Following his 2020 DH World Championships win, Reece Wilson’s downhill racing career got a massive boost that helped land him a spot on Trek’s Factory DH team. Unfortunately, several challenging, injury-marred seasons followed. But 2025 is shaping up quite differently with the introduction of his newly formed AON Racing team, so we sat down with Reece to find out what inspired him to build a team from the ground up; his decision to partner with Gamux; why belt-driven gearbox bikes are the future...
Feb 20, 2025•48 min•Ep. 262
Camille Balanche had an outstanding 2022 race season, winning the World Cup Overall title, and carried that momentum into 2023 before a horrifying crash in Andorra ended her season. We sat down with Cami to talk about her recovery and continued injury struggles in 2024; her move to Yeti and their re-emergence in World Cup Downhill; the state of the sport and the myriad rule changes for this season; how much longer she hopes to keep racing; and a whole lot more. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Get Yourse...
Feb 13, 2025•49 min•Ep. 261
Trump’s tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico are high on Mike and Simon’s lists of topics to talk about — and it looks like there will be some uncertain times ahead for the bike industry. Speaking of Mexico, we’re hearing some good things are going on down there in regard to trail building, and since Mike is spending the winter in Baja, it’s the perfect opportunity to have the conversation about Mexico as a mountain biking destination. Red Bull Hardline is just a few days away, so be sure to tun...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 260
The Kona Process 153 and Transition Sentinel V3 have about the same suspension travel, not super different geometry, and were both developed by companies based in the same part of the world. They also ride very, very differently. So we sat down to talk about both of them and why they differ, some other new components we’re testing, including the Vorsprung Telum and OneUp Clip Pedals, and a bunch more. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered Join Us! Blister Summit 2025 TOPICS & TIMES: T...
Jan 30, 2025•50 min•Ep. 259
When we last spoke with Chris Currie — the man behind Ministry Cycles and the striking Psalm 150 frame — he had just sent a prototype frame off for lab testing, hoping to move into production if all went to plan. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way, but Chris made some design changes and is still working toward offering frames for sale. With the latest V3 frame off for testing, it was a good time to check back in with Chris to hear all about what’s happened over the last two years to ...
Jan 23, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 258
Mountain bikes are, in many ways, better than ever, but we’re also seeing fewer and fewer bikes that feel like truly specialized tools for a specific job. And for many folks, that’s great — many big Enduro bikes climb pretty well, plenty of more versatile Trail bikes still hold their own in burly terrain quite effectively, and so on. Being well-rounded is certainly one way for a bike to stand out, but it can also make for a bike that doesn’t truly excel in any specific area. So we got a bunch of...
Jan 16, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 257
When we last sat down with Steve Mathews from Vorsprung, he shared a lot of the high-level details of their then-unreleased Telum shock. But he needed to keep some of the most interesting details under wraps — until now. So we sat back down with Steve to get the full rundown — first and foremost, how the Telum’s novel Rapid Revalve system (which is meant to make re-valving the shock take only a few minutes) works. And Steve shares a lot of good info on the Telum more broadly, his approach to sus...
Jan 09, 2025•50 min•Ep. 256
2024 was an interesting, strange year for the bike industry, with the challenging retail landscape dominating a lot of the news. Thankfully, there has been plenty of good news to discuss, too. Dylan and Simon sat down on New Year's Eve to wrap up the last Reviewing the News for 2024, and they recapped some of the memorable stories from across the whole year, sprinkled in a bit of recent news from December, discussed their picks for best racing moments, and reminisced about their best rides of th...
Jan 03, 2025•58 min•Ep. 255
The last time we spoke to Braydon Bringhurst , he’d just wrapped up his hugely ambitious ‘8600FT’ project and put out an excellent film on the effort. He’s now taking on another huge project of a very different sort, so we sat down with him to hear all about his newly founded Hard MTB League. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership This Week’s Gear Giveaway TOPICS & TIMES: What is Hard MTB? (1:16) Where did the idea come from, and why start it? (2:57) The courses & varying disciplines (13:48)...
Dec 26, 2024•35 min•Ep. 254
Sometimes a chance encounter can wildly reshape someone’s life, and the series of events that led Ashley King to frame building, and later founding Significant Other Bikes , is a wild one. So we sat down with Ashley to hear her story and get her take on frame building, running a business, and a whole lot more. We also discuss the importance of bringing in outside perspectives and folks with diverse backgrounds — and how that plays into the Significant Other name. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membersh...
