Bikes & Big Ideas

David Golay and Zack Henderson sat down to chat about a ton of the new gear we’re currently testing, including bikes across the travel spectrum, some suspension products, and a bunch more. Plus we dive into the merits of active chain devices and talk about our early impressions of the Rimpact Chain Damper and how it stacks up against an Ochain.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Pivot Trailcat LT (1:44)

Transition Sentinel (7:31)

Santa Cruz Bronson (15:23)

Ochain vs Rimpact Chain Damper (23:46)

Ibis Oso 1.1 (28:46)

RockShox Zeb Charger 3.1 (37:09)

RockShox Vivid Coil (44:18)

Outlier Void & Pendulum Pedals (56:27)

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Another month has gone by, giving Mike and Simon plenty to talk about in the latest edition of Reviewing the News. In the last episode, they were super excited about the upcoming Red Bull Hardline in Tasmania, and today they get into the results, the insane speeds throughout the course, Asa Vermette’s rise to elite-level racing, and Jackson Goldstone’s redemption. It wouldn’t be a Reviewing the News episode without some bike industry news, so the lads discuss the recently imposed tariffs, the return of Nukeproof, and what’s happening with Rocky Mountain, plus a fun conversation about some new cycling startups. All of this and more in our February edition of Reviewing the News.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Mike’s Looking Fit (1:29)

Hardline Tasmania (4:27)

Gates 100k purse predictions for ‘25 (12:31)

Atherton Racing vs Aon Racing (20:00)

Nukeproof Rising From the Ashes (25:45)

Tariffs Again (34:01)

Rocky Mountain Bikes Update (40:45)

Arkansas Cycling Startup Accelerator (42:42)

What We’re Reading and Watching (1:02:16)

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George Brannigan announced his retirement from World Cup Downhill at the end of the 2024 season — but he’s not done racing, and just put up a very strong result at Red Bull Hardline Tasmania, finishing 11th despite a minor crash.

So we sat down with George to talk about his decision to step away from World Cups to race other events; his move to Transition that went alongside it; his thoughts on the state of World Cup racing; and a whole lot more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Retiring from World Cup racing (2:32)

One last season & gaining a new perspective (7:57)

Finding a team for 2025 (11:51)

The state of World Cup DH (16:41)

Looking back on George’s 15-year World Cup career (21:21)

Hardline Tasmania 2025 (25:18)

Hardline Wales & evolution of the track (29:36)

George’s 2025 plans and goals (41:52)

Filming (45:34)

The Motorhead edit (53:33)

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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; his insane new Lotus; and a whole lot more. 

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Leogang 2020 

Curse of the Rainbow Stripes

Worst Injury

Reece’s “Niggle”

AON Racing

Gamux Partnership

How the Team Riders were Chosen

Gates Belted Purse Chances

Benefits of Gear Boxes and Belt Drives

Reece’s Sweet New Lotus

DH Training on eBikes

Nicolai eMTB Partnership

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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.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Cami’s move to Yeti (2:30)

Learning about the 2025 rule changes (8:02)

Qualifying in 2025 (13:22)

Team status & restructuring (15:53)

Pay in women’s DH (20:06)

Re-establishing Yeti in World Cup DH (22:47)

Cami’s monster crash in Andorra & returning to form (27:40)

Cami’s 2024 season & injury struggles (29:59)

The conversations around head injuries & how to better care for them (37:22)

Cami’s goals for 2025 (42:26)

The 2025 race calendar (44:06)

How much longer will Cami race? (45:59)

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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 tune in quickly for a preview. The start list is insanely stacked and Mike and Simon can’t wait to see who has the best early-season form, plus they throw out some predictions. All of this and a whole lot more in our first Reviewing the News episode of 2025.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Mexico as a Mountain Bike Destination (1:37)

Walton Money in Mexico (14:32)

Trump’s tariffs impact on the Bike Industry (30:01)

De Minimis Loophole Closed (35:06)

Good Bye to Richey’s Rainbow Stripes (38:04)

RedBull Hardline Tasmania Preview (45:09)

What We’re Reading & Watching (52:48)

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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.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Transition Sentinel V3 (2:07)

Kona Process 153 (9:14)

Vorsprung Telum (20:59)

OneUp Clip Pedals (29:26)

Enve M6 Wheels (40:37)

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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 get here; what goes into lab testing & why it’s important; what he’d do differently with the benefit of hindsight; and a whole lot more.

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Ministry Cycles on Suspension Design, Machining Frames, & Launching a Bike Company (Ep.157)

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TOPICS & TIMES:

The Psalm 150 (2:56)

Lab testing the earlier prototypes (4:51)

What goes into lab testing? (8:42)

The limitations of computer modeling & importance of physical testing (11:49)

Refinements of the V3 frame (18:42)

The pros and cons of various construction methods (26:13)

Bike industry struggles going into 2025 (35:34)

20/20 hindsight & the path to the V3 frame (43:18)

Welded front triangle versions (49:29)

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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 our bike reviewers together to talk about — and argue over — the bikes and other gear we were most impressed with from 2024, and talk about what makes them stand out.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Cannondale Moterra SL (2:41)

Santa Cruz Vala (4:26)

Kavenz VHP16 V7 (9:06)

Deviate Highlander II (13:58)

Privateer 161 V2 (16:23)

Spot Mayhem 140 (21:42)

Specialized Stumpjumper 15 (25:20)

Specialized Epic Evo (28:54)

Trek Top Fuel (32:19)

Yeti ASR (34:15)

Chromag Lowdown (39:42)

Schwalbe Radial Tires (43:45)

Michelin Wild Enduro MS & DH22 (51:15)

Michelin DH16 (56:12)

Manitou Mara Pro PB (58:38)

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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 suspension tuning, and a whole lot more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Re-introducing the Telum

Damper design (2:10)

The Rapid Revalve system (7:19)

How Rapid Revalve differs from standard adjusters (14:01)

The Tuning Hub (23:24)

Damping curves & what Rapid Revalve can (and can’t) do (31:50)

“Placebo dials” & Steve’s tuning philosophy (35:54)

Hydraulic bottom-out & changing shock stroke (41:00)

Spherical bearings (44:59)

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