the project, including a whole lot of details on their upcoming lineup; founding the company & involving some big names, including Jimmy and Cesar Rojo; getting advice from Greg Minnaar and Neko Mulally; & much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Origins of Crestline (3:43)
- Building the team & The GOAT (14:09)
- Jimmy getting involved (17:28)
- Model lineup (18:11)
- High-pivot VPP DH bike (25:07)
- Adaptability & bike design (28:50)
- When will it be available? (38:03)
- The e-bike (39:18)
- Wheel sizes (42:46)
- The Crestline name (46:30)
- Troydon’s Big Idea (47:16)
- Jimmy’s Big Idea (50:28)
- Bonus Big Idea (52:21)
RELATED LINKS:
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We sat down with Troy, Paul, Pierce, and Jonah from Over The Edge — our Blister Recommended Shop in Fruita, CO; Hurricane, UT; Todos Santos, Mexico; and Melrose, Australia — to talk about the unique history of OTE; building trails in the early days of mountain biking; the development of mountain bike towns; travel & MTB destinations; servicing bikes at Rampage; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Over The Edge’s origin story (4:13)
- Expansion & the growth of MTB towns (6:12)
- Trail building (13:25)
- Paul’s involvement & maturation (20:50)
- The OTE customer (25:30)
- Service turnarounds & saving trips (30:11)
- Travel & MTB towns (32:39)
- The Hurricane shop (35:53)
RELATED LINKS:
- Over The Edge
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Racing the EWS for the first time is a daunting prospect, but Eric Olsen decided to spice things up by bike touring between the first three rounds to boot. So right after his return from Europe, we sat down with Eric to talk about where the idea came from and what his goals were for the trip; how things went, including encountering golf-ball-sized hail & (almost) running over a bunch of schoolchildren; raising money for World Bicycle Relief & the idea of bikes as transportation; how his fellow racers reacted; his company, Jank Components; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Tour de EWS inspiration (3:25)
- Goals for the trip (6:01)
- Route & itinerary (9:53)
- Golf-ball-sized hail & other memorable moments (14:50)
- People’s reactions (18:20)
- Packing a bike & gear (25:48)
- Racing after bike touring (33:37)
- EWS prep & track walks (35:45)
- Running over schoolchildren (37:37)
- Race support & self-sufficiency (43:13)
- European bike touring culture (44:43)
- World Bicycle Relief fundraiser (46:56)
- Lessons learned & teasers for the future (48:50)
- Jank Components (54:19)
- Eric’s Big Idea (57:25)
RELATED LINKS:
- Tour de EWS Blog
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Trinity MTB’s V2 high-pivot prototype can serve dual-duty as an Enduro or DH bike, with or without a gearbox — to say nothing of the 3D printed construction, or any of the other fascinating design details. So we sat down with Trinity’s Chase Warner and Mic Williams to hear all about what is one of the most interesting bikes out there; learn the story behind its development; and get some teasers about the V3 bike, which they promise will be even wilder.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The origins of Trinity & Chase’s initial concept (2:30)
- Getting Nigel and Mic on board (5:10)
- The V1 prototype (12:20)
- Revisions, refinements, & V2 (42:42)
- V3, what comes next, & bringing the bike to market (1:02:55)
RELATED LINKS:
- Ep. 93: Williams Racing Products
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We’ve got a ton of bikes in for testing right now, so David Golay and Dylan Wood sat down to talk about a bunch of the stuff they’ve been spending time on across the travel spectrum, including the new Santa Cruz Hightower and Megatower; some shorter-travel options from Niner and Rocky Mountain; and a couple more Enduro bikes from Kavenz and Pivot.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Niner JET 9 RDO (2:05)
- Rocky Mountain Element (5:40)
- Santa Cruz Hightower (12:49)
- Santa Cruz Megatower (15:47)
- Kavenz VHP 16 (26:27)
- Pivot Firebird (37:19)
RELATED LINKS:
- Reviewer Reports (E.120)
- Kavenz (Ep.117)
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Betty Birrell picked up mountain biking nearly 30 years ago and at 73, she’s still riding serious trails on the North Shore. So David Golay and Kara Williard sat down with Betty to talk about her trajectory as a mountain biker; motherhood; how the sport has (and hasn’t) changed; and the North Shore Betty documentary short that Patagonia released recently. Along the way, Betty shares some great insights on staying motivated and continuing to do the things we love in the outdoors long after a lot of folks have hung it up.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Betty’s introduction to MTB (2:50)
- The early North Shore riding scene (5:57)
- Motherhood & having an “adventure buddy” (13:54)
- Perseverance & keeping going (22:22)
- Risk tolerance & aging (26:29)
- Role models and mentorship (32:05)
- Keeping current (36:15)
- Self-identity & athletics (42:14)
- Betty’s Big Idea (48:01)
RELATED LINKS:
- Episode sponsor: Over the Edge
- North Shore Betty
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hope has been making mountain bike disc brakes for longer than just about anybody, and earlier this year they launched their new Tech 4 lineup of brakes. So we sat down with Hope’s design engineer, Sam Gibbs, to talk about the new brakes & what changed from the prior Tech 3 models; how to choose the right brakes, rotors, and pads for you; and along the way we go pretty deep on the finer points of brake tech and all the tradeoffs inherent to designing them.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Sam’s role at Hope (1:39)
- New Tech 4 lineup (3:55)
- The Tech 4 lever (7:48)
- Caliper design & piston materials (17:18)
- Brake design & tradeoffs (21:57)
- Choosing the right brake for you (32:28)
- Rotor sizes & heat management (39:11)
- Brake pad options & tradeoffs (42:18)
- Sam’s Big Idea (53:32)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
- Galfer on MTB Brake Tech (Ep.81)
- Fanatik
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mountain bikes and beer are a classic combination, but there aren’t many bike companies that were literally founded in a brewery. REEB is one, though (the name is a clue there), and as you might expect from a bike company with as interesting an origin story as theirs, REEB does a lot of things differently. So we sat down with Jeff Lenosky and Adam Prosise to get the rundown on the company history; talk about their model lineup and how each one came about; discuss their manufacturing ethos, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- REEB’s origin story (3:16)
- Jeff & Adam joining REEB (7:01)
- REEB’s design philosophy (15:38)
- Redikyelous (20:11)
- Sqweeb (21:45)
- SST (28:09)
- BREWser (38:32)
- Jeff’s Big Idea (49:27)
- Adam’s Big Idea (50:16)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Become a Blister Member
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER PODCASTS
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We’ve been busy testing a whole lot of new suspension from RockShox, as well as bikes across the whole spectrum, from XC to Enduro, so Jonathan Ellsworth and David Golay sat down in Blister HQ to talk about all of it, including the new Santa Cruz Megatower V2, the Rocky Mountain Element, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- RockShox Flight Attendant (4:48)
- RockShox’s new 2023 lineup (12:38)
- YT Capra (17:33)
- Santa Cruz Megatower (19:30)
- Orbea Rallon (22:56)
- Antidote Carbonjack (25:02)
- Orbea Occam LT (28:36)
- Rocky Mountain Element (31:26)
RELATED LINKS:
OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS
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Jess Blewitt first rode a mountain bike in 2018, but her list of accomplishments is already extensive — including being the two-time New Zealand DH National Champ and having earned a top-ten finish at World Championships — and she’s only 19. So we had Jess on to talk about how she’s put it all together so quickly and how her background as a ski racer helped; her career highlights to date; her brutal crash at Snowshoe and how she recovered from it so quickly; what she’s got planned for 2022 — including a very intriguing teaser — and much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Ski racing & transitioning to MTB (2:21)
- Learning to ride a DH bike & starting to race (6:54)
- Jess’ incredible 2021 season (12:18)
- Formation (15:11)
- Snowshoe crash & recovery (22:54)
- NZ National Champs (27:41)
- Fort William update (30:54)
- Racing vs. freeriding & doing both (33:34)
- What’s next? (37:55)
RELATED LINKS:
- Become a Blister Member
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS
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Lots of mountain bikers have idly thought about designing their own frame, but actually doing it is an entirely different matter. But ex-pro racer Even Turpen took the leap, and his Contra Bikes prototype is nearing production readiness (and was perhaps the coolest thing we saw at Sea Otter this year). So we brought Evan on the show to talk about the bike design and what he wanted to accomplish with it; the a-ha moment that sparked the project in the first place; learning to design and fabricate a bike starting from square one, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Growing up skateboarding & pivoting to mountain biking (2:19
- Working in a bike shop & the a-ha moment (5:54)
- Learning to design a bike (14:10)
- First single-pivot prototype (19:02)
- Learning fabrication (27:04)
- Patent infringement & heading back to the drawing board (40:36)
- Production bike design & status (50:39)
- The Contra name (58:38)
- Evan’s Big Idea (1:01:57)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
- Ep. 117: Kavenz
OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS
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Kavenz founder Giacomo Großehagenbrock got an early start in the mountain bike industry when he landed an internship at Nicolai when he was just 17. He followed that up by founding 77designz, making chainguides, stems, and more, but he still had the itch to design his own bike — so Kavenz and the VHP16 were born. But the story is a lot more complicated — and interesting — than that, so we sat down with Giacomo to get the full rundown, including the trials and tribulations of starting a bike company; the design goals for the VHP16 and all the tradeoffs inherent to bike design; the new VHP18; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Giacomo’s introduction to the mountain bike industry (2:22)
- Founding 77designz (7:12)
- VHP16 design philosophy (10:14)
- High-pivot bikes & their tradeoffs (20:01)
- The new VHP18 (34:49)
- Mullets (38:41)
- Giacomo’s Big Idea (43:15)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS
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We sat down with Rich Frough of Fanatik, our Blister Recommended Bike Shop in Bellingham, WA to talk about bike gear trends, the local mountain bike scene, and Fanatik’s amazing custom bike and wheel building programs.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Fanatik’s history (1:25)
- Rich’s role at Fanatik (3:11)
- The Fanatik customer (4:47)
- Bellingham’s mountain bike scene (7:13)
- Gear trends — locally and globally (9:08)
- Fanatik staff’s favorite gear (20:59)
- Service (25:30)
- Rich’s Big Idea (32:37)
RELATED LINKS:
- Fanatik Website
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS
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A few years ago, Kitsbow undertook an incredibly ambitious plan to move to Old Fort, North Carolina, and bring all of their apparel production to the United States, after years of working with overseas factories. And not only did they do just that, but in doing so they trained an entirely new workforce and spearheaded the revitalization of their new hometown, which had been losing manufacturing jobs for decades. So we brought their CEO, David Billstrom, back onto the show to talk about how they did that while weathering a global pandemic; how doing so has been a boon to the brand, their customers, and their local community; and how they hope to be a blueprint for other companies to do the same.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Covid shields and facemasks (2:22)
- Moving to North Fort, NC (7:58)
- The Toyota Way (22:37)
- Domestic manufacturing & efficiency (29:14)
- Revitalizing a community (35:25)
- Employee purchase as a Public Benefit Corporation (50:12)
- David’s Big Idea (57:46)
RELATED LINKS:
- Ep. 20: How the Outdoor Industry is Helping Fight Covid
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS
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Revel Bikes recently launched the new Rail 29, so we sat down with their founder, Adam Miller, to get the rundown on the new bike and its development process; navigating COVID & the maturation of the bike industry; the rest of the Revel lineup; wheel sizes and mullet-skepticism; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Check-in since last time (Ep. 25) (2:10)
- Revel’s new Rail 29 (5:51)
- Growth & navigating COVID (12:17)
- The maturation of the bike industry (27:21)
- Revel bike lineup (31:19)
- Wheel sizes (37:50)
- Adam’s Big Idea (48:53)
RELATED LINKS:
- Revel Rail 29
- Ep. 25: Adam Miller
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS
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Chelsea Kimball got a later start in MTB than a lot of pro riders, but she’s making up for lost time and is part of the inaugural class of women participating in Darkfest, among a whole lot of other huge accomplishments. So we sat down with her to talk about all of it, including her longtime commitment to van life, Freeride Fiesta and getting props from Yoann Barelli, the state and future of women’s freeride, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Growing up climbing & getting introduced to MTB (1:16)
- Van life & Chevy Astros (7:04)
- Freeride Fiesta (17:54)
- Darkfest & getting women into freeride events (22:14)
- The state and trajectory of women’s freeride (24:00)
- Future riding goals (28:04)
- 2022 plans (29:12)
- Windrock (32:04)
- Path to success in the MTB industry (33:51)
- Chelsea’s Big Idea (39:36)
RELATED LINKS:
- Ep. 108: Yoann Barelli
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS
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Rotational impact protection in bike helmets has deservedly gotten a lot of attention in recent years, and MIPS has long been the pioneering technology in that space. But Lazer thought there was a lighter, more comfortable, more breathable way to accomplish the same goals, and developed KinetiCore to do just that. And so we sat down with Lazer’s Head of Marketing for North America, Chris Smith, to get the rundown on what KinetiCore is supposed to do and how it does it; why Lazer went to the effort to develop their own technology; helmet testing standards and safety; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- KinetiCore design goals (1:37)
- Helmet testing standards around the world (14:22)
- KinetiCore design details (22:45)
- Virginia Tech’s helmet testing & KinetiCore helmet lineup (26:15)
- Jackyl KinetiCore MTB helmet & Accessory mount safety (35:28)
- Chris’ Big Idea (46:34)
RELATED LINKS:
- GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 1: Sweet Protection
- GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 2: Giro / Bell
- GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 3: Pret
- GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 4: POC
- GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 5: WaveCel
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS
