Bikes & Big Ideas

Climbing 8,600 feet is a pretty big day on the bike no matter how you slice it, but it balloons into something else entirely when it’s going up the Whole Enchilada trail in Moab, Utah, with a commitment to pedaling every inch, and cleaning every move. But Braydon Bringhurst pulled off that wild feat, and produced the excellent 8600FT film about the effort, so we sat down with him to get the whole story, including a ton of insights into his mental approach, the immense level of preparation that went into the climb, his bike setup, and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Climbing the Whole Enchilada?? (3:03)
• Sports psychology & mental preparation (8:58)
• The crux moves (17:36)
• The Snotch (30:18)
• The Snaggle (38:11)
• Scheduling & planning (43:02)
• Gear & nutrition (49:01)
• Bike setup & Training (53:35)
• Overcoming doubts (1:00:07)

RELATED LINKS:

• 8600FT
• BLISTER+
• Blister Summit 2023
• Become a Blister Member
• Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
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Geoff Kabush has been racing bikes professionally for longer than just about anyone — and at 45, he’s still going strong. So we sat down with Geoff to hear about his unconventional beginnings in mountain biking; how the sport has changed over the course of his career; what’s kept him motivated nearly three decades into his career; skiing; social media; and much, much more. 

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Starting “mountain” biking on a 10-speed (3:25)
• Social media & athletes (11:01)
• World Cup XC to a more varied schedule (20:41)
• Geoff’s favorite events (26:44)
• Underbiking (29:32)
• The evolution of XC racing (34:53)
• Product development (38:55)
• Longevity (43:17)
• Skiing (46:08)

RELATED LINKS:

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

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Just a few years ago, Jakob Jewett thought he wanted to be a professional skier — and was racking up strong results in freeride competitions. But fast forward to 2023, and he’s now got his first season of Elite World Cup Downhill racing under his belt, and has just signed on as the newest member of Pivot Factory Racing. So we sat down to chat with Jakob about his move to racing bikes and what flipped that switch for him; his approach to racing & learning consistency from the one and only Troy Brosnan; the upcoming 2023 season, including the new qualification rules and race format; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Joining Pivot Factory Racing (2:53)
• Jakob’s 2022 season (4:17)
• Race Weekend Prep (7:40)
• Offseason prep, training, and mental resets (12:24)
• Bike setup (14:49)
• Track preferences (16:17)
• 2023 season changes (18:18)
• Evaluating risk and achieving consistent race results (19:46)
• Jakob’s 2023 goals (26:48)
• Racing DH vs. branching out (28:29)
• Freeride skiing (32:58)

RELATED LINKS:

• BLISTER+
• David’s Spot Testimonial
• 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
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Most small bike manufacturers don’t dive straight into running a World Cup race team, but Gamux isn’t most companies. So we sat down with their founder Pascal Tinner to talk about all the ways that Gamux is doing things differently — from putting such a strong emphasis on racing, to building a fully-machined DH frame, with a Pinion gearbox and a belt drive to boot. And along the way, we get into frame geometry, mullet bikes, some teasers of upcoming Gamux models, and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Pascal’s lifetime in racing (3:10)
• Frame development (7:40)
• Andreas Kolb & working with athletes (12:08)
• 2021 Prototype (16:09)
• Pascal’s engineering background (28:03)
• Belt drives & gearboxes (35:49)
• Mullets (43:15)
• Frame geometry (46:28)
• Running a race team (51:12)
• Upcoming production bikes (57:11)

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
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2022 was Blister’s busiest ever year for bike reviews, and we’ll have even more coming your way in 2023. But before we dive headlong into the new year, we wanted to sit down and recap a bunch of our favorite bikes and gear that we tested last year, including suspension, brakes, tires, and more. And along the way, we chat about bike versatility vs. specificity, tease some upcoming reviews, and a bunch more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Orbea Rallon (6:30)
• Revel Rail 29 (9:37)
• Pivot Shadowcat (11:56)
• Kavenx VHP 16 & Canfield Jedi 29 (16:50)
• TRP DH-R Evo (23:59)
• Hope Tech 4 V4 (28:43)
• SRAM GX AXS (31:44)
• RockShox ZEB (35:53)
• Ride Concepts Tallac Boa (39:10)
• Rimpact Pro (43:49)
• Continental Kryptotals (48:00)

RELATED LINKS:

