Bikes & Big Ideas

We’ve been testing a ton of bikes, and have a whole lot of updates to share, so Jonathan Ellsworth and David Golay sat down to discuss all of it. We get into it about high-pivot Enduro bike comparisons (with some surprising conclusions), offer some early impressions of an ultra-efficient long-travel Trail bike, and David talks about the frontrunner for his favorite bike of 2021. And along the way we talk about some of the most exciting recent developments in bike tech and break a little news about some upcoming Blister bike content, too.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Recent BBI Highlights (1:58)
• We Are One Arrival (16:16)
• Norco Range (22:10)
• Nicolai G1 (26:21)
• Cannondale Jekyll (31:24)l
• Orbea Occam LT (35:44)
• Sneak Peek: Upcoming Content (40:01)

RELATED LINKS:

• Ep. 89: Mick Hannah
• Ep. 92: Jordi Cortes
• Ep. 93: Williams Racing Products
• Ep. 94: Cedric Eveleigh of LAL Bikes
• Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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Mountain bike derailleur drivetrains haven’t fundamentally changed for just about as long as there have been mountain bikes — until now, anyway. Cedric Eveleigh has a very promising idea for how to rethink the derailleur and founded LAL Bikes to make it a reality. So we brought Cedric on to talk about the limitations of existing derailleurs; why gearboxes (still) haven’t taken off; prototyping and refining the Supre Drive; what’s next for LAL Bikes, and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• The origins of the Supre Drive concept (1:35)
• How the Supre Drive works (2:58)
• The limitations of gearboxes (5:25)
• Prototyping & refinement (15:15)
• What’s next for the Supre Drive (35:44)
• The LAL Bikes & Supre Drive names (41:56)
• Cedric’s (other) Big Idea (43:39)

RELATED LINKS:

• Ep. 93: Williams Racing Products
• Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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Mic Williams was racing as a privateer when Covid hit and racing went on hold. But instead of binging Netflix, he used his free time to start a very unusual bike company — Williams Racing Products. Mic has a whole lot of ideas for how to make bikes better and WRP has offered a lot of out-there products, including what can only be described as the reincarnation of the Honda RN-01 downhill bike. So we sat down with Mic to talk about all the big ideas he has for WRP; the Privateer Parts Program and privateer racing in general; and much more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• The origins of WRP (1:27)
• Mullet links (8:24)
• The heyday of garage-built bike parts (14:21)
• Centre Hub (20:12)
• The return of the Honda RN-01? (28:04)
• Privateer Parts Program & racing as a privateer (38:36)
• Custom stems & future projects (50:54)
• Mic’s (next) Big Idea (58:42)

RELATED LINKS:

• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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Jordi Cortes spends much of the year on the road, working with Fox’s top racers on their suspension setups, and that has left him with both a wealth of knowledge about suspension setup and a unique perspective on the mental aspects of racing at the top level. So we sat down with Jordi to talk about all that, as well as the importance of consistency; developing working relationships with a huge range of athletes; how the pros’ setups differ from those for mere mortals; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Offseason, testing and development (1:28)
• How to approach setup for a new track? (3:40)
• Suspension tuning as relationship building (8:57)
• Personal preferences, & variations in setup (10:41)
• Tuning as a distraction, & the mental battle in racing  (19:00)
• Feeling good vs. being fast (21:20)
• The myth of the ultra-stiff racer setup (24:48)
• Incremental changes vs. quantum leaps (27:21)
• Enduro dual crown forks (36:27)
• Coil forks (46:55)
• Fork offset (51:08)
• Jordi’s Big Idea (55:27)

RELATED LINKS:

• Fox Dialed Video Series
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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Sealant-based tubeless systems are now ubiquitous on mountain bikes, but how did we get here? We sat down with Mike Bush, the President of Stan’s, to talk about the early days of tubeless development; why we still use rim tape and sealant; rim profiles; tire inserts; sealant formulation and how it actually works; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Origins of Stan’s No Tubes (1:18)
• UST vs. tape and sealant (4:03)
• Tubeless rim stips & why Stan’s dropped them (6:04)
• How does sealant work? (13:06)
• Tradeoffs in sealant design (20:19)
• Rim design for tubeless (24:19)
• Tire inserts (30:10)
• What’s next for tubeless systems? (33:34)
• Mike’s Big Idea (38:53)