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Lea Davison announced her retirement from international racing after the final World Cup of the 2021 season, but she’s definitely not walking away from bikes or racing. So we sat down with the two-time Olympian and 20-plus year XC pro to talk about the career that’s taken up her entire adult life to this point; the highs and the lows; the state of XC racing; mentorship & career evolution; what comes next, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Getting started in bike racing & qualifying for World Championships at 17 (2:06)
- Racing first full pro season without an ACL (6:34)
- Evolution of the XC race scene (11:23)
- What could be improved? (18:56)
- Racing World Cups (21:10)
- Mentorship & development (23:57)
- Competing in the Olympics (27:10)
- Postponement of the 2020 Games (35:28)
- Favorite moments and proudest accomplishments (40:50)
- Career evolution & team roles (45:31)
- What’s next after announcing retirement? (49:13)
- Lea’s Big Idea (54:22)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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There are a lot of smart people working in bike suspension, but EXT founder Franco Fratton might have the most impressive resume — which includes working for the Ferrari and Lotus Formula One teams. And so we sat down with Franco to chat about his career and life story; his suspension design philosophy; how he went from focusing on motorsports to making some of the best bike suspension out there; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Franco’s background in suspension and EXT history (2:34)
- Getting started in bike suspension (15:31)
- Upcoming EXT air shock (24:51)
- Twin tube vs. mono tube dampers (34:08)
- Coil vs. air springs (48:12)
- Novel ideas & gaining acceptance (55:08)
- Franco’s Big Idea (57:56)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
- EXT Era Review
- EXT Storia Review
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Martin Maes practically grew up in the GT pits with his father, and had raced for them since he was a teenager. But he made the move to Orbea for 2022, and so we sat down to chat about his career trajectory and the value of a change of pace; the mental aspects of racing & injury recovery; becoming a father; bike setup for Enduro and DH racing, and a whole bunch more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Fatherhood & the 2021 season
- Concussions & rider safety
- Finishing the season strong
- Signing with Orbea
- Bike setup, sizing, & parts spec
- Racing DH & Enduro
- 2022 Plans
- EWS format & doubleheaders
- Martin’s Big Idea
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Yoann Barelli just announced the formation of his Into The Gnar Progression Team — so we got him back on Bikes & Big Ideas to talk about it. And along the way we talk about Yoann’s career shift into freeriding; what he’s learned about coaching & training in recent years; his plans for 2022 — including teasing some very big news — and a bunch more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- One year on Guerrilla Gravity (2:10)
- Moving away from racing & into freeriding and building (6:48)
- Sponsorship responsibilities & new opportunities to be a pro
- Getting back into training (11:54)
- Coaching Update (17:03)
- Into the Gnar Progression Team (21:19)
- 2022 plans (46:09)
- Freeride Fiesta recap (51:44)
- Yoann’s Big Idea (58:18)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Push Industries is one of the best-known suspension tuners and manufacturers of high-end shocks out there, and their founder, Darren Murphy has a whole lot to say on the topic of suspension. And so we sat down with Darren to chat about his background and how he got into suspension in the first place; the Eleven Six shock and what makes it stand out; his approach to product development and tuning; making everything in-house in Colorado; how to set up your suspension; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Darren’s background in MTB & suspension (1:36)
- History of Push (17:31)
- Eleven Six Shock (26:46)
- Push’s product development process (33:18)
- Shock tuning for a given bike (38:38)
- How to set up your suspension (53:16)
- Darren’s Big Idea (1:03:30)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Mountain bike suspension has improved immensely in recent years, but designing rear suspension kinematics is inherently a game of tradeoffs, with no ideal one-size-fits-all solution. Cascade Components founder and engineer Jimmy Davis saw an opportunity to make his personal Santa Cruz Nomad better for where and how he rides, and soon a new business was born, making aftermarket suspension links for an ever-growing range of bikes. And so we sat down with Jimmy to talk about suspension design and the inherent tradeoffs that come with each decision; what their links do and who they’re for; working with Neko Mulally on his Frameworks DH race bikes; brakes & chain guides; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Origins of Cascade Components (1:46)
- First aftermarket link (6:42)
- Suspension design philosophy (13:11)
- Neko Mulally's custom links (26:38)
- North Fork Brakes (30:25)
- Chain Guides (39:36)
- Jimmy’s Big Idea (43:23)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
- Ep. 101: Neko Mulally
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Joe McEwan had a career as an aerospace engineer working with composites, but when he started building bikes, steel was his material of choice. So we sat down with the founder of Starling Cycles to get his take on frame materials, and why steel is an under-appreciated one; why single-pivots can ride really well; go really deep on the tradeoffs between wheel sizes, & why mullets maybe aren’t the best of all worlds; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Joe’s background as an aerospace engineer to founding Starling & building bikes in a shed (1:32)
- Why steel? (7:56)
- Single pivots & suspension kinematics (12:26)
- Starling’s “Core” lineup (20:43)
- Wheel sizes & tradeoffs (24:31)
- Starling’s “Rare” lineup (33:48)
- Carbon e-bike prototype (43:11)
- Joe’s Big Idea (48:14)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Ed Masters often looks like he’s having more fun than anybody else on the EWS and World Cup DH circuits, but that belies just how seriously he takes racing at the top level, and how much thought he’s given to the sport. And so we brought Ed onto Bikes & Big Ideas to talk about the incredible end to the 2021 World Cup season (and get hyped for racing to fire back up in 2022); catch up on his injury-laden 2021 season and how he’s doing these days; the similarities and differences between Enduro and DH, and the challenges of racing both; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Ed’s 2021 season & injury recoveries (2:37)
- The World Cup season & performing under pressure (9:55)
- Injuries & Ed’s 2021 season, cont’d (29:05)
- 2022 plans (49:12)
- DH vs. Enduro, & racing both at the top level (55:23)
- Ed’s Big Idea (1:05:30)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Katy Winton has reliably been one of the top contenders on the EWS circuit, but she found herself without a factory ride in 2021 and had to put together her own team at the 11th hour to keep racing. And despite all that chaos, she had another strong season, which culminated in her signing with GT Factory Racing for 2022. So we sat down with Katy to get the whole story, and she did a remarkable job of peeling back the curtain on day-to-day life as a professional racer during the season; contract negotiations and managing a career; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Katy’s 2021 season & being left out of a factory ride (2:19)
- Putting together Moxie XI (15:47)
- Racing as a privateer after years on factory teams (25:16)
- Mindset & balancing training with running a team (30:57)
- Managing the season & traveling with Joe Nation (35:04)
- 2022 team talks & signing with GT (42:49)
- Goals for 2022 (50:42)
- Katy’s Big Idea (52:17)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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RockShox announced their new Flight Attendant electronically-controlled suspension system a few months ago, so we brought Chris Mandell back on Bikes & Big Ideas to tell us all about what the system is and how it works; who it will benefit the most; what the tradeoffs are; and Chris wraps it all up with a really important Big Idea.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- What is Flight Attendant? (1:58)
- How does Flight Attendant work? (4:40)
- What forks, shocks, & bikes is it available on? (23:35)
- Why no aftermarket sales? (25:09)
- What are the tradeoffs? (32:49)
- Who’s the target customer? (37:43)
- Chris’ Big Idea (39:02)
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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BMC has a strong heritage in road and cross country bikes but isn’t as well known for gravity-focused offerings. Mariano Schoefer and Christof Bigler — an engineer and designer, respectively, at BMC — were looking to build the bikes they personally wanted to ride and started modifying existing models as an after-hours side project. Their tinkering caught the attention of their bosses, and long story short, their efforts spawned an entirely new bike brand, SCOR. So we sat down with Mariano and Christof to get the full backstory and the rundown on the bikes themselves.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Mariano and Christof’s roles at BMC
- Background as riders
- Project origins
- Management catching on & growing momentum
- Design ethos & bike details
- Launching SCOR
- Mariano & Christof’s Big Ideas
RELATED LINKS:
- Introducing: Blister Labs
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
- SCOR 4060
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Neko Mulally has had a very successful career racing for some of the biggest teams on the World Cup circuit, so we were surprised — and excited — when he announced that he was launching his own team for the 2022 season, and racing a bike that he designed himself. So we had to get Neko on Bikes & Big Ideas to talk about how he decided to take on such an ambitious project; designing the bike(s) and working with Frank The Welder to build them; starting his own team; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Project origins & initial concepts (1:31)
- Making the leap & leaving Intense (16:00)
- Working with Frank the Welder (19:00)
- Design goals & tradeoffs (28:09)
- Going from kinematics & geometry to a real bike design (35:07)
- Testing & refining the design (48:37)
- Sponsorship & starting a team (59:00)
- Neko’s Big Idea (1:06:17)
RELATED LINKS:
- Neko's video series, FRAMEWORKS
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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2021 was Blister’s busiest year ever for testing mountain bikes and gear, and there were some real standout products among that crop. So we rounded up a bunch of our reviewers to give a rundown of the highlights of the last year — including a bunch of bikes all over the travel spectrum, some suspension products, and tires, inserts, pants, and more. And since we’re so excited to build on all that momentum into 2022, we make some predictions for the year to come and talk about a bunch of the bikes and gear that we’re most excited to spend time on soon, too.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Dylan Wood (1:45)
- Luke Koppa (17:20)
- Eric Freson (36:00)
- Noah Bodman (49:43)
- David Golay (1:03:35)
RELATED LINKS:
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
- Pivot Trail 429
- Norco Range
- Commencal Meta TR
- Canfield Lithium
- Ibis Ripley AF
- We Are One Arrival
- Marin El Roy
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Guerrilla Gravity just celebrated their 10th anniversary, so we sat down with co-founders Will Montague and Matt Giaraffa to talk about what inspired them to start a bike company in the first place; going from aluminum single-pivot DH bikes to pioneering an entirely new way of making carbon fiber frames; weathering the Covid-19 pandemic; and doing all that while building every single frame in Denver, CO.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- GG’s origin story (3:10)
- Growth, new models (18:48)
- Current Guerrilla Gravity lineup (23:52)
- Modular Platform and converting models (25:22)
- Will & Matt’s personal rides (28:28)
- Build customization & staying flexible (30:47)
- What’s next for GG? (33:02)
- US manufacturing & predictions for the future of the bike industry (33:57)
- Favorite parts and other gear? (41:42)
- Will & Matt’s Big Ideas (45:40)
RELATED LINKS:
- Ep. 3: Guerrilla Gravity’s New Bikes & Big Ideas
- Guerrilla Gravity Trail Pistol
- Guerrilla Gravity Smash
- Guerrilla Gravity Gnarvana
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Clipless vs. flat pedals is a hotly debated topic in the mountain bike world, but now there’s a third choice — Hustle Labs’ Avery magnetic pedals. We were, frankly, a bit skeptical about this new in-between option, but we’ve had three reviewers spending time on the Avery, and they’ve wildly exceeded our expectations. So we sat down with Hustle’s Design Engineer, Tripp Hurt, to talk about where the concept originated; how the pedals work; who they are (and aren’t) for; what’s next from Hustle; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Origin story & Craig’s “ecliffany” (2:14)
- Avery pedal design (4:36)
- Weight & Who are they for? (12:31)
- Tripp’s background & bike shoe ergonomics (16:57)
- What’s next from Hustle? (28:31)
- Tripp’s Big Ideas (30:12)
RELATED LINKS:
- Hustle Avery REM Tech Pedals
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Cannondale has a long history of doing things their own, quirky way, and the last couple of bikes they’ve rolled out — the Jekyll and Scalpel HT — are no exception. So this week, we’re joined by Cannondale’s Scott Vogelmann and Travis Tomczak to talk about those bikes, Cannondale’s weird streak, the wild dual-shock DH bike prototype that informed the Jekyll development, and a whole lot more. And along the way, they drop some teasers for what’s next from Cannondale, too.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Scott and Travis’ intros (1:44)
- Cannondale lineup highlights (4:36)
- Upcoming product teaser (7:20)
- Keeping Cannondale weird (8:51)
- Jekyll development (14:20)
- High-pivot bikes (18:20)
- Dual-shock DH bike prototype (25:39)
- Travis’ promise on supply chain woes (30:05)
- Decision making behind athlete team (30:59)
- Travis’ Big Idea (36:00)
- Scotts’ Big Idea (38:21)
RELATED LINKS:
- Cannondale Jekyll
- Cannondale Scalpel HT
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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We’ve been testing a ton of bikes, and have a whole lot of updates to share, so Jonathan Ellsworth and David Golay sat down to discuss all of it. We get into it about high-pivot Enduro bike comparisons (with some surprising conclusions), offer some early impressions of an ultra-efficient long-travel Trail bike, and David talks about the frontrunner for his favorite bike of 2021. And along the way we talk about some of the most exciting recent developments in bike tech and break a little news about some upcoming Blister bike content, too.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Recent BBI Highlights (1:58)
- We Are One Arrival (16:16)
- Norco Range (22:10)
- Nicolai G1 (26:21)
- Cannondale Jekyll (31:24)l
- Orbea Occam LT (35:44)
- Sneak Peek: Upcoming Content (40:01)
RELATED LINKS:
- Ep. 89: Mick Hannah
- Ep. 92: Jordi Cortes
- Ep. 93: Williams Racing Products
- Ep. 94: Cedric Eveleigh of LAL Bikes
