The Pinkbike Podcast

Will we ever close down the Pinkbike comment section?

Are rising prices really keeping the sport from growing?

What would your survival bike look like?

Also, why don't more tire companies make their own inserts?

Henry Quinney and Ben Cathro recap an exciting MSA World Cup.

Jesse also hits on the importance of analyzing and understanding his crashes and how that led him to a better bike set-up, not having a mentor, and training versus racing.

This week, Ben, Harry, and I get stuck into why racers would ever want to form a union, how to organize a piss-up in a brewery, and all the other top stories from the Andorran World Cup, not least the racing.

Levy and Kazimer talk about the merits of Shimano's auto-shifting Di2, why the Supre drivetrain trumps a gearbox, and what might be under Specialized's fabric bag.

Henry Quinney and Ben Cathro take you behind the scenes at the Lenzerheide World Cup race.

Are single-day enduro races not challenging enough? Looking for a bigger adventure? The Stone King Rally is six days of blind enduro racing with 66,600 feet descending on raw, untamed trails that take you from the Alps to the Mediterranean.

We also talk about gearboxes, tire choice, and the challenges of being a tall mountain biker.

We also get into how much suspension design matters when racing World Cups, training with John Tomac, and if he really is "chasing the money" by switching sponsors.

What MTB video could you watch on repeat for eternity?

For some riders, the summer solstice is the best day for the dumbest adventures.

Ben Cathro and Henry Quinney take you to very muddy Leogang to talk about the highs and lows of World Cup racing, and the difficulties of following it.

Sorry, but I absolutely refuse to do "one more run" with you.

Yanick Gyger explains why electronic drivetrains make so much sense for racing, some of the tricks he uses to make sure Nino's bike is as fast and efficient as possible, and why his toolbox is way smaller than you might expect.

Bike park season is finally upon us, at least for some riders on the top half of the world, which means party laps, jump lines, and maybe some tired hands.

Henry and Cathro take you behind the scenes at the Fort William World Cup race.

Do you share a highlight reel from every ride or stick to only posting selfies?

Max and Tom take you behind the scenes while shooting at Rampage, Crankworx, and the Field Tests.

Atherton Bikes' Chief Designer Rob Gow and engineer Ben Farmer explain the advantages and challenges of additive manufacturing, why they need buckets of titanium dust and a million-dollar hopper machine, and some details of their unreleased 130mm-travel trail bike.

All I need is a family-sized bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, some bikes, and the open road.

The music that's forever on our two-wheeled playlists, why Sail by Awolnation is the best, and Kazimer's life-long obsession with screamo.

I can't believe we missed "quiver killer."

We get into the details of Contra Bikes' steel high pivot machine, EXT's new air shock, a ton of fresh clothing, X-Fusion's wireless dropper post, and a whole bunch more.

Dustin is an open book about the challenges (and advantages) of manufacturing their carbon rims and Arrival frame in Canada.

Is your new bike better... Or do you just want to believe that it's better?

We talk about the bikes we've liked the least, bushing play, cables routed through stems, doing a Field Test in Florida, and even some long-distance relationship advice that you should probably ignore.

Henry, Ben, and James talk about the first World Cup race of 2022, including long lift lines, fast juniors, and a resurgent Amaury Pierron.

It's all downhill from here, with Henry Quinney and Ben Cathro as they follow the World Cup circuit and take you with them to see what happens behind the scenes.

What do one-piece wheels, linkage forks, and air-powered drivetrains all have in common?

There's more to it than a GoPro and iMovie...

Cactus, rattlesnakes, and nine value-minded mountain bikes.

Did someone introduce you to riding, or did you stumble into and never looked back?

Most rides are a good time, but what does your perfect day on the bike look like?

We pick the bikes we'd want to own at $1,000, $3,000, and $6,000 USD.

Lachlan talks about what it takes to compete at the highest level and how that can bring out the worst in some people, wild tours in Columbia and Eastern Europe, and mountain biking at Leadville and across the 142-mile Kokopelli Trail.

Blacked out tires, glued on fake fork dials, and what it's like to wrench for the fastest racers in the world.

A behind-the-scenes look at costly press camps, but should the media even be going to them at all?

Always wanted to go to a tradeshow? We explain how Interbike, Eurobike, Sea Otter, and the Taipei Cycle Show work and what it's like to attend them.

We're back in action for 2022 and answering your questions about mountain bikes (and aliens) for our 100th episode.

A doable list or just a bunch of bike-related resolutions that we'll abandon by the second week of January?

Six aluminum, carbon, and steel trail bikes, varying ideas of what that even means, and liberal use of purple and toothpaste. Plenty to talk about, including a bunch of your questions from each review.

Looking into our hazy crystal ball and making a bunch of terrible guesses about 2022.

The riding scene in Mexico, what Israel brings to the table that a quicker racer might not, and how his time at the Pinkbike Academy went.

The Field Test bikes we wanted to keep, why we didn't get on with a few of them, and what we'd change to make them even better.

Thousands of riders from all over the world applied, but only ten made the big show. Now it's time to catch up with some of the PBA competitors, starting with Squamish local Tori Wood.

The fire will come back, though, which is exactly what we're talking about on today's show. A lack of motivation or burnout can afflict anyone, from the average Joe and Jane to the best riders and racers in the world, so today we're chatting about how to fight that cloudy feeling with strategies to keep you pedaling.

A lot of things have changed with mountain bikes over the last decade or so, but some obvious ones are an increase in both capability and weight. The two go hand in hand, of course, and while a contemporary trail bike comes in a few pounds heavier than it might have many years ago, I think we can all agree it's nice to know that your headtube (probably) won't peel off anytime soon, that your four-piston brakes can stop you like a brick wall, and that the only tacos you'll be seeing are the delicious kind. And not only is this newer and slightly heavier bike far more reliable, but it's also saving your ass instead of actively trying to murder you, which is always nice.