The Pinkbike Podcast

Christina Chappetta set out to ride every double black in the Whistler Bike Park in a single day because, er, why not? If you're hoping to get to Whistler in the future, or if you just appreciate a solid day of riding, this episode might be for you. Christina explains how she planned the day, why it was far from a slam dunk, and what made it such a rowdy seven hours of descending.

Cedric Eveleigh, the man behind Supre, says that the four key elements are durability, efficiency, chain damping, and a lower unsprung mass, all on a proprietary high-pivot full-suspension platform, and we've got him on today's show to hear how it came to be and where it might be going.

Episode 89 sees the crew chat about all things drivetrain, from the so-called "good ol' days" when nothing was that good, our favorite drivetrain tips and tricks, our dream set-ups, gearboxes and cranks with gearboxes, and also how today's drivetrains could be even better. We also dream about having our own EGS Up Cage and White Industries LMDS derailleurs, although a Shimano Airlines system would also be near the top of the list.

With a bit of smart shopping, you might be able to find yourself a great bike, new fork, brakes, or whatever else you might need at a reasonable price. The key, of course, is to figure out what it's worth spending a few extra fun tokens on, and when it's better to save them for the next time you need a fresh set of Minions.

Episode 87 sees Mike Kazimer, Sarah Moore, Henry Quinney, and I go over our tips for staying warm and somewhat dry, set-up advice to keep your bike running smoothly, and even share some cautionary tales about what notto do if you want to stay warm.

Can you imagine having the skills, fitness, strength, and mental fortitude to win a single World Cup downhill race? That's essentially impossible for all but a few of us, regardless of how hard we train. But there are also those inimitable racers who not only win a World Cup or three, but also defy the passing of time to keep winning... Despite much younger competitors pushing the sport to new heights. Having won four World Championships, with his first and most recent coming eighteen years apart, Greg Minnaar is definitely on that list.

Our sport is full of gnarly people doing gnarly things, be it cross-country racers pushing their bodies to the limit, downhillers finding the limits of traction and handling, or just that local rider going so damn hard, far, or huge without having to tell the world about it. Everyone town has a few, don't they? But I don't think it's out of line to say that the Red Bull Rampage is, without a doubt, the rowdiest, scariest, most intense riding out there.

Rather than you reaching down to flip the pedal-assist switch, Flight Attendant manages the fork and shock's compression in real-time, constantly adding or subtracting damping as required and, importantly, to varying degrees depending on how you want your bike to behave and the terrain you're on. If all that sounds complicated, that's because it is. There's a lot to unpack, which is what today's episode is all about; Mike Kazimer, Sarah Moore, Henry Quinney, and I talk about what Flight Attendant is like on the trail, what the heck Bias Adjust does, how the fork now adjusts the shock's low-speed compression (seriously), and whether ten batteries is enough or if Kazimer should use two GoPros.

Given that our needs can vary from having to survive being tossed aside mid-air at the dirt jumps all day, meeting some cross-country racer's fetish for being the lightest such and such on the market, having to withstand a season of downhill racing at Bootleg Canyon, or hopefully just survive a couple years of abuse on your over-taxed trail bike. And when a carbon fiber component (or frame) does fail, especially in a calamitous way as it often does when it gives up, you'll be able to find countless other riders with similar stories.

Just as with previous examples, this Field Test was all about comparing test bikes to each other, a cage match of sorts but on the trail, and the fleet included some of the most interesting bikes on the market. Of course, the pickings were a bit slim this year given the lack of bikes anywhere, but our goal was to represent a spectrum of what's available, from the efficient We Are One to the heavy-hitting Norco Range. And the same goes for the eMTBs, with the relatively lightweight Specialized Turbo Kenevo SL contrasting the chonky Range VLT and its 900Wh battery.

Today's episode sees Mike Kazimer, Henry Quinney, RC, and I get through around half of the questions I had originally planned on answering. There'll be another Q&A podcast in the near future, but this one covers everything from high-end aftermarket shocks, hardest challenges, explaining World Cup downhill racing, suction cup bike racks, standards, interviews with CEOs, our favorite underdog brands, and a ton of other questions. Did we answer yours?

While we all love riding bikes, sometimes our vehicles go hand-in-glove with our sport. Today's podcast sees Alica Legget, Mike Kazimer, James Smurthwaite, and I talk about the vehicles that make sense for mountain bikers, vehicles that don't make any sense but that we want anyway, trucks versus vans, tips for good van living, and what kind of bike racks make the most sense.

There was much dissent when eMTBs first began to show up on Pinkbike, with both commenters and a few editors being less than enthusiastic about battery-powered bicycles on the homepage. Fast forward a few years and we have way more eMTBs and much less protesting, although I'm almost positive that Pinkbike's optional filter has something to do with that. Either way, it's about time for us to do an entire podcast about them.

It’s geometry that’s had the most significant and consequential impact on how our bikes perform. Podcast #78 sees the crew explain how geometry numbers have changed over the years and what that means on the trail, compare some modern numbers and talk about if longer and slacker is simply always better, and we of course explain what all the terms mean.

