Skids & Giggles Mountain Bike Podcast

We sat down with Colin and Antoine Massart from Massart Biketrails as well as our former guest and fan favourite Greg Jolliffe.Earlier in 2024, the boys were building the “Dreamline” for a Kriss Kyle edit in Glassie Bike Park and that video got released later in the summer to much fanfare. The trail itself is part of the bike park now and open to the public for everyone to enjoy!In our chat, we get to hear some more insights into the build of the line, about working with Kriss and the many challenges of digging trail in the Scottish countryside. But the conversation turns into much more than that as we dive into the “heart in the art” of trail building, the inspiration and influences coming from the community, competing builders, multi-faceted athletes like Kriss, different disciplines or other sports altogether, progression in the sport and what it means to actually put these very diverse “dreams” of what a trail should be into the dirt.MentionsAll of our "trail building" episodes Greg Jolliffe: Instagram, Jolliffe Builds, Ep17 Massart Biketrails: Instagram, Website, Colin, Antoine Dreamline videos: Edit, Build series Ep1, Ep2, Ep3 and Ep4 Kriss Kyle: Instagram, Youtube Glassie Bike Park: Instagram, Trailforks, Ray Will

We sat down with Bram from Essar Cycles to get to know the story and the brain behind his steel creations.Unlike some of our other guests, Bram’s journey starts with the conviction that yes, of course, he can make his own bikes. It’s just a matter of finding out how and the number of different side projects along the way.Over the years, Bram has created some eye-catching frames and we get to hear all about his approach and philosophy to making bikes, his experiments, successful and otherwise, dual flex pivots and a missed opportunity for a patent, and of course, what the future holds for Essar Cycles and getting more people riding his creations.MentionsEssar Cycles: Instagram, Email Reto Aebischer: Ep82, Ep48 Stefan Lorenz of Scar Cycles: Ep50 Bryson's hardtail Chris Porter interview on Pinkbike Egerie

Pascal sat down with Stefano Nucera for a podcast experiment of sorts, co-hosting each other’s podcasts for a chat about bikes, our stories in the sport so far, cycling communities, gravel, enduro, fixie crit and alleycat racing in Berlin, beers in the broom wagon, losing one’s bike packing virginity and, of course, Stefano’s non-alcoholic beer brand, Zeer.Stefano is the host of the Broomwagon Podcast and naturally, when two podcasters sit down for a chat, conversation flows at warp speed. We did indeed cover a lot of ground and that’s not even all that we talked about. That being said, this was certainly not the last time I sat down with Stefano, for a podcast, a Zeer or otherwise.MentionsTrans Madeira Debrief Stefano Nucera: Website, Instagram The Broomwagon Podcast: Website, Instagram, Spotify Zeer Brewing: Website, Instagram Pascal's bike packing route: Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3

We sat down with Reto Aebischer for a journey deep into the Afterlife. However, in this instance, the afterlife is not a promised existence in your favourite spiritual realm. The “Afterlife” is the name of Reto’s home-made carbon enduro bike that he also rode at the recent Best Ride Of The Year in Thun! We get the all-access, behind the scenes look of what it’s like to make your own carbon bike at home, the many frustrations and challenges along the way, key design decisions, insights in to future improvements and, of course, the feelings of riding a bike you made yourself for that very first time! It’s the been almost two years since we first sat down with Reto to talk about his carbon workshop projects and it was fun catching up on the process of actually finishing the enduro bike he just started when we first talked.

For this one, we sit down exactly how we imagined it in the early days of the podcast: Just two good buddies having a chat, talking about bikes and things that could be. After almost 4 years and over 80 episodes, we could finally make it happen! In our chat, we relive the Best Ride Of The Year in Thun with all the ups and downs and the many impressions of the day. But more importantly, we reflect on our process, the learnings from the event and the improvements we can make towards an even better ride of the year in 2025! As we mention in the recording, Darren Mace, the Trail Tracker, has just released a set of videos from the day on his Youtube channel. Make sure to check those out to get some impressions of the day! Skids & Giggles Best Ride of the Year 2024 (Thun) - Part 1 Unreal trails near Thun with the Skids & Giggles Podcast crew - Part 2 Many thanks also to Yannik Wälti and Roger Schütz for their help in putting the day together and to Josh Curtis for the coffee! Skids & Giggles Alumni on the ride: Luise Rohland: Zürtrails Antenne #5, Ep41, Ep23 Felix Lüttin of 612 Parts: Ep49, Ep74 Stefan Lorenz of Scar Cycles Reto Aebischer Darren Mace, Trail Tracker Switzerland: Ep 33, Ep 64 Esteban “Yeti” Zimmermann

We sat down with Arno Galmarini for a deep dive into the simple strategies that every rider can implement to avoid injuries and to add longevity to their riding! With this one, we complete our project to create something positive and useful out of Bryson's injury and recovery. In the first instalment, we sat down with Dave Spielmann to talk about recovering and coming back from injury. In that conversation, Dave also nominated Arno Galmarini for a follow up on Injury Prevention. And that’s just what we did for this one! As a coach, Arno has seen it all. From helping elite athletes across many disciplines in mountain biking and other sports working towards peak performance, to coaching more recreational athletes through his Quest platform towards general health in life and longevity in the sport. And with Origym, Arno also runs is own facility in Scuol in the Engadin valley, catering to the same health, performance and longevity mantra.

