Bikes & Big Ideas

Specialized showed a lot of glimpses of the Demo 11 as it was being developed, but there was much more going on behind the scenes that couldn’t be gleaned from looking at the series of lugged prototypes. So we brought Nicco Deluca from the Ride Dynamics team on to tell the whole story.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Nicco’s Role at Specialized (1:49)

Goals for the Demo 11 (2:15)

Leverage curve testing (4:03)

The Demo 10 & its limitations(9:29)

High Gear (12:45)

Kinematic refinement (16:03)

Design tradeoffs (19:27)

Drivetrain packaging (21:34)

Anti-squat & anti-rise (27:02)

Adjustability (30:47)

Final notes (38:45)

We caught up with Cam McCaul to run down the 2026 Red Bull Rampage that left fans in awe at the women’s event and frustrated after the cancellation of the men’s competition. Cam shares his on-location perspective of the insane amount of work done by the build teams, the Robin Goomes vs. Hannah Bergemann showdown, as well as his thoughts on the men’s cancellation and whether it should have been postponed.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Did the venue take a lot of effort on by the dig teams (2:28)

Women’s and Men’s Dig Team Collabs (4:27)

Bergemann vs. Goomes Showdown (5:40)

Men’s Event Cancellation (13:42)

Rampage Rookies Setting a High Bar  (16:51)

Highlights (19:20)

Jaxson Riddle  (21:30)

Szymon Godziek (25:58)

Carson Storch Crash (27:57)

Why cancel? Why not postpone? (33:31)

Why Didn’t They Move it to Friday? (39:57)

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The first-ever Whistler DH World Cup did not disappoint, including crazy weather, wild racing action, some heroic performances, and tons of crashes — Cam and Simon couldn’t wait to talk about it. Cam had a gnarly crash himself and shares that story along with his behind-the-scenes preview of this week’s Red Bull Rampage. Of course, we sprinkle in some industry news and introduce a couple of recurring segments as well.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Cam’s Crash (1:01)

Number One Thing You Don’t Want To Be This Month (12:05)

First Whistler DH Recap (18:32)

Asa’s Mind-Blowing Win (25:03)

Women’s Results (32:39)

Juniors & Who to Watch Next Year (36:02)

What is MTB X ( 2:13)

Beyond Gravity (54:45)

Air Rage (56:59)

Fart Blasters? (59:44)

Marketplace Ad of the Month (1:03:16)

Industry News (1:05:50)

X-Lab (1:13:10)

What We’re Reading & Watching (1:19:42)

Cam’s Rampage Preview (1:21:05)

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This year marks the 25th anniversary of Red Bull Rampage, and the third year of Rampage including a women’s category. The fight to make that happen was a long one, and for this selection from The Vault, we’re revisiting a conversation we had with Casey Brown on Bikes & Big Ideas back in 2023 about the importance of having a women’s competition, the year before it finally came to be.

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We’d love for you to share with us the stories or topics you’d like us to cover next month on Reviewing the News; ask your most pressing mountain town advice questions, or offer your hot takes for us to rate. Email us at: [email protected]

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For the Full Episode: Casey Brown, Vaea Verbeeck, and Hannah Bergemann on Women at Rampage (Ep.191)

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Maxxis has a new member of the Minion family, the Minion DHX, and a new DH casing to go with it. We’re joined by Sean Day, who led the development of both, to go deep on their designs, the thinking behind them, and how they fit into Maxxis’ expansive lineup.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Development of the Minion DHX (2:49)

Design concepts & goals (9:49)

Tread Pattern & Knob Design (11:34)

Athlete testing (14:39)

Front vs. rear tire design (18:55)

Choosing widths for a given tire (22:30)

The new DH casing (24:14)

Casing thread count & tradeoffs (28:48)

Choosing between tires (38:18)

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Greg Hardy started sewing his own bikepacking bags while getting his PhD in materials science, which led him to put his career on hold, move to Asheville, NC, and found Rockgeist — which became one of the top bag makers in the bikepacking world. But things came crashing down when Hurricane Helene left their workshop under six feet of water. Greg joins us today to tell that story and how they rebuilt Rockgeist afterward.

