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 effo...
Apr 07, 2022•50 min•Ep. 112
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 & qualifyi...
Mar 31, 2022•59 min•Ep. 111
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) G...
Mar 24, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 110
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 O...
Mar 17, 2022•54 min•Ep. 109
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 respons...
Mar 10, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 108
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 ...
Mar 03, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 107
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 t...
Feb 25, 2022•47 min•Ep. 106
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 eng...
Feb 17, 2022•53 min•Ep. 105
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 Endur...
Feb 10, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 104
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 ...
Feb 03, 2022•54 min•Ep. 103
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 aft...
Jan 27, 2022•42 min•Ep. 102
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 C...
Jan 20, 2022•41 min•Ep. 101
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...
Jan 13, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 100
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...
Jan 06, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 99
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 Gr...
Dec 30, 2021•49 min•Ep. 98
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; an...
Dec 23, 2021•38 min•Ep. 97
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...
Dec 16, 2021•41 min•Ep. 96
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 abo...
Dec 09, 2021•42 min•Ep. 95
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 t...
Dec 02, 2021•51 min•Ep. 94
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 an...
Nov 25, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 93
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. TOPIC...
Nov 18, 2021•57 min•Ep. 92
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 wor...
Nov 11, 2021•42 min•Ep. 91
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 Mem...
Nov 04, 2021•42 min•Ep. 90
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 ...
Oct 28, 2021•50 min•Ep. 89
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 ...
Oct 21, 2021•24 min•Ep. 88
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 ch...
Oct 14, 2021•55 min•Ep. 87
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 Elit...
Oct 07, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 86
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) Shi...
Sep 30, 2021•52 min•Ep. 85
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; ...
Sep 23, 2021•40 min•Ep. 84
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....
Sep 16, 2021•42 min•Ep. 83
