Recent Podcasts
Blister Summit ’23: New Info, Dates, & Details (Ep.217)
On our Blister Podcast, Jonathan and Blister Summit Director, Kristin Sinnott, discuss the new format for our next Blister Summit; how to get the best pricing; what we learned from past Blister Summits; and who ought to come. (Answer: YOU.)
Blister Labs: Motorcycles, Laser Art, & Mtn Bikes with Greg Vanderbeek (Ep.204)
Greg Vanderbeek talks about starting a custom motorcycle business; the mountain bike projects we’re working on at Blister Labs; and more.
Trinity MTB on Their Wild High-Pivot Prototypes (Ep.125)
Trinity MTB has been putting out some of the wildest prototype bikes in recent memory, so we sat down with Chase Warner and Mic Williams to get the rundown on their latest V2 bike, with its incredible adaptability and 3D printed construction; what’s next for V3; when you’ll be able to buy one; & a whole lot more.
TrainingPeaks Co-founder Dirk Friel on Coaching, Artificial Intelligence, & the Future of Endurance Training (Ep.127)
Endurance training has come a long way from handwritten logs and fax machines, and we owe a lot of that progress to web-based platforms like TrainingPeaks. Founded in the late 90s by endurance coaches Dirk Friel and his father, Joe Friel, TrainingPeaks has helped modernize the ways athletes can track, analyze, and plan their training. So, we sat down with Dirk to hear more about how better data leads to better performance; artificial intelligence; and a whole lot more.
Reviewing the News w/ Cody Townsend (June 2022) (Ep.216)
Cody and Jonathan discuss the Mountain Gazette story about outdoor influencers & accountability; Matthew Fairbrother’s bikepacking — and enduro racing — across Europe; the ‘most Canadian’ news story; what we’re reading & watching; recent Supreme Court rulings; mountain-town advice; & more.
European Food Reviews & Trip Report + Updates on our Buyer’s Guides (Ep.203)
Luke and Jonathan discuss Jonathan’s travels across France & Italy; his visits to the Lange factory and ATK bindings factory; provide updates on our Mtn Bike Buyer’s Guide and Winter Buyer’s Guide; and more.
Reviewer Reports: Santa Cruz, Pivot, Kavenz, & More (Ep.124)
We’ve been testing a ton of bikes across the spectrum, from XC(ish) to big Enduro sleds, and we’ve got updates on a lot of them, plus some teasers for other things we’re cooking up.
Naked Sports Innovations Co-founder Lindsay Dakota on “Simplexity” & Their New Laceless Trail Racing Shoe (Ep.126)
Naked Sports Innovations’ line of products has evolved a lot from the popular Running Band that started it all, and this month they announced plans for their first (laceless!) trail running shoe, the Naked T/r. So we sat down with Naked’s President and Co-founder, Lindsay Dakota, to break down their debut model and to talk about how the notion of “simplexity” drives their design process
Ski Development & Ski Testing with AJ Kruajitch & Jake Stevens (Ep.202)
Few people spend as many days as we do testing skis on snow. But Rossignol’s AJ Kruajitch definitely does. So Jonathan Ellsworth spent a day at Les Deux Alpes going through AJ’s testing process, then talking with him and Jake Stevens about the similarities and differences in our approaches.
“North Shore” Betty Birrell on MTB at Age 73
Few 45-year-old women were taking up mountain biking in the early 1990s, and even fewer are still riding the North Shore nearly 30 years later — but Betty Birrell hasn’t let that stop her, and at 73, she’s still getting after it. So we sat down with Betty to talk about what keeps her going, and along the way she shares some great insights on motivation, role models, and not letting the expectations of others slow you down.
Roxanne Vogel on Lightning Ascents, Flavor Science, and GU Energy Labs (Ep.125)
Ultramarathons are sometimes called eating competitions with a bit of running thrown in, and with so many different nutrition products and approaches at our disposal these days, it can be hard to know how to fuel properly. So, we talked to GU Energy Labs’ Nutrition and Performance Research Manager, Roxanne Vogel, about the ins & outs of eating on the run; how GU’s line of products fit into that equation; and much more.
Rossignol’s Recyclable “Essential” Ski, with David Bouvier (Ep.201)
A recyclable ski? We sat down with David Bouvier to talk about Rossignol’s new “Essential” ski; discuss the origin of the project; the challenges posed by making the circular economy of a ski a priority; who this Essential ski is for; and how this project will influence other Rossignol products.