Bikes & Big Ideas

Jonathan Ellsworth, David Golay, Ben Sims, & Noah Bodman discuss on Blister's Bikes & Big Ideas podcast the upcoming 2020 UCI World Cup Downhill Mountain Bike Season

The Upcoming DH Season (Ep.17)

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The World Cup Downhill season starts in just a couple of weeks, so we checked in with Blister reviewers Noah Bodman, David Golay, and Ben Sims to get their thoughts on and predictions for the upcoming season. We also discuss the future prospects and popularity of World Cup DH racing versus the popularity and trajectory of Enduro World Series racing, and we place one very big wager on the upcoming season.

Drilling for Oil under Moab’s Slickrock Trail? (Ep.16)

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Recently, a preliminary proposal from the Bureau of Land Management was put forward to auction the right to drill for oil and natural gas under Moab’s Slickrock Trail, one of the most famous mountain bike trails in the world. How is this possible? And what should each of us be doing to protect our trails? For answers to these questions and to learn what exactly happened with Slickrock Trail, we talked to Ashley Korenblat, the founder of Public Land Solutions.

Bike Industry Predictions for the Next Decade (Ep.14)

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What will the mountain biking industry look like 10 years from now? What current product categories have the most room for improvement, and where will the actual advancements in bike tech take place by the end of 2029? What categories of riding will have grown, and which will have shrunk? We discuss all of this and more, including our wildest predictions for this next decade.
Paul Basagoitia goes on Blister's Bikes & Big Ideas podcast to discuss His Spinal Cord Injury, Road to Recovery, & New Film, Any One of Us

Paul Basagoitia on His Spinal Cord Injury, Road to Recovery, & New Film (Ep.12)

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Paul Basagoitia was the first back-to-back winner of Crankworx Slopestyle, participated in Red Bull Rampage numerous times, and was one of the top riders in the game. But one tiny mishap led to a crash that left him paralyzed, and Paul’s life was changed in an instant. So we talk to Paul about his ascension in the sport, the events surrounding his accident, his road to recovery, how he views Rampage today, and his new Red Bull / HBO film, Any One of Us that chronicles it all — and provides an unfiltered look at life after a spinal cord injury.
Jonathan Ellsworth talks with Climate Neutral CEO, Austin Whitman, on Blister's Bikes & Big Ideas podcast about Climate Neutral, how it started, its goals, and how everyone can help.

How You Can Help Brands Go Climate Neutral (Ep.11)

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These days, a lot of brands — and especially a lot of outdoor brands — like to talk about sustainability. But what concrete steps are companies actually taking to measure, reduce, and offset their carbon emissions? We talk to Climate Neutral CEO, Austin Whitman, about how Climate Neutral is enlisting brands to reduce and pay for their emissions and helping consumers to identify which brands are taking real action; the problem of “greenwashing”; the cost of reducing carbon emissions; the legitimacy of carbon offsets; and what individuals & companies can do right now.
Jonathan Ellsworth talks with Claudio Caluori on Blister's Bikes & Big Ideas podcast about the 2019 UCI World Cup Downhill Season

Claudio Caluori on the World Cup DH Season (Ep.9)

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Coming straight to Crested Butte after the amazing World Cup season finale, Claudio Caluori sits down with Jonathan Ellsworth in BLISTER HQ to discuss whether this was the best WC DH season ever; Loic Bruni & Amaury Pierron’s epic battle; his biggest takeaways from the men’s and women’s seasons; and what, if anything, could be done to make the series even better.
IMBA executive director, David Wiens, talks with Jonathan Ellsworth about e-bikes and how to have a constructive conversation about them on Blister's Bikes & Big Ideas podcast.

How to Have a Constructive Conversation about e-Bikes (Ep.8)

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Like politics and religion, e-bikes are a topic that get people extremely worked up, often result in name calling, and rarely are productive. And this needs to change, because e-Bikes are not going away. So we talked to Dave Wiens, the executive director of the International Mountain Biking Association, to help clarify what all the fuss is about; identify what the biggest issues are with e-mountain bikes; present the concerns that the advocates of — and the opponents of — e-bikes need to understand; and lay out what the best way forward looks like.
Jonathan Ellsworth talks with World Bicycle Relief CEO, Dave Neiswander on Blister's Bikes & Big Ideas Podcast

World Bicycle Relief: Making a Better World with Bikes (Ep.7)

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For many of us, bikes are primarily fun. But for many others, bikes are major drivers of economic development, educational opportunity, health care, and equality. World Bicycle Relief was started by the founder of SRAM to provide bikes to developing countries, and we talk with WBR’s CEO, Dave Neiswander, about the origins of World Bicycle Relief; its trajectory and challenges; all the product design that goes into their bikes; and what each of us can do to support the WBR mission.
Anthill Films' Darcy Wittenberg and Ian Dun discuss their latest mountain-bike film, Return To Earth, on Blister's Bikes & Big Ideas podcast.

Anthill Films’ Latest: Return to Earth (Ep.5)

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Anthill Films’ latest movie, Return to Earth, displays the sick cinematography and sick bike riding that Anthill is known for. But in Return to Earth, they’re going after some bigger stakes. So we talk to Anthill’s Darcy Wittenberg and Ian Dunn about those stakes; the origins & early days of Anthill; some of the locations, riders, and cinematography in Return to Earth; and more.
Guerrilla Gravity co-founders Matt Giaraffa and Will Montague and their director of composites engineering, Ben Bosworth, talk about the brand's origins and how they're making affordable carbon mountain bikes in the USA on Blister's Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

Guerrilla Gravity’s New Bikes & Big Ideas (Ep.3)

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When a small indie bike company with a heavy-metal vibe makes extremely big claims about the cutting-edge materials they are using to manufacture bikes right here in the USA, and doing all of this at a pretty modest price point … are they full of crap, or are they truly onto something here? And if so, how big of a deal is this? Jonathan Ellsworth headed to Guerrilla Gravity HQ in Denver to sit down with their co-founders and their director of composites to find out.
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