We sat down with Dave Tschumi, co-owner and "Director of Figures" at Vast Trails! We get a behind the scenes look into the business of building trails, the different roles and skillsets in successful digging teams, collaboration, the quality and art in trail building and, of course, Dave’s own journey in mountain biking that took him from instigating his first trail projects as a teenager, to working with brands and some of the biggest companies in the business, all the way to co-owning Vast Trails and putting his vision into dirt. Mentions Greg Jolliffe Claudio "Schnurri" Schnurrenberger Martin "Shaperjack" Stänz Chris "Flying Grizzly" Visscher

We sat down with Dave Spielmann for a deep dive into helping Bryson on his path back from a double fib fracture, by laying out our own experiences with coming back from injuries, the general principles and protocols as well as the many pitfalls and misconceptions on the way back to a fuller strength. We are very grateful for Dave Spielmann to volunteer his time and the expertise he never wanted for this episode and for sharing many of his painful and challenging experiences, both from the perspective of a professional mountain biker, but – more importantly – also as a fellow human struggling with pain, discomfort and uncertainty. We are also very grateful for the many inputs and voice messages through or SpeakPipe! It really helped us bring this episode together and to talk about a topic that no one really likes to talk about. Mentions Philipp Bosshard Arno Galmarini

Pascal sat down with Samuel Sommerhalder for a chat about our takeaways from the Swiss Cycling Guide courses, his Freeride Bike Academy in Andermatt and Aarau, his life as an online marketing specialist with the Digital Creators and how all those puzzle pieces come together in his everyday activities on and off the bike. Sämi made the trip to HQ for a rare in-person recording and it was fun to catch up and relive some of the good times, but also to get some "trail intel" on his chosen home in Andermatt and to hear more about his goals with the Freeride Bike Academy as well as the Freeride Bike Shop. You can sign up to Sämi's RiderReport Newsletter on his website

We sat down with Marco Giarrana for a deep dive into his company, FAIR Bicycle. With FAIR, Marco and his business partner Valentin are trying to rewrite the script of what product design and manufacturing means and it was interesting to hear Marco’s thoughts on sustainability, transparency, cradle to cradle design, innovation, working with suppliers and how all those puzzle pieces come together in FAIR Bicycle. With the Drop Best dropper clamp for mountain bikes and the Daily Hook cargo strap for cargo bikes, FAIR has two products out in the wild to illustrate what their approach actually means in practice and we are sure that are many more to come! To find out more about FAIR and their principles, check out their website or reach out to Marco and Valentin directly.

We sat down for a chat with Michelle Neuner after Chris Räber dropped her name into the hat as one to watch the other day and to hear her story with the bikes so far. And oh boy, what a story it is! Michelle left us impressed with her energy and passion for riding and we're sure to see a lot more from her in the coming years! With the run-up to the Paris Olympic games ahead of us, there are interesting possibilities to ponder and we do get to hear her take on competition, progression, freeride and her own goals in the sport. Michelle has also recently been invited to be the first female rider on the Züritrails roster and that platform should open up even more opportunities and potential for progression.

We hosted Felix Lüttin of 612 Parts for an in-person demo of the recently introduced 612 "Die Pedale", his cyber truck brakes and more of his creations, followed by our very first live recording and Q&A at Biroma in Zurich! Felix is a repeat guest on the podcast and made waves with his brakes over the last two years, appearing on a number of show bikes and even scoring a review with the Enduro magazine. It was great having Felix on hand to present his designs and talk about the pedals with our guests at the shop. And we just had a blast meeting so many of our friends and listeners! You can find the video of the session over on our Youtube channel. Check out the 612 Parts website for all details of "Die Pedale"! Big thank you to Greg Kowner for sharing the space at Biroma Bike & Parts in Zurich with us! We are sure we will be back for another one!

We got to catch up with "Swiss" Chris Räber about old dogs and new tricks! If you have been following his socials like us, you will also have noted a surprising increase in clips posted to his Instagram and one thing is certain: those whips don’t lie! Chris completed 30 days of whips at the back end of last year in a mission to bring back the skills – and stoke! – of mastering tricks, and to reignite his passion for riding his bike every day! We dive deep into the experience and into the principles that apply to everyone struggling to learn new skills or to bring back long forgotten ones. Consistency, accountability and appropriate recovery are all elements that we can apply to our own challenges towards becoming a better rider. We also get to hear about van life, his recent trip down south and, of course, the exciting news of him commentating BMX on Swiss national TV during the Paris Olympic Games!

