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The NSMB Podcast
The NSMB Podcast
Author: NSMB / North Shore Mountain Biking
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© 2025 The NSMB Podcast
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From the team behind NSMB.com, The NSMB podcast will go behind the scenes with the makers, breakers, and risk-takers of our favourite sport. Interviews, news, and other important topics will all be on the menu.
23 Episodes
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Precision isn't just a goal for Abbey Tools founder Jason Quaid—it's a religion. From humble beginnings as a welder crafting nuclear-grade pressure vessels to becoming the creator of the cycling world's most coveted tools, Jason's journey exemplifies how passion and craftsmanship can transform an industry. The story begins with a simple phone call and a modified lockring tool that would become known as the "Crombie Tool." What started as a favor for a fellow race mechanic quickly evolved int...
When Dustin Adams founded We Are One Composites in 2017, the mountain biking industry experts said it couldn't be done. Manufacturing carbon fiber rims in Canada? Economically impossible. Yet Adams, a former World Cup downhill racer with podium finishes and Canadian Championship titles to his name, wasn't deterred by conventional wisdom. Selling everything he owned—including his comfortable Squamish home—Adams moved his family to Kamloops, bought a "rat-infested" house that needed work, and ...
Deniz Merdano sits down with North Shore freerider Steve Vanderhoek to discuss his day-to-day life as a firefighter and how it influences his decisions when pioneering some of the most progressive lines on the North Shore, as well as an exciting new project that Steve is working on, set to release in the spring of 2025.
If you don’t know the name Caleb Holonko, you should, and you likely will soon. Caleb is one of the rising stars in the world of freeride, and he’s taken the North Shore by storm, building some incredible moves that are not only massive in scale but also clever, creative and beautiful to look at. And he rides them with heaps of style and incredible precision. Caleb’s also made a habit of putting new twists on moves others built, with the other builder’s permission. Caleb hit the train gap mad...
Unless you’ve met him at a race or listened to him on another podcast, you may not have heard of Mark Fitzsimmons, or Fitzy as he’s known to friends. He’s one of the unsung heroes of the mountain bike world. Fitzy is famous to a certain sort of person though: World Cup racers. He’s helped riders like Greg Minnaar, Aaron Gwin and Steve Peat go even faster, working for Fox Racing supporting the Santa Cruz syndicate and other race teams. More recently Mark took up motor cycle racing - virt...
For our first Podcast with Mike Ferrentino, he was home on the acreage where he lives, inland from the coast up the Carmel Valley. Mike lives in a barn filled with bikes and motorcycles, the latter in various stages of decomposition. He's a decent distance from civilization, and from the internet. Mike's connectivity relies on tethering to his phone's sketchy data signal so while we were talking the first time I would lose his picture, and sometimes his voice, for long stretches. There was al...
Here’s part one of my conversation with Mike, where he talks about growing up barefoot in New Zealand, learning to fix motorcycles and bikes, moving to America, racing bikes and motos, working in shops, beginning to write about mountain biking, and getting his start at Bike Magazine.
Our guest for the latest NSMB Podcast and the first of our Coming of Age series is Kasper Woolley, a young and fast EWS athlete now racing for the Yeti/OneUp Pro EWS team who hails from Squamish, B.C. Kasper first caught the eye of brands as a young junior, after his stage results at a local race were faster than the pro men. Since then, Kasper has grown stronger on the bike and in 2020 made heaps of noise showcasing his speed and cornering skills in a series of short videos. His talent...
Our guest for the latest NSMB Podcast is Ben Arnott, a World Cup downhill mechanic, engineer, and small business owner. Ben spent several years working as the head mechanic for Trek World Racing and the YT Mob and the stories from his time following the circus provide a fascinating look into the World Cup. For six of his years with the teams, Ben was also responsible for the team truck. He got to know it intimately while driving the large rig on the small, European mountain roads...