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Mountain bike derailleur drivetrains haven’t fundamentally changed for just about as long as there have been mountain bikes — until now, anyway. Cedric Eveleigh has a very promising idea for how to rethink the derailleur and founded LAL Bikes to make it a reality. So we brought Cedric on to talk about the limitations of existing derailleurs; why gearboxes (still) haven’t taken off; prototyping and refining the Supre Drive; what’s next for LAL Bikes, and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The origins of the Supre Drive concept (1:35)
- How the Supre Drive works (2:58)
- The limitations of gearboxes (5:25)
- Prototyping & refinement (15:15)
- What’s next for the Supre Drive (35:44)
- The LAL Bikes & Supre Drive names (41:56)
- Cedric’s (other) Big Idea (43:39)
RELATED LINKS:
- Ep. 93: Williams Racing Products
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Mic Williams was racing as a privateer when Covid hit and racing went on hold. But instead of binging Netflix, he used his free time to start a very unusual bike company — Williams Racing Products. Mic has a whole lot of ideas for how to make bikes better and WRP has offered a lot of out-there products, including what can only be described as the reincarnation of the Honda RN-01 downhill bike. So we sat down with Mic to talk about all the big ideas he has for WRP; the Privateer Parts Program and privateer racing in general; and much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The origins of WRP (1:27)
- Mullet links (8:24)
- The heyday of garage-built bike parts (14:21)
- Centre Hub (20:12)
- The return of the Honda RN-01? (28:04)
- Privateer Parts Program & racing as a privateer (38:36)
- Custom stems & future projects (50:54)
- Mic’s (next) Big Idea (58:42)
RELATED LINKS:
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Jordi Cortes spends much of the year on the road, working with Fox’s top racers on their suspension setups, and that has left him with both a wealth of knowledge about suspension setup and a unique perspective on the mental aspects of racing at the top level. So we sat down with Jordi to talk about all that, as well as the importance of consistency; developing working relationships with a huge range of athletes; how the pros’ setups differ from those for mere mortals; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Offseason, testing and development (1:28)
- How to approach setup for a new track? (3:40)
- Suspension tuning as relationship building (8:57)
- Personal preferences, & variations in setup (10:41)
- Tuning as a distraction, & the mental battle in racing (19:00)
- Feeling good vs. being fast (21:20)
- The myth of the ultra-stiff racer setup (24:48)
- Incremental changes vs. quantum leaps (27:21)
- Enduro dual crown forks (36:27)
- Coil forks (46:55)
- Fork offset (51:08)
- Jordi’s Big Idea (55:27)
RELATED LINKS:
- Fox Dialed Video Series
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Sealant-based tubeless systems are now ubiquitous on mountain bikes, but how did we get here? We sat down with Mike Bush, the President of Stan’s, to talk about the early days of tubeless development; why we still use rim tape and sealant; rim profiles; tire inserts; sealant formulation and how it actually works; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Origins of Stan’s No Tubes (1:18)
- UST vs. tape and sealant (4:03)
- Tubeless rim stips & why Stan’s dropped them (6:04)
- How does sealant work? (13:06)
- Tradeoffs in sealant design (20:19)
- Rim design for tubeless (24:19)
- Tire inserts (30:10)
- What’s next for tubeless systems? (33:34)
- Mike’s Big Idea (38:53)
RELATED LINKS:
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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We’ve been testing a lot of bikes of late, so we sat down to provide a rundown on what we’ve been riding, including the Santa Cruz Bronson, We Are One Arrival, Norco Range, and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Canfield Lithium (1:11)
- Guerrilla Gravity Trail Pistol (5:55)
- Canyon Spectral (9:13)
- We Are One Arrival (16:52)
- Santa Cruz Bronson (21:02)
- Norco Range (31:45)
RELATED LINKS:
- Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Mick Hannah just concluded a 20-plus year career racing World Cup DH, but he’s far from being done in the bike world. So we caught up with Mick to look back on two decades of top-level racing; discuss how the sport has (and hasn’t) changed; racing alongside his sister, Tracey; retirement; what comes next, and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Life at home & unwinding from race season (0:40)
- Early days in BMX & racing World Champs at 11 (1:54)
- Transition to MTB (4:29)
- Slalom, 4X, & focusing on DH (10:15)
- US race scene & development of up-and-comers (15:35)
- Decision to retire (24:52)
- Proudest memories & biggest accomplishments (33:00)
- Cairns World Champs, 2017 (36:37)
- Racing with Tracey (39:00)
- What’s next? (43:19)
- Mick’s Big Idea(s) (47:18)
RELATED LINKS:
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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It’s wrong to call Vinny Armstrong “up and coming” — she’s won multiple Crankworx Whip-Offs, ridden at every year of Red Bull Formation to date, and firmly cemented herself on the world freeride stage. But Vinny is only 22, and with a bright future ahead of her, we sat down to hear her thoughts on what it holds — both for her personally, and the sport at large.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Growing up on a bike (0:51)
- Crankworx Whip-Offs, & getting on a global stage (1:51)
- Formation & the boom of women’s freeride events (4:25)
- The future of women’s freeride, & progression vs. competition (16:00)
- Travel restrictions & 2022 plans (17:33)
- Vinny’s Big Idea (22:35)
RELATED LINKS:
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
- Hannah Bergemann (Ep. 69)
- Casey Brown (Ep. 62)
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We catch up with Greg Minnaar, the greatest DH rider of all time, about this past season and his World Champs victory; keys to his high-level longevity; his mental approach to racing; Tom Brady; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Update: Andora, Greg’s shoulder, & Eliot Jackson (1:26)
- Vali Hӧll’s question for Greg (6:53)
- World Champs week in Val di Sole (8:48)
- Mindset / mental approach going into races (16:40)
- Greg’s Bike setup (20:56)
- Language / communication & bike setup (24:47)
- Biggest changes over the years to World Cup? (30:59)
- Keys to your high-Level longevity (35:11)
- Alternate paths / the road not taken? (42:40)
- Tom Brady (48:45)
RELATED LINKS:
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Matt Manser (of GEAR:30 fame) and Jonathan Ellsworth talk to the very impressive (and very candid) Vali Höll about her remarkable season; race tactics; racing styles; Greg Minnaar & whether she can imagine still racing in 20 years; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- How Vali & Matt met (3:47)
- Do you remember your 1st bicycle? (6:45)
- Vali's ski background (8:33)
- Choosing biking over skiing (11:14)
- Sport parents, ranked (14:39)
- Processing this past season (18:11)
- Winning Juniors vs winning Elite World Cup (26:48)
- Tactics (30:11)
- Greg Minnaar / winning 20 years from now (34:31)
- Assessing yourself as a rider (39:57)
- Style / Styles (48:32)
- Lenzerheide (53:52)
- 29ers vs. Mullets (56:00)
- School (1:00:00)
- Vali’s Big Idea (1:08:10)
RELATED LINKS:
- Vali’s YouTube Channel
- This Week’s Gear Giveaway
- Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
- Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
- Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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Mountain bike tech is evolving rapidly, and patent applications are a great window into what’s coming down the pipeline. So we talked to someone who's very keyed into this world: Dan Bacon of Wheelbased. We discuss cockpit integration (and why some of us hate it); electronic brakes(?!?!); active suspension; automakers joining the fray; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- SRAM integrated brakes (6:28)
- Shimano electronic brakes (13:35)
- Ohlins active suspension (19:27)
- SRAM active suspension (27:13)
- Shimano automatic dropper post (38:16)
- Automakers getting into bikes (41:02)
- Dan’s Big Idea (48:26)
RELATED LINKS:
- Wheelbased
- Shimano Electronic Braking
- SRAM Integrated Braking
- Ohlins Active Suspension
- SRAM Active Suspension
- Shimano Active Seatpost
- Become a Blister Member
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Alex Desmond is an engineer, and when a friend of his suffered a stroke and was no longer able to ride a bike, Alex decided to do something about it. Six years later, the fruits of that project are here — as the Orange Phase AD3. Not only is the end result remarkable, but the story of how it came to be might be even wilder, so we sat down with Alex to get the rundown on the project, including a whole lot of the technical details; getting the likes of Martyn Ashton and Lorraine Truong involved; the limitations of other adaptive mountain bikes; and how Alex ultimately used the project to land a job at Orange.
- TOPICS & TIMES:
- Origins of the AD3 project (1:40)
- AD3 design (3:39)
- Early prototyping (13:15)
- Getting Lorraine involved & Alex’s job at Orange (26:42)
- Plans for the AD3 (32:49)
- Alex’s Big Idea (37:07)
RELATED LINKS:
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When we last checked in with We Are One’s Dustin Adams, he broke the news that they’d be making a bike. Now 18 months later, it’s here. So we figured it was a great time to get Dustin back onto Bikes & Big Ideas to talk about The Arrival, including balancing versatility vs. focusing on specific attributes; the modular frame platform and plans for future models; frame repairs, and making things in North America. And if that’s not enough, Dustin also drops several bonus big ideas in this one.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The Arrival (0:47)
- Modular frame platform (3:58)
- Suspension kinematics (7:56)
- Superboost rear, & the peril of new standards (13:18)
- Builds & supply chain drama (17:44)
- Building in North America, and Big Idea #1 (22:52)
- Repairing frames (30:42)
- Internal cable routing & problems with tube-in-tube guides (35:04)
- Dustin’s other Big Ideas (39:46)
RELATED LINKS:
- We Are One Arrival
- Dustin Adams on Racing, Manufacturing, and We Are One’s Next Big Thing (Ep. 19)
- Become a Blister Member
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The last few weeks have been jam-packed with outstanding Downhill racing, so Noah Bodman and David Golay sat down to talk about all the action at World Champs, including Greg Minnaar further cementing his status as the GOAT; the incredible Val di Sole course; mind-blowing saves & returns from injury; the Lenzerheide World Cup, including utter domination by the French; Vali Holl finding her form, and more. We also discuss a whole bunch of new suspension bits that we’ve been testing from Fox, including the updated 34 fork and both the new DHX and Float X rear shocks.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Update on Noah’s twins (0:46)
- World Championships & the GOAT (1:31)
- Lenzerheide & French domination (16:56)
- New Fox 34 (25:09)
- Fox DHX and Float X (27:22)
RELATED LINKS:
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Mountain biking with inadequate brakes is terrifying, if not downright unsafe, but the role of pads and rotors is often underappreciated. So we sat down with Daryl Simmons of Galfer USA to go deep on brake pads and rotors, including differences in pad materials and why the classic metallic vs. organic debate doesn’t tell the whole story; what factors influence wet-weather performance and heat resistance; rotor design and how to think about choosing rotor sizes; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- History of Galfer (1:18)
- Sintered vs. organic brake pads (2:35)
- Tradeoffs with pad materials (5:01)
- Wet-weather brake performance (8:32)
- Brake fade & heat resistance (13:38)
- Galfer’s pad lineup (19:23)
- Rotor sizes & reasons to size up (or not) (24:04)
- Choosing relative rotor size (front vs. rear) (30:58)
- Rotor shapes & cutouts (35:20)
- Daryl’s Big Idea(s) (40:09)
RELATED LINKS:
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Chris Porter is one of the most interesting and most opinionated figures in the mountain bike world, he’s back on Bikes and Big Ideas this week. There was a lot we weren’t able to cover in our first conversation a few months ago, so this week we discuss the Geometron G1 & how Chris chooses to set up his personal bike; dual-crown Enduro forks & how we both wish they were more common; EXT suspension, including the Era fork and custom G1-spec Storia shock; & much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Nicolai / Geometron G1 & G1-spec EXT Storia (1:10)
- Chris’ bike setup (4:35)
- Mullet bikes vs. 29ers (6:16)
- Dual crown Enduro forks & bikes as fashion pieces (21:52)
- MORC 36 dual crown conversion (22:30)
- Formula dual crown prototype (38:08)
- Development with EXT (42:06)
- EXT Era (56:32)
- Chris’ Big Idea (1:08:28)
RELATED LINKS:
- Ep. 64: Mojo Suspension & Geometron Bikes founder, Chris Porter
- Nicolai / Geometron G1
- EXT Storia
- EXT Era
- Become a Blister Member
- Camping in Gunnison & Crested Butte
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Our summer biking season is flying by and we’ve been spending a ton of time on a lot of very interesting bikes and gear — with a lot more to come. So we decided to check in with several of our reviewers to hear about the gear they’ve been most impressed by so far this year; the new products they’re most excited to check out; and along the way we talk about mullet bikes, bike shop pranks, and unveil several genius new ideas that we definitely shouldn’t be giving away for free.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Pivot Trail 429 (1:01)
- Commencal Meta TR, bike weight, & shop pranks (3:02)
- Privateer 161 & tradeoffs in seat tube angles (13:22)
- Pedals: flat vs. clipless vs. magnetic (21:15)
- Shimano Deore 12 speed (30:54)
- Vorsprung Secus & “NOS for your bike” (31:57)
- Pivot Firebird (34:35)
- Mullet bikes (36:53)
- High-pivot bikes — Forbidden Dreadnought, GT Force, & Trek Session (38:37)
- RockShox ZEB (40:50)
- Specialized Status & shady cryptocurrency purchases (41:12)
- Nicolai G1 (45:23)
- Öhlins RXF38 (46:21)
- We Are One Arrival (46:55)
RELATED LINKS:
- Pivot Trail 429
- Commencal Meta TR
- Privateer 161
- Vorsprung Secus
- Pivot Firebird
- Forbidden Dreadnought
- GT Force
- Trek Session
- RockShox ZEB
- We Are One Arrival
- Become a Blister Member
- Camping in Gunnison & Crested Butte
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Our guest this week is Steve Vanderhoek, who just put out one of the best video edits of the year, in which he and Yoann Barelli rode nearly all of the gnarliest features in the Sea to Sky Corridor in one truly wild day. So we sat down with Steve to talk about everything that went into making that day happen; the mental challenges of riding scary, high-consequence lines; filming and riding with Yoann and Remy Metailler; balancing all that with his career as a paramedic and firefighter; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Injury update (0:53)
- Riding & filming in the golden age of freeride (4:37)
- Starting a career as a firefighter and paramedic (6:24)
- Balancing riding with a separate career (14:42)
- Riding with Remy and Yoann, & the importance of riding partners (18:55)
- Le Tour de Gnar (25:55)
- The mental aspects of pushing boundaries & knowing when to walk away (27:45)
- Scouting & building huge lines (40:22)
- Steve’s Big Idea (48:22)
RELATED LINKS:
