The Pinkbike Podcast

Last year we visited Specialized’s eMTB facility in Cham, Switzerland to ride some bikes and poke around their ebike innovation centre. We sat down with Jan Talavasek, Marco Sonderegger, and Joe Buckley, three of the key people behind eMTB development at Specialized, to talk about past, present, and future. We also got a special appearance from the venerable Marketing Todd, who swears Specialized is done making new bikes and that we should stop asking sneaky questions about future models. They had a lot to say, and we got a few tidbits out of them, so the pod runs a bit long. Alternatively, you can read the article + photos here. This was recorded before we'd figured out how to press the big red button to do video podcasts, but we'll be back soon with our regularly scheduled podcast. 03:07 The Evolution of E-Bikes & the Development of the Turbo Levo 14:58 The Shift in Perception of eMTBs 30:52 Brand Equity & the Levo's Original Name 33:51 The Swiss Office 44:02 Future Developments in eMTBs 50:20 Understanding E-Bike Performance Metrics 56:51 The Impact of Market Timing 01:00:00 Engineering for Performance, Legislation, & Consumer Safety 01:12:04 Charging Technology and Battery Longevity 01:15:59 Data-Driven Design and Testing 01:24:02 Field Testing and Component Tracking

In a special end-of-year podcast, Henry is joined by Kaz, Matt, and Dario to talk through the winners of each category, as well as explain the rationale behind the choices. 00:08:50 Value Product of the Year 00:14:31 Value Mountain Bike of the Year 00:25:16 E-MTB of the Year 00:45:13 Innovation of the Year 01:05:42 Suspension Product of the Year 01:22:01 Product of the Year 01:32:41 Mountain Bike of the Year

After a whirlwind 2024 Season, we had the opportunity to sit down with Jordi Cortes of Fox Factory and Neko Mulally of Frameworks Racing to debrief on the latest tech, the incremental changes that riders are now making to maximize setup, and ask whether aftermarket performance devices are really worth it. Have we got to the stage where it isn't about only setting up your suspension well, but rather setting up your bike to get the most out of your suspension?

Kaz, Dario, Sarah, and Henry bring you this week's Show & Tells, review reflections, and listener questions.

In our first Vodcast, we blast through Kaz's Trek Top Fuel review, Henry showcases his latest snorkeling kit, and Dario talks us through his mighty 41lb enduro bike.

With eight different bikes and several pieces of supporting content, this Field Test has certainly been a big one. Now, it's time for its final piece - the Roundtable discussion, where we answer the ultimate question - how likely are we to recommend these bikes? And what would our order of preference be?

Our usual mix of bike and tech reflections. Does the perfect bike ever really exist?

Hear ye, hear ye, let's talk even more about mountain bikes.

When Greg Minnaar left the Santa Cruz Syndicate, it was about as big of a news story as you get in mountain bike racing. A rider who went against the very best of each generation, it was at one time impossible to think of him racing for anyone other than the Californian brand. One season later, to say he's landed on his feet would be an understatement. His 2024 racing season didn't unfold as he would have hoped, but he rounds out the year with a World Cup podium, fresh motivation, and a partnership with a brand he seems to be very well aligned with, even if now it's about helping other riders win, and not his own racing ambitions. Brian and I caught up with him to talk about old bikes, blank chequebooks and the lucky number 13.

This week, we tune in with the tech team for some Show and Tells and answer your questions. We'd love to answer some of your questions. Pleave us a message here.

This week, Dario reports his findings from a Redbull Rampage that managed to deliver more score controversy than ever, Matt talks about his heavy WTB test tires (and Henry begs to try them), plus Kaz explains why mechanical T-Type is not only possible but viable.

Thank you to so many of you for getting in your questions. We never imagined we'd have so many, and please keep them coming because we are looking forward to working them in to future episodes. This episode, Henry and Brian tackle some more before we take a week off the pod to recharge our batteries. Leave us your question for future episodes here.

Kaz plans his holiday to Bishops Itchington, Kaz and Henry disagree about fork offset and Sarah tries to discern who is more likely to try and buy upgrades, XC or DH riders. Please leave your own question here.

In this Q&A, we answer a lot of your questions about breaking your bike and how to make your bike look as bad as Dario's. To get your question answered, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message at speakpipe.com/pinkbike.

In this Q&A we answer a lot of your questions about everything from fueling your rides, what makes the difference at the highest level, and why Matt Beer will always be faster than us (and probably you too). To get your question answered, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message at speakpipe.com/pinkbike.

We answer your questions and talk about winning pedals, useless graphs and suspension gearboxes (again). To get your question answered, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message at speakpipe.com/pinkbike.

We answer your questions and comments about wheel size, geometry and seatposts. To feature, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message here.

In another Q&A Podcast, Dario, Kaz and Henry have gleaned the comments from the last week's tech articles to answer your questions.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with World Cup racer turned skunkworks rider Bryn Atkinson alongside Shimano's MTB product manager Nick Murdick to chat about drivetrain development, rider feedback, gearboxes, and a lot more. Although they didn't spill the launch dates for new XTR and Saint, they did give us some great insight on why products like Saint sometimes take a (ridiculously) long time to bring to market.

We get asked some great questions in the comments on both articles and videos, so Dario, Kaz and Henry thought it was about time we answered some! To get your question answered, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message here.