Today, Mike joins us from Loretto, Mexico, and on his way down there, he stopped in Los Algodones to get his rotten teeth fixed in what's become known as Molar City. Mike recounts his experience with Mexico’s booming low-cost dental industry and how, at one point, he thought he might be in a Quentin Tarantino film.  

On the bike news front, we talk about more struggling companies, including Rad Power Bikes and Campagnolo, as well as a few recalls, before getting into World Cup DH athlete team changes, Mike’s take on 32” wheels, and more.

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Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover or a guest you’d like us to have on Bikes and Big Ideas. Email us at [email protected] to weigh in.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Mike’s Back in Mexico (1:22)

Getting his Teeth Sorted in “Molar City” (2:33)

RIP Joe Montgomery (14:14)

Rad Power Bikes Files Bankruptcy (15:52)

New Ducati eMTBs, Gravel & Road Bikes (21:24)

Giant Moving to Boulder, Colorado (25:18)

Chinese Counterfeit Bike Bust (28:59)

Campagnolo Cuts Workforce by 40% (34:14)

Bike Recalls (37:42)

Mike’s 32” Wheels Predictions (38:59)

New Products (46:02)

World Cup DH Athlete News (1:00:59)

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Hayden Zablotny showed up at Red Bull Rampage and became the first rookie to win since Brandon Semenuk did it back in 2008. Hayden’s path to the top step of the podium is a fascinating story chronicling a young, talented rider struggling to get noticed. Today, he joins us to talk about that journey, how he became known as “the poacher,” finally getting the coveted Rampage invite, his winning run, and how he kept his head in the game during one of the heaviest injury-laden Rampages ever.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Getting started on Two Wheels and his BMX Legend Dad (4:14)

Racing BMX and Building Skills (6:43)

Moving to BC and Discovering Mountain Biking (8:14)

Finding His Niche in Freestyle (10:09)

Poaching Proving Grounds and Getting Noticed (24:11)

Getting the Rampage Invite (35:49)

Building His Line (41:48)

Staying Focused Amidst all the Injuries (43:30)

Breaking Down His Winning Run (46:34)

Hayden’s Biike Setup (51:45)

What’s next? (58:46)

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Vali Höll is in the midst of one of the most dominant runs we’ve seen in World Cup DH racing, taking her third consecutive overall title and fourth consecutive World Championships win in 2025. And she did it despite her team, the YT Mob, shutting down mid-season amidst YT’s ongoing financial struggles. Vali joins us to tell the story of her season, what happened with the Mob, how she pressed on regardless, how she ended up signing with Commencal for 2026, and a whole lot more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

The YT Mob & YT’s insolvency (2:50)

Team contracts & how the season unfolded (5:13)

Racing after team funding was cut (18:11)

Talks with other teams & moving to Commencal (23:45)

Consistency & race results (25:25)

Racing for a new contract & managing pressure (27:52)

Bikepacking & gravel bikes (31:20)

Vali’s goals for 2026 (35:21)

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We’re currently testing a huge array of bikes, from the super-efficient Norco Revolver, to the long-travel, Bosch CX-equipped Yeti LTe, with a whole lot in between — including the Lal Katana, with its novel Supre Drive. David and Simon sat down to share our thoughts on all of those and more, and along the way, we got into some debates about wheel sizes, geometry preferences, and more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Yeti LTe (1:37)

Cannondale Moterra (15:39)

Norco Sight VLT (24:51)

Trek Fuel MX (34:40)

Lal Katana (49:51)

Norco Revolver (58:22)

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Gamux has never done things the conventional way and takes pride in that. But they aren’t being different for the sake of being different, either. Founder Pascal Tinner is back on the show to talk about what they’ve been up to, from their partnership with Reece Wilson’s AON Racing, to the ‘Trophy Truck’ prototype race bike, and a whole lot more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

AON Racing & Reece Wilson (1:45)

The Sego (14:44)

DH prototypes (22:38)

Body types & bike design (29:03)

The Trophy Truck (33:40)

Riders & building a team (36:32)

2026 & beyond (45:10)

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For November’s Reviewing the News Episode, Mike clues us in on what's been going on in the Cyclocross season so far. Then we have a bunch of bike industry recalls to wade through — some of which are legitimately dangerous — which segways into Mike and Simon trying to understand why Rad Power Bikes is not issuing a recall for batteries that could burn down your house.

Note: We Want to Hear From You!

Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover or a guest you’d like us to have on Bikes and Big Ideas. Email us at [email protected] to weigh in.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Mike’s Cyclocross Season Update (5:32)

Rad Power Bike’s Battery Problems (15:01)

Can Trek’s Coaster Brake Failures Make Better Cyclists? (24:52)

You Can Still Get Injured on a Peloton  (32:56)

Lezyne Floor Pumps at Risk of Exploding (38:58)

Will the Bike Industry Ever Go Back to Normal? (42:44)

Mike’s Madrone Derailleur (46:30)

Charging eBikes Off-Grid (59:27)

Mike’s Heading to Mexico to Fix his Teeth (1:07:02)

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In Part 2 of our series on the Best Bikes of the Century, Simon Stewart, David Golay, and Xan Marshland are back, plus Zack Henderson also joins them to dig into 16 more brands as they continue the hard work of trying to single out the best bikes from the last 25 years. Since they focused on many prominent brands from the early 2000s in Part 1, they take a closer look at newer brands, direct-to-consumer bike companies, plus a couple of OG ones, just to mix it up.

Note: We Want to Hear From You!

Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover or a guest you’d like us to have on Bikes and Big Ideas. Email us at [email protected] to weigh in.

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Best Bikes of the Century Survey

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Pivot (0:59)

Canyon (7:03)

YT (12:59)

Forbidden (16:44)

Norco (22:02)

Mondraker (27:16)

Scott (33:06)

Salsa (38:38)

Orbea (43:33)

Commencal (47:04)

Transition (50:15)

Evil (56:56)

Devinci (59:55)

Revel (1:02:13)

Marin (1:05:31)

Surly  (1:12:01)

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Today, we’re kicking off a new series for Bikes and Big Ideas: we’re setting out to identify the best bikes of the 21st century from over 30 brands. We’ve done a similar series over on our Gear:30 podcast for skis, but that was easy compared to doing the same for bikes.

Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll be hearing about our choices. We’re also including a survey, as we want to hear from you. Additionally, we’ll be sending the same survey to some bike industry luminaries, too.

Once we've reviewed an array of brands, we’ll discuss how our selections align with your answers.

And for our grand finale of this series, we’re going to offer our choices for the Very Best Bikes of the Century. It may seem like an impossible task, but we’re hoping we can agree on a top 10, maybe even a top 3, and if the stars align, one single bike. Or, we may never speak to each other again, but we’re willing to take that risk.

Part 1 kicks off with Simon Stewart, David Golay, Dylan Wood, and Xan Marshland.

Note: We Want to Hear From You!

Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover or a guest you’d like us to have on Bikes and Big Ideas. Email us at [email protected] to weigh in.

RELATED LINKS:

Best Bikes of the Century Survey

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Yeti (1:58)

Klein (8:20)

GT (11:11)

Turner (13:57)

Titus (18:40)

Intense (22:05)

Ibis (23:41)

Rocky Mountain (28:05)

Kona (31:40)

Giant (36:14)

Santa Cruz (40:08)

Cannondale (49:48)

Specialized (54:28)

Gary Fisher (1:05:25)

Trek (1:08:36)

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The days are getting short and the weather is turning foul, but we’re still testing a ton of new bikes and gear. David Golay and Zack Henderson sat down to discuss a bunch of it, including the very burly Priority Vanth, the super lively Propain Hugene, a bunch of wet-weather apparel, and more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Wet weather gear (2:47)

Propain Hugene (18:00)

Priority Vanth (29:14)

FSA KFX i28 XC/Trail wheels (40:05)

MRP Lift V2 damper (46:31)

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Since its inception in 2001, Red Bull Rampage has demanded athletes walk a fine line between risk and reward, and the unfortunate injuries that go with that have been numerous. But with four riders heli-evac’d with serious injuries, this year’s Rampage was arguably the heaviest we’ve seen, and has left us with many questions about how, and if, the event should continue. 

Shortly afterward, several of our reviewers weighed in with their thoughts in our “Debatable” series, which asked the question, “should Rampage be shut down?” Today, we continue that conversation with an open (and quite passionate) discussion on what we think needs to happen to make the event safer for the athletes, more transparent to the fans, and ideally better to watch, too.

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Debatable: Should Rampage Be Shut Down

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Xan: The Venue (1:07)

Dylan: Let the Athletes Course Correct (11:04)

Simon: On-Site Medical Assessments (19:09)

Zack: Expand the Event (28:34)

David: Make it a Jam instead of a Comp (35:58)

Jonathan: Increase Transparency, Cover Athletes (46:27)

The Athlete's Decision (55:12)

Our Consensus: Changes for Next Year (1:01:29)

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