BLISTER Gear Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles
Radical Acts: How to Create Change (Ep.297)
As people who love the outdoors, why can’t we just steer clear of the often gross world of politics? Caroline Gleich (professional ski mountaineer & U.S. Senate candidate), Nina Waters (athlete, creative, & Summit County commissioner), & Dr. Len Necefer (founder, Sonoran Avalanche Center & Natives Outdoors) make the case.
Flash Review: 24/25 Elan Ripstick 96
We’ve been spending time on the newest version of Elan’s longstanding all-mountain ski — here are our initial thoughts on the updated Ripstick 96.
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Elan Announces Updated 24/25 Ripstick, Primetime, Playmaker, & Element Skis
Elan is updating a whole bunch of their skis for the 2024-2025 season, including several brand-new shapes and new constructions. Here are the details.
Flash Review: 24/25 Fischer RC4 Pro MV DYN BOA Zipfit
Fischer is adding a new model to their high-end RC4 Pro line, and this one has tech inserts for touring — but no walk mode. Check out Paul Forward’s initial impressions.
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.
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New & Current Deals for BLISTER+ Members
Become a BLISTER+ member, save a lot of dough. Check out our newest deals, including 15% off RUX’s unique gear-hauling & storage products, 20% off skis from 4FRNT, 15% off carbon wheels from We Are One, 40% off Mountain Sense’s snow-safety courses, & dozens more!
2023-2024 RMU Professor 121
Here are our measured specs, rocker profile pictures, and flex pattern numbers for the RMU Professor 121.
Hope Carbon Cranks, TR Stem, & More
Hope is launching a whole bunch of new stuff today, including a carbon fiber crank, a new stem, and more — and they’ve added bronze to the color options across their lineup.
Win Antti Ollila’s Setup
The winner of this week’s Gear Giveaway will win the Prodigy 3 ski from Faction and the fs 01 120 boot from phaenom Footwear, the go-to setup of Finnish freestyle skier Antti Ollila!
New Gear from Blister Summit 2024 (Ep.285)
Luke Koppa, Kristin Sinnott, Jonathan Ellsworth, Kara Williard, and Justin Bobb go over a few of the MANY highlights of last week’s Blister Summit, and then dive into a bunch of the standout products they were each able to try at the event.
Dynastar, Lange, & Look Announce 24/25 Skis, Ski Boots, & Bindings
For the 24/25 season, we’re getting a lot of new products from Dynastar, Lange, & Look — including several new skis, a whole new RS boot collection, and a new Look Pivot 2.0 binding. Check out the details.
Flash Review: 24/25 Dynastar M-Pro 98 W
Dynastar is overhauling their women-specific E-Pro 99 W for 24/25, and we spent time on the new version, the M-Pro 98 W. Here are our initial impressions.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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Privateer 141 and 161 Gen 2
Privateer has made a name for itself by building burly, no-nonsense bikes for aggressive riders, and while their new second-generation 141 and 161 don’t appear to waver from that goal, a lot of the design details have changed, and in very interesting ways. Check out our First Look for all the info.
Continental on Designing, Developing, & Testing Their Overhauled Tire Lineup (Ep.209)
Designing a new MTB tire from scratch is a lot of work. Doing 5 at once is a massive undertaking — but Continental did just that with their updated gravity tire lineup. We sat down with Continental product manager Alex Haenke and Atherton Racing’s Dan Brown to get the full story on the development and testing of the new tires.
We asked the Pros: What’s the 1st Ski You Loved? | Video
At Blister Summit 2024, we asked Cody Townsend, Elyse Saugstad, Eric “Hoji” Hjorleifson, Drew Petersen, & Sander Hadley to tell us about the first ski they truly loved — and their answers did not disappoint.
Sensus Crue Flat Pedals
Born from the mind of Cam Zink, the Sensus Crue flat pedals are visually striking and made from high-end materials. So, how do they actually feel on trail, and how do they compare to the competition? Check out our full review.
BLISTER Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles:
Stuff We Like: June 2024
This month’s edition of our Stuff We Like series includes tons of warm-weather and travel-friendly apparel, bike tools, camera gear, hair-care products, and more. Check it out to see what gear our reviewers have recently been digging.
Coffee Gear, Pt. 4: “Hero Espresso” & Jonathan’s Current Setup (Ep.43)
Today’s the day. Simon Stewart and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss the coffee gear Jonathan ended up going with on his quest to create daily doses of ‘hero espresso’.
Flash Review — Shimano GRX Di2 2 x 12-Speed Drivetrain
Shimano’s new semi-wireless GRX Di2 drivetrain brings a lot of interesting new functionality to the table, and we’ve started spending time on it. Check out our early impressions.
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.
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‘Wade in the Water’ with David Mesfin & Jonathan Ellsworth (Ep.15)
Our guest is David Mesfin, the writer, director, and producer of ‘Wade in the Water: A Journey into Black Surfing and Aquatic Culture’ that chronicles the 1000-year-old tradition of Black surfing and highlights some of the black surfers and surfing organizations that are forging the next chapters of this tradition.
2024 Specialized Chisel
Hot on the heels of the recently released Epic and Epic EVO, Specialized is announcing the new Chisel. The Chisel keeps similar kinematics and geometry to the Epic, but gets an impressively light aluminum frame to bring down cost. Let’s look at what Specialized has welded up.
2024-2025 Peak 110 by Bode
Here are our measured specs, rocker profile pictures, and flex pattern numbers for the Peak 110 by Bode.
Flash Review — Scott Solace Gravel eRide
We’ve been riding the Scott Solace Gravel eRide on two different continents. Check out our impressions so far.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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Scott Solace Gravel eRIDE
The Scott Solace Gravel eRIDE puts the excellent TQ HPR50 drive system in a Gravel / All Road package. Throw in a few geometry tweaks, generous tire clearance, and options for Road and Gravel builds, and the Solace starts to look very interesting.
Here to Climb: Sasha DiGiulian on Fitting In, Standing Out, & Her New Documentary (Ep.312)
We talk to professional climber Sasha DiGiulian about her unconventional journey, major setbacks, and remarkable achievements in and beyond the climbing world. We also go behind the scenes of the new documentary about her life, Here to Climb.
Flash Review — COROS Dura Cycling Computer
We’ve been logging some hours on the new COROS Dura cycling computer. Check out our initial impressions.
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.
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Win MTB Gear From Giro
The winner of our Gear Giveaway this week will get a helmet, a pair of goggles, and a pair of gloves from Giro!
Travel Gear + Bringing Back the Snake Bite Black (Ep.301)
Jonathan and Kristin discuss their recent trips; the question of ‘why we travel?’; bringing back the endangered Snake Bite Black; and they dive into some of their favorite travel gear.