- Le Tour de Gnar
- Le Tour de Gnar GoPro Footage
- Remy Metailler Squamish Edit
- BBI Ep. 49: Yoann Barelli on his move to Guerrilla Gravity; Coaching; Comfort Zones; & More
- BBI Ep. 56: Remy Metailler on Doing Stupid Stuff, Responsibly
- Become a Blister Member
- Camping in Gunnison & Crested Butte
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Today we have Blister Bike Editor David Golay talking to reviewer Dylan Wood about all the bikes and gear they’ve recently been spending time on, including some A-B comparisons of short-travel, DW-link bikes at both ends of the price spectrum; a range of longer-travel Enduro bikes both fairly conventional and quite unusual; some very intriguing pedals; and they mix in some thoughts on the importance (or lack thereof) of bike weight, and the current state of the Shimano vs. SRAM drivetrain wars.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Pivot Trail 429 (1:03)
- Ibis Ripley AF (2:30)
- Shimano drivetrains (7:37)
- Canfield Lithium (12:05)
- Commencal Meta TR (17:43)
- Forbidden Dreadnought (27:41)
- Hustle REMtech magnetic “clipless” pedals (35:48)
RELATED LINKS:
- Pivot Trail 429
- Ibis Ripley AF
- Canfield Lithium
- Commencal Meta TR
- Forbidden Dreadnought
- Become a Blister Member
- Camping in Gunnison & Crested Butte
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Sabra Davison grew up ski racing and running, but when she got into mountain biking, she saw girls participating at far lower rates — so she decided to do something about it. Sabra (along with her sister, World Cup XC racer and two-time Olympian, Lea) founded Little Bellas to get girls into riding bikes, and develop the confidence to keep with it. We sat down with Sabra to talk about Little Bellas; how to make skill building fun; removing barriers to participation in what is an expensive sport; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Little Bellas’ mission (1:03)
- Sabra’s riding background & switching gears (2:02)
- World Champs qualification (3:45)
- Founding Little Bellas; ski racing & running vs. mountain biking (5:38)
- Little Bellas programs & “disguised fun” (8:13)
- Girls’ attitudes to exercise and the outdoors (12:31)
- Pro ambassadors & downplaying competition (17:53)
- Gear Up program & removing barriers to participation (24:06)
- How to get involved (27:49)
- Sabra’s Big Idea (29:21)
RELATED LINKS:
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When he was in his 20s Matt Gilman lost his sight due to diabetes, but that hasn’t stopped him from riding trials — and maybe even more remarkably, working as a bike mechanic. His story is an incredible one, so we sat down with Matt to talk about his approach to riding; how he manages to ride by feel; his career as a bike mechanic and how he adapted to doing that blind; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Matt’s biking background (0:41)
- Vision loss & getting back on a bike (4:25)
- Blind trials & riding by feel (23:46)
- Mechanic work (37:18)
- Matt’s Big Idea (50:17)
RELATED LINKS:
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The first-generation Manitou Dorado turned a lot of heads more than 20 years ago, in large part thanks to its inverted layout and wild-looking carbon chassis. The all-new, fourth-generation Dorado is a major update to what Manitou calls “the longest-standing inverted downhill fork” — including a return of the carbon chassis, after more than a decade hiatus. But there’s a whole lot more going on, too, so we sat down with Manitou’s Phil Ott to discuss the past and present of the Dorado; the advantages and disadvantages of inverted forks; fork offset; and a whole bunch more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- History of the Dorado
- The new 4th Generation
- Dorado Pro
- Dorado Expert
- Dorado Comp
- Why inverted?
- Fore-aft vs. torsional stiffness
- Fork offset
- Upcoming projects from Manitou
- Phil’s Big Idea
RELATED LINKS:
- New Manitou Dorado
- Blister Mountain Biking 101: Fork Offset
- Become a Blister Member
- Camping in Gunnison & Crested Butte
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Few (if any) riders have the power, balance, & creativity of Brad Simms. So you might assume it’s been a pretty quick and easy path to prominence for someone this unique. But it hasn’t been an easy road, and in this conversation, Brad spells it all out; talks about how close he came to calling it quits; his new partnership with Canyon bikes; his interest in all types of riding; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Brad’s history (1:53)
- Early influences & riding styles (14:33)
- Fear (22:39)
- Competing against yourself (24:45)
- Riding in 100+ countries (28:26)
- Partnering with Canyon Bikes (36:35)
- Filming for Taco Bell (42:19)
- Future plans (43:33)
RELATED LINKS:
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Which ski brand is most similar to Transition? Guerrilla Gravity? Specialized? Which bike company is most like K2? ON3P? Moment? We answer all of these questions and more in Part 2 of Bikes vs. Skis. Check it out, and let us know your answers in the comments section on our site.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Transition (2:04)
- Propain (5:35)
- Guerilla Gravity (7:08)
- Commencal (11:22)
- Q: Cool Kid Co.s: Does size matter? (15:03)
- Rossignol (20:31)
- Trek (23:28)
- Head Skis (24:49)
- Giant (28:21)
- Santa Cruz (29:14)
- Salomon (32:41)
- K2 Skis (32:13)
- YT Bikes (37:52)
- Canyon (41:10)
- Volkl Skis (43:49)
- Ibis (45:14)
- Yeti (50:07)
- Coalition Snow (53:54)
- Evil (56:17)
- Privateer Bikes (59:00)
- Banshee (1:00:46)
- Revel (1:02:04)
- Which bike company will see the most growth in the next 5 years? (1:04:28)
- Pole Bikes (1:07:32)
- Starling (1:11:14)
- Canfield (1:13:18)
- Forbidden (1:17:10)
- Which industry is currently weirder? (1:23:51)
- The role of team athletes (1:29:12)
RELATED LINKS:
- Become a Blister Member
- Camping in Gunnison & Crested Butte
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 2
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Which bike & ski company would you buy stock in right now? Which company is currently holding the “Cool Kids Belt”? Who is currently overhyped, and who is flying under the radar? Who do other brands secretly wish they could trade places with? We answer all these questions and more in our latest edition of Bikes vs. Skis. Check it out, and tell us your answers to these questions in the comments section of the show notes to this episode on our website.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Who is offering the most bang for your buck (bike) (1:36)
- Best bang for your buck? (ski) (5:42)
- Who has the best complete lineup? (bike) (9:58)
- Who has the best complete lineup? (ski) (14:10)
- Current holder of the Cool Kids Belt? (bike) (21:05)
- Current holder of the Cool Kids Belt? (ski) (26:36)
- Who do all the others want to trade places with? (bike) (32:58)
- Who do all the others want to trade places with? (ski) (36:38)
- Who is flying under the radar? (bike) (43;38)
- Who is flying under the radar? (ski) (48:04)
- Who is currently overhyped? (bike) (52:39)
- Who is currently overhyped? (ski) (56:57)
- Who has the strongest brand loyalty? (bike) (1:05:11)
- Who has the strongest brand loyalty? (ski) (1:08:59)
- Who would you buy stock in right now? (bike) (1:14:00)
- Who would you buy stock in right now? (ski) (1:22:38)
RELATED LINKS:
- Become a Blister Member
- Camping in Gunnison & Crested Butte
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 2
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This week on Bikes and Big Ideas, Jonathan Ellsworth, David Golay, and Eric Freson sit down to give an update on their various injuries; discuss the latest news in races big and small; discuss the bikes they’ve been spending time on; go deep on mullets; and get weird talking about the bike analog of telemark skiing.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Injury Updates (1:38)
- Race News (8:20)
- New Trek Session (15:00)
- Pivot Trail 429 (17:30)
- Ibis Ripley AF (19:03)
- Santa Cruz Nomad (22:26)
- Santa Cruz Bronson goes mullet (25:17)
- David’s Big Idea (35:41)
RELATED LINKS:
- Trek Session Flash Review
- Pivot Trail 429 Flash Review
- Santa Cruz Nomad Flash Review
- Marin El Roy Review
- Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
- Become a Blister Member
- Camping in Gunnison & Crested Butte
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Hannah Bergemann just got back from the 2nd year of Red Bull Formation, so we caught up with her to get her take on the event; hear how it was similar to and how it was different from the 1st year of Formation; talk about her work with Transition; and her future plans.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The evolution of Formation (2:47)
- Collaboration vs. Competition (7:44)
- Digging & building lines (12:35)
- Traction & bike mods for desert riding (14:44)
- Line choices (17:26)
- Coaching & visualization (19:35)
- Sketchiest & favorite moments from Formation? (24:34)
- Predictions for Year 3 (31:55)
- Riding for & working at Transition (34:08)
- Winning the Evolution in Action / Rider’s Choice Award (37:52)
- Hannah’s Big Idea (39:57)
- 2021 plans (43:06)
RELATED LINKS:
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Yesterday, we talked with Claudio Caluori who had just returned from Israel. The conflict between Israel and Palestine had escalated while Claudio was there, and we wanted to learn more about the work he was doing in Israel; why he stayed to finish the project; and what he learned by virtue of being on the ground there. We also discuss a really exciting project that Claudio breaks the news about during this conversation.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Velosolutions update (1:48)
- Building pump tracks in Israel (4:11)
- Being on the ground during the conflict (15:00)
- Plans to build in Palestine (21:54)
- Grow Cycling pump track update (22:47)
- 2021 plans & race season predictions (27:54)
- Everesting on E-Bikes (30:13)
- Filming with Danny MacAskill (32:24)
RELATED LINKS:
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We’re talking with Miranda Miller about starting her new YouTube channel, MGM Alternative, with Remi Gauvin and Jesse Melamed; choosing riding partners; racing Enduro vs. racing DH; espresso machines & World Cup wins; books; & more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Getting injured riding bikes (1:41)
- MGM Alternative (6:28)
- Choosing our riding partners (11:04)
- Brutus vs Poacher (13:06)
- Best & trickiest parts about making videos (18:58)
- Miranda’s background & getting into bikes (23:46)
- DH World Cup circuit (35:33)
- Racing Enduro vs racing DH (39:45)
- 2021 plans (47:54)
- Espresso machines & World Cup wins (51:34)
- Favorite books & dinner with Tom Robbins (56:17)
- Miranda’s Big Idea (1:02:58)
RELATED LINKS:
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We just released our first-ever Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide. You can find it for free on our website, and here, you can listen to David Golay, Kristin Sinnott, and Jonathan Ellsworth talk about why it isn’t your typical buyer’s guide; how long it's been in the works; and why we thought that something like it was really needed by everyone from brand-new to expert riders.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The story behind our new MTB Buyer’s Guide (1:58)
- How we organized the guide (11:34)
- How it works with our Bike Brand Guides (16:26)
- Our Recommended Bike Shops (18:46)
- Our personalized bike-gear recommendations (20:24)
RELATED LINKS:
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Vero Sandler just competed in the first-ever REAL MTB event, so we caught up with this Kiwi with the French name who lives in Wales to talk about the experience and get her thoughts on being the first (and only) female in the comp; the importance of checking your junk (???); the art of “getting slidey”; her current big idea; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Electric fences, sharks, & cows (1:54)
- X Games Real MTB (5:59)
- Check Your Junk! (9:34)
- Being the only woman in REAL MTB (13:52)
- Women’s freeride (18:12)
- Favorite dance moves (23:47)
- Getting Slidey (27:21)
- Digging (34:11)
- 2021 plans & signing with Santa Cruz (37:37)
- Formation (41:12)
- Vero’s Big Idea (44:15)
RELATED LINKS:
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Chris Porter has long been known as one of the earliest and most vocal proponents of the longer/lower/slacker trends in mountain bike geometry, and his Geometron bikes have pushed the envelope further than just about anything else out there. Chris has opinions on a whole lot more than just bike geometry, though, and in our recent conversation we got his takes on wheel sizes, eBikes, suspension tuning, Vladimir Putin(?), and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Background & motorcycles (2:16)
- Founding of Mojo & trashing a rental house (5:46)
- Experimenting with geometry (10:24)
- Mondraker & Fabien Barel (17:47)
- Partnership with Nicolai (26:42)
- Trail Nirvana (34:35)
- “eBikes ruined it” (36:37)
- Geometron Bikes (44:32)
- Tradeoffs in bike design (50:38)
- Craft vs. Math in bike setup (55:58)
- Wheel sizes & the death of 27.5? (58:12)
- Chris’ Big Idea (1:11:51)
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Carson Storch is one of the most talented freeriders in the world, but it is his intense passion for mountain that might actually be the most notable thing about him. We recently caught up with Carson about how his recovery is going from a recent injury — and how he approaches rehab in general; his background and his ascendance in slopestyle and freeride mountain biking; his plans for 2021; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Injury update (0:00)
- The MTB scene in Bend, OR (15:04)
- Slopestyle (22:21)
- First trip to Crankworx (27:15)
- The mentality & preparation of a pro rider (30:26)
- Red Bull Rampage (41:34)
- Risk tolerance: filming vs comps (45:56)
- Black Sage Fest (49:39)
- Quarterpoint teaser & 2021 Plans (53:52)
- Carson’s Big Idea (58:25)
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We talk with the pioneer of women’s freeride about growing up in the bush of New Zealand; her first bike (it was a mullet??); moving to Revelstoke; choosing mountain biking over skiing; career detours; being “toothless & ruthless”; Rampage; Formation; the future of women’s freeride; & more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Growing up in the bush of New Zealand (3:00)
- First bike: a mullet?? (10:49)
- Moving to Revelstoke (15:16)
- Choosing mountain biking over skiing (21:03)
- Gaining support as a mountain biker (23:50)
- Career detours and a breakout year (28:19)
- Training & the Gym (33:13)
- Toothless & Ruthless (38:22)
- Advice for people coming up in the industry (42:31)
- Inspirations & Red Bull Rampage (46:55)
- When to send & when not to send (54:03)
- Formation (57:00)
- The future of women’s freeriding (59:09)
- Casey’s big idea (1:03:20)
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Blister reviewers David Golay and Noah Bodman talk about trends in modern bikes, including a possible ceasefire in the geometry wars; the relative consistency of Downhill bike geometry; the decline of weight weenie-ism; an outrageously long bike from 30 years ago; how all bikes should be sized to fit Noah Bodman; and a whole bunch more.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Trail bike geometry, and a ceasefire in the geometry wars
- Downhill bikes, and their progression
- Trails changing bikes, or vice versa? A chicken or egg problem
- The decline of weight weenie-ism
- Rich Williams — a man ahead of his time
- Size-specific chainstay lengths — a passing fad, or good idea?