We sat down with the Trailforks Ambassador for Switzerland, Andre Trummer, or, as he is known on the platform and on Pinkbike: Jurasick. Crowdsourcing and communities stand at the core of Trailforks and Andre gives us a great overview of the main features, on how the approach works on the platform, what his role is in channeling all that data and what regular users can do to improve the platform, apart from just uploading their GPS files. Of course, we also get to hear about Andre’s favourite features, how he got into Trailforks himself and about how he works with institutions like SchweizMobil or IMBA Switzerland to not only improve Trailforks, but also to help their organisations with the data from Trailforks. Andre recently hosted a Trailforks 101 series for IMBA Switzerland. You can find the recorded sessions on his personal website.

Happy new year and welcome to a special episode of the Skids & Giggles Podcast! Our main resolution for 2024 is to connect with our community in new ways and to try and build a bridge between the virtual of the podcast and the real life experience of meeting up, hanging out and playing bikes with our friends, guests and listeners. In this episode, we lay out the basics of our idea, share some of our takes on what makes a great day on the bike and how YOU can help us bring to life YOUR vision of "The Best Ride Of The Year"! We created a dedicated landing page under skidsandgiggles.com/ride to keep track of all the relevant information as the project progresses.

We sat down to catch up with Anna Newkirk but she was having none of it. Instead of giving us the run down of the season that was with Beyond Racing or laying out her plans for 2024, she decided to turn the tables on us and to ask the questions this time around! And oh boy, did she have questions. From the story of how Bryson and Pascal met and the early days of the podcast, anti cramping strategies and "who knows who better" games, to our picks for world cup downhiller death matches, dream bikes, ape indices and what the future holds for us, we had a lot to answer. We do get to sneak in a few questions in the end and, as always, Anna has some fun insights in store for us!

We sat down with Chris Evers, one of the brand managers working for the Swiss bike brand BIXS. It turns out that amongst many other things that have to get done in that role, a brand manager is also involved in deciding who to sponsor and which race team to support, and it was interesting to get a deep dive into Chris’ process, to hear what he is looking for in a rider and which metrics he is considering along the way. Of course we also chat about how Chris fell in love with the sport and what inspires and drives him to push on, the importance of a bike ride to clear your mind and our views on what young riders can do to find their own path to success and, potentially, even a sponsorship!

Pascal sat down with Martin Shaperjack Stänz to continue our discussions around trail building and to find out where all the double black diamond tech trails are. Martin is a full-time builder and shaper in Davos, looking after the trails on Parsenn in the summer and the Jatzpark snowpark on Jakobshorn in the winter. He has a great perspective on the current state of affairs in trail building and it was interesting to hear his views on natural trails, progression of riders and builders, terrain, creativity, patience, bringing the right people to the table and, of course, the many challenges facing the sport. As we have done in the past with Swiss German conversations, Bryson and Pascal have a brief chat about the main takeaways. Skip to minute 17 to jump straight to the Swiss German discussion with Shaperjack! Check out some of the following episodes that are also in local dialect: Ep 53 - Andri Hafen Ep 50 – Stefan Lorenz Ep 45 – Sandro Schmid Ep 43 – Velolas Ep 36 – Baba & Rolli Anderegg Ep 9 – Greg Kowner (Pt 2) Ep 8 – Greg Kowner (Pt 1)

Pascal sat down for a chat with Helena Hlasova to talk about RideRawr and how they are rewriting the rules of what it means to be a cyclist - particularly for women! We get to hear about community-designed female-specific cycling bibs, more inclusive events and about all the laughs that go into creating content that supports the RideRawr mission! With a background in rowing at the highest levels of the sport, Helena has a great perspective not only on what makes the different communities and disciplines so special, but also on what they could learn from each other to ultimately make the sport more fun for everyone! In a first for the Skids & Giggles Podcast, we also recorded the video for this episode and we are curious to read your feedback and thoughts in the comments on Youtube! While you are there watching, why don't you subscribe to our Youtube channel as well and never miss new stuff coming down the pipes in the future!

We sat down with Louis Eisenhut and we are stoked to be sharing this episode with you! Most people know Louis as a creator on Instagram, Youtube and TikTok, and of course, we do get to hear about how he got started, what motivates him to continue creating new content and how he tries to stay relevant in the ever changing social media landscape. More importantly though, we also talk about how Louis is using his reach and experience in social media to achieve positive outcomes for the community and it was interesting to hear how he is trying to help the sport and trail building projects progress in his home region around Interlaken. With Thoughts Under The Helmet, Louis also launched a podcast earlier in the year and naturally, as fellow podcasters existing in a similar niche, we have to ask about the experience so far and about his main takeaways from chats with guests like Danny MacAskill or Birgit Bless.