Bikes & Big Ideas | BLISTER Outdoor Media & Gear Reviews

Archibald Cycles on Canadian Manufacturing & the Wild AC1 (Ep.189)

September 28, 2023 by David Golay

The Archibald Cycles AC1 — a Canadian-made, steel-frame, high-pivot bike with a gearbox — doesn’t look like much else out there, and the story of its conception and journey toward production is an interesting one.

Sklar Bikes: A Custom Builder’s Shift to “Mass” Production (Ep.188)

September 21, 2023 by David Golay

Sklar Bikes has a stellar reputation as a custom builder, so when owner and founder Adam Sklar decided to shut down that part of the business and move to stock, production bikes, it came as a surprise. His take on the evolution of the company is an interesting one, and we sat down to hear all about it.

GEAR THERAPY! — Session #1 (Ep.187)

September 14, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Golay

Bikes are expensive, there are more good ones than ever before, and understanding the tradeoffs between options and how to find the right one to suit your needs can be tricky. We’re here to help. Welcome to Gear Therapy.

David Golay reviews the 2024 Trek Slash for BLISTER

Trek on the New High-Pivot Slash (Ep.186)

September 7, 2023 by David Golay

The Trek Slash has been in their lineup for a long time, but the new sixth-generation bike is a big departure from the earlier iterations — first and foremost because of its new high-pivot suspension layout — and we sat down with the lead engineer on the project, Matt Yerke, to hear all about it.

Blister Mountain Bike Knee Pad Roundup — 2023

D3O On The Past, Present, and Future of MTB Armor (Ep.185)

August 31, 2023 by David Golay

The mountain bike armor market has evolved a lot in recent years, and D30’s non-Newtonian materials have had a big hand in shaping those changes. So we sat down with them to chat about the ways MTB armor has changed; where they see it going in the future; the tradeoffs inherent to designing protective gear; testing standards + their pros and cons; kids’ armor; and a whole lot more.

Chromag’s Full Suspension Bike Development (Ep.184)

August 24, 2023 by David Golay

Chromag is unquestionably *the* first brand that a lot of people think of when it comes to hardcore hardtails, which makes their recent foray into full-suspension bikes especially interesting. And as we uncover in this conversation with Chromag engineer Joe Swann, the path to launching the Darco and Lowdown has been a long and winding — and fascinating — one.

Reviewer Reports: Chromag Darco, Pivot Shuttle AM, Commencal Supreme, & More (Ep.183)

August 17, 2023 by David Golay

The gang is back together to give a rundown on a bunch of the bikes we’ve been testing, from short-travel steel full-suspension ones to a bunch of mid-travel eMTBs and full-on DH race bikes.

Story Time With Ryan “R-Dog” Howard (Ep.182)

August 10, 2023 by David Golay

Ryan “R-Dog” Howard is one of the most stylish mountain bikers of all time, and it turns out he’s quite the storyteller, too. We sat down with Ryan to chat about everything from his four appearances at Red Bull Rampage; his absurd new “company vehicle;” and what Ryan describes as “the best trip of his life — even though it ended with a broken leg; and a whole lot more.

Prevelo founder Jacob Rheuban on Designing a Better Kid’s Bike (Ep.181)

August 3, 2023 by David Golay

Kids’ bikes aren’t (or shouldn’t be) just scaled-down adult ones, and Prevelo founder Jacob Rheuban has a lot of great insights to share on what goes into making a good one.

Miranda Miller is best known as a gravity MTB racer — and former DH World Champ — but she’s been branching out widely in her career, including riding a lot of gravel, and on this week’s episode of Bikes & Big Ideas we sat down to talk about what drove her to take a risk on something new; her DIVRGNT Minds project; highlighting lesser-known riding destinations; and a whole lot more.

Miranda Miller on DVRGNT Minds, Burnout, & Riding All the Bikes (Ep.180)

July 27, 2023 by David Golay

Miranda Miller is best known as a gravity MTB racer — and former DH World Champ — but she’s been branching out widely in her career, including riding a lot of gravel, and we sat down to talk about it.

