Bikes & Big Ideas

With their athletes taking wins at the Tour de France and Red Bull Hardline, Enve has been having a hell of a summer. So today we’re talking with Enve’s Jake Pantone about what they’ve been up to, the increasingly blurry lines between bike categories, how wide Gravel tires should be, and why you might want to put a suspension fork on your drop bar bike. And Jake also shares exciting news about their plans to make Mountain Bikes.RELATED LINKS:Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideGet Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Winning the Tour de France & Red Bull Hardline (1:31)Having the GOAT as an Enve Athlete (2:47)Blurry Lines Between Bike Categories (7:57)How Wide Should Gravel Tires Be? (16:40)Bigger Tires vs Suspension Forks (21:40)Gravel Bikes as a One Bike Quiver (24:47)Going From Wheels to Road & Gravel Frames (33:02)Enve to Make Mountain Bikes? (40:13)What’s Next for Enve (41:39)Investing in R&D (43:54)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The list of world-class cyclists that have come out of the Durango Devo junior cycling program is astounding. Christopher Blevins is on a tear and is currently leading the UCI XCO overall. Riley Amos crushed the XC U23s last year. Sepp Kuss made a name for himself shepherding Jonas Vingegaard through the mountains and then went on to win a Grand Tour himself, and Quinn Simmons’ aggressive attacks made headlines during this year's Tour de France. So today, we catch up with Durango Devo co-founder Chad Cheeney to find out what the secret is to consistently turning out some of the best bike riders in the world.RELATED LINKS:Durango DevoBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideGet Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Culture & Passion (1:43)Paying Attention to Kids (3:15)OG Durango XC History (3:35)Athletes Having Kids (5:50)What is Durango Devo? (9:30)Finding Coachable Moments (12:05)Raising Money as a Non Profit (13:34)Super Athletes of Durango Devo (15:52)Little & Scrawny Christopher Blevins (17:41)Sepp Kuss’s La Vuelta España Win (21:44)Life as a Fort Lewis Cycling Coach (36:40)Up and Coming Talent (38:56)What bike are you riding? (44:08)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this month's Reviewing the News Episode, Mike and I start with a topic that hits close to home: we both know extremely fit people who have passed away recently while riding their bikes. So, today we talk about how it's common for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease to go undiagnosed, especially in athletes, and what you can do, and should do, to protect yourself. Plus, we just had a fantastic, wet, and muddy weekend of racing in Les Gets, France, which gives us plenty to go on about, like the amazing Alran brothers, Gracy Hemstreet looking unbeatable, Ronan Dunne’s comeback, and road superstar Mathieu van der Poel getting back on the mountain bike for another crack at World Cup XCO, and more.RELATED LINKS:The Grimy HandshakeBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideGet Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Mike’s Grimy Handshake (3:26)Heart Disease in Athletes (13:52)Les Gets Mud Bath (26:29)You Need Skills to Win (33:54)The Amazing Alran Brothers (39:24)Can Durango Kid Asa Veremette Ride in Mud (41:15)Ronan Dunne Didn’t Leave in a Helicopter (43:57)Specialized’s Most Expensive Bike Ever (49:42)What We’re Reading & Watching (56:43)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fox’s new Podium inverted fork has understandably garnered a lot of attention, and we’ve got an update on how our testing of it is going, along with the updated Float X2 and DHX2 shocks. But it’s not all gravity suspension on the docket, as we weigh in on the very good and very light Fox 34 SL fork; the ultra-versatile Trek Fuel EX; Revel’s first eMTB, the ReRun; and a bunch of brakes from brands large and small.RELATED LINKS:Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideGet Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredCasey Brown on the Inaugural Women’s Red Bull Rampage (Ep.246)TOPICS & TIMES:Revel ReRun (1:13)Trek Fuel EX (9:34)Fox 34 SL (17:37)Fox Podium (27:47)Fox Float & DHX2 Update (34:46)SRAM Motive Ultimate (37:47)HEL Advocate (43:01)Trickstuff Maxima (47:30)Magura Gustav Pro (51:43)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For today’s Gear Therapy episode, the team gets together to try to solve Jonathan’s pedal dilemma. Like many riders out there, Jonathan is questioning his current pedal choice, and not surprisingly, he’s considering ditching his clipless pedals and replacing them with flats. Sascha and Zack bring a valuable mountain bike coaching perspective to the conversation, and together with Simon’s years of experience in the industry and bike shops, they look at the advantages and disadvantages of both styles of pedals and do our best to guide Jonathan’s decision. They know he’s not alone, and anyone in a similar pedal conundrum will benefit from tuning in.RELATED LINKS:Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideGet Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Pedal Horror Stories (1:24)Why the Hell are They Called “Clipless”? (13:29)Jonathan’s Pedal Issues (18:49)Clips are Jonathan’s Security Blankie (24:39)Pros & cons of flats (27:25)Clipless Pedals Promoting & Masking Bad Habits (35:50)Cornering Technique & Flat Pedals (36:40)Sascha Calls Simon Out (40:15)New Flat Pedal and Shoe Design (42:18)Jonathan’s Pedal Prescription (47:21)Uphill Technical & Pedal Strikes (1:02:36)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year, we sat down with Casey Brown right after the first iteration of Red Bull Rampage to feature a women’s category to chat about what it meant to finally break that particular glass ceiling, what it took to do it, and how the event went.Casey is, once again, among a stacked roster of women who will be dropping in for this year’s competition, but she’s been up to a whole lot more than just preparing for Rampage — from bringing back Dark Horse, now on her own property; working with D3O to develop better women’s protective gear; and putting together a bunch of other projects in between. So we brought her back on the podcast to talk about all of it, the state of women’s freeride & the generation of riders following in her footsteps, and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideGet Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredCasey Brown on the Inaugural Women’s Red Bull Rampage (Ep.246)TOPICS & TIMES:The return of Dark Horse (2:51)The new venue(7:12)What’s next for Dark Horse? (14:50)Louise Ferguson at Hardline (16:11)The state of women’s freeride & Casey’s role in shaping it (18:32)Planning for Rampage (21:38)Opportunities to help women’s freeride grow (30:41)Working with D3O & making better women’s protective gear (36:47)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why didn’t Jackson Goldstone race Red Bull Hardline in Wales and give us the highly anticipated showdown between him and Asa Vermette? Dylan and I dive right into our opinions on that, and then break down the rest of July’s incredible racing results, including a quick recap of one of Simon’s favorites — the Tour de France. And itt wouldn’t be a Reviewing the News episode without some tariff chaos, and unfortunately, also some bike companies in trouble. Still, thankfully, there’s a bit of good news in here, too, since Chris King is apparently going to make internal headset cable routing better (we’re doing our best to be open-minded), and we have a new tire valve standard to get excited about (we’re actually not kidding).RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Dylan’s Beer League RaceWhy Strava Might be the Best Social Media Platform Redbull HardlineWhere Was Jackson Goldstone?World Cup DH racing in JulyTom Pidcock’s Impressive Cross-country WinTour de France RecapTariffs AgainChris King is Taking a Crack at Headset Cable RoutingYT RestructuringNew ProductsWhat we’re Reading and WatchingCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our new Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide is live, and while it takes some cues from our Winter Buyer’s Guide — the eleventh edition of which is in the works right now — it’s very much its own beast. So we sat down to talk about what’s in the Guide, how it’s structured, and why; how the mountain bike market has evolved; the return of ‘All-Mountain’ as a class of bikes; and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideGet Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:The new MTB Buyer’s Guide & how