Bikes & Big Ideas | BLISTER Outdoor Media & Gear Reviews

Maxxis on the New High Roller, Tire R&D, & More (Ep.239)

September 12, 2024September 12, 2024 by David Golay

We sat down with Maxxis’ Aaron Chamberlain to discuss their new High Roller tire; how Maxxis designs, develops, and tests mountain bike tires; why its lineup is so expansive, and a whole lot more.

Reviewing the News w/ Mike Ferrentino, August 2024 (Ep.238)

September 5, 2024September 5, 2024 by Simon Stewart

Mike Ferrentino is back handling the co-host duties on this episode of Reviewing the News. Simon admits to missing Mike during his absence, and the lads waste no time getting into recapping the UCI MTB World Championships; cross-country mountain bike courses getting too short; Mike’s take on the Specialized and Frameworks partnership; a belt drive lawsuit; and lots more.

Reviewer Reports: Battle of Unconventional Air Shocks, High-Pivot Trail Bikes, & More (Ep.237)

August 29, 2024 by David Golay

We check in on a selection of the gear we’ve been testing of late, from the Forbidden Druid V2 to the Trek Slash+, plus a bunch more bikes, some air shocks from smaller brands — and a discussion of bike geometry that might surprise you.

Liv Cycling’s Ludi Shuolz on Women-Specific Bikes, Suspension Tuning, & More (Ep.235)

Liv Cycling’s Ludi Scholz on Women-Specific Bikes, Suspension Tuning, & More (Ep.236)

August 22, 2024August 22, 2024 by David Golay

Few companies still make truly women-specific mountain bikes, but Liv Cycling is leading the charge there — we sat down with Off-Road Category Manager Ludi Scholz to talk about what Liv does and why.

Zerode on Gearbox Bikes, World Cup DH Racing, & Building Stuff in a Shed (Ep.235)

August 15, 2024 by David Golay

A lot of mountain bike companies started with one or two people building stuff in a shed, but not many of those folks *began* by building their own gearbox, and even fewer have stayed committed to gearbox bikes. But Zerode isn’t most bike companies, and we sat down with them to hear all about their history, how they got where they are today, their thoughts on gearbox bikes, and a whole lot more.

Vermont Mountain Bike Association on Assessing, Funding, & Building Adaptive Trails (Ep.234)

August 8, 2024 by Simon Stewart

Vermont Mountain Bike Association, in conjunction with Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, are building an impressive network of adaptive trails. So we sat down to find out what has made them so successful; what goes into adaptive trail building; and why other trail organizations should take a look at what they’re doing.

Reviewing the News w/ Wade Simmons, July 2024 (Ep.233)

August 1, 2024 by Simon Stewart

Simon is joined by freeride legend Wade Simmons for the July edition of Reviewing the News. Wade and Simon try to figure out why they keep crashing; then get into Crankworx Whistler, the wild Les Gets World Cup, the Olympics, chain lube, and a whole lot more.

Kokopelli Trail FKT: Failure & Redemption w/ Hannah Otto (Ep.232)

July 25, 2024July 25, 2024 by David Golay

Last time we checked in with Hannah Otto, she was fresh off setting the FKT on the Whole Enchilada in Moab, Utah. Her follow-up was to chase the FKT on the Kokopelli Trail, where she had an extremely harrowing first attempt last fall — but, undeterred, she returned in the spring and beat the prior time by well over an hour. So we sat down with Hannah to hear all about it.

Neko Mulally on the Upcoming Frameworks Enduro Bike, DH Bike Testing & More (Ep.231)

July 18, 2024 by David Golay

Neko Mulally is getting ready to offer his Frameworks Enduro bike for sale, so we sat down to hear about its development; discuss the various DH frame variants Neko has been testing; talk about the expanded Frameworks team and how Neko’s approach to his own racing has evolved; and a lot more.