- All bikes should be sized for Noah?
- The resurgence of high-pivot bikes, and their tradeoffs
RELATED LINKS
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We talk to Steve Mathews of Vorsprung Suspension about moving to Whistler and breaking everything in the bike park; studying automotive engineering as the closest thing to getting a degree in bikes; founding Vorsprung and developing suspension products; leprechauns(??); magic bikes(???) and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Growing up in Melbourne & racing DH (1:37)
- Studying automotive engineering as the next best thing to a degree in bikes (2:18)
- Founding Vorsprung to avoid working outside in the winter in Whistler (3:44)
- The Corset, Luftkappe, & making air suspension not terrible (14:50)
- Competition in the suspension industry (25:17)
- The Smashpot and Secus — the next steps (35:04)
- Tractive & Fractive (42:01)
- Electronic suspension & leprechauns in your bottle cage (50:39)
- Dual-crown enduro forks, linkage forks, & the future of suspension (1:00:02)
- Steve’s big idea (1:24:24)
RELATED LINKS
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We talk to Blister bike editor, David Golay, about 4 longer-travel enduro bikes from Privateer, Santa Cruz, Rocky Mountain, & Marin that he’s been spending time on in the PNW.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Privateer 161 Update (1:10)
- Rocky Mountain Altitude (3:25)
- Marin Alpine Trail (8:01)
- Santa Cruz Nomad (13:53)
- Bikes & Ice Cream (19:01)
RELATED LINKS
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We talk to Kera Linn about her rather meteoric rise in the mountain biking world — from her first time on a mountain bike, to her recent signing with Cannondale. We also talk about her equally interesting backstory (which includes playing all of the sports and going to all of the colleges), so we cover all of that and more in this really fun conversation.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- PSA: Mango Mouth (1:44)
- Current MTB interests (8:10)
- Kera’s background (11:12)
- Falling in love with DH in Crested Butte (30:36)
- From 1st ride to becoming a pro (39:36)
- Living in a minivan in California to race (50:30)
- Signing with Cannondale (53:15)
- Kera’s big idea (58:57)
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Cassie Abel is the co-founder and CEO of Wild Rye, which is a company that creates apparel for women-identifying outdoor-lovers, regardless of age, background, size, or skill level. But Cassie is not only running a women's apparel company, she is working to change the entire business landscape for women.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- What is Wild Rye & why the name? (2:11)
- Cassie’s background (3:49)
- Operating out of Ketchum, Idaho (10:48)
- Call-out culture (24:50)
- Sustainability (31:47)
- Women-Led Wednesday (33:17)
- Receiving the Tory Burch Foundation Fellowship (38:36)
- Pivot Cycles x Wild Rye collab (42:14)
- Another big idea from Cassie (50:53)
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Rémy Métailler has described himself as someone who is “just trying to be as responsible as he can while doing stupid stuff.” So we wanted to talk to him about his approach to riding super steep, gnarly lines, and what allows him to get comfortable on these “stupid” lines. We also talk about his background, filming, Rampage, mullet bikes, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Growing up in France riding bikes & skiing (10:13)
- Moving to Whistler / the bike park scene (18:18)
- Red Bull Rampage (25:56)
- Filming on an enduro bike (35:26)
- Hip-hop (40:01)
- Gambling in Vegas (42:59)
- Calculating line choices (46:53)
- Propain bikes (50:42)
- Riding mullets & Remy’s bike quiver (52:32)
- 2021 plans (56:08)
- Rémy's big idea (58:15)
RELATED LINKS
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There’s a whole lot of talk these days about becoming more “sustainable,” but there’s a big difference between talking and actually taking action. And Endura is a bike brand that is taking concrete steps to dramatically reduce their carbon footprint.
We’re talking with Pam Barclay about Endura’s pledge to plant one million trees every year for the next 10 years to cancel out all of the emissions produced over the entire history of the company; how Endura is working to offset their transportation and shipping emissions; what we all can do to mitigate the carbon footprint of the apparel we use, and much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Endura’s history & brand (1:35)
- Planting trees to become carbon negative (13:17)
- Offsetting raw materials emissions (28:18)
- Transportation & Shipping footprint (32:22)
- Better ways to wash MTB gear (37:34)
- Endura’s repair service (40:13)
- Pam’s big idea (42:22)
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Blister editors Noah Bodman and David Golay join Jonathan Ellsworth to talk about the major rider and team moves in the world of men’s DH and women’s DH; we place our $1000 bets on the upcoming season; and we discuss some of the news and moves in the freeride and enduro scene, too.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Big changes in the DH world (1:38)
- Our $1,000 bets for men’s DH (16:29)
- More news in women’s DH (20:50)
- Our $1000 bets for women’s DH
- Freeride news (27:03)
- EWS Updates (32:24)
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We discuss the Privateer 161; offer more fork and shock comparisons; wrap our heads around Marin’s ‘aggressive hardtail’ called the El Roy; and our bike editor makes the case for why you might want to reconsider swearing allegiance to one particular wheel size.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Privateer 161 (1:11)
- Suspension Roundup(14:06)
- Ohlins RXF36 m.2 Air (14:31)
- Ohlin TTX22 (19:34)
- Marin El Roy (23:01)
- David’s Big Idea: Wheel Size (32:55)
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Our guest today is Brooklyn Bell, who is a mountain biker and a skier and an artist and a former figure skater and a future frog scientist (maybe). So we talk about all of that and a whole lot more, including Brooklyn’s current big idea.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Preacher, teacher, or frog scientist? (2:20)
- Brooklyn’s hobbies as a kid (5:06)
- Art & “Mountain Art” (10:25)
- Getting into biking in Bellingham (18:54)
- Skiing vs mtn biking as boyfriend types (25:50)
- Becoming Ruby (33:48)
- Current favorite type of riding? (44:57)
- Brooklyn’s TV & music recommendations (48:28)
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Today our guest is Sam Meegan of Privateer Bikes, which is a company that has been pushing forward certain aspects of bike design that have been gaining broader acceptance in the bike industry and growing in popularity among riders.
So come to learn more about the origins, philosophy, and trajectory of Privateer, but stick around to hear Sam’s big idea about how to revolutionize a whole other product category.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Privateer Bike’s philosophy & origins (4:25)
- Designing the Privateer 161 with Matt Stuttard (14:40)
- Design & Play (23:06)
- Working with Ali Beckett (29:06)
- Adjusting wheel size based on frame size (32:16)
- Finding design inspiration outside of the bike industry (44:01)
- The Privateer 141 (48:25)
- What’s next for Privateer? (53:26)
- What’s Your Big Idea? (57:02)
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PeopleForBikes is one of the most important organizations in the bike world that you might not be too familiar with. So we caught up with Jenn Dice to talk about what the organization is up to; working with a new administration; and what each of us can do to get involved.
TOPICS & TIMES
- What is PeopleForBikes (2:50)
- Lobbying for bike legislature (6:16)
- Obstacles & challenges (14:14)
- Current progress (17:55)
- Working with the new Biden administration (23:57)
- E-bikes (27:17)
- How you can get involved (34:34)
RELATED LINKS
- Ashley Korenblat, founder of Public Land Solutions
- Dave Wiens, exec director of IMBA, on e-bikes
- Dave Ochs on Solutions to Increased Trail Use
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Yoann Barelli just signed on with Guerrilla Gravity, so we thought this would be a good time to catch up with him and talk about why he thinks GG is a great fit. (And for some important context here, we highly recommend checking out the conversation I had with the founders of GG and their composites engineer.)
Yoann and Jonathan Ellsworth also discuss the coaching he’s been doing (see barelliconcepts.com) and he offers some good coaching tips; we talk about his first introduction to bikes and to racing, and his plans for 2021 and beyond.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Comfort Zones (9:00)
- Yoann’s introduction to mountain biking (19:04)
- Coaching (barelliconcepts.com) (31:31)
- New partnership with Guerrilla Gravity (40:40)
- Dialing in a bike: feeling good vs making it fast (48:14)
- Recovering from injury & 2021 plans (55:27)
- Yoann’s big idea (59:30)
RELATED LINKS
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We talk with Blister’s bike editor, David Golay, about some of the gear he’s recently been testing; some of the most surprising products of the past year; some of the standout products of 2020; and a few predictions for 2021.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Canyon Stoic (2:36)
- Ohlins suspension (8:13)
- Most Surprising Products of 2020 (9:36)
- Standout products of 2020 (11:56)
- Predictions for 2021 (17:15)
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Sage Cattabriga-Alosa is one of the best big line skiers of all time, and he’s an extremely good — and extremely passionate — mountain biker, too. So we talked with Sage about how he thinks about the similarities of skiing & mountain biking; riding lines in Virgin, Utah back in 2004; riding with Cam McCaul; what aspect of mountain biking he is most focused on improving; and his film, Balance.