it’s structured (1:48)What makes our Buyer’s Guide different (5:35)Reviewing bikes now vs. a decade ago (9:06)Zack’s worst bike purchase (15:23)Direct-to-consumer models & the evolution of bike sales (16:32)Classifying bikes & the return of ‘All-Mountain’ as a category (23:26)Which All-Mountain bike would we each buy? (34:19)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stashed founder Elliot Tanner has many talents, like making ultra-light climbing gear and designing components for Marker’s Kingpin touring binding. But that’s not all: he also built his own high-pivot, gearbox-equipped Enduro bikes, and that was before high-pivots or gearboxes were cool. But it wasn’t until his family had amassed more bikes than they had room for that he got the inspiration to create a bike storage solution. We caught up with Elliot to chat about that first design, and how it went from something he built to solve his storage problem to the Spacerail Bike Storage System that is the foundation of Stashed, plus a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredStashedTOPICS & TIMES:Elliot’s Engineering BackgroundDesigning Climbing GearMaking Marker KingPin ComponentsElliot’s High-Pivot Gearbox BikesDesigning his First Bike Storage SystemFounding StashedManufacturing in WalesWhat’s hanging on Elliot’s Spacerail Favorite Place to RideCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Pivot Firebird and Propain Tyee don’t look super different on paper — they’ve got about the same suspension travel, generally similar geometry, and both can convert between 29’’ and MX setups — but they ride quite differently from one another.So what sets them apart? We wade into that topic, offer our early take on a couple of new pieces of Italian suspension, argue about what does (and doesn’t) make for a good mixed wheel bike setup, discuss Bosch’s output-boosing software upgrade for their Gen 5 CX motor, and a whole bunch more.RELATED LINKS:Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Pivot Firebird (2:29)Propain Tyee (21:12)Salsa Blackthorn (25:24)EXT Vecta (33:23)Formula Selva V (40:04)Bosch CX Software Upgrade (51:11)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Bike Editor, David Golay, has a long history with BTR. Back when 26’’ wheels were still the norm, he found them while making a wide search for a builder who made a hardtail with the sort of aggressive geometry he had in mind at the time — and the Ranger was, by far, the most promising option.Over a decade later, he’s on his third Ranger, having ordered two more with increasingly custom geometry as his preferences have evolved — and they’ve consistently been fantastic. But they’re also quite expensive, with build quality, finishing details, and construction to match.So it immediately caught our attention when Paul ‘Burf’ Burford, the man behind BTR, launched a new project to build affordable, simple frames, by hand, in the UK: Rat Bikes. And for this week’s episode, we sat down with Burf to hear all about it.RELATED LINKS:Skratch LabsRat BikesGet Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:The Rat Bikes concept (3:00)How to make affordable, UK-built frames? (7:54)Cutting costs in frame design (15:59)The Dad Rat (24:13)Prototyping & next steps (35:25)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the June edition of Reviewing the News, we start with some good news regarding the GOP’s withdrawal of the proposal to sell millions of acres of public land. We move on to discussing the merger of We Are One Composites and Industry Nine, followed by a recap of all the exciting World Cup DH, XC, and Enduro racing that happened in June, plus some Tour de France predictions, a selection of new products, and a whole lot more.  