The news of Outside acquiring Pinkbike saw nearly 1,700 comments posted under the July 14th press release, with most being equal parts surprise, disapproval, and ''spirited debate.'' And while that concern is no doubt justified, I'll be honest with you: we didn't have the answers to most of your questions and concerns, and we had plenty of questions ourselves.

There are all sorts of complicated laws and rules about these things, of course, with long-winded explanations when copyrights, trademarks, and patents are involved with intellectual property, but the last thing we want to do on this podcast is to put you guys to sleep, so we’re not gonna go down those boring roads. Instead, we've come up with a bunch of examples of products that have been imitated over the years.

Have you ever looked at a bike and thought, ''What the hell were they thinking?'' Because we have, and not just about bikes. From 80lbs of cardboard packaging to pricey video shoots to the costs of running a factory World Cup team, brands can sometimes seem like they're burning money and getting a questionable return on their investment.

A 5,000-foot steep ass climb up a gravel road in the blazing summer heat while wearing oversized knee pads and riding an overweight trail bike with DH tires and an idler pulley? We’re happy to do it if the singletrack is good. Today’s podcast is all about the trails; we’re gonna talk about the singletrack that each of us loves and why, the factors that make a good trail so good and less good trail a lot less good, why we owe everything to the people that build trails, and some trail features that either blew our minds or maybe scared the shit out of us.

Tire pressure and suspension sag, of course, but do you also need your cable housing to be perfectly parallel or your dropper post to sit flush with the top of the seat tube?

We discuss being acquired by Outside and what that means for the future of Pinkbike—how things might look like down the road, mean comments, and why we're cautiously optimistic about all this.

RC tells about his time at Mountain Bike Action and testing some of the wildest - and most unreliable - bikes ever created, his opinion of the internet before and after joining Pinkbike, his most important lesson for writing bike reviews, thoughts on e-bikes, and he answers a handful of reader questions.

Today's episode is the second part of our bike ownership history chat, with the first covering Kazimer's Spooky Junebug hardtail, rattle-trap RM7, and his Iron Horse Sunday that was powered by Loctite. My old Giant ATX DH and heavily modified Prophet and Remedy made the list as well, but today's episode sees us get much more modern. But don't worry, there are still some sketchy hardtails, exotic downhill race bikes, and modern classics to cover in podcast 70.

Sarah Moore joins us to rate each bike according to our three choices: 'Trade it for an Xbox' if the bike is really scary, 'Hang on the wall to admire' if it's a piece of history, or 'Take it for lap' if deemed safe and interesting.

Episode 68 is all about the unsung heroes of our sport, from the pioneers in the early days, under the radar ultra-distance racers, talented photographers, underappreciated event organizers, and even a brilliant freerider-turned-rocket scientist who wheelie dropped the Large Hadron Collider while interning at CERN. Yes, that's a true story.

Episode 68 is the first of a multi-part series of talking to RC about his love of flying, building his own planes and teaching himself how to fly (yes, you read that correctly), his father's secret work for NASA, and even a massive (and very secret) explosion of a Saturn V rocket engine.

Today's podcast is all about working on and repairing bikes, from the fun jobs to the dirty ones, to having to install twenty tire inserts for the Field Test, to spending ten hours installing Di2 only for it to rattle apart on the first ride, to our favorite tools, to our most embarrassing workshop injuries... Including the time some scary chemicals messed with RC's, er, "component."

episode 65 sees us talk about the pros and cons of riding without rear-suspension, why there aren't many hardtails reviewed on Pinkbike, and how to get the most out of your hardtail.

The massive faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln on the real Mount Rushmore are meant to represent the first 150-years of America's history. Specifically, the country's birth, growth, development, and preservation. With that in mind, who - or what - do you believe represents those four points well enough to deserve to be up on mountain biking's hypothetical Mount Rushmore?

When you really boil it down, it seems like there are two types of purchasing people: those who buy with their head and those who buy with their heart. And while Mike Kazimer might usually make more informed, "better," decisions when spending his money, Levy would argue that he has more fun burning through paychecks while taking the latter approach. But when it's time to spend a big chunk of hard-earned cash on a new mountain bike, you're far better off following Kazimer's lead to find your new ride.

We all have our preferences, and no matter how objective and impartial we are, they can still color our reviews. That's why we try to be transparent about those preferences when writing a product review, be it a fondness for a certain suspension trait, an unexplainable love for headache-inducing internally routed cables, or maybe only liking blue bikes. Number 62 is all about editor preferences and why they matter.

With our State of the Sport Survey, James Smurthwaite and Henry Quinney reached out to nearly 200 top professional riders. The goal was to piece together the largest public snapshot ever taken of professional mountain biking in the history of the sport. What'd we ask them? Topics included media and filming, home country support, physical and mental health support, athlete pay, opportunities and equality, racing regulations, and a women's specific section.

Today's podcast sees Mike Kazimer, Alicia Legget, Brian Park, and Mike Levy talk about being a certain type of rider, why we used to think focusing on a single discipline was key, and the factors that cause most of us to evolve into different types of mountain bikers as the years go by.