TOPICS:
- Transitioning between biking & skiing (3:54)
- When did you first really get into biking? (15:00)
- Parallels between biking & skiing (19:57)
- Filming Balance & riding with Cam McCaul (38:16)
- What aspect of riding are you working to improve? (43:19)
RELATED LINKS:
- Survivor Endurance phone case
- Our experience with the Survivor Endurance
- Blister Podcast, Ep. 41: Sage Cattabriga-Alosa on Skiing Spines
- Bikes & Big Ideas, Ep. 28: Cam McCaul on Preparing for Big Lines
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Noah Bodman is back to offer his review of parenthood (he’s a new dad); discuss carbon wheels; Sweet Protection’s convertible full-face helmet; and a number of forks that Noah has been spending time on.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Parenthood (3:06)
- Hunt Impact Carbon Wheelset (7:39)
- Sweet Protection Arbitrator MIPS (18:56)
- Forks (20:25)
RELATED LINKS
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We talk to Lance Canfield about their new Tilt and Lithium bikes and the rest of the Canfield Bikes 20/21 lineup; the origins story of Canfield; the evolution of Rampage and competing in the first Rampage comps; the mountain bike industry today; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Origins of Canfield Bikes (3:35)
- Getting into bikes, jumping off roofs (8:49)
- Competing at Rampage in its first years (16:49)
- Move to Fruita (26:23)
- Describe the Canfield customer (28:28)
- The 20/21 Canfield lineup (32:25)
- Thoughts on the mtn bike industry today (46:28)
- What’s your current big idea? (51:30)
RELATED LINKS
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Anneke Beerten was on episode #34 of Bikes & Big Ideas, and we did not expect to have the 2 x world champion BMX rider, 3-time Four Cross world champion, and Queen of Crankworx (who hails from the Netherlands) back on the show under these circumstances. Anneke was in an accident and suffered a serious concussion, so we wanted to check in with about what happened; get a firsthand report of her recovery; and present a public service announcement that we all need to hear.
But we then shift gears and talk about her time at Travis Pastrana’s very own theme park, where she participated in the Pastranaland Pit Bike Championships. So this is both a serious and super fun conversation.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Anneke’s accident (2:44)
- Concussions (10:49)
- Anneke’s recovery progress (22:32)
- Advice for others (27:31)
- Pastranaland Pit Bike Championships (32:44)
- Project updates & the upcoming season (37:00)
RELATED LINKS
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For many of us, it’s shoulder season, where the riding conditions are either wet, muddy, cold — or all of the above. And some of us live in places where we just regularly encounter wet, muddy, or cold conditions.
So today we’re talking about why some of the gear that’s intended for wet/muddy riding sucks; which products have worked the best for us; and we then turn to a conversation about forks from Fox, RockShox, and Manitou.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Wet-weather MTB Gloves (0:49)
- Why are MTB jackets often bad? (3:10)
- Fox Flexair NeoShell (5:48)
- 7Mesh Skypilot (10:23)
- Endura MT500 II (12:21)
- Long-travel single-crown forks (15:41)
- 2021 Fox 40 (20:15)
RELATED LINKS:
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Trainers? Trainers?? Roadies have been using them forever, but many mountain bikers dismiss them (like we did). But Simon Stewart (aka, Mr. Tank Driver / co-owner of BV Bike Company) lays out a compelling case for why all cyclists — including mountain bikers — should reconsider their stance on the modern, indoor trainer.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Why Simon got a trainer (2:53)
- What do you like about it? (6:35)
- Weekly training schedule? (16:57)
- Where to demo one / closing thoughts (22:49)
RELATED LINKS:
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A bike without pedals? Dog mushing? Surfing mountains? Today’s episode is a mindbender, and the backstory here all starts with episode #22 of Bikes & Big Ideas, so you should listen to it if you haven’t already.
We’re talking today with Jordi Ponti from Barcelona-based Gravity Scooters, and we discuss how the idea of a gravity scooter came to be; the advantages of ditching your pedals — and seat posts; designing a DH scooter; dog mushing; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Origins of Gravity Scooters (3:13)
- Coming up with the downhill scooter (5:48)
- Advantages of ditching the pedals (8:48)
- Designing a DH oriented scooter (11:59)
- Where are people riding these? (15:52)
- Mushing (17:17)
- Most common questions & reactions (21:04)
- Brakes & wheel size (26:56)
- Price (28:55)
- Where can people demo a scooter (31:26)
- Find Gravity Scooters on the web (32:46)
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We check in with reviewers Dylan Wood (who gets to keep his seat at the bar), David Golay (who is now reconsidering what makes brakes good or bad), and Eric Freson (who still enjoys a sick jazz soundtrack) to get their updates on the Trek Slash, EXT Storia shock, Hayes Dominion A4 brakes, and the Banshee Phantom V3.
TOPICS & TIMES:
DYLAN WOOD
- Trek Slash: General ride impressions (2:32)
- RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate Thru Shaft (3:32)
- Geometry - is it radical enough? (7:55)
- Climbing (9:21)
- Sizing (11:48)
- Slash vs Megatower (15:19)
DAVID GOLAY
- EXT Storia Rear Shock (20:41)
- Hayes Dominion A4 Brakes (27:22)
ERIC FRESON
- Cowboy Bebop (35:49)
- A bit about Banshee (38:31)
- Banshee Phantom V3 (39:59)
- How niche is this bike? (45:12)
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What if you could buy a bike without immediately looking to swap out a bunch of the stock parts? And what if this dream build of yours was competitively priced? Sherpa Custom Mountain Bikes is a brand-new company that allows you to customize every part and color of your new bike, with over 1,000,000 combinations to choose from; their “photorealistic 3D dream builder” provides life-like graphics that allow you to scrutinize every detail of your custom build; and they’re also offering a life-time warranty on their frames and rims. Sound too good to be true? We sat down with the founders of Sherpa to question them about this intriguing ambitious new venture.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT: https://blister.getspot.com
TOPICS & TIMES
- What is the concept of Sherpa (5:19)
- Sherpa’s 3D Bike Builder (9:23)
- Market Research (13:32)
- Component Options (17:41)
- When can people start ordering (21:29)
- Supply chain (23:11)
- Sherpa’s 1st bike: the Everest (30:42)
- Wheel sizes (34:52)
- Riding in Crested Butte (35:32)
- Future plans? (37:41)
- Closing Thoughts (40:22)
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Structure Cycleworks arguably makes the coolest bikes out there — or the ugliest bikes out there. So we talked to Structure Cycleworks founder, Loni Hull, about why he introduced a front-linkage suspension design; why rear-linkage designs are everywhere, while front-linkage designs are utterly uncommon; and the pros and cons of bringing such an unorthodox bike to market. So whether you are a true bike dork or you just appreciate outside-the-box thinking and design, consider this is a ‘Must-Listen.’
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT: blister.getspot.com
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Your background (8:42)
- When & why did you start Structure? (13:53)
- Learning curve? (27:32)
- First racers on the bike (31:05)
- Geometry & hard tails (31:58)
- Benefits of Structure’s design (38:38)
- Wheel sizing (45:22)
- Durability (46:57)
- Warranty (50:59)
- Trajectory of the bike industry (53:08)
- Market acceptance & adoption (55:45)
- Loni’s Big Idea (1:00:53)
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Today, Trek officially released an update of their enduro-focused Slash, so we offer our initial impressions of the new bike and ask what this big new release might be able to tell us about where we are in terms of the evolution of bike geometry. To this end, we also talk about a couple other examples, including the Pivot Switchblade and the Rocky Mountain Instinct BC.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The new Trek Slash (1:34)
- Bike geometry (5:21)
- Pivot Switchblade (14:17)
- Rocky Mountain Instinct BC (19:11)
- Caveat for Gunnison Valley Riding & Testing (21:34)
- Closing Thoughts (23:27)
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Mountain bikers Eliot Jackson and Katie Holden just launched the Grow Cycling Foundation, so we caught up with Eliot to talk about Grow Cycling; their plan to get a Velosolutions Pumptrack built in downtown Los Angeles; how to create a more welcoming bike culture; his terrific podcast, Reggy Radio; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Night Owls vs. Early Birds (2:23)
- What is the Grow Cycling Foundation? (5:24)
- Putting a Velosolutions Pumptrack in LA (20:50)
- How to develop a more welcoming bike culture (28:59)
- How Eliot got started mtn biking (41:56)
- On being “the biggest nerd of all time” (47:42)
- On becoming entrepreneurial (51:38)
- On being a podcast host / Reggy Radio (57:28)
- Future plans for Grow Cycling (1:04:42)
- How to get involved with Grow Cycling (1:13:16)
- Eliot’s Big Idea / Bad Idea? (1:18:29)
ELIOT’S ARTICLE IN OUTSIDE MAGAZINE
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Any One of Us, the film about Paul Basagoitia and spinal cord injuries, just won an Emmy! So we are reposting the conversation we had with Paul, who was the first back-to-back winner of Crankworx Slopestyle; participated in Red Bull Rampage numerous times; and was one of the top riders in the game. But one tiny mishap led to a crash that left him paralyzed, and Paul’s life was changed in an instant. But that’s not the end of the story — Paul is currently making an absolutely incredible comeback.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Paul’s film, Any One of Us (5:13)
- Winning Crankworx on Cam Zink’s bike (7:08)
- Competing at Rampage & managing fear (15:08)
- Paul’s crash (29:20)
- Are you scared watching friends drop in at Rampage? (36:08)
- Spinal injuries & stem cell research (37:08)
- Wings for Life (wingsforlife.com) (39:00)
- Paul’s recovery & current status (44:17)
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Anneke Beerten was born in the Netherlands, started racing BMX when she was 4 years old, then became a 2-time world champion in BMX, a 3-time Four-cross world champion, the Queen of Crankworx, and she’s won, podiumed, and top 5’d many enduro, DH, DS races. She also just won the So Cal Enduro and Snow Summit DH. So Blister reviewers Dylan Wood and Jonathan Ellsworth caught up with Anneke to talk about racing; what she’s up to these days; ‘badass’ books; business ideas; and you’ll get to hear ‘the story of Dylan and Anneke.’
TOPICS & TIMES
- Racing the So Cal Enduro & Snow Summit DH (1:57)
- The Story of Dylan & Anneke (4:32)
- Favorite type of terrain to race (9:47)
- Growing up & getting into racing (11:35)
- Who did you look up to as a young racer? (14:39)
- Favorite EWS stops (22:45)
- Riding for Specialized (24:35)
- Bike setup: what are you pickiest about? (26:58)
- Racing in the time of Covid (32:09)
- Ten Beers (36:53)
- Badass Books & Big Ideas? (37:51)
- Racing to get a green card (45:01)
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Bike sales are through the roof this season, and all around the world, a lot of people are hitting the trails. So we talked to the executive director of the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association, Dave Ochs, to discuss the implications of — and potential solutions to — increased trail use.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Dave’s background (3:00)
- CBMBA state of the union (6:20)
- Implications of higher use of trails (13:23)
- Infrastructure & Education (15:38)
- ‘Opposite Use’ Policies (24:21)
- Fat Bike World Championships (33:14)
- Dave’s ‘Big Idea or Bad Idea?’ (37:44)
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David Golay and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss the backstory of the new ZEB fork and why RockShox built it; who it’s for; its available configurations and compatibility; the ZEB vs. the Lyrik and more, with RockShox’s Chris Mandell.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Chris’ background (3:39)
- ZEB backstory (12:40)
- Different ZEB models (21:57)
- ZEB vs RockShox Lyrik (26:49)
- ZEB compatibility (37:31)
- Drivetrains vs Brakes vs Suspension (38:51)
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Everybody’s favorite bike-POV-commentator is back to talk about chasing Nino Schurter down trails in Switzerland; his thoughts on e-bikes (now that he’s been riding one frequently); his company, Velosolutions’ first “all-electric” build; the status of the Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Claudio’s life these days (2:07)
- Chasing Nino Schurter (6:11)
- Claudio’s thoughts on his e-bike (9:45)
- Velosolutions’ “all-electric” build (18:47)
- Status: Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships (31:02)
- What’s the best question I haven’t asked you? (34:50)
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Elorie Slater runs the marketing department for Pivot Cycles, and we talk about her unusual path to becoming the head of marketing for Pivot; her take on the bike industry in the time of COVID, and where the industry goes from here; bike prices and “entry level” pricing; and the notion of women-specific gear and female participation in mountain biking.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Elorie’s background (4:12)
- Current bike industry trends (16:04)
- “Entry level” prices (25:23)
- Pivot’s frames (31:52)
- Ride Tuning (35:22)
- ‘Women Specific’ bikes (38:34)
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We talk with Dean Payne, the president and co-founder of the BC Bike Race, about the origins and evolution of one of the most epic bike races and events in the world. And Simon Stewart (aka, Mr. Tank Driver) is sitting in as co-host to discuss all things BC Bike Race, and what goes into putting together a complex and great event like this.