RELATED LINKS:Dustin Adams on Racing, Manufacturing, & We Are One’s Next Big Thing (Ep.19)BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Mike’s ride on the Monarch Crest Trail (2:12)The GOP’s Public Lands Sale Proposal (11:46)Don Cook’s Passing (16:45)We Are One Composites and Industry Nine’s Merger (20:54)Leogang and Val di Sole DH and XC Racing Recap (25:47)Amaury Pierron and Anna Newkirk’s Injuries (29:54)The State of Enduro Racing (36:48)Tour de France Predictions (41:45)New Products (48:21)What we are Reading and Watching (58:33)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since 2008, Portland Design Works (PDW) has quietly been designing products that inspire people to commute by bike, ride to the grocery store, or to simply hop on and go somewhere fun. Today, we’re catching up with founder Erik Olson about his history in the bike industry, why being fluent in Chinese was integral in building relationships in Taiwan, his first products and getting PDW off the ground, his commitment to sustainability, what’s in his coffee mug, and more. RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Coava Coffee (1:04)Riding with his Dog in the Basket (2:17)Erik’s history in the bike industry (3:11)Studying and working in China (7:44)Transitioning from Planet Bike to starting your own business (10:01)Starting PDW in Portland (12:36)PDW’s First Products (14:41)Expanding the catalog (19:55)Sustainability (24:40)Navigating challenging times in the industry (27:15)Development & distribution (30:37)Their Most Popular Products (35:48)E-bike specific products (38:33)What’s the future look like for PDW? (44:47)Donating to Grassroots Advocacy Organizations (47:22)What Erik’s Riding (49:50)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve been testing a massive range of bikes, from the XC-oriented Kona Hei Hei to the long-travel, full-power Santa Cruz Bullit, so David, Simon, and Dylan sat down to talk about a whole bunch of them. We also dive into Shimano’s long-awaited XTR Di2 wireless drivetrain and the Deore and XT versions that just launched, the consistency of Shimano’s new brakes, and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Kona Hei Hei (1:46)Yeti MTe (10:46)Pivot SL/AM (22:36)Specialized Turbo Levo 4 (31:45)Santa Cruz Bullit (40:13)Salsa Blackthorn 145 (46:17)Esker Woodsy (52:48)Santa Cruz Hightower & Bronson (1:02:51)Shimano XTR Di2 & Deore / XT versions (1:17:48)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ultra-fast long-distance bike rides have garnered a lot of attention of late, headlined by Lael Wilcox’s record-setting circumnavigation of the planet. But as impressive as many of those efforts are, there’s something lost in moving so quickly. Seeing the world by bike is a great way to slow down, take it all in, and have an experience that other methods of transportation can’t replicate.Chris McCaffrey finished a seventeen-month ride around the world last fall, and we sat down to hear his whole story, from the trans-Atlantic rowing effort that sparked his interest in long-distance human-powered travel, to the incredible places he saw and people he met along the way, and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Why ride around the world? (2:29)Trans-Atlantic rowing attempt (6:23)Chris’s first big bikepacking trip (17:56)Lessons learned from that trip (24:03)Bike setup for the ride around the world (26:45)The route (32:10)Setting off (39:01)North America (43:22)Europe (49:12)Asia (51:03)Getting sick (1:04:44)Favorite places & next destinations (1:25:20)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the May edition of Reviewing the News, we start with some good news regarding the return of Revel Bikes and the acquisition of Rocky Mountain by four Canadian investors. World Cup DH racing kicked off with two exciting races with vastly different conditions, Christopher Blevins continued his XC winning streak in Nova Mesto, and the incredible Giro d’Italia was one we won’t soon forget, plus a whole lot more. RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Revel Returns (3:13)Rocky Mountain’s New Owners (13:01)Christopher Blevins’ Domination (16:22)Mathieu Van Der Poel Crashed and Burned (24:01)The Fantastic Giro d’Italia (34:23)Visma’s Stage 20 Tactical Masterpiece (53:00)Simon Yates’ Redemption (39:47)Terrible Conditions at the Bielsko-Biała DH World Cup (58:59)A Dry, Blown-Out Track in Loudenville (1:05:31)Jackson Goldstone’s Incredible Race Run (1:08:25)Gracey Helmstreet’s First Win For Canada (1:14:13)Recent favorite products (1:17:44)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Esker Cycles came on the scene in 2018 with a couple of sleek carbon fiber mountain bikes featuring an unknown Dave Weagle suspension platform called Orion. Weagle’s design was originally conceived for motorcycles and was dependent on a single front sprocket layout, which, back when Orion was