• Eric Olsen (Ep.126)
• Matthew Fairbrother (Ep139)
• BLISTER+
• Blister Summit 2023
• Become a Blister Member
• Blister Labs
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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Velocio co-founder Andrew Gardner enjoys biking in many different forms, and earlier this fall, he and Jonathan Ellsworth went on a gravel ride through New England — which Jonathan, something of a gravel biking skeptic, found to be delightful. So Andrew, Jonathan, and David Golay sat down to talk about gravel riding and how / why mountain bikers might find it to be more enjoyable than we think; the ways that the various biking communities silo themselves off, and how that serves many people poorly; why “gravel” riding is a lousy term; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Jonathan’s introduction to gravel riding (4:50)
• David’s (lack of) gravel experience (9:58)
• Andrew’s background in all bike disciplines (12:11)
• Why the term “gravel” isn’t very accurate (20:36)
• Gravel as a race discipline vs. just a way people ride bikes (24:35)
• Identity as a bike rider & siloed cliques (31:22)
• Re-defining the term “gravel” (35:17)
• The case for mountain bikers trying gravel riding (44:17)
• Velocio (54:53)

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
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Ed Masters is always good for an entertaining story — and his recap of his extremely wild Vallnord race run from earlier this year is reason enough to tune into this episode. But Ed also has a whole lot of insights to offer into what makes a race season come together; how he approaches race day — on both the Enduro and DH bikes; the delicate balance of risk vs. reward and where to push the limit; and the importance of consistency and stability for a successful team. So we get into all of that, plus the upcoming management of World Cup DH by ESO and the pending rule changes; some of our favorite moments from the 2022 season; mentoring up-and-coming talent; and much more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Hitting the reset button after 2021
• Goal setting for 2022
• Finn Iles’ Mont Sainte Anne run
• Bernard Kerr & Pivot Factory Racing
• The “extra 0.5%”
• Race tactics
• Fear
• Ed’s wild Vallnord run
• Risk vs. reward & taking chances
• ESO & the 2023 season
• Up-and-coming riders on Pivot
• Team dynamics & staying loose

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

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Ellie Smith is the reigning Australian National DH Champion (having won the race on an Enduro bike, no less), and that was just the start of her 2022 season. So we sat down with Ellie to chat about her breakout year and what she learned over the course of the season; racing many different disciplines; bike setup and European vs. Australian DH tracks; her mental approach to racing and what does (and doesn’t) work for her; welding food manufacturing equipment for Mars Foods (!?!), and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Getting introduced to MTB at school sports day (2:42)
• Clicking with racing (6:23)
• Australian National Champs & winning on an Enduro bike (8:39)
• Crankworx & forming a plan for the 2022 season (13:09)
• Bike setup (20:41)
• European vs. Australian DH tracks (22:42)
• Norco Range DH (25:06)
• Racing Enduro vs. DH & the mental side of both (28:23)
• Lessons learned from 2022 (35:16)
• Coping with pressure (37:53)
• Crankworx (39:17)
• Ellie’s 2023 plans (41:47)
• Privateer life (43:29)
• Welding & working on food equipment (47:59)

RELATED LINKS:

• 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
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Though ski season is well underway in much of the Northern Hemisphere, we’re still testing a lot of bikes, too, and have updates on what we’ve been spending time on. So we sat down to chat about the especially-aggressive Canyon Spectral 125, the super-adjustable Trek Fuel EX, the impressive (and surprising) Santa Cruz Nomad, and a bunch more. And we also discuss some of the upcoming bikes that we’re most excited to spend time on soon.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Canyon Spectral 125
• Trek Fuel EX
• Ibis Ripmo V2S
• Fezzari La Sal Peak
• Revel Rail 29
• Santa Cruz Nomad
• Most exciting new bikes

RELATED LINKS:

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

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• Off The Couch
• GEAR:30
• Blister Podcast
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We’re continuing our deep dive on suspension technology with EXT’s Franco Fratton, and this week, it’s all about dampers: how they’re built, how they work, how EXT goes about designing them, and more. And along the way, we debunk some common misconceptions about damper performance and design, too.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• How a damper is built (3:13)
• Orifice dampers (10:03)
• Oil displacement (16:33)
• Damper consistency (21:33)
• Hysteresis (30:48)
• Choosing targets for damper design (33:11)
• Critical damping (38:16)
• Rebound vs. compression damping rates (42:36)
• Mountain bikes vs. other off-road vehicles (47:31)
• Heat & dampers (53:46)
• “Living inside a damper” (1:05:14)
• Valve design (1:07:13)
• Shims vs. poppet valves vs. spool valves (1:14:11)

RELATED LINKS:

• Franco Fratton (Ep.110)
• A Very Deep Dive on Suspension, Pt.1 (Ep.140)
• 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.