Few people have as many big ideas for the bike world as Mic Williams of Williams Racing Products, and even fewer have started their own companies to make them a reality. So we sat down with Mic to hear all about it, privateer racing at the top level, and more.
We talk to Jordi Cortes about setting up suspension for Fox’s top racers, the mental battle of World Cup racing, and a whole lot more.
We go deep on tubeless tire systems with Mike Bush of Stan’s No Tubes, including the history of the rim tape and sealant design we all use today; rim and tire design for tubeless; how sealant actually works; and a whole lot more.
We’ve been testing a lot of bikes of late, so we sat down to give a rundown of what we’ve been riding, including the Santa Cruz Bronson, We Are One Arrival, Norco Range, and more.
Mick Hannah just concluded a 20-plus year career on the World Cup DH circuit, but he’s far from done with bikes — and has a whole lot to say about racing, bike tech, growing mountain biking, and more.
We catch up with Vinny Armstrong to get her take on what the future of freeride looks like to this highly accomplished 22-year-old rider.
We catch up with Greg Minnaar, the greatest DH rider of all time, about this past season and his World Champs victory; keys to his high-level longevity; his mental approach to racing; Tom Brady; and more.
Matt Manser (of GEAR:30 fame) and Jonathan Ellsworth talk to the very impressive (and very candid) Vali Höll about her remarkable season; race tactics; racing styles; Greg Minnaar & whether she can imagine still racing in 20 years; and more.
MTB patent applications are a great window into what’s coming down the pipeline, and Dan Bacon, (of Wheelbased.com) knows more about them than anyone. We get into it about cockpit integration (and how some of us hate it); electronic brakes(?!?!); active suspension; automakers joining the fray; and a whole bunch more.
Alex Desmond is an engineer, and when a friend of his suffered a stroke and was no longer able to ride a bike, Alex decided to do something about it. Six years later, the fruits of that project are here — as the Orange Phase AD3. Not only is the end result remarkable, but the story of how it came to be might be even wilder, so we sat down with Alex to get the rundown on the project including a whole lot of the technical details; getting the likes of Martyn Ashton and Lorraine Truong involved; the limitations of other adaptive mountain bikes; and how Alex ultimately used the project to land a job at Orange.
When we last checked in with We Are One’s Dustin Adams, he broke the news that they’d be making a bike. Now, 18 months later, it’s here. So we figured it was a great time to get Dustin back on Bikes & Big Ideas to talk about The Arrival, including balancing versatility vs. focusing on specific attributes; the modular frame platform and plans for future models; frame repairs, and making things in North America. And if that’s not enough, Dustin also drops several bonus big ideas in this one.
The last few weeks have been packed with outstanding DH racing, so Noah Bodman and David Golay sat down to talk about all the action at World Championships and the Lenzerheide World Cup. They also discuss a whole bunch of new suspension that we’ve been testing from Fox, including the updated 34 fork and both the new DHX and Float X rear shocks.
Mountain biking with inadequate brakes is terrifying, but the role of pads and rotors is often underappreciated. So we sat down with Daryl Simmons of Galfer USA to go deep on brake pads and rotors, including differences in pad materials and why the basic metallic vs. organic debate doesn’t tell the whole story; what factors influence wet-weather performance and heat resistance; rotor design and how to think about choosing rotor sizes; and a whole lot more.
Chris Porter, one of the most interesting and most opinionated figures in the MTB world, is back on Bikes and Big Ideas. We discuss the Geometron G1 & how Chris chooses to set up his personal bike; dual-crown Enduro forks & how we both wish they were more common; EXT suspension, including the Era fork and custom G1-spec Storia shock; & much more.
We check in with several of our reviewers to discuss the gear they’ve been most impressed with so far this year; the new products they’re most excited to check out; and along the way we talk about mullet bikes, bike shop pranks, and unveil several genius new ideas that we definitely shouldn’t be giving away for free.
Steve Vanderhoek just put out one of the best video edits of the year, where he & Yoann Barelli rode just about all of the gnarliest features in the Sea to Sky Corridor in one truly wild day. We sat down with Steve to talk about the mental challenges of riding scary, high-consequence lines; filming & riding with Yoann & Remy Metailler; balancing all that with his career as a paramedic and firefighter; & a whole lot more.
David Golay talks to Dylan Wood about two short-travel, DW-link bikes at opposite ends of the price spectrum; a range of longer-travel Enduro bikes from fairly conventional to quite unusual; some category-defying pedals; thoughts on the importance (or lack thereof) of bike weight; & the current state of the Shimano vs. SRAM drivetrain wars.
Sabra Davison grew up ski racing and running, but when she got into mountain biking, she saw girls participating at far lower rates — so she decided to do something about it. Sabra (along with her sister, World Cup XC racer and two-time Olympian, Lea) founded Little Bellas to get girls into riding bikes, and develop the confidence to keep with it. We sat down with Sabra to talk about Little Bellas; how to make skill building fun; removing barriers to participation in what is an expensive sport; and a whole lot more.
When he was in his 20s Matt Gilman lost his sight due to diabetes, but that hasn’t stopped him from riding trials — and maybe even more remarkably, working as a bike mechanic. His story is an incredible one, so we sat down with Matt to talk about his approach to riding; how he manages to ride by feel; his career as a bike mechanic and how he adapted to doing that blind; and a whole lot more.
The first-generation Manitou Dorado turned a lot of heads more than 20 years ago, thanks to its inverted layout and wild-looking carbon chassis. The just-released, fourth-generation Dorado is a major update to what Manitou calls “the longest-standing inverted downhill fork” — including a return of the carbon chassis, after more than a decade hiatus. But there’s a whole lot more going on, too, so we sat down with Manitou’s Phil Ott to discuss the past and present of the Dorado; the advantages and disadvantages of inverted forks; fork offset; and a whole bunch more.