Bikes & Big Ideas

Mike and Simon unpack the first DH and XC World Cup of the season, and there’s a whole lot to talk about, including course drama, fast Frenchies, DH hardtails, belt drives, tons of flats, just as many crashes, and Vali Holl and Asa Vermette's insane winning runs, not to mention the XC race mudfest the day after. Plus, we sprinkle in a bit of industry news, and Mike lays out his plan to make poison oak pepper spray.
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Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover or a guest you’d like us to have on Bikes and Big Ideas. Email us at [email protected] to weigh in.
RELATED LINKS:
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
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BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered
Mike’s The Grimy Handshake Substack
TOPICS & TIMES:
Air Travel & Spirit Airlines (2:36)
Mike’s Poison Oak Spray (13:20)
The 1st World Cup DH of the Season (17:00)
Course Drama (30:56)
Asa Veremette has Arrived (31:37)
Women’s Elite (34:52)
Vali Holl’s Run (39:18)
The XC Race Mudder (43:18)
Mike’s Sea Otter Recap (50:21)
The Evolving eMTB Landscape (57:44)
Another Surron Parent Charged (1:08:15)
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Blister Cinematic
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Hannah Otto has been reeling off an impressive streak of mountain biking FKTs over the past few years, and now she’s added a road bike one to the list: the 14,000’ climb up Mauna Kea, Hawai’i. So we brought Hannah back on the show to tell the story behind the effort, discuss the differences in FKT culture across disciplines, and a whole lot more.
Note: We Want to Hear From You!
Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: [email protected]
RELATED LINKS:
Hannah on the Whole Enchilada FKT (Ep.143)
Hannah on the Kokopelli Trail FKT (Ep.232)
‘Chasing the Triple Crown’ (Blister Cinematic Ep.49)
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered
TOPICS & TIMES:
Taking on Mauna Kea (2:17)
The route & elevation profile (6:43)
Choosing which FKT to attempt (10:11)
The Mauna Kea FKT history (13:15)
Weather concerns (14:41)
Pre-riding & prep (18:59)
Pacing & power numbers (25:08)
The turn & getting back on pace (28:25)
Bike setup (33:06)
Road vs. MTB FKT culture (35:13)
Training on a road bike as a MTB / gravel racer (47:17)
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Blister Cinematic
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We’re back and (mostly) recovered from Sea Otter, so David and Simon sat down to discuss the highlights and main trends from the show. And we’re busy as ever testing bikes, so we give some updates on a bunch of them, from the Pivot Mach 4 SL to the Devinci Spartan, the Specialized Levo R to the Pivot Shuttle AMP’d, and more.
Note: We Want to Hear From You!
Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: [email protected]
RELATED LINKS:
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered
Hans Rey (Ep.319)
Chris Cocalis (Ep.321)
TOPICS & TIMES:
Sea Otter Recap (1:37)
Transition Spur (9:31)
Pivot Mach 4 SL (12:37)
Atherton A.150.M (19:25)
Specialized Turbo Levo R (26:29)
Devinci Spartan (34:04)
Pivot Shuttle AMP’d (39:54)
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:
Blister Cinematic
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There aren’t a lot of options for truly custom full-suspension frames out there, and the few that do exist tend to be very expensive. But Vessel Bike Project is offering US-made high-pivot steel frames with truly custom geometry and kinematics (and a massive amount of adjustability) for a surprisingly modest $3,300. So, how are they doing it? What does the customization process look like? And what is the general design philosophy behind Vessel? We dive into all of that and more with Vessel Founder, Jack Harle.
Note: We Want to Hear From You!
Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: [email protected]
RELATED LINKS:
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered
TOPICS & TIMES:
Vessel’s backstory
Suspension kinematics & the baseline Vessel frame design
Frame layout
Anti-rise & its impact on performance
Selling bikes
The customization process
Leverage curves & tailoring them for different riders
Jack’s philosophy on bike design
Geometry
Suspension setup
Pricing & the ordering process
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:
Blister Cinematic
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Pivot just launched their new Avinox M2S powered Shuttle AMP’d, so today Pivot founder Chris Cocalis talks us through the development process, the decision to spec the controversial high-powered Avinox drive system, early prototypes, and the challenges of implementing a motor with that much power. He also gets into why he loves XC bikes, his thoughts on 32” wheels, and who he thinks is going to win the Supercross title, Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Hunter Lawrence, or?
Note: We Want to Hear From You!
Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover or a guest you’d like us to have on Bikes and Big Ideas. Email us at [email protected] to weigh in.
RELATED LINKS:
Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide
BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered
TOPICS & TIMES:
New Shuttle AMP’d (1:58)
Why Avinox? (2:13)
Motor Swaps & Early Prototyping (5:52)
Adding Some Beef to the Chassis (8:57)
New Shuttle LT (28:59)
New Mach 4 SL (32:45)
Chris’ Take on 32” Wheels (42:11)
Who’s Going to Win Supercross (48:42)
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:
Blister Cinematic
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Blister Podcast
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