BLISTER Gear Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles
Reviewing the News w/ Ryan Palmer, March 2024 (Ep.217)
In their third installment of Reviewing The News, Ryan and Simon get into: the slopestyle strike; Scott’s apparent management instability; riding in Tuscany; some reflections on how we ever rode without dropper posts; and some new lightweight eMTBs running the hotrod Bosch SX motor — including the 39 lb Norco Fluid VLT.
Giant Trance X
Giant has updated their longstanding Trance platform with the new Trance X and Trance X SX. Both the Trance X and Trance X SX get a lot more adjustability, more aggressive geometry, and some other refinements. Dig into our First Look to get all of the details on what Giant has cooked up.
Flash Review — Yeti SB165
The new Yeti SB165 has grown a mullet, but it sticks with (mostly) very similar geometry to the outgoing 27.5’’-wheeled version. Check out our initial impressions of how it all comes together.
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RAAW Jibb V2
RAAW updated their Madonna V3 Enduro bike earlier this year, adding a lot of adjustability and refinements, and now their shorter-travel Jibb gets many of the same tweaks, updated geometry, and more. Check out our First Look for all the info.
Flash Review — 2024 Rocky Mountain Altitude
The new Rocky Mountain Altitude doesn’t look anything like the old one, but how much has the on-trail experience changed? Check out our impressions so far.
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Flash Review — 2025 Fox 38 Grip X2
Fox says that their new Grip X2 damper offers substantially more support and composure than the Grip2 one that it replaces — and that sounds like the change that our Bike Editor was looking for. Check out his early impressions of the Grip-X2-equipped Fox 38 Fork.
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Fox’s Overhauled Fork Lineup | Grip SL, Grip X, Grip X2, & New 32 Step Cast
Fox just launched three new fork dampers — the Grip SL, Grip X, and Grip X2 — that are featured across the bulk of their latest fork lineup, and they have a new gold color option to go with them. Check out our First Look for all the info on the new forks, and our Flash Review for our early impressions of the Fox 38 Grip X2.
Forbidden Dreadnought V2
We’ve been expecting an updated Forbidden Dreadnought since the Druid V2 broke cover last year, and now it’s here — with more suspension travel, increased adjustability, a new suspension layout, and radical geometry. Check out what Forbidden has cooked up.
Flash Review: 23/24 Folsom TRN TEK
Folsom says their TRN TEK is “the only NEW straight ski on the market,” and our managing editor just spent closing day on this 201cm-long, 69mm-wide ski. Here are his thoughts on the experience, including how much / little he had to adapt to the vintage design, how it compares to modern skis, and more.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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Stuff We Like: March 2024
This edition of our Stuff We Like series includes everything from a whole collection of bike tools to splitboard skins, children’s books, goggles with a heads-up display, portable radios, and more. Here are some of the latest products that our reviewers have been testing and enjoying.
Angel Collinson, Mallory Duncan, Elyse Saugstad, & Vasu Sojitra: Stories from the Field (Ep.304)
Angel Collinson, Mallory Duncan, Elyse Saugstad, & Vasu Sojitra share stories about their all-time favorite days in the mountains; their scariest experiences; times they were the most starstruck; what they wish they could tell their younger selves; and more.
New Tech to Simplify Decision Making in the Backcountry (Ep.292)
After years in the backcountry and a near-death experience, IFMGA Guide, Jeff Banks, wanted to build a tool that could simplify and improve the decision-making of any backcountry user. The result is Aspect Avy. We talk with Jeff about how this app compares to and complements other backcountry tools; how it accounts for human factors; the general state of tech in the backcountry; and more.
RMU Launches New 2025 Ski Collection
RMU has launched their 2024-2025 ski collection, and it includes several brand-new models, updates to existing ones (including some favorites of our reviewers), and more. Here are the details.
Flash Review: 24/25 RMU Apostle 106
The Apostle 106 has been a favorite of a few of our reviewers, and we’ve been skiing the updated version. So, how similar or different is the new ski? Here are our initial thoughts.
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2024-2025 RMU Apostle 106 Wood
Here are our measured specs, flex pattern numbers, and rocker profile pictures for the RMU Apostle 106 Wood.
BLISTER Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles:
Flash Review — Specialized Status 2 170
The original Specialized Status was a super-popular, quite affordable park / freeride / do-it-all bike — so the new one has some big shoes to fill. Check out our early impressions of how it fares.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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Helping Everyone ‘Go’ Outside w/ Gnara (Ep.306)
Pants weren’t originally designed for female anatomy, and that creates problems for a lot of people in a lot of different scenarios – from climbing with a harness to peeing at a festival. Gnara, with their patented “GoFly Technology,” has been working to address this overlooked issue for the past several years, and we talk to their co-founder, Georgia Grace Edwards, about all the work that’s gone into solving this problem and the impact it has had.
Flash Review — Trek Slash+
The Trek Slash+ merges a lightweight TQ motor with the high pivot design used on the regular Slash. Those two elements alone imply a burly ride, but is there more to the story? Check out our impressions from a few initial rides.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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2024-2025 Salomon Stance 94 W
Here are our measured specs, rocker profile pictures, and flex pattern numbers for the Salomon Stance 94 W.
Kokopelli Trail FKT: Failure & Redemption w/ Hannah Otto (Ep.232)
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.
Knolly Delirium
After a few years hiatus, the Knolly Delirium is back and burlier than ever. Now fully in the Freeride / Park realm, the new Delirium gets mixed wheels, 190 mm of rear travel, dual crown compatibility, and updated geometry. Check out our First Look for more.
‘Feel It All’ with Drew Petersen & Jonathan Ellsworth (Ep.18)
We talk with Drew Petersen about his new running film / ski movie / documentary about some topics that are far bigger than skiing, running, and outdoor sports in general.
Flash Review — Knolly Fugitive 140
It had been a long time since we’ve been on anything from Knolly, but we’ve started spending time on the Fugitive 140 — so how does their mid-travel, most versatile bike stack up? Check out our early impressions.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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2024-2025 Folsom Rotor
Here are our measured specs, rocker profile pictures, and flex pattern numbers for the Folsom Rotor ski.
Cars vs. Bikes (Ep.317)
Cyclists injuries and deaths from auto collisions are on the rise, so what’s being done to address this? We talk to the lead engineer of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) at General Motors, who works on bicycle detection technology to help keep cyclists safer on the roads.
Deep Dive: 2024 Norco Optic
We compare the Norco Optic to the Transition Smuggler, Deviate Highlander II, Norco Sight, Canyon Spectral 125, Chromag Darco, Santa Cruz Tallboy, Rocky Mountain Element, Yeti SB135, and Revel Rascal V2.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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2024 Norco Optic
Norco did a lot to spearhead the recent resurgence of high-pivot bikes, but it still caught a lot of people by surprise when they moved their 125mm-travel Optic to the layout. So how has it panned out? Check out our Full Review for our take.