BLISTER Gear Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles
Win a Men’s or Women’s Down Jacket from Flylow
It’s officially down jacket season, and the winner of this week’s Giveaway will get a new jacket from Flylow!
2018 Nicolai Ion G13 GPI
With the geometry numbers of a DH bike, the travel of a Trail bike, and a belt-driven gearbox drivetrain, the Nicolai Ion G13 GPI is probably the most unconventional Trail bike we’ve ever reviewed.
2018 Ibis Ripmo
The new Ibis Ripmo is supposed to occupy the middle ground between Ibis’s more uphill-oriented Ripley LS and their more downhill-oriented Mojo HD4. So does it really hit that middle ground? And where does it fall in the spectrum of Trail bikes?
What’s it like to climb The Nose? (Ep.18)
What’s it like to climb The Nose? Is it really as “easy” as people say? And what level of experience is required to have a reasonable chance of topping out? Our host of All Things Climbing and his wife Katie report on their recent trip up the world’s most iconic rock climb.
Zerode Taniwha Trail
We always go in-depth, but this might be the most in-depth we’ve ever gone. Check out our review of the gearbox-equipped (no derailleur, no cassette) Zerode Taniwha Trail bike.
18/19 Winter Buyer’s Guide
We’ve got some very big news about this year’s Buyer’s Guide…
Interbike: Confessions & Observations (Ep.25)
We discuss the weirdness and wonders of Interbike 2018, make a confession about last year’s Interbike, and more.
Win Men’s & Women’s Jackets from The North Face
Enter to win one of our favorite jackets!
Sports Page
Service is king. And with some of the best tunes in the country, Sports Page knows ski service.
2019 Rockshox Lyrik RC2 Fork
Updated forks and shocks are often cases of evolution rather than revolution. But the new Rockshox Lyrik RC2 provides very discernible improvements over prior iterations, and you don’t need to be a world-cup-level racer to appreciate them.
Interbike 2018 — Recap
Check out the most interesting things we saw at Interbike this year — including banana holsters, new Maxxis tires, Wonder Woman’s bike, and … lots of eBikes.
Win MTB Shoes from Five Ten
The Five Ten’s flat MTB shoes have become staple products for a ton of riders, and this week you can win their updated Freerider Pro shoe.
Race Face Turbine R Dropper Post
Reliability. That’s what we really want out of a dropper post, and that’s exactly what the Race Face Turbine R has provided.
Line Traveling Circus 11.1 — “No Looking Back”
Blind backflips, 270 cm snowboards, wildly creative tricks, and lots of laughs. Yep, the LINE Traveling Circus is back.
Race Face Next R Bar and Turbine R Stem
Frames and fancy wheel sets are super sexy, but let’s not forget about those bars and stems. We’ve found the Race Face Next R bar and Turbine R stem to be reliable, well-built, and versatile options.
BLISTER Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles:
Bikes vs. Skis, 2nd Edition (2020): Part 1 (Ep. 24)
Which bike company is currently most like which ski company? And which bike and ski company do most other bike and ski brands secretly wish they could trade places with? Noah Bodman, Jonathan Ellsworth, David Golay, and Eric Freson make parallels and analogies between these two industries to see if it gives us a better sense of the current position, reputation, and trajectory of a bunch of different brands in these sports.
Your Questions + Our Review of PBR’s ‘Hard Coffee’ (Ep.99)
What outdoor gear is in need of the biggest improvement? How old is too old to try your first backflip?; If you had to opt for skis that are too long or too short, which would you pick? What should I do with my life? How does one start reviewing for Blister? Could you please provide an unbiased review and comparison of the Blister Membership, Deep Dive Subscription, and Blister Premier Membership? Luke Koppa and Jonathan answer these and many more.
Flash Review: 20/21 Atomic Hawx Prime XTD 130
Update 5.8.20: After spending more time in the new Hawx Prime XTD 130, we’ve updated our Flash Review.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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2021-2022 Moment Wildcat Tour 108
This past year we spent time on the Wildcat Tour 108 in a wide range of conditions, and you can now check out our Full Review & Deep Dive comparisons.
Deep Dive: Moment Wildcat Tour 108
We compare the Wildcat Tour 108 to the Moment Wildcat 108, Moment Deathwish Tour, WNDR Alpine Intention 110, Atomic Backland 107, Blizzard Zero G 105, K2 Wayback 106, Black Diamond Helio 105, Line Vision 108, Amplid Facelift 108, 4FRNT Raven, Renoun Citadel 106, Faction Agent 3.0, & Folsom Cash 106 Carbon.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
To get our comprehensive Deep Dives and our initial, unfiltered reports on new gear, become a member and receive many other services, deals, and discounts.
If you’re already an active member, please log in.
(If you’re already logged in and a member in good standing and seeing this message in error, please refresh this page in your browser.)
Maxxis Assegai
The Maxxis Assegai was created as a blend of several of their most popular tires. In our full review of the Assegai we dive into how it differs from the ubiquitous Minion DHF, and who we think will get along with this very aggressive tire with a totally not-funny name.
Blister Brand Guide: La Sportiva Trail Running Shoe Lineup, 2020
Sportiva has made some updates to their running shoe lineup for 2020, and you can check out our Brand Guide to see what’s new, what’s gone, and which shoes would make the most sense for you.
2019-2020 Moment Commander 118
We like honest and accurate descriptions of gear, and Moment’s note about their Commander 118 being “not for the faint of heart” is accurate. Check out our full review for more details about this big-mountain charger.
Hillary Gerardi, Mountain Scrambler (Ep.49)
Hillary Gerardi won the 2018 Skyrunner Extra World Series Circuit, and yet, she still doesn’t necessarily think of herself as a runner. So Brendan Leonard and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss this with Hillary, and what it is that she enjoys most about being in the mountains. Hillary was born in Vermont, but lives in Chamonix and works at the Research Center for Alpine Ecosystems, so of course, we discuss all of that, too.
Mother’s Day Roundup — 2020
If you have a mom, know a mom, or perhaps are married to a mom, hopefully you’re prepared to celebrate her this coming Sunday. But in case you’re a bit behind on your Mother’s Day gifts, we polled some of our reviewers to see what gift ideas they’d recommend — check out their suggestions.
On the State of Heli Skiing: Henry Munter, Chugach Powder Guides (Ep. 128)
Henry Munter is a lead heli guide and the general manager of Chugach Powder Guides in Girdwood, AK, and we talk with him about making the call to shut down operations right as the heli season was in full swing; the evolution of heli skiing; decision making, memory, and some of the tools and practices Henry uses in forecasting, guiding clients, and handling all types of different aspects of the business; and we discuss environmentalism and heli skiing, and how Henry and others at CPG are thinking about those two things.