The Inside Line Podcast - Vital MTB

Two years ago to the day, Vital member, contributor and finance specialist, Jeff Brines, posted a question in our forum, "Will more companies be shutting down in the next 12-24 months?" A small, but exciting mountain bike brand, Guerrilla Gravity, surprisingly announced it was closing, and the rest of the industry was in the wake of the Covid boom. It was a dynamic time with plenty of uncertainty ahead, so the question Jeff asked was very relevant and our community was engaged. Fast-forward t...

Les Gets is now the unofficial Mud Fest of season after back-to-back years of treacherous conditions. It was a spectacle to watch, and delivered a mix of insane bike handling skills and unfortunate mishaps that could have overall point implications as we get to the end of the season. Dakotah Norton breaks down what it was like to go to battle with such an unpredictable track and the bike changes needed to survive. The crew always debates rotor guards, wireless DH drivetrains, and Joe B...

Thanks to Maxxis Tires | FOX | Jenson USA for supporting The Inside Line This Inside Line podcast episode, recorded at the Pro Downhill Series in Solitude, Utah, features Shawn Spomer from Vital MTB interviewing Michael McQueen—better known as “The Mangler”—about his pivotal but often behind-the-scenes role in U.S. downhill racing coverage. McQueen shares the origins of his nickname from his BMX days, his North Carolina roots, and his background in professional broadcasting, including work wi...

Thanks to Maxxis Tires | FOX | Jenson USA for supporting The Inside Line Charlie Sponsel, aka Team Robot, sits down with Dante Silva and John Hall of Intense Racing to discuss the current state of U.S. Downhill MTB racing, advantages and disadvantages of racing domestically compared to World Cup DH, normal drivetrain versus gearbox bikes, chain dampers, tuned mass dampers and more.

Thanks to Maxxis Tires | FOX | Jenson USA for supporting The Inside Line Read the stories discussed in this episode and add your own here In this episode of The Inside Line podcast, host Shawn Spomer is joined by Jason Schroeder and Charlie Sponsel—newly dubbed “Hater in Chief”—to share and discuss the most hilariously frustrating "dumb bike problems" posted by the Vital MTB community. Inspired by a forum thread started by Vital member seanfisseli, the episode is a mix of laughs and learning,...

Locking down a date and time to record podcasts with Dakotah Norton could be one of the most challenging endeavors Vital has taken on. He's a busy man, and we love him for it. The time crunch between the La Thuile and Andorra World Cups was tough on everyone, so we decided to wait until Dak returned to Tennessee to discuss how his first four World Cups went and what his plans are for the rest of the season. It'd been a few weeks since the crew caught up, so the first 40 minutes of this...

Vital's Forum Discussion on the FOX Podium Charlie's FOX Podium Review Podium Tech Talk with FOX product developers Vital's FOX Podium fork review dropped on Tuesday and our tester, Charlie Sponsel, encouraged you to leave any questions that remained. Sorting through dozens of great inquiries, the highlights have been pulled and Charlie answers them so you can learn more about this expensive, heavy, but incredibly-performing enduro fork. 0:00 - Intro, baggage fee avoidance struggles 10:...

After plenty of drama and mild discontent surrounding the first three races of the season, it was nice to have a good old-fashioned downhill race in Val di Sole. No one complained about the track being too straight or too easy. There were plenty of fresh sections and line choices. And the racing was as competitive as ever. Our main man Dak was back for his second race of the season, and his weekend was nothing short of a battle. We discuss how Dak’s feeling at this stage of his recovery, as w...

Host, Charlie Sponsel Watch this interview - https://youtu.be/Z5CN3pD_7Yg FOX Podium Review - https://youtu.be/UEW1tMYVM20 The Podium isn't FOX's first foray into the upside-down MTB fork market. In 2011, they developed a prototype downhill fork that used an inverted design for 26" wheels. It was heavy and flexy, so they dropped it. Fast-forward 14 years later and their single crown Podium inverted fork has dropped and we wanted to see why. Charlie Sponsel sits down with Ariel Lindsley, Jordi...

A lot of people who mountain bike also snowboard, and vice versa. Two tools with different jobs but a shared goal—provide an experience that evokes excitement and creativity. With so much time spent with a bike or board between our two feet, we were curious if these vessels of stoke had more in common than meets the eye. At the end of the day, they strive to solve many of the same problems, balancing comfort with performance, specificity with versatility, and durability with weight and price....

If there is one thing we can almost guarantee, it's that Leogang will provide some incredibly tight racing. This year was exceptionally snug. Dry conditions and a similar track layout as years before meant little time was spent sorting out line choices or using the brakes. The recipe was simple: rally the main line with confidence and tuck-to-win on the motorway. And what transpired was some of the most competitive racing we've ever seen and a lot of talk about the safety, speeds, and simplic...

The second round of the 2025 World Cup from Loudenvielle, France, produced some of the fastest racing we've seen in recent memory and was (somehow) filled with more funny drama than the first round in Poland. But it turns out a dry, straight track makes for iconic Hail Mary race runs, and the UCI/Warner Bros/Discovery not knowing how to enforce their own rules makes for good podcasting banter. We had fun this week chatting about the ongoing #polegate disputes, Dak's panic after watching racin...

In this episode, the crew covers all the hot tea from the first World Cup in Poland, but most importantly, gets an update on Dak's highly anticipated return to racing. We hope you enjoy the show, and we will see everyone next week for a post-Loudenvielle podcast! 0:00 - Intro / Crew Updates 5:32 - Dak Injury Update 13:37 - Dak's return to racing?? 16:30 - Post-injury fears getting back to racing? 19:13 - Transparency while recovering 22:14 - Bike setup post-injury 25:34 - I...

Ahead of the Tennessee National taking place this week, we sat down with Sea 'Griz' McClendon to run through some USDH names to watch on the national circuit this year. Of course, we had to get the Griz update and hear how he ended up spittin' heat on the mic at Downhill Southeast races and in the booth with the Gravity Coop doing post-race shows. We also touched on all the Americans racing World Cups this year, which World Cup racers are coming over to race this weekend at Windrock, and a bu...

With most team rumors debunked or made public, we wanted to discuss which changes are most exciting and who's posed to go fast in 2025. Of course, like any good B Practice Pod, we floated between topics, mixing in chit-chat about Supercross, racers racing longer nowadays, Gates' $100k belt drive bounty, the cause and effect of setup changes, and why Dak should never read the comments. Enjoy! 0:00 Rambling intro 9:00 - Supercross bench racing 16:22 - Developing a race bike first, then going t...