Bikes & Big Ideas

Simon welcomes guest co-host Mike Ferrentino to go over a busy, weird month in the bike world. Of course, they have to talk about what happened to Kona, which leads to a discussion about the negative effect Venture capital and investment companies seem to have on the bike industry. But there’s also fun stuff going on with companies like Gates, and Mike places a bet with eating his microphone as the stakes. Plus they get into the incredible start to the XC World Cup season for U.S. athletes, the new Canyon lightweight eMTB, the scourge of poison oak, and, naturally, some discussion of zombies. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide TOPICS & TIMES: What's going on with Kona? (0:41) Enve is being sold again (9:25) Rapha closed their U.S. office (14:42) The Mountain Bike capital of the world (18:03) Gate’s 100k belt drive prize & Microphone eating (29:00) Recap of the first two XC World Cups (34:46) New Yeti ASR (42:22) XC bike amnesia (52:03) Canyon Neuron:ONfly first ride (56:04) Poison Oak (1:03:30) 28 Days Later sequel and Zombies (1:04:47) OUR OTHER PODCASTS Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Norco Factory Team has a new DH race bike, and the story of its development is an interesting one. So we sat down with engineers Adrian Ward and Kirk McDowall to hear their take on the goals and design intent of the bike; what they learned from the development of the existing Enduro bike, the Range (and its modified DH version); the original test mule for the new race bike; working with Greg Minnaar to continue the bike’s development; and a whole lot more. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide TOPICS & TIMES: Introducing Adrian and Kirk (2:03) Origins of the DH bike project (3:59) Racing DH on the Range (6:35) The next steps (13:27) Kirk’s testing (17:28) Building “the fastest race bike” (22:53) The design of the bike (28:41) Wheel sizes & going MX (32:33) Suspension layout (41:07) Greg Minnaar & reconsidering 29’’ wheels (46:52) Future development (56:26) OUR OTHER PODCASTS Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve been testing a massive assortment of new bikes and other gear, and David Golay and Zack Henderson sat down to chat about a whole bunch of them, including the high-pivot Norco Optic and Sight, the new Specialized Epic Evo, the newly-mulleted Yeti SB165, and more. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide TOPICS & TIMES: Yeti SB165 (1:29) Norco Sight & Optic (8:46) Kavenz VHP 16 V7 (22:43) Rocky Mountain Instinct (31:52) Rocky Mountain Altitude (38:33) Ibis HD6 (45:46) Specialized Epic Evo (53:18) SRAM Maven brakes (58:58) OUR OTHER PODCASTS Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

March was an interesting month for bike news. There was a dispute at Crankworx Rotorua which resulted in the men not competing in the finals, Scott is having crazy management drama, there are a bunch of interesting new lightweight eMTBs, and Simon had a recent trip to ride in Tuscany. In our third installment of Reviewing The News, Ryan and Simon get into all of this and more. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide TOPICS & TIMES: Simon’s recent trip to Italy (1:50) Riding eGravel bikes in Tuscany (4:03) Are gravel bikes just reincarnated 30-year-old mountain bikes? (4:48) John Tomac’s drop-bar riding prowess (7:39) How did we ride without dropper posts? (7:54) Slow eBikes in Europe (10:38) The Slopestyle strike (20:40) First-ever women’s slopestyle event at Crankworx (27:32) Scott drama (32:50) The year of the lightweight E-bikes (38:04) Norco Fluid VLT (39:58) Mondraker Dune (50:11) Short-travel high-pivot bikes (53:24) Old brakes vs. new brakes (1:01:51) OUR OTHER PODCASTS Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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) OUR OTHER PODCASTS Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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). RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide TOPICS & TIMES: Chromag Lowdown (2:10) Orbea Rallon (8:57) Ibis HD6 (19:36) Nicolai Nucleon 16 (29:05) OUR OTHER PODCASTS Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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). RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide TOPICS & TIMES: Chromag Lowdown (2:10) Orbea Rallon (8:57) Ibis HD6 (19:36) Nicolai Nucleon 16 (29:05) OUR OTHER PODCASTS Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. RELATED LINKS: BLISTER+ Membership BLISTER+ Real World Testimonials Blister Labs This Week’s Gear Giveaway Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide 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 Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Off The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.