Just Ride

Here on Just Ride, we love bikes. All of them. So we thought it was about time we devoted an episode to them – and their future.

Rob and Eliot are joined by lifelong bike designer and founder of RIDE Studio, Craig Dent, to chat about the evolution of bikes and what types of bikes we could be riding in five, 10, 50 years from now. How much of a role will electrics play? Will everything be designed by AI? Are we going to see the shape change?

Rob, Eliot and Craig got stuck into all of that, while marvelling at the development we’ve seen since Rob started racing downhill in the 90s. We could have kept Craig in front of the microphone for hours – but there’s still so much fascinating insight squeezed into this hour with Craig. Enjoy.

What do you reckon the future of bikes looks like? Let Rob and Eliot know by emailing [email protected] – and we’ll see you in two weeks.

Aged 14, Finn Iles took the world of mountain biking by storm. He won the famous Whistler Whip-off after a social media campaign (#letfinnin) swept through the community. That was the start of a Hollywood-style journey that saw him destined to reach the top of mountain biking. 

Winning almost everything before him in the junior ranks, his ascension to the top of downhill seemed assured. But not all Hollywood stories run smoothly.

It took Finn four years on the pro circuit to win his first Downhill World Cup, but boy did he do it in style, on home turf at Monte-Saint-Anne in Canada, matched by iconic commentary from Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson.

Ever since, Finn has demonstrated his consistency at the top level, coming within tenths of a second of that elusive next win.

He sat down with Eliot and Rob to reflect on his whirlwind career to date, his progression as a rider, the intricacies of a downhill season and what the future holds for the darling of Canadian mountain biking. As you can imagine, the guys had a lot of fun with Finn.

Enjoying Just Ride? Let Rob and Eliot know by emailing [email protected] – and we’ll see you in two weeks.

We’re sure that most of our Just Ride listeners will know Eliot Jackson as the bike racer, the commentator – or both. But in typical Eliot fashion, he has another string to his bow that he doesn’t like to shout about.

Four years ago, Eliot formed Grow Cycling, a foundation based in his home city, Los Angeles, with the intention of bringing mountain biking into town.

Late last year Grow opened a pump track in the middle of Inglewood, LA, and it’s been an unprecedented success. We thought it was time Eliot told you all that story.

It’s also a chance for both Eliot and Rob to reminisce about their entry points into the sport – and a mid-series chinwag on everything that they’ve been up to lately, as well as some bold predictions for the year ahead.

We’ll be back in two weeks with a very famous downhiller, who we think you will love…

Mani Lettenbichler is one of the greatest Hard Enduro riders of all time – and, remarkably, he’s only 26. In 2023 he completed a feat that sportspeople from all disciplines dream of: a perfect season, the first-ever in the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship. 

Also a three-time Red Bull Erzbergrodeo winner, Mani is a phenomenon. Racing at the very top level since he turned pro – in fact, at just 16 he competed in and finished Erzbergrodeo – the German has done it all in his discipline. 

Rob and Eliot are huge fans of Mani, having started their respective cycling journeys on motorbikes, and have been keen to welcome Mani to Just Ride since episode one. So, as you can imagine, this episode was a lot of fun!

Mani is also an incredible cyclist, so there’s a whole host of bike chat too. In fact, if he’d taken a different path in life, Mani could well have been a pro downhiller… 

Lots of our Just Ride listeners emailed in to suggest Mani as a guest, so if there’s someone you’d love Rob and Eliot to chat to, let us know: [email protected].

Just Ride will be back in two weeks.

In 2014, Christian Meier got the call from his road cycling team he’d always dreamed of: “You’re racing the Tour de France.” It was the culmination of the years of riding, sacrifices and dreams that so many young cyclists have, yet so few achieve. He’d made it to the summit of his sport. 

Ten years later, having hung up his competitive wheels at the end of 2016 to pursue other interests, Christian stands at the top of another sport. Having stumbled upon his love for trail running during the Covid lockdown, the Canadian became good. Very, very good. So good that in 2023 he won the legendary TDS race around the foothills of Mont Blanc: 145km, with over 9,000m of elevation. He won the race in a staggering 19 hours. 

Rob and Eliot couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing. This week’s chat with Christian is a fascinating exploration of what it takes to peak in two elite endurance sports, and how sporting journeys can be so changeable. Christian even started out as a downhiller! 

Are you a cyclist and a runner? Let us know by emailing [email protected], or hit Rob and Eliot up on their socials and encourage them to get out there for a jog! It’s not currently their favourite pastime, as you’ll hear. 

