Bikes vs. Skis, 4th Edition (2023): Part 3 (Ep.247)

6 comments on “Bikes vs. Skis, 4th Edition (2023): Part 3 (Ep.247)”

1. The segment on Evil perked my ears up. I have a Following V3 and a Calling still. Love the bikes. I’ve been wondering what has been going on with them, and saw Mike Giese leave recently for GT. Someone said they dropped all their athletes? Sorge and Norbratten still with them, no?

   • I forgot about Kyle Norbraten, that was my mistake. And yeah, Sorge is still there as far as I know — I think I said something like “most” rather than “all”.

     • Gotcha. Bubba Warren still with them also. They seem to be sponsoring other up and coming athletes as well.

2. This is insane. Love it.

3. A couple thoughts about DPS:

   – I think that part of the reason they aren’t closely identified with US-based manufacturing is because it wasn’t part of their brand identity at the start, when public perceptions of the brand were established. Their skis were manufactured overseas up until 2013, which is when they opened their first US factory. They aren’t like companies that ON3P or Moment that very explicitly branded themselves around “founders with presses”.

   – With respect to perceptions of innovation, I think that it’s important to recognize that DPS started with immense cred from their indirect association with Shane via Peter Turner, and then delivered on that promise with the Wailer. It’s almost unimaginable that they or any company can scale those heights alone, at least until the next Shane and the next revolution in skiing. They and K2 were both brilliantly positioned when Volant folded, but neither of them could stay there forever.

   Heritage labs is like any of a number of boutique road bike builders who refuse to use anything but triple-butted Reynolds round CrMo tubes. I’m a pretty traditional rider, and I love skis like the Pro Rider, but Heritage makes even me shake my head.

4. I think that the big takeaway from this year’s edition of Bikes vs. Skis is that each respective brand can be examined from a variety of different perspectives. While certain brands may have more defining traits which clearly establish their identity, ultimately each company is composed of a variety of aspects which collectively contribute to the brand’s image. These aspects include, but are not limited to, design philosophy, performance characteristics, price range of products, company size, current company relevance, brand history, marketing techniques, pro athlete team, aesthetics, geographic factors, regional popularity, sales and distribution strategies, brand perception by industry nerds, brand perception by casual users, production methods and techniques, material choices, is the brand progressive or conservative, I digress.

   When Bikes vs. Skis becomes a weekly podcast in the Blister network (expecting the announcement any day now), we listeners expect each episode to focus on a single brand in either the ski or bike industry and consider how it may compare to particular brands of the opposite activity in each of the different sectors listed above.