The MBUK Podcast

Cédric Gracia is one of the all-time legends of mountain biking.

From his early days in BMX in the late ‘90s, with help from the likes of Max Commencal, he became one of the sport’s early rock-stars.

The early 00’s were the golden years of mountain biking, with Cédric and his on-track foes battling out week in, week out.

Off the track, Cédric had a reputation as a wild man, with some of the craziest stories in the paddock.

We cover his career, his race wins, his glory at Red Bull Rampage, and some of the unbelievable injuries he sustained during his career. 

He raced on the biggest teams, from Sunn to Volvo Cannondale, and now represents Giant Bicycles and this video’s sponsor, Lezyne.

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Chris Akrigg is one of the world’s best known trials riders, whose YouTube videos have racked up millions of views. 

He’s incredibly creative, both in his riding and his video edits. He’s a dab hand on any bike, from trials bikes to fixies, brakeless  bikes to enduro bikes and most recently ebikes. 

In this episode, we discuss his career and the bikes he’s ridden, including the Whyte Kado as featured in his latest edit, Up + Over.

Thanks to Chris’ sponsor Whyte bikes for sponsoring this episode.

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Charlie Aldridge’s growing resume of race results marks him out as the future of XC.

He’s an Under-23 World Champion in XCO, is the 2025 British Champ at both XCO and XCC and has spent the past two seasons racking up some impressive results in both XCC and XCO on the World Cup circuit, having been signed to Cannondale Factory Racing in 2024.

Thanks to Cannondale for sponsoring this episode of the MBUK Podcast.

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Louise Ferguson became the first woman to ever complete a top-to-bottom, seeding and then race run at the infamous Red Bull Hardline Wales 2025 mountain bike race. The course was littered with incredibly technical features, huge drops and jumps as long as 90 feet. It was a moment in history, which has pushed women's mountain biking forward, paving the way for even more incredible feats. In this episode of the MBUK Podcast, we talk extensively to Lou about Hardline. However, her win at the event is far from her only success. She's the current GB national champion in downhill, a regular finalist in the World Cup series and has a long history of competing at Crankworx events. Ferguson is also the pilot of one of the most special mountain bikes in the downhill scene – a custom, prototype Intense M1 downhill bike, hand-welded by founder Jeff Steber, and featuring a Pinion gearbox and Gates belt drive. How does the bike ride on the downhill course? Lou reveals it's incredible ride qualities. Thanks to Troy Lee Designs UK for sponsoring this episode.

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Ric McLaughlin is the current voice of World Cup DH and XC racing, as the lead commentator on Warner Brothers Discovery's coverage. He's also a former staff writer at MBUK, and a self-professed massive MTB geek.In this episode of the MBUK Podcast, we discuss the current state of world cup racing, and his experiences of being a commentator. We also discuss his new documentary series, Race Bikes, which dives deep into some of the most important race bikes from the past. Finally, we cover off his wild time at MBUK - the trips, the bikes and the banter.

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Dave Hemming was the first Brit to claim a medal in downhill racing during the first Mountain Bike World Championships in Durango, USA.

He went on to race for some of the coolest brands, including Klein, Kona, Fat Chance, Marin and of course, MBUK, to name a few.

His racing career saw him competing full-time as a World Cup racer, travelling the globe and having countless adventures.

It was during his years racing that Hemming’s love for the tech and development started to blossom.

After breaking his back for the second time, he decided to retire from racing professionally.

Since then, he’s been an important part of the bike industry, working for brands such as, Rapha, Vulpine, Cannondale and now Quin, which produces intelligent safety technology for helmets.

Alongside this, Dave’s an ambassador for Niner bikes, sponsors of this podcast. Massive thanks to those guys for helping out.

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Emil Johannson (@johanssoemil) is one of the foremost slopestyle and freeriders on the planet!

He’s a four-time Slopestyle World Champion, a 13 time Crankworx winner, and three-time triple crown winner too - which means he won all three events in the Crankworx tour in a year, three times.

He’s got more slopestyle wins of anyone on the planet, and has also competed in Redbull Rampage, showing an incredible breadth of skill.

His smooth riding style, and ability to fling his bike in any which way he chooses has won him plaudits and fans alike.

We talk to Emil has he recovers from his collarbone and rib fractures, as well as a concussion, suffered at Crankworx, Cairns.

Emil’s just launched a signature set of pads with G-Form. Thanks to those guys for sponsoring this episode of the MBUK Podcast!

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Step back to the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, when Alex Rankin's Sprung series brought DH racing directly to your VHS player, changing MTB filmmaking forever.

These videos became cult classics, kickstarting his iconic career.

His follow-up Earthed series cemented that legacy, showcasing the best of DH racing and the MTB scene.

Rankin's signature style of fast-paced camera work and unforgettable music defined his films.

Both Sprung and Earthed literally changed the game. Having lived and breathed the scene for decades, Alex has incredible stories to tell—and he's sharing some of them in this episode.

Thanks to DMR for sponsoring this podcast.

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Ever wondered how a mountain bike goes from a spark of an idea to shredding the trails? Join us as we dive deep with Matt Cipes, the driving force behind Marin's incredible resurgence in the full-suspension and aggressive mountain bike scene.

Matt takes us behind the scenes of Marin's transformation from a smaller brand to one stacked with high-performing bikes that won't break the bank. Discover the design philosophy that makes Marin bikes so capable and accessible.

We also explore Matt's career journey, from his semi-pro downhill racing days in NorCal (where injury ultimately flipped him from racer to industry) to influential roles at Paul's Component Engineering and Specialized, before landing at the helm of product development at Marin.

In this episode of The MBUK Podcast, we cover:

👉 Matt's career trajectory and the pivotal moments that shaped it.

👉 The core philosophy behind Marin's current bike lineup.

👉 A detailed look at the process of bringing a new mountain bike to market.

👉 Matt's expert perspective on the current state and future of the mountain bike industry. A huge thank you to Marin Bikes for their sponsorship of this episode.

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Chris Porter is one of the most outspoken, and influential voices in mountain biking. Even if you’ve not heard his name, if you’re riding a modern mountain bike, it is likely his influence is found within the frame.

Chris started his mountain bike industry journey as a journalist on mountain bike magazines, which led him, in a round-about way to working on MBi magazine, and others.

He then moved into the world of suspension servicing and tuning, as well as managing a World Cup DH team.

From there, his love for experimentation to find the boundaries of performance led him to, eventually, designing the Geometron brand.

So out-there were those bikes that numerous engineers from mainstream brands purchased their own Geometrons, to see what all the fuss was about - how many future bikes were influenced by those bikes is unknown!

We discuss his career, his unique stories, and dabble with a little technical talk about floating bushings…

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