Bikes & Big Ideas

We’ve been hard at work testing a whole bunch of new bikes and gear, and David Golay and Simon Stewart sat down to talk about a whole bunch of it, including comparisons of two very different Enduro bikes, the Yeti SB160 and Cotic RocketMAX; two long-travel, big-battery eMTBs, the Pivot Shuttle LT and Specialized Turbo Levo; the new SRAM Transmission, and a bunch more — and along the way they tease some new bike releases that are coming very soon. Keep your eyes on the site.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• SRAM Transmission (2:51)
• Yeti SB160 (9:33)
• Cotic RocketMAX (13:42)
• Pivot Shuttle LT vs. Specialized Turbo Levo (17:38)
• Forge+Bond 30 EM Wheels (30:40)
• Fox Union Shoes (37:20)

RELATED LINKS:

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

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED
• Happy Hour

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Bikes have become much, much better built over the last couple of decades, but Jason Quade felt like the tools to work on them hadn’t kept pace, and (sort of accidentally) founded Abbey Bike Tools to fill that gap in the market. And now more than a decade later, Abbey has an extensive catalog of some of the best-quality bike tools out there. So we sat down with Jason to look back on the founding of Abbey and have him tell the (excellent) story of how it came to be; how they’ve built out the line after starting with a single tool; what it’s like dealing with the ever-changing standards of the bike world; how the industry could make life easier for mechanics (both professional and consumer); and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Abbey Bike Tools State of the Union (3:31)
• Founding Abbey & the Crombie (7:38)
• Growing & moving into a real shop (16:26)
• Jason’s background (18:10)
• Building out the Abbey lineup (22:13)
• Product development & the Abbey truing stand (25:40)
• Keeping up with ever-changing standards (28:16)
• The bike industry & streamlining things (33:26)
• SRAM Transmission (35:06)
• Origins of the Abbey name (38:49)
• Jason’s forrays into frame building (41:35)

RELATED LINKS:

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

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED
• Happy Hour

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There aren’t many riders who do such a wide range of riding as well as Phil Atwill. He’s had great results on the Downhill World Cup circuit, his film parts are super varied and impressive, and on top of all that he’s also now running the Propain Positive team. So we sat down with Phil to get his takes (and stories) from all of it, including the burgeoning Greek MTB scene, the changes to the 2023 World Cup format, what it’s like running a team while also racing and filming a ton, and much more. 

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Phil’s intro to MTB (2:31)
• The Propain Positive Team (10:00)
• Greek MTB scene (14:13)
• Trail building (21:38)
• Phil’s filming process & “Clutch Kicking” (22:59)
• Valparaiso Urban Downhill (25:11)
• Hardline (29:52)
• Phil’s favorite events (30:56)
• Mental prep for filming (32:30)
• Doing shots with the Greek police (33:45)
• Phil’s favorite people to ride with (35:22)
• Changes to the World Cup format & the late start to the season (38:03)
• Phil interviews David (44:46)
• Running a team (48:31)
• Phil’s 2023 goals (51:44)

RELATED LINKS:

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

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED
• Happy Hour

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The new Eagle Transmission is a big addition to SRAM’s lineup and while it still uses a derailleur, cassette, and chain as we’re all used to, a lot of the details are very, very different. So we sat down with SRAM’s Chris Mandell to talk about the new groupsets and the thinking behind them, from the “Full Mount” derailleur, to all the ways that they’ve simplified installation and setup, the new controllers, and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Why’s it called a “Transmission”? (1:58)
• The derailleur (3:50)
• Eagle Transmission tiers (14:12)
• Transmission compatibility & support for older drivetrains (20:48)
• Transmission setup (22:28)
• Shifting under load (32:08)
• Cross-compatibility (41:18)
• Cassette gearing (45:25)
• Controllers (47:15)
• New Stealth Brakes (53:52)

RELATED LINKS:

• SRAM Eagle Transmission
• BLISTER+
• Become a Blister Member
• Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED
• Happy Hour

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

There are a lot of people doing amazing things on bikes and putting together mind-blowing video segments, but nobody does it quite like Caleb Holonko. His Lights Out edit from late last year was absolutely wild, and his recent follow-up, In the Know was a very worthy sequel. So we sat down with Caleb to chat about his approach to riding, filming, and building trails; the ways that growing up in North Vancouver influenced his riding; blending classic North Shore features with modern style; how he gets ready to go huge; risk mitigation; Rampage; & a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• North Shore influence & Caleb’s biking idols (3:16)
• Filming & digging to film (9:52)
• The double drop in Lights Out (13:15)
• Flipping the train gap (18:53)
• Getting mentally and physically ready to go huge (25:20)
• Building big features and figuring out what is (and isn’t) going to work (28:28)
• Risk mitigation (35:24)
• Caleb’s career goals (38:41)
• Rampage (40:53)

