Bikes & Big Ideas

Paladin Bikes was founded by a group of robotics engineers who love bikes and wanted to build their own — and do it in the US. The AM1 is the result, and while it’s a relatively conventional All-Mountain bike when it comes to its geometry and specs, there’s a ton about it that stands out, from its machined construction to its suspension layout, and in a lot of the smaller details.

So we sat down with Paladin co-founder and General Manager, Stefan Klein, to get the rundown on Paladin and the AM1, from the decision to found the company in the first place, to opting for machined construction, the challenges of founding a bike company in 2025, and a whole lot more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Introducing Stefan (1:49)

Founding Paladin (4:18)

Why machine a frame? (6:22)

The AM1 & forgoing clamshell construction (9:25)

Tradeoffs in manufacturing techniques (12:49)

AM1 design details (22:11)

Next steps & refinements (28:00)

Flex testing (32:19)

FEA vs. physical strength tests (33:57)

Bringing the AM1 to market (34:40)

Future plans & models (36:50)

Entering the bike industry in 2025 (40:05)

Standing out in the market without being too out there (42:08)

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September delivered some incredible bike racing, featuring the Mountain Bike and Road Bike World Championships, the Lenzerheide World Cup DH and XC, and the US Open Downhill, providing us with plenty to discuss. News on the bike industry side was a familiar affair, with YT going through a rough patch and retail sales being slow. There was also some rather shocking news about Giant regarding alleged labor law violations in Taiwan. Dylan and Simon go over all that, plus some cool new products we’re testing, and we give our thoughts on the potential new mountain bike wheel size that looks to be gaining traction. All this and more in this month’s Reviewing the News episode.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Are 32” Wheels Coming? (2:01)

Markus Flossman Buying Back YT (8:07)

Giant’s Alleged Labor Law Violations (14:33)

MTB World Championships Recap (18:01)

XC World Championships Recap (22:25)

Road World Championships Recap (30:21)

US Open in Killington (33:35)

Has Dakota Norton Found His Form? (33:58)

New Products (37:03)

Off-Grid eMTB Battery Charging (52:53)

Handlebar width? (58:18)

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We sat down to talk about Chromag’s growing full-suspension lineup, and how the new Reazon slots into it; Trek’s surprising move to turn the Fuel into a modular platform, including adding a second 160+mm-travel Enduro bike in the Fuel LX; a couple of new eMTBs from Yeti and Propain; Hope’s new GR4 brakes; and a bunch more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Norco Revolver 120 (1:12)

Chromag Reazon (7:01)

Trek Fuel LX (13:24)

Propain Sresh SL (26:30)

Yeti LTe (36:02)

Hope GR4 Brakes (44:54)

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With their athletes taking wins at the Tour de France and Red Bull Hardline, Enve has been having a hell of a summer. So today we’re talking with Enve’s Jake Pantone about what they’ve been up to, the increasingly blurry lines between bike categories, how wide Gravel tires should be, and why you might want to put a suspension fork on your drop bar bike. And Jake also shares exciting news about their plans to make Mountain Bikes.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Winning the Tour de France & Red Bull Hardline (1:31)

Having the GOAT as an Enve Athlete (2:47)

Blurry Lines Between Bike Categories (7:57)

How Wide Should Gravel Tires Be? (16:40)

Bigger Tires vs Suspension Forks (21:40)

Gravel Bikes as a One Bike Quiver (24:47)

Going From Wheels to Road & Gravel Frames (33:02)

Enve to Make Mountain Bikes? (40:13)

What’s Next for Enve (41:39)

Investing in R&D (43:54)

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The list of world-class cyclists that have come out of the Durango Devo junior cycling program is astounding. Christopher Blevins is on a tear and is currently leading the UCI XCO overall. Riley Amos crushed the XC U23s last year. Sepp Kuss made a name for himself shepherding Jonas Vingegaard through the mountains and then went on to win a Grand Tour himself, and Quinn Simmons’ aggressive attacks made headlines during this year's Tour de France. So today, we catch up with Durango Devo co-founder Chad Cheeney to find out what the secret is to consistently turning out some of the best bike riders in the world.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Culture & Passion (1:43)

Paying Attention to Kids (3:15)

OG Durango XC History (3:35)

Athletes Having Kids (5:50)

What is Durango Devo? (9:30)

Finding Coachable Moments (12:05)

Raising Money as a Non Profit (13:34)

Super Athletes of Durango Devo (15:52)

Little & Scrawny Christopher Blevins (17:41)

Sepp Kuss’s La Vuelta España Win (21:44)

Life as a Fort Lewis Cycling Coach (36:40)

Up and Coming Talent (38:56)

What bike are you riding? (44:08)

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For this month's Reviewing the News Episode, Mike and I start with a topic that hits close to home: we both know extremely fit people who have passed away recently while riding their bikes. So, today we talk about how it's common for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease to go undiagnosed, especially in athletes, and what you can do, and should do, to protect yourself. Plus, we just had a fantastic, wet, and muddy weekend of racing in Les Gets, France, which gives us plenty to go on about, like the amazing Alran brothers, Gracy Hemstreet looking unbeatable, Ronan Dunne’s comeback, and road superstar Mathieu van der Poel getting back on the mountain bike for another crack at World Cup XCO, and more.