Dec 19, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 253
Mountain biking when it’s cold and rainy out might not sound very appealing, but our Pacific Northwest-based bike reviewers have a lot of experience on that front — and having a good time doing it. So we sat down to chat about how to make the most of the less appealing part of the riding season, from layering strategies to glove selection, tire choices and bike setup, and more. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership This Week’s Gear Giveaway TOPICS & TIMES: How to deal with humidity (3:08) Shoe ...
Dec 12, 2024•54 min•Ep. 252
Bike news slowed down a bit in November, allowing Mike and Simon to get into some fun topics, like the history of multitools, and Mike’s fifty-year-old truck project/money pit. But there was still plenty of bike industry conversation, too, thanks to the seemingly limitless discounts that continue to disrupt the retail landscape. They also discuss the not-so-fun topic of bike theft and offer some insight on how to protect your bikes and recover them if they are stolen, and a whole lot more. RELAT...
Dec 05, 2024•58 min•Ep. 251
Simon Stewart and David Golay are back for their first joint Reviewer Reports episode in a while, to talk about a whole bunch of what they’ve been testing lately. There’s a lot to cover, from three very different Trail bikes to a couple of lightweight eMTBs, the ultra-adjustable Geometron G1, two very different takes on electronically-controlled suspension, and more. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership This Week’s Gear Giveaway TOPICS & TIMES: Nicolai G1 (2:19) Rocky Mountain Instinct Powerpl...
Nov 28, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 250
Getting more people on bikes, and building better bike infrastructure to facilitate it, is something of a chicken-and-egg problem. People need to feel safe to get out in the first place; getting municipalities to take the issue seriously often takes a demonstrated need for better infrastructure. PeopleForBikes is doing a lot to advocate for bike riders of all stripes — from casual commuters to dedicated mountain bikers, urban delivery riders to weekend roadies, and everyone in between. So we sat...
Nov 21, 2024•47 min•Ep. 249
Matthew Fairbrother’s wild effort to bikepack through the entire 2022 EWS season was an incredible accomplishment, and he’s just kept stacking up bonkers feats of endurance on a mountain bike in the years since. So we once again sat down with Matthew to talk about what he’s been up to of late, including winning the NZ Rally despite forgoing all the assisted transfers; kayaking one of them with minimal experience in a kayak; more animal encounters (check out our earlier episode with Matthew for a...
Nov 14, 2024•43 min•Ep. 248
October is always an exciting month because of Red Bull Rampage, but this year was extra special due to the historic first women’s competition. Dylan and Simon recap this truly amazing event in the Utah desert and offer their take on some of the results. They also cover the usual industry news — some good, some bad — some exciting new products, and a whole lot more. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Bu...
Nov 07, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 247
Red Bull Rampage finally included a women’s category this year, with Casey Brown doing a whole lot to spearhead it, and the event was spectacular. If you haven’t watched it yet, well, you should. Casey’s run starts at 29:25, but do yourself a favor and watch the whole thing . We sat down with Casey to hear how it felt to finally have the door opened to women; talk about what goes into getting yourself to Rampage as an athlete, and everything it takes to actually be there and put a run together; ...
Oct 31, 2024•42 min•Ep. 246
Ethan Eggert is hard at work refining his Arid Cycles Spade Enduro bike, which has gone through three different suspension layouts, numerous geometry and kinematic tweaks, and one catastrophically broken frame — and he’s just 19 years old. We sat down with Ethan to get the whole story — including his plans to eventually offer bikes for sale — and it’s a good one. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership This Week’s Gear Giveaway TOPICS & TIMES: Ethan’s background & the inspiration behind Arid ...
Oct 24, 2024•45 min•Ep. 245
A lot of mountain bike hip packs are pretty cheaply made, and/or lightly tweaked versions of basic casual designs. High Above does things differently, from focusing on MTB-specific designs to making all their packs in the US from top-quality materials. So we went down to High Above HQ to chat about all of it, get the rundown on some upcoming High Above products — including some non-hip-pack models — and see how they go about designing, testing, and making their bags and other gear. RELATED LINKS...
Oct 17, 2024•47 min•Ep. 244
Enve’s new fifth-generation M-Series wheels are a big departure from earlier iterations, with dramatically different rim profiles — and some very wild claims about improved compliance — new, Enve-built hubs, and a whole lot more. So we sat down with Enve’s VP of Product, Jake Pantone, to pull back the curtain on their long development process, the goals for the new wheels, the athlete feedback that drove those changes, and get the full story of Enve’s new MTB wheel lineup. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER...