David Golay reviews the 2025 Geometron G1 for Blister

Geometron Bikes on the Design & Development of the New G1 (Ep.230)

July 11, 2024 by David Golay

Geometron arguably did more than any other bike brand to kick off the geometry revolution of the late 2010s, but they haven’t been content to rest on those laurels. The latest version of their G1 Enduro bike features a host of interesting — and maybe surprising — updates, so we sat down with them to hear all about it.

Reviewing the News w/ Mike Ferrentino, June 2024 (Ep.229)

July 4, 2024 by Simon Stewart

Mike Ferrentino and Simon Stewart get into the polarizing topic of bicycle access in wilderness areas, the inclusion of women at Red Bull Rampage, a new tire valve standard, and much more in the latest episode of Reviewing the News.

Reviewer Reports: Specialized Epic Evo to the RAAW Madonna, Lots of Tires, & More (Ep.228)

June 27, 2024 by David Golay

We check in on a whole bunch of the bikes, tires, and other gear we’re currently testing, from the razor-sharp Specialized Epic Evo to the ultra-composed RAAW Madonna, and a wide range in between.

The Wild Tale of Constru-Bikes & Their Massive Bike Theft and Trafficking Ring (Ep.227)

June 20, 2024 by David Golay

Thousands of high-end bikes have been stolen across the Western US and wound up in Jalisco, Mexico. The story behind the trafficking ring and how Bryan Hance of Bike Index uncovered it is a *wild* one — hear all about it on this episode.

Dan Bacon of Wheelbased on the (Potential) Future of MTB Tech (Ep.226)

September 9, 2024June 13, 2024 by David Golay

A lot of wild patent applications have been filed in the bike world of late, so we brought Dan Bacon from Wheelbased back on Bikes & Big Ideas to talk about a bunch of them, from Bilstein’s wild fork damper to Shimano’s electronic brakes, a carbon fiber cooler from Yeti (the BIKE company), and many more.

Reviewing the News w/ Mike Ferrentino, May 2024 (Ep.225)

June 6, 2024 by Simon Stewart

MTB racing season is in full swing and Simon Stewart and Mike Ferrentino have a lot to cover on this iteration of Reviewing the News, from World Cup XC to Hardline, the Giro d’Italia and upcoming Tour de France, and a whole lot more.

EXT’s New Storia and Arma V4 Shocks (Ep.224)

May 30, 2024 by David Golay

EXT is updating their (already impressive) Storia and Arma rear shocks, so we sat down with their founder, Franco Fratton, to hear all about the new dampers; the potential for truly “active” suspension systems in the bike world; tease some upcoming EXT products, and more.

Cane Creek on their “Air-Charged Coil” Tigon Shock (Ep.223)

May 23, 2024 by David Golay

Air- and coil-sprung rear shocks have been used on mountain bikes for decades, but Cane Creek’s “air-charged coil” Tigon shock is a novel concept. So we sat down with Will Hart from Cane Creek to hear all about it.

Reviewer Reports: World Cup DH Recap, Tons of Bikes, Suspension, Tires, & More (Ep.222)

May 17, 2024May 16, 2024 by David Golay

We’ve been testing a huge spectrum of bikes — from Gravel to Enduro — plus a bunch of new tires, suspension, and more. Simon Stewart and David Golay sat down to talk about all of it, recap the World Cup DH season opener, and more.

Neuhaus Metalworks on Metal Bikes’ Resurgence, Learning to Build Frames, Size-Specific Geometry & More (Ep.221)

May 10, 2024 by David Golay

High-end metal bikes are having a resurgence, and we sat down with Daniel Yang and Nick Neuhaus of Neuhaus Metalworks to talk about why; hear their takes on frame design and size-specific geometry; discuss the value of communal learning; and a whole lot more.

Reviewing the News w/ Mike Ferrentino, April 2024 (Ep.220)

May 2, 2024May 2, 2024 by Simon Stewart

Simon Stewart is joined by special guest host Mike Ferrentino to talk about Kona’s Sea Otter debacle and the state of the industry more broadly; the start of XC World Cup season; new XC race bikes being awesome; microphone eating; zombies; and more on the latest iteration of Reviewing the News.

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