July 23, 2024

MTB trail quality is "about to ramp up on the hockey stick"

1 hour 3 minutes

Greg Mazu is the self-described "Chief Dreamer" behind Backslope Tools, a company that designs and sells tools for trail building and forest maintenance. He's also the founder of Singletrack Trails, a trail building company that recently finished its last project after 20 years in the business.

When did you build your first trail?

How did you get into professional trail building?

What motivated you to start Tools for Trails, and later Backslope tools?

Where are Backslope tools manufactured?

If you could only have one tool to use for building a trail, what would it be?

Some riders say they prefer natural trails to machine-built ones. Do you have a preference for riding machine- or hand-built trails? Can a machine-built trail be built to feel like a natural or hand-built trail, or vice versa?

Singletrack trails was involved in some iconic projects over the years in places like 18 Road and Lunch Loops in Fruita, Black Mountain in North Carolina, Palisade Plunge in Colorado, and Handcut Hollow in Bentonville. Which trail building projects are you most proud of?

What are some favorite trails you weren't involved in building?

What are some of the challenges the trail building industry is facing in meeting increased demand for trails?

Have we reached a peak in terms of trail quality, or is there room for further growth and improvement? What are some of the latest, or upcoming innovations riders can look forward to?

See the tools we talked about at backslopetools.com and follow @gregmazu on Instagram.

--Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

...more

View all episodes

By Singletracks.com

4.7

551551 ratings