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Rockgeist

TOPICS & TIMES:

Sewing bags and Getting a PHD (1:21)

Founding Rockgeist (4:34)

Why Asheville, NC? (6:20)

Greg’s First Bag (10:25)

Custom Framebag Challenges (11:38)

Welding Versus Sewing (18:31)

Hurricane Helene Devastation (22:17)

Rebuilding Rockgeist (25:05)

New Products (31:50)

Greg’s Bikepacking Plans (38:39)

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Was the Soldier Hollow World Cup XC race the first true test for 32” wheels? Blister Reviewer Xan Marshland had boots on the ground at the race, and joined Simon for a recap of the racing action, thoughts on the big wheels, course design, and Bjorn Riley’s crazy popularity.

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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:

On-location at Soldier Hollow(1:27)

Big Wheels Everywhere (4:16)

Course Design & NICA Racing (5:19)

Results & Highlights (8:59)

Final Take(22:00)

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Simon Reiberg’s journey into fork damper design began with him modifying a RockShox Yari to feature a shimmed rebound circuit, and after stints at Trickstuff and Intend, he just launched Simons.Lab and the Zeta aftermarket fork damper. So we sat down with Simon to talk about his take on damper design and what sets the Zeta apart; how he learned about damper design in the first place; what the biggest challenges were in bringing the Zeta to market; and a whole lot more.

And we’ve got a Zeta on the way for review, so stay tuned for a rundown on its design and performance, coming very soon on the site.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Simon’s background (1:40)

Modifying stock dampers (3:21)

Testing & analysis (6:34)

Value (and limitations) of suspension dynos (15:44)

High-speed adjusters & the Zeta concept (24:16)

Packaging challenges (19:43)

Hydraulic bottom-out (31:00)

Adjustment ranges & tradeoffs in tunability (35:01)

Launching Simons.Lab (40:24)

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Yeti has a long history of unconventional suspension layouts, and they’ve just given their lineup a big shakeup with the new LT & MT, both of which use the Sixfinity six-bar layout from Yeti’s eMTBs rather than the Switch Infinity design from their last several generations of MTBs. So, we sat down with Yeti Engineer Peter Zawistowski to get the story of developing the Sixfinity layout; what they were able to achieve with it that wasn’t possible with four-bar designs; the differences in suspension kinematic requirements for different sorts of bikes; the LT’s radically overhauled geometry; and a whole lot more. 

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Yeti’s history of suspension layouts (2:05)

Development of the Sixfinity platform (9:57)

Antisquat & the advantages of six bar layouts (15:55)

Suspension kinematics for different use cases (23:57)

Geometry adjustments & offering more vs. keeping thing simple (32:59)

Rear center lengths & geometry changes for the LT (39:14)

Athlete feedback in bike development (54:37)

Racers versus freeriders (57:47)

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Today is a big day, as we welcome Freeride legend Cam McCaul as the new co-host of Reviewing the News. Cam and Simon Stewart go way back, and Simon has been a fan of what he’s been doing on and off the bike for as long as they’ve known each other. Cam brings a great new perspective to the show with his experience announcing Red Bull Rampage and DH racing, his freeride career, not to mention having ridden with so many of the top names in our sport. 

And, we have a hell of a month to cover in Cam’s debut, with plenty of racing and industry news to go over, and Cam shares what it's like to try and ride behind repeat DH World Champion, Jackson Goldstone.  

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Mountain States Cups Series (1:18)

The Black Snake (11:26)

Gates 100k Prize Finally Awarded (25:01)

Eli Tomac Retirement (36:06)

Tadej Pogacar Crash (41:41)

Leadville 100 Recap (48:07)

Another eBike Battery Fire (51:39)

OneUp’s Used Marketplace (1:06:21)

What We're Watching — 'Parallel III' (1:10:37)

Rampage is Just Around the Corner (1:20:22)

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