We’ll be back in two weeks.

Gee Atherton is one of the most decorated, all-round downhill riders the sport of mountain biking has ever seen. He’s also one of the most committed, hardest bike riders that cycling has ever seen. Full stop. 

His list of achievements goes on, and on, and on: two-time world champion, eight-time UCI World Cup winner, Red Bull Hardline winner, six-tie national champion… but his list of difficult moments and brutal crashes is also a long one. Sadly, it goes with the territory of pushing the boundaries. 

Here on Just Ride, for the first time, Gee speaks in detail to Rob and Eliot about his awful crash while filming his Ridgeline series in North Wales in 2021. Gee was airlifted to hospital and had to fight for his life. 

Yet he returned to the saddle, as he has done numerous times before. His love of the bike shines through and for more than an hour the guys recapped a magical career while discussing that fateful day shooting Ridgeline, his subsequent return and crash at Red Bull Rampage in 2023, and what’s next for one of the greatest of all time. 

Filmed in front of a live studio audience in Salzburg, Austria, this is a fascinating chat with a mountain bike icon. 

Did you catch Red Bull Hardline in early June? You can watch a replay on Red Bull TV.

We want to hear from you, so drop us a line! Hit us up at [email protected]. 

Rob and Eliot will be back soon.

Rob and Eliot caught up in Salzburg last week for some very exciting Just Ride records that we’ll bring to you very soon – including a fascinating chat with Mr Red Bull Hardline himself, Gee Atherton. That will be live next week as we build up to Red Bull Hardline but before then, Eliot and Rob chatted through some brilliant listener emails, discussed Red Bull’s upcoming mountain bike film ANYTIME, previewed Hardline and much, much more. 

See you next week for the guys’ incredible chat with Gee.

Bernard Kerr doesn’t get many days off. The three-time Red Bull Hardline winner is one of the best downhill mountain bike riders in the world – while also running Pivot Factory Racing, one of the world’s premier downhill teams. 

Where does he find the time? Over a fascinating hour with Rob and Eliot at the recent Sea Otter Classic MTB festival, Bernard joined Just Ride to reflect on his lifestyle, future ambitions, and how he came to be one of the youngest team managers the sport – or any sport – has ever seen. 

The 33-year-old Brit has had a remarkable career to date, and something tells us that Bernard has still got a lot of new chapters to write.

Now you know the drill by now – here at Just Ride we absolutely love hearing from our listeners, so hit Eliot or Rob up on their socials or email [email protected] to get a shout out on the show.

Lael Wilcox is an ultra-endurance legend. And yet, aged 20, she’d barely ridden a bike. It was only when she started a new job 6km from her home and realised cycling was the most efficient way of commuting that she turned to two wheels.

A love affair was born. And then she realised she was damn good at it. 

Now 36, Lael’s won almost everything she could dream of: the 6,800km Trans Am Bike Race; holds the women’s course record for Tour Divide (4,418km); has the fastest known time for the Arizona Trail… the list goes on and on.

And now she wants to smash the women’s round the world record – and is setting off from Chicago on May 26 to do just that. She aims to complete her trip around the globe in just 110 days. 

Lael spoke to Rob and Eliot about her spellbinding journey to this point – and how she plans to break an iconic record. We loved welcoming Lael to Just Ride and can’t wait to track her progress. 

Here at Just Ride we absolutely love hearing from you, so hit Eliot or Rob up on their socials or email [email protected] to get a shout out on the show.

We have a little treat for our Just Ride listeners this week! 

While Rob and Eliot come from the world of mountain biking, our listeners know that Just Ride is all about every type of cycling discipline imaginable. 

But today we’ve got a little clip of a show that lives and breathes mountain biking, week in, week out: The Downtime Podcast 

Downtime is the most in-depth mountain bike podcast out there and delves deep into the world of downhill and enduro. 

Host Chris Hall chats to world champions, future stars, the teams who helped the riders perform, the brands who design the products we ride, and so, so much more. 

There’s a new episode every week, as well as pre-and-post-race shows for every Downhill World Cup. There’s over 400 episodes just waiting for you to get stuck into - and new ones drop every Tuesday. 

Rob and Eliot have a little clip from a recent Downtime episode with the incredible Louise Ferguson, talking about her incredible run at Red Bull Hardline Tasmania in February. To check out the full episode with Louise, search for The Downtime Podcast. Enjoy!