Chris Porter joins A.J. Barlas for another episode of the NSMB Podcast and once again, it's a brain-tickler. Our first conversation shared stories of Chris's background, giving a better understanding of the man behind the ideas having a resounding impact on the sport. With Chris’s blessing, part two has been labelled Big Mouth Strikes Again. He sees things through a different coloured lens and isn’t afraid to share his opinions. Not everyone will agree with his thoughts, but his musings can s...
Mountain bikes have evolved tremendously in the last five years but before then, media and marketing had already nudged the term longer, lower, slacker beyond the edge of being a cliché. The alarmingly incremental progress made to bike shapes is at least partly to blame for the term being worn thin. During this time one person, in particular, established a name for themselves, and a company to serve riders interested in leaping ahead. Chris Porter is better known today for what was a unique a...
But none of those lessons could prepare her for the latest challenge faced at the end of 2020. After a messed-up year, thanks mostly to the world turning on its head, Katy found herself without support to continue her career as a professional E.W.S. athlete. The lessons learned during her prior low were no match for the uncertainty and lack of direction she faced this off-season. Not knowing what lays ahead makes it hard to motivate or set goals for the coming year. Scrambling, Katy had...
What actions will inspire someone to make a better life for themselves? Those of our childhood heroes, our friends and parents, or a complete stranger can have a lasting impact but how about a video game? Growing up, Kyle Warner dealt with many daily challenges. As a teenager, he was looking after his clinically depressed mother, they lost their home, and his older brother had a drug addiction. But the video game, Downhill Domination, and Eric Carter’s character in that game sparked som...
For every rider frothing about their new bike with a steeper seat tube angle, there are plenty who feel things are going too far. Claims of poor power and efficiency accompany complaints of sore hands, knees and backside but what if the seat angle alone isn’t the cause? With many happy to see steeper seat tube angles on modern mountain bikes, the complaints from those unimpressed by the changes got A.J. Barlas thinking; Is the steeper seat tube angle going too far for the majority, and ...
For flat pedal riders after the most grip possible, FiveTen has really been the only option. Year after year, new shoe releases have left us to question, why is it so hard for others to achieve similar grip? With the release of their new 2FO DH shoes and now the Rime, A.J. Barlas wanted to know more about Specialized’s shoe development process. Did they want all the grip, and if so, why did it take so long? How did they test the sole for grip? And what about their choice of materials?&...
For many of us, riding bikes begins as a childhood activity, belting around the local neighbourhood, learning to wheelie and launching off gutters. But in some parts of the world, it goes beyond an after school activity. Neighbourhoods riddled with kids outdoing each other on the bike can build into pushing for national titles. These hotbeds of talented young riders develop more as the years go by, leaving a legacy behind. It turns out Yoann Barelli grew up in such a hotbed in the south of Fr...
Bryson Martin has been involved in the industry for longer than most of you would imagine. From racing in the 80s to starting his own suspension manufacturing company, DVO, he’s seen the evolution of our sport from its early beginnings. We're excited to present the first NSMB Podcast ever recorded, we just had a little delay in publishing it. AJ and Bryson dive in and talk about elevated chainstays, drilling out suspension parts in the garage, how the Bomber name came about and, of course, th...
Over the last 20 years, we’ve watched Geoff Gulevich evolve and grow from a fresh-faced 13-year-old grom into one of the most recognized freeriders in our sport. His career started about the same time that riding on the North Shore achieved worldwide renown and the two have grown together. From cedar skinnies up in the sky to the today's modern, flowy style, he has been there, first as a young local ripper with parts in Digger’s North Shore Extreme video series, moving on to global recognitio...






















hey there, I REALLY wanted to listen and enjoy the podcast but it's VERY hard to listen to, sounds like the interview is in a bathroom. can anything be done to improve the sound quality? I'm not trying to be an asshat, just wanted to give my input. not sure what to suggest, just that it sounds like maybe a better mic could be used? good luck and hope to listen soon