TOPICS & TIMES
- History of the BC Bike Race (3:14)
- Creating an “alternate universe” (12:59)
- Russell Crowe & the World’s Largest Hockey Stick (22:03)
- Managing the race (27:24)
- On the cancelation of this year’s race (31:34)
- Communicating with the racers (42:37)
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We caught up this week with the one and only Cam McCaul to talk about some of the bike films that made the biggest impression on him; the new TGR film he’s in called, Accomplice (some of which was shot in our little corner of the world, Crested Butte); how he prepares for riding big lines; his work as a commentator; and which discipline he thinks many people fail to really appreciate: slopestyle, DH, or big-mountain riding.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Cam’s life these days (3:22)
- The current “bike boom” (5:46)
- Cam’s “favorite” bike films (11:40)
- Preference: photo shoots or video shoots? (18:56)
- TGR’s new film: Accomplice (25:06)
- Preparing to ride big lines (31:15)
- The process behind hitting features (37:20)
- Cam’s work as an announcer (41:35)
- Slope, DH, Big-Mtn: most underappreciated type of riding? (45:18)
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Today we’re talking with bike-industry veterans Simon Stewart (Mr. Tank Driver, of Bikes & Big Ideas ep. #18 fame) and Joe Parkin (author, former pro cyclist, and our editor-in-chief’s new dealer) at their bike shop in Buena Vista, Colorado. First, we announce their brand-new shop name, then we talk about what it’s like to own and operate a bike shop in these times, and finally, we discuss Joe’s wildly addictive new creation that our editor-in-chief calls, the “Crack Waffle.”
TOPICS & TIMES
- Introducing: Buena Vista Bike Company (1:59)
- Bike Shops in the Time of Covid (7:03)
- Silver Lining? COVID & Bike Use (10:07)
- BV Bike Co’s Crack Waffles (14:08)
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Which bike company is currently the most like which ski company? Here in part 2, we get into more arguments and offer more of their parallels and analogies between these two industries to get a better sense of the current position, reputation, and trajectory of a bunch of different brands in these sports.
And we want to hear from you — where do you agree or disagree, and can you come up with better, more accurate analogies than the ones we’re proposing? Let us know in the Comments Section on our site.
TOPICS & TIMES
- ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ Skis (3:37)
- Listeners’ analogies (9:19)
- Transition (18:53)
- Orange (20:05)
- Pivot Cycles (21:35)
- Guerilla Gravity (24:21)
- Bold Cycles (35:48)
- Banshee Bikes (29:36)
- Commencal (30:59)
- Zerode (32:12)
- Cannondale (33:39)
- Kona (37:19)
- Intense (38:49)
- Santa Cruz (48:02)
- Specialized (49:22)
- Trek (50:39)
- Giant (52:24)
- Ibis (53:51)
- DPS Skis? (58:49)
- Evil (1:03:57)
- YT (1:05:23)
- Pole & Nicolai (1:08:08)
RELATED LINKS:
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 2
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By the time he was in his mid-20s, Adam Miller had already founded three bike companies — Borealis Fat Bikes, Why Cycles, and Revel Bikes. It’s a pretty wild backstory, and Adam sat down with us in Blister HQ to spell it all out like he never has before.
We talk about growing up in Alaska, starting — and running — his first bike company as a 21 year old college kid; selling that same company and going on to found Why Cycles and Revel; and what makes Revel bikes different and, what he believes makes them better.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Growing up in Alaska (3:47)
- Studying in Africa (13:24)
- Starting Borealis Fat Bikes (16:29)
- Why did you leave Borealis? (25:00)
- Starting Why Cycles (34:37)
- Starting Revel Bikes (43:42)
- What differentiates Revel’s bikes? (50:41)
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Which bike company is currently most like which ski company? And which bike and ski company do most other bike and ski brands secretly wish they could trade places with? Today, Noah Bodman, Jonathan Ellsworth, David Golay, and Eric Freson make parallels and analogies between these two industries to get a better sense of the current position, reputation, and trajectory of a bunch of different brands in these sports.
And we want to hear from you — where do you agree or disagree, and can you come up with better, more accurate analogies than the ones we’re proposing? Let us know in the Comments Section on our site, and then we’ll incorporate some of your answers into Part 2, which will air in a couple weeks.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Who is providing the most bang for your buck? (5:11)
- Current “cool kids” bike & ski brands? (9:58)
- Which brand do other companies want to be? (16:59)
- Which brands have the most upside? (24:45)
- The bike equivalent of Kastle & Stockli? (40:54)
- "Custom" in the bike & ski worlds? (46:35)
- Whose reputation is better than their products? (50:50)
- Which companies have the most brand loyalty? (57:27)
RELATED LINKS:
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 3rd Edition (2021): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 2
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 1
- Bikes vs Skis, 1st Edition (2018): Part 2
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What, exactly, does it mean for a company to be a Certified B Corporation business, and why should anyone care? To learn more, we reached out to Chris King Precision Components, which just completed the process of becoming one of the very few B Corp manufacturing companies in the entire bike industry.
Chris King’s general manager, Chris (aka, “Kirby”) Bedsaul talked with us about what the process of becoming a B Corp entails, why they decided to do it, and along the way, we also discuss Chris King’s approach to manufacturing out of their homebase of Portland, Oregon.
TOPICS & TIMES
- What is Chris King Components? (3:00)
- How is the company doing during COVID? (3:57)
- Kirby’s role at Chris King (7:56)
- Why become a B Corp? (10:12)
- The process (17:15)
- Most surprising part of the process? (33:14)
- Environmental steps Chris King is taking (35:32)
- Favorite Chris King product? (50:15)
- King’s Lifetime Warranty (54:55)
- The Chris King Open House (57:24)
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As a way to show our appreciation for our Bikes & Big Ideas listeners, we discussed our best / worst ideas for the bikes edition of our Blister ‘Crash Course’ video series — and some of the ideas are truly magnificent. So check it out, and then please feel free to suggest your own best / worst ideas for these Blister ‘Crash Course’ bike videos.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Blister ‘Crash Course’ Videos? (5:12)
- Round 1 Ideas (8:04)
- Round 2 Ideas (13:42)
- Round 3 Ideas (18:05)
- Round 4 Ideas (21:48)
- Round 5 Ideas (29:05)
- Round 6 Ideas (33:03)
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Bill Walton is not only one of the greatest basketball players of all time, his passion for bikes is all-time, too. In his book, “Back from the Dead, he writes, “My bike is the most important thing I have. It is my gym, my wheelchair and my church all in one.
So it was a joy to talk to Bill about his life-long love affair with bikes, and about his upcoming event, Bike For Humanity, which is a virtual event that Bill created as a way for all of us to show our solidarity in these times.
We also discuss the top-5, all-time, NBA ‘bike’ guys; music, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Bill’s life-long love of bikes (5:21)
- Bike For Humanity (12:13)
- Top 5 NBA ‘bike’ guys? (18:35)
- Best cardio guys in the NBA? (23:11)
- Music, Bob Dylan, & the Dead (25:00)
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As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, a number of companies in the outdoor industry are pivoting away from their normal operations and product offerings to provide healthcare workers with critical gear.
So we talked to physician assistant and Blister reviewer, Sascha Anastas, about the scope of the problem, and we then talk to Kitsbow, Industry Nine, & Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis about how they are each helping the cause. This is an inspiring conversation.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Sascha Anastas on the PPE Shortage (1:34)
- What Kitsbow is doing (13:53)
- What Industry Nine is doing (33:53)
- What Shaggy’s Skis is doing (47:03)
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Many of you remember Dustin Adams from his DH-racing days (the guy was fast), and others of you know of Dustin as the guy behind We Are One, the company making carbon rims, wheels, and other bike stuff in British Columbia.
So we talked to Dustin about what it’s like being a composites manufacturer in Kamloops, BC; Dustin’s path from racing DH to starting We Are One; manufacturing in the time of COVID-19; and we talk about the big new thing they’re currently working on.
TOPICS & TIMES
- How do you describe We Are One? (2:49)
- How is COVID-19 affecting your manufacturing? (5:04)
- Dustin’s life before We Are One (9:17)
- Current product line (23:11)
- Teaming up with Industry Nine (30:08)
- What’s the story with the Kona WC Team? (31:26)
- The Next Big Thing from We Are One (35:02)
- What’s Your Big Idea? (41:30)
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For many of us, it will soon be time to dust off our bikes and get back to riding. So what are some of the most important things you can do to your bike if you haven’t been riding it?
To answer this, we talked to Simon Stewart, who has a wealth of knowledge about servicing bikes that comes from his experience working at bike shops; being a mountain bike guide; writing and reviewing for Bike Magazine and Dirt Rag magazine; working for SRAM as a technical ambassador and a SRAM Technical University Instructor; and from currently owning and running the bike shop, Boneshaker Cycles, in Buena Vista, Colorado.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Simon’s background: Ireland, Tanks, & Harleys (4:59)
- Bike Prep: Avoid Catastrophe / Best ‘Bang for the Bother’ (28:15)
- Tires (30:58)
- Brakes (33:14)
- Critical Fasteners (33:59)
- Drivetrain (35:52)
- Suspension (42:58)
- Tire Sealant (48:51)
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The World Cup Downhill season starts in just a couple of weeks, so we checked in with Blister reviewers Noah Bodman, David Golay, and Ben Sims to get their thoughts on and predictions for the upcoming season. We also discuss the future prospects and popularity of World Cup DH racing versus the popularity and trajectory of Enduro World Series racing, and we place one very big wager on the upcoming season.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Upcoming Men’s DH Season (1:57)
- Upcoming Women’s DH Season (17:35)
- WC DH vs Enduro World Series (24:30)
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Moab’s Slickrock Trail is one of the best-known and most iconic mountain biking trails in the world. And yet, a preliminary proposal from the Bureau of Land Management was put forward to auction the right to drill for oil and natural gas under the trail. Now, the good news here is that, just as I was speaking last Friday to our guest, Ashley Korenblat, a preliminary hold was put in place by the Bureau of Land Management to stop the sale for the right to drill for oil and gas under Slickrock Trail, but this should very much ought to get our attention, first, because if this could happen to a trail as famous as Slickrock, we all ought to realize that this same thing could happen to many of our favorite trails around the US.
And so the important thing for all of us in the bike community is to understand how the current energy system works in the US; how fragile and susceptible our trail systems truly are; why we all need to get educated about the energy policies of our local areas and be contacting our local representatives, and more. And our guest today, Ashley Korenblat, is one of the best people out there to help us understand the current system, and what each of us needs to be doing to protect the places where we love to ride and recreate.
Among other things, Ashley the founder and managing director of Public Lands Solutions, and I would strongly encourage you to check out the important work they’re doing.
Ashley was also a guest at our Blister Speaker Series at Western Colorado University last year, and you can listen to my Speaker Series conversation with Ashley over on our BLISTER Podcast channel, episode 86, to learn more about her own extremely interesting background, and to get more of a general background on the specific topic she and I will be discussing today.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- What exactly is going on here? (5:22)
- Is there precedence for this? (8:17)
- What’s the Trump administration’s case? (11:19)
- What would you propose happens? (13:38)
- What can residents of Moab and / or residents of Utah do? (18:24)
- What can the rest of us do? (21:24)
- Breaking news re: Slickrock (23:49)
- What is the future of this debate? (28:30)
- What we need to know re: energy issues (31:04)
- Public Land Solutions (33:03)
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We talk to Ibis Cycles founder, Scot Nicol, about the new Ripmo 2; the current Ibis lineup; Scot’s background in the early (and awesome) days of mtn biking; the history and trajectory of Ibis; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES
- The Ripmo 2 (4:55)
- The current Ibis lineup (16:55)
- More Ibis metal bikes? (23:44)
- 25: 15 The Ibis Tranny
- 28:00 The Ibis Trans-Fat
- 28:50 Scot’s favorite Ibis bike name
- 32:11 Ripley vs Ripmo
- 34:57 Scot’s bike background
- 41:36 The evolution of bikes in the past 15 years
- 55:53 What will mtn biking look like in the next ~40 years?
- e-bikes (1:02:12)
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What will the mountain biking industry look like 10 years from now? What current product categories currently have the most room for improvement, and where will the actual advances in bike tech have happened by the end of 2029? What categories of riding will have grown, and which will have shrunk? Will we have fewer or more bike parks? We discuss all of this and more — including our wildest predictions for this next decade.