developed, didn’t include mountain bikes since multiple chainrings and front derailleurs were still the norm. Orion was shelved until Esker founder Tim Krueger approached Weagle looking for a suspension design, and the first Esker bikes started to take shape. Steel and Titanium hardtails followed as Esker expanded its product portfolio, and while Esker’s first suspension bikes were carbon fiber, Tim had aluminum in mind from the beginning, with the dream of offering high-quality, affordable mountain bikes. A lot has changed since the early days of Esker, so today we’re catching up with Tim Krueger  — and he doesn’t disappoint — essentially pulling back the curtain on what it’s been like to be a small bike brand during a volatile time in the bike industry. Tim also discusses their decision to abandon carbon fiber bikes in favor of aluminum, focusing on affordability, his take on geometry, their new metal bikes, and much more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredEsker CyclesTOPICS & TIMES:Tim’s First Bike Shop JobTeaching Was Not for TimGetting Hired as a Product Manager for SalsaAdventure by BikeTim’s Time Guiding Bike Packing ToursMeeting Dave WeagleBlowing the Dust off Orion SuspensionBootstrapping EskerScraping Together $250K Manufacturing in Taiwan vs ChinaAll in for MetalEsker’s New Aluminum BikesDirect and Bike Shop Sales StrategyBox of BikesEsker’s Conservative Approach to GrowthCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is big news in the bike world today: Revel Bikes is back. And Revel’s founder, Adam Miller, is now once again the owner of Revel. It was almost exactly five years ago that I was sitting down with Adam in Blister HQ talking about Revel’s meteoric rise. A lot has transpired since then, including the company announcing that it was shutting down just a few weeks ago. But today, Revel is back, Adam Miller is back, and I sat down with Adam to get the whole story.RELATED LINKSGet Yourself Covered: BLISTER+Jonathan’s talk w/ Adam from 2020David Golay’s talk w/ Adam in 2022TOPICS & TIMES:Shout Out: New BLISTER+ Members (1:23)The News: Revel is Back (2:35)Refresher: Adam’s Background (6:26)Why Did You Sell in 2021? (12:12)What Caused Revel’s Meteoric Rise?  (22:43)How Was Retirement? (41:57)Getting the News that Revel was Done (48:15)The Decision to Try to Buy Revel Back (50:29)What’s the Current State of Revel? (57:59)What’s Different Going Forward? (1:02:19)Inventory, Logistics, & Tariffs (1:05:19)Customer Confidence? (1:10:00)Biggest Lessons You’ve Learned? (1:12:46)What Happens Now? (1:21:15)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fox has launched a ton of new suspension over the last month or so, and we’ve been testing just about all of it. So David and Zack sat down to chat about how that’s going so far, and how the new forks and shocks stack up against their predecessors; chat about our respective experiments with long-shocking and dual-crown-equipping our personal Enduro bikes; check in on Pivot’s new Trailcat SL & LT, and a bunch more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Fox 36 & 36 SL (2:08)Fox Float X2 and DHX2 (11:03)Pivot Trailcat SL & LT (14:19)Trickstuff Maxima (28:47)Kavenz VHP 18 & Geometron G1 DH mode (38:33)OneUp Wave Pedals & Clip Pedal Update (56:56)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In April of 2024, Kona Bikes set up their tent at Sea Otter, then promptly tore it back down when Kent Outdoors, who owned Kona at the time, pulled the rug right out from under them and declared that Kona was no longer in business. A year later, we sit down with Kona founder Jacob Heilbron about why he and other Kona founder Dan Gerhard sold Kona to Kent Outdoors; what happened at Sea Otter; how things have been going since buying Kona back; rebuilding the brand image; what their future plans look like; and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredKona BikesTOPICS & TIMES:A Quick Kona HistoryThe Decision to Sell KonaKent Buys KonaFrom Record Sales to No SalesKent Blows it with Direct-to-Consumer StrategyKent Blows it Again with BOGO SaleThe Kona Sea Otter Debacle Jake and Dan buy Kona BackWhat Motivated Dan and Jake to Buy it BackKona’s FutureTariffs’ Affect on KonaWhat Jake is RidingNew Bikes on the WayCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.