RELATED LINKS:

• Lights Out
• In the Know
• BLISTER+
• Become a Blister Member
• Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED
• Happy Hour

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

Cotic Bikes was an early pioneer in the UK’s hardcore hardtail scene, and now 20 years later they’re still doing things their own way — including making a line of (mostly) steel full-suspension bikes to go with those hardtails. So we sat down with their founder, Cy Turner, to get the super interesting story of Cotic’s founding and development; Cy’s approach to bike design and why they do things pretty differently from a lot of other brands; why Cotic puts such an emphasis on custom builds, and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• 20 years of Cotic (2:51)
• Cotic moving from a side project to a career (3:17)
• Cy’s first real mountain bike (12:10)
• The first Cotic Soul (17:20)
• UK’s culture of hardcore hardtails (20:05)
• Cotic’s first full-suspension bike (22:34)
• Steel full-suspension bikes (28:02)
• The first Cotic Rocket (29:38)
• Suspension layouts & single pivots (35:06)
• Droplink suspension (39:31)
• Frame stiffness (49:12)
• Cotic build specs & customization (57:03)
• Our upcoming RocketMAX review (1:02:02)

RELATED LINKS:

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

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED
• Happy Hour

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Magnus Manson is just 24 years old, but his racing career has largely been on hold for the last few years as he’s battled cancer. And despite his young age, Manson has taken on his fight with remarkable poise and maturity. So David Golay sat down with Magnus — who is now officially in remission — to talk about his experience; how he used bikes as a motivational tool through chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant; racing while undergoing treatment; his 2023 plans and goals; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Magnus’ cancer diagnosis (2:22)
• Starting chemo (5:25)
• Returning to racing (12:26)
• Racing with cancer (19:33)
• Motivation (23:32)
• Training through treatment (26:42)
• Chemo, part two (30:35)
• Stem cell transplant (35:13)
• Magnus’ 2023 goals (41:06)

RELATED LINKS:

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

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED
• Happy Hour

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

The most interesting segment of the current mountain bike market just might be the 140–150 mm travel Trail bike range, with huge diversity in the on-trail performance and feel of the various options available. And so we sat down to chat about a bunch of the very different bikes in that class that we’ve been spending time on recently, including the Esker Rowl, Trek Fuel EX, Ibis Ripmo V2S, and the Starling Murmur. And we also touch on our impressions of the new Transition Smuggler and Pivot Shuttle LT, too.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Esker Rowl (1:55)
• Trek Fuel EX (11:06)
• Ibis Ripmo V2S (17:50)
• Starling Murmur (24:10)
• Transition Smuggler (28:28)
• Pivot Shuttle LT (32:53)

RELATED LINKS:

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

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED

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

Chris Currie has worn a lot of different hats over several decades in the bike industry, and his latest venture, Ministry Cycles, is making big headway on a very, very interesting-looking machined aluminum frame, the Psalm 150. And so we sat down with Chris to hear about the origins of the project — which has its beginnings back in the 2000s — and along the way Chris shares a lot about his philosophy on suspension design; what goes into starting a bike company; how he’s gone about product development; why he named the company Ministry; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Chris’ ribs (2:28)
• 3VO suspension (4:08)
• Suspension design for early 29ers (7:49)
• Patenting a suspension system (12:43)
• Building sample frames (26:10)
• Licensing 3VO (34:41)
• Founding Ministry (43:58)
• Engineering a frame (48:24)
• Machining a frame (48:24)
• The Psalm 150 (59:41)
• What’s next for Ministry? (1:15:25)

RELATED LINKS:

• BLISTER+
• Blister Summit 2023
• Become a Blister Member
• Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED

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

Racing World Cup DH is hard. So is designing a bike to do it at the top level, and running a team isn’t exactly a cakewalk either. But after a season of doing all three concurrently, Neko Mulally is still having a blast, and is running his Frameworks team and self-designed bike back for a second season. And so we sat back down with Neko to catch up on how the 2022 season went, what he learned from year one, what’s changed with the bike (it’s a lot), and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Lessons learned from the Gen 1 bikes (2:48)
• Mid-pivot bike (10:18)
• Neko’s broken finger & the start of the WC season (17:23)
• The mental battles of racing (21:19)
• Regrouping between Lourdes and Fort William (23:18)
• Bike updates & development (25:40)
• Carbon fiber rear triangle (40:59)
• Steel front triangle? (56:16)
• Rock Creek (1:03:41)

RELATED LINKS:

• Neko Mulally (Ep.100)
• BLISTER+
• Blister Summit 2023
• Become a Blister Member
• Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
• CRAFTED
• Happy Hour

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