Oct 10, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 243
September was an interesting month in the bike industry with one the biggest retail bike stores in the country announcing its closing; Motion Instrument’s future looking grim; and news of Rad Power Bikes’ bizarre plan to sell eBikes in Best Buy stores. Simon and Mike have plenty to talk about on the industry side alone, not to mention all the exciting bike racing like the inaugural Lake Placid UCI XC World Cup; the US Cup DH; and the mind-blowing win by Tadej Pogacar at the UCI Road World Champi...
Oct 03, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 242
Dylan Wood and Simon Stewart have been busy testing bikes and filming head-to-head comparisons, which means they’ve also been spending a lot of time on the same bikes. So, they got together to go over everything from longer-travel eMTBs like the Cannondale Moterra SL and Mondraker Dune XR to XC race bikes like the Yeti ASR and Cannondale Scalpel, then went down some geometry rabbit holes and a few other tangents. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership This Week’s Gear Giveaway TOPICS & TIMES: Ca...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 241
Alex Showerman’s new short film ‘Coming Home’ tells her story of doing just that — both in literally returning to her hometown in Vermont, and in finding community and acceptance in the women’s freeride scene after coming out as trans. You can, and should, stream the film for free now. We sat down with Alex to dive deeper into her story and hear more about some of the themes that the short-film format didn’t leave time for. Alex’s retelling is touching, funny, and full of insights about what it ...
Sep 19, 2024•39 min•Ep. 240
Maxxis’ new High Roller doesn’t look much like High Rollers of old, and Maxxis is talking a very big game about how widely their DH racers are using it. So we sat down with the Manager of their Bike division, Aaron Chamberlain, to talk about the impetus to update the High Roller; hear the story behind its development; peel back the curtain on how Maxxis manages their product line; and a whole bunch more. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership This Week’s Gear Giveaway TOPICS & TIMES: The concept...
Sep 12, 2024•35 min•Ep. 239
Mike Ferrentino is back behind the microphone in this episode of Reviewing the News, and Mike and Simon get right into what happened in the bike industry in August. They recap the exciting UCI MTB World Championships in Andorra; Mike gives his take on the interesting Specialized and Frameworks partnership; and they both agree that cross-country mountain bike courses should be longer. Simon puts Mike on the spot about his racing history, and they wonder if the bike retail landscape is ever going ...
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 238
We’re hard at work testing a huge range of bikes and other gear, as always, and David Golay sat down with Zack Henderson to talk about a whole bunch of it, from the Trek Top Fuel to the Marin Alpine Trail, the Forbidden Druid V2 to the Trek Slash+, and a whole bunch more. Plus we get off in the weeds about bike geometry, and wrap things up by issuing a big “I told you so” to a certain manufacturer. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership This Week’s Gear Giveaway TOPICS & TIMES: Trek Top Fuel (1:...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 237
More and more women are riding mountain bikes, so why are there so few women-specific bike brands out there? It’s not just about making bikes for everyone — though that’s important, too. Kara Williard and David Golay sat down with Ludi Scholz, the Off-Road Category Manager at Liv, to hear all about it. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership This Week’s Gear Giveaway TOPICS & TIMES Ludi’s Background & Role at Liv (2:53) Women-Specific Bikes (7:14) Why This Matters (11:31) Frame Design / R&...
Aug 22, 2024•37 min•Ep. 236
Gearboxes have some clear advantages for more gravity-oriented mountain bikes — less unsprung weight, the ability to shift while not pedaling, no derailleur to damage, and more — but have yet to reach widespread adoption. Zerode is perhaps the company best known for making gearbox mountain bikes, and we sat down with founder Rob Metz and Ali Quinn of Zerode to hear the story of Rob founding the company, and the homemade gearbox that kicked it all off; why they’re fans of gearboxes; their new Wor...
Aug 15, 2024•49 min•Ep. 235
Vermont Mountain Bike Association is one of the leading organizations in the country in the assessment, funding, and building of adaptive trails — and in collaboration with Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, they are creating an inspiring network of adaptive accessible trails. We sat down with Kenzie Brunner from VMBA, and Jeff Alexander from Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports to get the story on what they’ve been up to. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership This Week’s Gear Giveaway TOPICS & TIMES:...
Aug 08, 2024•55 min•Ep. 234
In this month's episode of Reviewing the News on our Bikes & Big Ideas Podcast, Simon welcomes freeride legend Wade Simmons as his guest co-host. Wade gives a recap of Crankworx Whistler and claims he can’t do tricks, then Wade and Simon try to sort out why they keep crashing, and the unfortunate reality of not being as fast as they once were. They get into the wild Les Gets World Cup and XC Mountain Bike racing at the Olympics, Wade’s spat with Rémy Métailler and Yoann Barelli over who rode...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 233
