Mountain bikes and beer are a classic combination, but there aren’t many bike companies that were literally founded in a brewery. REEB is one, though (the name is a clue there), and as you might expect from a bike company with as interesting an origin story as theirs, REEB does a lot of things differently. So we sat down with Jeff Lenosky and Adam Prosise to get the rundown on the company history; talk about their model lineup and how each one came about; discuss their manufacturing ethos, and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• REEB’s origin story (3:16)
• Jeff & Adam joining REEB (7:01)
• REEB’s design philosophy (15:38)
• Redikyelous (20:11)
• Sqweeb (21:45)
• SST (28:09)
• BREWser (38:32)
• Jeff’s Big Idea (49:27)
• Adam’s Big Idea (50:16)

RELATED LINKS:

• Introducing: Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Become a Blister Member
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

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We’ve been busy testing a whole lot of new suspension from RockShox, as well as bikes across the whole spectrum, from XC to Enduro, so Jonathan Ellsworth and David Golay sat down in Blister HQ to talk about all of it, including the new Santa Cruz Megatower V2, the Rocky Mountain Element, and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• RockShox Flight Attendant (4:48)
• RockShox’s new 2023 lineup (12:38)
• YT Capra (17:33)
• Santa Cruz Megatower (19:30)
• Orbea Rallon (22:56)
• Antidote Carbonjack (25:02)
• Orbea Occam LT (28:36)
• Rocky Mountain Element (31:26)

RELATED LINKS:

• Become a Blister Member
• Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

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Jess Blewitt first rode a mountain bike in 2018, but her list of accomplishments is already extensive — including being the two-time New Zealand DH National Champ and having earned a top-ten finish at World Championships — and she’s only 19. So we had Jess on to talk about how she’s put it all together so quickly and how her background as a ski racer helped; her career highlights to date; her brutal crash at Snowshoe and how she recovered from it so quickly; what she’s got planned for 2022 — including a very intriguing teaser — and much more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Ski racing &  transitioning to MTB (2:21)
• Learning to ride a DH bike & starting to race (6:54)
• Jess’ incredible 2021 season (12:18)
• Formation (15:11)
• Snowshoe crash & recovery (22:54)
• NZ National Champs (27:41)
• Fort William update (30:54)
• Racing vs. freeriding & doing both (33:34)
• What’s next? (37:55)

RELATED LINKS:

• Become a Blister Member
• Introducing: Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

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Lots of mountain bikers have idly thought about designing their own frame, but actually doing it is an entirely different matter. But ex-pro racer Even Turpen took the leap, and his Contra Bikes prototype is nearing production readiness (and was perhaps the coolest thing we saw at Sea Otter this year). So we brought Evan on the show to talk about the bike design and what he wanted to accomplish with it; the a-ha moment that sparked the project in the first place; learning to design and fabricate a bike starting from square one, and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Growing up skateboarding & pivoting to mountain biking (2:19
• Working in a bike shop & the a-ha moment (5:54)
• Learning to design a bike (14:10)
• First single-pivot prototype (19:02) 
• Learning fabrication (27:04)
• Patent infringement & heading back to the drawing board (40:36)
• Production bike design & status (50:39)
• The Contra name (58:38)
• Evan’s Big Idea (1:01:57)

RELATED LINKS:

• Introducing: Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
• Ep. 117: Kavenz

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

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Kavenz founder Giacomo Großehagenbrock got an early start in the mountain bike industry when he landed an internship at Nicolai when he was just 17. He followed that up by founding 77designz, making chainguides, stems, and more, but he still had the itch to design his own bike — so Kavenz and the VHP16 were born. But the story is a lot more complicated — and interesting — than that, so we sat down with Giacomo to get the full rundown, including the trials and tribulations of starting a bike company; the design goals for the VHP16 and all the tradeoffs inherent to bike design; the new VHP18; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Giacomo’s introduction to the mountain bike industry (2:22)
• Founding 77designz (7:12)
• VHP16 design philosophy (10:14)
• High-pivot bikes & their tradeoffs (20:01)
• The new VHP18 (34:49)
• Mullets (38:41)
• Giacomo’s Big Idea (43:15)

RELATED LINKS:

• Introducing: Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

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We sat down with Rich Frough of Fanatik, our Blister Recommended Bike Shop in Bellingham, WA to talk about bike gear trends, the local mountain bike scene, and Fanatik’s amazing custom bike and wheel building programs.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Fanatik’s history (1:25)
• Rich’s role at Fanatik (3:11)
• The Fanatik customer (4:47)
• Bellingham’s mountain bike scene (7:13)
• Gear trends — locally and globally (9:08)
• Fanatik staff’s favorite gear (20:59)
• Service (25:30)
• Rich’s Big Idea (32:37)

RELATED LINKS:

• Fanatik Website
• Introducing: Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

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A few years ago, Kitsbow undertook an incredibly ambitious plan to move to Old Fort, North Carolina, and bring all of their apparel production to the United States, after years of working with overseas factories. And not only did they do just that, but in doing so they trained an entirely new workforce and spearheaded the revitalization of their new hometown, which had been losing manufacturing jobs for decades. So we brought their CEO, David Billstrom, back onto the show to talk about how they did that while weathering a global pandemic; how doing so has been a boon to the brand, their customers, and their local community; and how they hope to be a blueprint for other companies to do the same.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Covid shields and facemasks (2:22)
• Moving to North Fort, NC (7:58)
• The Toyota Way (22:37)
• Domestic manufacturing & efficiency (29:14)
• Revitalizing a community (35:25)
• Employee purchase as a Public Benefit Corporation (50:12)
• David’s Big Idea (57:46)

RELATED LINKS:

• Ep. 20: How the Outdoor Industry is Helping Fight Covid
• Introducing: Blister Labs
• Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

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Revel Bikes recently launched the new Rail 29, so we sat down with their founder, Adam Miller, to get the rundown on the new bike and its development process; navigating COVID & the maturation of the bike industry; the rest of the Revel lineup; wheel sizes and mullet-skepticism; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Check-in since last time (Ep. 25) (2:10)
• Revel’s new Rail 29 (5:51)
• Growth & navigating COVID (12:17)
• The maturation of the bike industry (27:21)
• Revel bike lineup (31:19)
• Wheel sizes (37:50)
• Adam’s Big Idea (48:53)

RELATED LINKS:

• Revel Rail 29
• Ep. 25: Adam Miller
• Introducing: Blister Labs
• Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

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Chelsea Kimball got a later start in MTB than a lot of pro riders, but she’s making up for lost time and is part of the inaugural class of women participating in Darkfest, among a whole lot of other huge accomplishments. So we sat down with her to talk about all of it, including her longtime commitment to van life, Freeride Fiesta and getting props from Yoann Barelli, the state and future of women’s freeride, and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Growing up climbing & getting introduced to MTB (1:16)
• Van life & Chevy Astros (7:04)
• Freeride Fiesta (17:54)
• Darkfest & getting women into freeride events (22:14)
• The state and trajectory of women’s freeride (24:00)
• Future riding goals (28:04)
• 2022 plans (29:12)
• Windrock (32:04)
• Path to success in the MTB industry (33:51)
• Chelsea’s Big Idea (39:36)

RELATED LINKS:

• Ep. 108: Yoann Barelli
• Introducing: Blister Labs
• Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

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Rotational impact protection in bike helmets has deservedly gotten a lot of attention in recent years, and MIPS has long been the pioneering technology in that space. But Lazer thought there was a lighter, more comfortable, more breathable way to accomplish the same goals, and developed KinetiCore to do just that. And so we sat down with Lazer’s Head of Marketing for North America, Chris Smith, to get the rundown on what KinetiCore is supposed to do and how it does it; why Lazer went to the effort to develop their own technology; helmet testing standards and safety; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• KinetiCore design goals (1:37)
• Helmet testing standards around the world (14:22)
• KinetiCore design details (22:45)
• Virginia Tech’s helmet testing & KinetiCore helmet lineup (26:15)
• Jackyl KinetiCore MTB helmet & Accessory mount safety (35:28)
• Chris’ Big Idea (46:34)

RELATED LINKS:

• GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 1: Sweet Protection
• GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 2: Giro / Bell
• GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 3: Pret
• GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 4: POC
• GEAR:30 on Helmet Tech, Pt. 5: WaveCel
• Introducing: Blister Labs
• Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.