RELATED LINKS:

• Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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We’ve been testing a lot of bikes of late, so we sat down to provide a rundown on what we’ve been riding, including the Santa Cruz Bronson, We Are One Arrival, Norco Range, and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Canfield Lithium (1:11)
• Guerrilla Gravity Trail Pistol (5:55)
• Canyon Spectral (9:13)
• We Are One Arrival (16:52)
• Santa Cruz Bronson (21:02)
• Norco Range (31:45)

RELATED LINKS:

• Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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Mick Hannah just concluded a 20-plus year career racing World Cup DH, but he’s far from being done in the bike world. So we caught up with Mick to look back on two decades of top-level racing; discuss how the sport has (and hasn’t) changed; racing alongside his sister, Tracey; retirement; what comes next, and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Life at home & unwinding from race season (0:40)
• Early days in BMX & racing World Champs at 11 (1:54)
• Transition to MTB (4:29)
• Slalom, 4X, & focusing on DH (10:15)
• US race scene & development of up-and-comers (15:35)
• Decision to retire (24:52)
• Proudest memories & biggest accomplishments (33:00)
• Cairns World Champs, 2017 (36:37)
• Racing with Tracey (39:00)
• What’s next? (43:19)
• Mick’s Big Idea(s) (47:18)

RELATED LINKS:

• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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It’s wrong to call Vinny Armstrong “up and coming” — she’s won multiple Crankworx Whip-Offs, ridden at every year of Red Bull Formation to date, and firmly cemented herself on the world freeride stage. But Vinny is only 22, and with a bright future ahead of her, we sat down to hear her thoughts on what it holds — both for her personally, and the sport at large.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Growing up on a bike (0:51)
• Crankworx Whip-Offs, & getting on a global stage (1:51)
• Formation & the boom of women’s freeride events (4:25)
• The future of women’s freeride, & progression vs. competition (16:00)
• Travel restrictions & 2022 plans (17:33)
• Vinny’s Big Idea (22:35)

RELATED LINKS:

• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
• Hannah Bergemann (Ep. 69)
• Casey Brown (Ep. 62)

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We catch up with Greg Minnaar, the greatest DH rider of all time, about this past season and his World Champs victory; keys to his high-level longevity; his mental approach to racing; Tom Brady; and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Update: Andora, Greg’s shoulder, & Eliot Jackson (1:26)
• Vali Hӧll’s question for Greg (6:53)
• World Champs week in Val di Sole (8:48)
• Mindset / mental approach going into races (16:40)
• Greg’s Bike setup (20:56)
• Language / communication & bike setup (24:47)
• Biggest changes over the years to World Cup? (30:59)
• Keys to your high-Level longevity (35:11)
• Alternate paths / the road not taken? (42:40)
• Tom Brady (48:45)

RELATED LINKS:

• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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Matt Manser (of GEAR:30 fame) and Jonathan Ellsworth talk to the very impressive (and very candid) Vali Höll about her remarkable season; race tactics; racing styles; Greg Minnaar & whether she can imagine still racing in 20 years; and more. 

TOPICS & TIMES:

• How Vali & Matt met (3:47)
• Do you remember your 1st bicycle? (6:45)
• Vali's ski background (8:33)
• Choosing biking over skiing (11:14)
• Sport parents, ranked (14:39)
• Processing this past season (18:11)
• Winning Juniors vs winning Elite World Cup (26:48)
• Tactics (30:11)
• Greg Minnaar / winning 20 years from now (34:31)
• Assessing yourself as a rider (39:57)
• Style / Styles (48:32)
• Lenzerheide (53:52)
• 29ers vs. Mullets (56:00)
• School (1:00:00)
• Vali’s Big Idea (1:08:10)

RELATED LINKS:

• Vali’s YouTube Channel
• This Week’s Gear Giveaway
• Gear Giveaway / Newsletter Signup
• Become a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer’s Guide
• Register for the 2022 Blister Summit
• Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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