And in the Comments Section below, we’d love to hear what you predict the bike industry will look like in 10 years.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Follow up on last episode ‘Gear Awards’ (1:35)
- Predictions for 2020 - 2029 (3:42)
- What gear has the most room for improvement? (20:22)
- Where will we actually see the most improvement? (32:04)
- Are we in a golden age of bike design? (39:40)
- Will # of mtn bikers increase or decrease? (43:40)
- Which types of riding will get bigger or smaller? (44:34)
- Will we see fewer or more bike parks? (52:14)
- Fewer or more riders pedaling up bike parks? (53:12)
- Wildest predictions for the next decade? (1:00:40)
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Of the entire past decade, what was the most influential bike or bike part? What were the best bikes or bike parts? What were the biggest gear trends? And what was our selection for the Best Product of the Decade? We cover all of this and more with Noah Bodman and David Golay.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Most Influential Mtn Bike, 2000-2009 (3:10)
- Most Influential Mtn Bike, 2010-2019 (11:45)
- Most Influential Components (20:00)
- Best Mtn Bike (24:10)
- Best Components (36:25)
- Biggest Mtn Bike Gear Trends (46:40)
- Best Product of the Decade (41:11)
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Paul Basagoitia was the first back-to-back winner of Crankworx Slopestyle, participated in Red Bull Rampage numerous times, and was one of the top riders in the game. But one tiny mishap led to a crash that left him paralyzed, and Paul’s life was changed in an instant. So we talk to Paul about his ascension in the sport, the events surrounding his accident, his road to recovery, how he views Rampage today, and his new Red Bull / HBO film, Any One of Us that chronicles it all — and provides an unfiltered look at life after a spinal cord injury.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Paul’s new film, Any One of Us (1:45)
- Winning Crankworx on Cam Zink’s bike (5:16)
- Competing at Rampage & managing fear (13:17)
- Paul’s crash (15:12)
- Are you scared watching friends drop in at Rampage? (32:30)
- Spinal injuries & stem cell research (33:36)
- Wings for Life (wingsforlife.com) (38:15)
- Paul’s recovery & current status (39:05)
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These days, a lot of brands — and especially a lot of outdoor brands — like to talk about sustainability. But what concrete steps are companies taking to measure, reduce, and offset their carbon emissions? And what can be done to hold companies more accountable?
Climate Neutral is a non-profit that enlists brands to reduce and pay for their emissions, and that helps consumers identify which companies are taking real action.
So we talk to Climate Neutral CEO, Austin Whitman, about how Climate Neutral got started; his (impressive) background; the problem of “greenwashing”; the lower-than-you’d-think costs of reducing carbon emissions; the legitimacy of carbon offsets; and what individuals & companies can do right now.
Check out Climate Neutral’s current Kickstarter campaign
TOPICS & TIMES:
- What is Climate Neutral? (2:43)
- How did Climate Neutral get started? (3:45)
- Austin’s (impressive) background (9:24)
- What Climate Neutral does & doesn’t do (20:40)
- Greenwashing & how to avoid it? (28:32)
- Costs / Price of reducing carbon emissions? (36:11)
- Carbon offsets — are they legit? (44:22)
- Near-term goals of Climate Neutral? (52:22)
- What should individuals & companies do right now? (58:16)
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Reviewers Luke Koppa, Jonathan Ellsworth, Dylan Wood, and David Golay discuss our new BLISTER Brand Guide to Mountain Bikes; why we saw a need for it; the trends and takeaways we’ve seen in the process of building it; and … the revolutionary new Badonkadonk bike.
See our Mountain Bike Brand Guides (many more coming soon)
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Dylan’s Crash = Your Gain (1:27)
- Why do a guide like this? (4:22)
- Market Trends (11:10)
- Components, Suspension, & Tires (19:13)
- Mullet bikes & the Badonkadonk (20:31)
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Coming straight to Crested Butte after an amazing World Cup season finale, Claudio Caluori sits down with Jonathan Ellsworth in BLISTER HQ to recap this incredible World Cup Downhill season; discuss whether this was the best WC DH season ever; talk about Loic Bruni and Amaury Pierron’s epic battle; and frame Danny Hart’s season. Claudio also offers his biggest takeaways from the men’s and women’s seasons; how the sport has evolved in terms of trails, equipment, and talent; and what, if anything, could be done to make the series even better.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Was this the best WC season ever? (1:54)
- “Perfect” Riding vs. Pushing the limit (7:18)
- Framing Danny Hart’s season (20:33)
- Biggest takeaways from the men’s season (23:52)
- Loic & Amaury’s battle (25:55)
- Biggest takeaways from women’s season (29:00)
- Thoughts on women riding Rampage? (33:35)
- What changes would you make to the WC series? (36:12)
- Are riders better than ever? (43:56)
- Predictions for next year? (50:55)
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What do politics, religion, and e-Bikes have in common? They’re all topics that get people extremely worked up, often result in name calling, and are rarely productive. And this needs to change, because e-Bikes are not going away, so we need to figure out fast how to have more constructive conversations about e-bikes — and, in particular e-mountain bikes.
To this end, we’re talking today to Dave Wiens, the executive director of the International Mountain Biking Association, to help clarify what all the fuss is about; identify what the biggest issues are with e-mountain bikes; present the concerns that advocates — and the opponents — of e-bikes most need to understand; and lay out what the best way forward looks like.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Current debates about e-Bikes (2:26)
- IMBA’s role and stance (6:03)
- What groups does IMBA hear from the most? (11:42)
- Arguments against e-bike trail access (13:13)
- Arguments for e-bike trail access (24:11)
- Why distinguish between classes of bikes? (26:47)
- Have there been many on-trail issues with e-bikes? (36:12)
- What’s the best way forward? (41:10)
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For many of us, bikes are primarily fun. But for many others, bikes are major drivers of economic development, critical sources of transportation and health care, vehicles of educational opportunity, and instruments of equality.
World Bicycle Relief was started by the founder of SRAM to provide bikes to some of the communities around the world that could use them the most, and in today’s conversation, you’ll learn exactly how and why bikes are such a significant and life-changing tool.
Our guest today is Dave Neiswander, the CEO of World Bicycle Relief. Dave has been with WBR for over a decade, and as you will see, he is an impressive guy with an impressive background, and he does an excellent job talking about the origins of World Bicycle Relief; its trajectory and challenges; the bikes themselves and all the product design that goes into them; and what each of us can do to support the mission of World Bicycle Relief.
Take Action: Go to worldbicyclerelief.org to sign up for one of their upcoming events, make a donation, and share what they are up to with your friends and colleagues.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Origin Story of World Bicycle Relief (3:49)
- How Dave first got involved with WBR (8:41)
- Why bikes matter so much (16:24)
- Mission Statement of WBR (19:25)
- How does WBR select new locations to assist? (21:21)
- Important Stats & Results (37:13)
- Winning the Wharton / Lipman Prize (43:53)
- The bikes / designing for particular performance (49:03)
- The Buffalo Bike (54:07)
- The Charger Bike (55:51)
- Future plans for World Bicycle Relief (59:17)
- Biggest lessons learned that others might benefit from? (1:05:07)
- Best ways for individuals and companies to get involved? (1:07:31)
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Sometimes, “different” is better. Other times, it’s just dumb. So today we’re discussing a number of very unconventional bike products and asking: Why does this product exist; what problem is it trying to solve; who is its target audience; and … is the product more likely to become the next big thing, or, is it more likely destined for the dustbin of history?
Jonathan Ellsworth talks to Blister’s new ‘oddities expert,’ David Golay, about the Trust Message linkage fork; Structure Cycleworks’ SCW1 linkage fork / frame system; high-pivot Trail bikes and the Forbidden Druid; Starling Cycles’ ‘Jack Drive’ bikes; and Tannus Armour tire inserts.
TOPICS & TIMES
- Introducing David, our ‘Oddities Expert’ (2:35)
- David’s Nicolai G16, Mojo Special Edition (3:12)
- Trust Message linkage fork (4:20)
- Structure Cycleworks’ SCW1 linkage fork/frame system (13:20)
- High-Pivot Trail Bikes / the Forbidden Druid (19:12)
- Starling Cycles’ ‘Jack Drive’ bikes (25:55)
- Tannus Armour Tire Inserts (30:55)
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Anthill Films recently released their latest movie, Return to Earth, and it once again displays the sick cinematography and sick bike riding that Anthill is known for. But in Return to Earth, the guys who brought us breathtaking bike films like unReal are going after some bigger stakes.
So we talk to Anthill’s Darcy Wittenberg and Ian Dunn about those stakes; the origins & early days of Anthill Films; some of the locations, riders, and cinematography in Return to earth; and more.
And after you listen to this conversation, go ride your bike, then check out ep. #95 of our Blister Podcast, because we talk with the world-renowned neuroscientist, Dr. Michael Merzenich, about a lot of the themes and issues that Darcy and Ian bring up. It is a terrific supplement to this conversation, and it very much underscores the message of Return to Earth.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The origins & early days of Anthill Films (3:10)
- Return to Earth: How do you describe it? (10:37)
- Locations in the film (21:55)
- The (unbelievable) kid riders (26:26)
- Brett Rheeder throwing down (32:40)
- Explaining some of the cinematography (35:57)
- 30-Day Challenge (39:30)
- The current landscape of mountain-bike films (42:57)
- What’s the best question I haven’t asked you? (44:53)
- Why bikes themselves are big ideas (48:30)
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We talk to Dave Wiens about skiing with Doug Coombs; participating in the early days of mountain biking; winning the Leadville 100 six times in a row — while beating Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong along the way; and we get a fresh update from Dave on the current agenda and plans of the International Mountain Bike Association.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Dave’s background in adventure sports (1:58)
- Extreme skiing & meeting Doug Coombs (12:00)
- The early days of mountain biking (14:55)
- Competing with Ned Overend, Mike Kloser, & John Tomac (16:20)
- Founding Gunnison Trails (23:43)
- Leadville 100 — and winning it 6 times in a row (31:10)
- Leadville 2007: racing Floyd Landis (35:45)
- Leadville 2008: racing Lance Armstrong (39:19)
- Dave's take on the current state of mtn biking (46:52)
- Update on IMBA’s current agenda & project (55:02)
- What should mtn bikers be doing to protect trails? (1:06:13)
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How do you square the fact that a small bike company with a very heavy-metal vibe is making extremely big claims about the cutting-edge materials they are using to manufacture bikes — right here in the USA, in Denver, CO — and doing all of this at a pretty modest price point? Are these guys full of crap, or are they truly onto something here? And if so, how big of a deal is this?
Jonathan Ellsworth went to the Guerrilla Gravity headquarters in downtown Denver to try to get some answers, and he sat down with co-founder and president, Will Montague; co-founder and chief engineer, Matt Giaraffa; and Guerrilla Gravity’s director of composites engineering, Ben Bosworth. Will and Matt and Ben discuss the principles that Guerrilla Gravity was founded upon, and how sticking to those principles helped put them in the position that they are in today. They also do an excellent job of explaining the significant advantages of what they call their ‘Revved’ carbon, and you are going to want to hear about all of it.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Backstory: Getting started, doing things different (7:50)
- Refusing to use carbon — and how that paid off (19:37)
- “Revved” carbon — or, the benefits of Carbon 2.0 (27:00)
- Cutting-edge tech + heavy-metal branding?? (35:32)
- The ‘Elevator Pitch’ that won them multiple grants (38:16)
- ‘Revved’ carbon vs other types of carbon (41:24)
- On Guerrilla Gravity’s modular designs (52:37)
- Which bikes are Will, Matt, and Ben riding? (1:04:52)
- Production: how are you handling all the orders? (1:07:54)
- Ambitions: How big are yours for Guerilla Gravity? (1:09:07)
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We talk with BLISTER senior bike editor, Noah Bodman, about Guerrilla Gravity’s modular designs; the emerging category of ‘Downcountry’ Bikes; whether ‘mullet bikes’ are just a fad; and whether the lingo used to market and sell bikes is in need of a refresh.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Guerrilla Gravity’s modular design (1:55)
- Downcountry Bikes (8:27)
- Which bike categories are shrinking? (15:20)
- Mullet Bikes: just a fad? (17:04)
- Bike industry marketing lingo (20:22)
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We talk to Bikes & Big Ideas co-host, Claudio Caluori, about the origin story of this podcast; his background in XC & DH racing, how Velosolutions got started, experiments with food & diet; the #pumpforpeace project, and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Biggest takeaway from the World Cup in Maribor (2:16)
- Origin story of Bikes & Big Ideas (4:00)
- Claudio’s background in XC & DH racing (12:24)
- When did you first start thinking about environmental issues? (16:50)
- Experiments with food, diet, and fasting (20:21)
- Claudio’s company, Velosolutions (35:12)
- How #pumpforpeace is serving underprivileged communities (43:24)
- Sponsoring the Izimbali South African women’s race team (51:39)
- Pump Track World Championship (54:45)
- Claudio’s current big ideas (57:33)
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BIKES & BIG IDEAS is the new podcast from BLISTER that will be focusing on both of those things — bikes AND big ideas.
The bike world is full of a lot of smart and fascinating people who are really passionate about bikes. But so many in our community are also really passionate about protecting and being good stewards of the places we love to ride, and finding ways to create a more sustainable future.
So the aim of BIKES & BIG IDEAS is to bring you the most interesting conversations and stories from across the bike world, while also on occasion going way beyond bikes per se to take a look at some of the biggest ideas and potentially game-changing innovations in the areas of sustainable design, cleaner energy, biotech, and more.
The one and only Claudio Caluori will be joining me regularly to co-host BIKES & BIG IDEAS, and we are going to be interviewing folks within the bike community — athletes, company founders, product managers, engineers, trail advocates et cetera — and then in some episodes, we’ll be taking a look at the latest developments, biggest breakthroughs, and emerging industries that could help to improve the present and the future.
Our first episode of BIKES AND BIG IDEAS drops next week, and in episode #1, Claudio and I will talk more about the impetus for this podcast and how it came to be. So subscribe today where ever you get your podcasts to catch episode number 1 with me and Claudio, and we will talk to you next week.
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