Lal Bikes on Making the Supre Drive a Reality (Ep.179)

July 20, 2023 by David Golay

The Lal Bikes Supre Drive is an extremely interesting take on reinventing the mountain bike drivetrain, and we sat down with Cedric and Alex from Lal to get the whole story of taking it from a prototype to production, getting bike companies (and the public) on board with a very novel concept, and a whole lot more.

Gear of the Year (So Far) (Ep.178)

July 13, 2023 by David Golay

We’ve been testing a huge range of bikes and gear this summer, so we sat down to chat about some of the things that have impressed us most so far, including bikes across the travel spectrum, SRAM’s new GX Transmission, and a whole lot more.

Deviate Cycles on High-Pivot Bikes, Onshoring Production, & the Lowlander Prototype (Ep.177)

July 6, 2023 by David Golay

High-pivot Trail bikes are becoming increasingly common, but Deviate Cycles was a pioneer of that trend, and we sat down with Deviate co-founder Ben Jones to talk about why they went that direction when few companies were; gearboxes & mass adoption of new ideas; onshoring production & their wild Lowlander 3D-printed titanium and carbon fiber prototype; & a whole lot more.

Anna Newkirk and Abby Hogie on Beyond Racing, the Contra DH Bike, & More (Ep.176)

June 29, 2023 by David Golay

Most of us have probably had a pipedream of starting something big with a friend, though far fewer people actually make it happen. But Anna Newkirk and Abby Hogie have done just that with their self-run Beyond Racing World Cup team, and their story is a great one.

Reviewer Reports: Commencal T.E.M.P.O., Tons of Suspension, & More (Ep.175)

June 22, 2023 by David Golay

We’re hard at work testing a ton of new gear and recently sat down to chat about a bunch of the highlights, including the Commencal T.E.M.P.O., Orbea Wild, a ton of suspension from Öhlins, EXT, and Manitou, and a bunch more.

Wyn Masters on his Privateer Program, the 2023 DH Race Landscape, & More (Ep.174)

June 15, 2023June 14, 2023 by David Golay

Wyn Masters’ updated Privateer Program is an outstanding effort from a well-established racer to support up-and-comers, so we sat down to chat with him about that; how the rule updates for the 2023 season change things for racers trying to make it at the highest level, and more.

A Very Deep Dive on Suspension with EXT’s Franco Fratton, Pt. 3 (Ep.173)

June 8, 2023 by David Golay

EXT founder Franco Fratton is back on Bikes & Big Ideas to continue our deep dive on suspension, this time covering spring designs and the tradeoffs between coil and air ones; active suspension & the future of MTB suspension design, and a whole lot more.

Forge+Bond on Envisioning, Designing, Testing, & Refining a Carbon Fiber Wheel Design (Ep.172)

June 1, 2023June 1, 2023 by David Golay

Forge+Bond just launched as a new high-end wheel brand, and we sat down with folks from their product and engineering teams, plus F+B athlete Jill Kintner, to talk about the whole process of designing, testing, and refining a new wheelset — from conception to prototyping to athlete feedback and more.

Jesse Melamed on His 2022 EWS Title, “Near Death” Save, Moving to Canyon, & More (Ep.171)

May 25, 2023May 25, 2023 by David Golay

Reigning EWS Overall Champ Jesse Melamed joins us on Bikes & Big Ideas to talk about his 2022 season, his approach to bike setup, his battles with Richie Rude, moving to Canyon from Rocky Mountain, and a whole lot more.

Bikes vs. Skis, 4th Edition (2023): Part 2 (Ep.170)

May 18, 2023 by David Golay

Which ski brand is that sport’s equivalent of Santa Cruz Bikes? Are gravel bikes more analogous to skimo skis or frontside carvers? Which bike company compares most directly to ON3P skis? We’re tackling the most important questions in the outdoor industry in our latest Bikes vs. Skis episode.

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