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The Grimy Handshake

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Mike’s Grimy Handshake (3:26)

Heart Disease in Athletes (13:52)

Les Gets Mud Bath (26:29)

You Need Skills to Win (33:54)

The Amazing Alran Brothers (39:24)

Can Durango Kid Asa Veremette Ride in Mud (41:15)

Ronan Dunne Didn’t Leave in a Helicopter (43:57)

Specialized’s Most Expensive Bike Ever (49:42)

What We’re Reading & Watching (56:43)

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Fox’s new Podium inverted fork has understandably garnered a lot of attention, and we’ve got an update on how our testing of it is going, along with the updated Float X2 and DHX2 shocks. But it’s not all gravity suspension on the docket, as we weigh in on the very good and very light Fox 34 SL fork; the ultra-versatile Trek Fuel EX; Revel’s first eMTB, the ReRun; and a bunch of brakes from brands large and small.

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Casey Brown on the Inaugural Women’s Red Bull Rampage (Ep.246)

TOPICS & TIMES:

Revel ReRun (1:13)

Trek Fuel EX (9:34)

Fox 34 SL (17:37)

Fox Podium (27:47)

Fox Float & DHX2 Update (34:46)

SRAM Motive Ultimate (37:47)

HEL Advocate (43:01)

Trickstuff Maxima (47:30)

Magura Gustav Pro (51:43)

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For today’s Gear Therapy episode, the team gets together to try to solve Jonathan’s pedal dilemma. Like many riders out there, Jonathan is questioning his current pedal choice, and not surprisingly, he’s considering ditching his clipless pedals and replacing them with flats. Sascha and Zack bring a valuable mountain bike coaching perspective to the conversation, and together with Simon’s years of experience in the industry and bike shops, they look at the advantages and disadvantages of both styles of pedals and do our best to guide Jonathan’s decision. They know he’s not alone, and anyone in a similar pedal conundrum will benefit from tuning in.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Pedal Horror Stories (1:24)

Why the Hell are They Called “Clipless”? (13:29)

Jonathan’s Pedal Issues (18:49)

Clips are Jonathan’s Security Blankie (24:39)

Pros & cons of flats (27:25)

Clipless Pedals Promoting & Masking Bad Habits (35:50)

Cornering Technique & Flat Pedals (36:40)

Sascha Calls Simon Out (40:15)

New Flat Pedal and Shoe Design (42:18)

Jonathan’s Pedal Prescription (47:21)

Uphill Technical & Pedal Strikes (1:02:36)

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Last year, we sat down with Casey Brown right after the first iteration of Red Bull Rampage to feature a women’s category to chat about what it meant to finally break that particular glass ceiling, what it took to do it, and how the event went.

Casey is, once again, among a stacked roster of women who will be dropping in for this year’s competition, but she’s been up to a whole lot more than just preparing for Rampage — from bringing back Dark Horse, now on her own property; working with D3O to develop better women’s protective gear; and putting together a bunch of other projects in between. So we brought her back on the podcast to talk about all of it, the state of women’s freeride & the generation of riders following in her footsteps, and a whole lot more.

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Casey Brown on the Inaugural Women’s Red Bull Rampage (Ep.246)

TOPICS & TIMES:

The return of Dark Horse (2:51)

The new venue(7:12)

What’s next for Dark Horse? (14:50)

Louise Ferguson at Hardline (16:11)

The state of women’s freeride & Casey’s role in shaping it (18:32)

Planning for Rampage (21:38)

Opportunities to help women’s freeride grow (30:41)

Working with D3O & making better women’s protective gear (36:47)

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Why didn’t Jackson Goldstone race Red Bull Hardline in Wales and give us the highly anticipated showdown between him and Asa Vermette? Dylan and I dive right into our opinions on that, and then break down the rest of July’s incredible racing results, including a quick recap of one of Simon’s favorites — the Tour de France. And itt wouldn’t be a Reviewing the News episode without some tariff chaos, and unfortunately, also some bike companies in trouble. Still, thankfully, there’s a bit of good news in here, too, since Chris King is apparently going to make internal headset cable routing better (we’re doing our best to be open-minded), and we have a new tire valve standard to get excited about (we’re actually not kidding).

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Dylan’s Beer League Race

Why Strava Might be the Best Social Media Platform 

Redbull Hardline

Where Was Jackson Goldstone?

World Cup DH racing in July

Tom Pidcock’s Impressive Cross-country Win

Tour de France Recap

Tariffs Again

Chris King is Taking a Crack at Headset Cable Routing

YT Restructuring

New Products

What we’re Reading and Watching

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