Podcast 59 sees Sarah Moore and Mike Levy talk about how the Field Trip bikes performed, our winners and losers, some surprises, and where we think some value bikes are still coming up short.

In this episode, we debunk some of the most common myths, including the idea that you need to learn how to ride on a hardtail (you don't), that "no brakes and pull up" is helpful advice (it isn't), and that the front brake should be avoided at all costs (definitely not true).

For this week's podcast, we decided to take a look at the trends in mountain biking over the years and decide which ones might be ripe for a comeback.

For this week's episode, we decided to take a look back at the most important inventions in mountain bike history. Our special guest this week is Richard Cunningham, who's been involved in the sport since the beginning, and has amassed an incredible wealth of cycling knowledge. RC is also a master story teller, and his tales and recollections of everything from the invention of index shifting to disc brakes make this an episode you won't want to miss.

Everyone has different motivations for getting out on a ride. Some riders use spreadsheets and cycling computers to chase goals, whether that's a certain number of vertical feet each ride, or a larger, season-long target. Others are happy leaving the screens behind, motivated instead by progression. Trying a new move, working on those cornering and manual skills - sometimes mixing it up is all it takes to regain any motivation that may have waned. Many of us here at Pinkbike have an affinity for big dumb rides, but Henry Quinney, a recent addition to the tech team, might take the crown for doing the biggest and dumbest rides out of everyone. He joins in on this episode along with Christina Chappetta, Sarah Moore, and myself, for a broad conversation that covers everything from falling asleep on the bike to the benefits of trying out flat pedals. Enjoy!

Mountain bike marketing is a balancing act, and companies are constantly trying to find the recipe that will attract the attention of savvy riders in a positive way. Those efforts don't always turn out as planned, and in this week's episode, we delve into the hits and misses that we've seen over the years.

Traditionally, downhill riders have been told that the uphill rider has the right of way. After all, the descender has gravity on their side, and it can be tricky to regain that uphill momentum if you're forced to pull over. But is that the way it should be?

Last week's episode saw us spend far too much time talking about spy shots, embargoes, and how we handle all that stuff, but it's time to shift gears. I don’t know about you guys, but being serious is too serious; I can do that once every three or four episodes, which is why number 52 sees us talking about our most embarrassing mountain bike moments.

There are a few different kinds of so-called 'spy shots,' be it a brand rolling their unreleased bike through the Whistler village during Crankworx in the hopes that someone will snap a few iPhone photos for their guerilla marketing campaign on Instagram, to the honest-to-goodness spy shots that a brand begs us not to post on the homepage.

We are currently on the Sunshine Coast, BC, where we're testing ten price-conscious mountain bikes. Not only that, five of them are hardtails that all cost way under $2,000 USD, while the five full-suspension bikes start at $2,099 and top out at $2,999 USD.

It's about time for us to test some of the latest downhill bikes, which is exactly what our own Dan Roberts has been up to for the past few months with Specialized's Demo Race, Canyon's Sender, the Commencal Supreme DH 29 27, and Cube's cleverly named TWO15 HPC SLT.

Of the thousands and thousands of rides we've been on, it's often the ones that went completely south that we remember first.

With all these high-pivot bikes out there, it's probably time for us to dig into the design and talk about inherent traits, what they can excel at, their weaknesses, and why you may or may not want one for yourself.

Fox's new 38 and RockShox's also-new Zeb are both burly single-crown forks that employ 38mm diameter upper tubes, high-end dampers, and a lot of travel to be ready for the rowdiest of riding. Our own Dan Roberts has spent more than the last six months riding both, including countless back-to-back laps on the local steeps of Champéry, Switzerland, and all over Europe. We sat down with Dan and did a deep dive on each fork.

For some of us, it's all about the conversation, while others enjoy riding with someone who's pedaling too hard to eke out more than a few grunts on the way up. And who doesn't like riding with a buddy who always brings the best snacks?

Mountain bike suspension can offer impressive performance and adjustability, and you can even get it in a package that's been optimized to within a few grams of its life. In other words, things are pretty damn good... But we still have questions. So many questions. Good thing we have Chris Mandell, RockShox Rear Shock Manager, in to answer some of them.

There are bike dorks and then there are bike dorks. Today's podcast sees Gustav Gullholm, AKA Dangerholm on Instagram, take us through some of his wildest creations. How about a sub-30lb Scott Gambler downhill bike? Or his take on down-country, a 100mm-travel Spark that employs an ingenious dropper post integration system that ties it into the bike's rear-suspension? Of course, all of these crazy machines have also been scraped down to bare carbon... with a big ass knife. Yeah, we had questions for Gustav.

It's safe to say that all of us have at least one or three guilty pleasures, things that we're into but maybe we'd rather not broadcast to the world. You know, like how you can't stop watching Bachelor in Paradise. Or drinking fizzy energy drinks at 7am. Or insisting that Erector Set-looking linkage forks are surely the future. Wait, that's just me? Today's episode sees us put our guilty pleasures out on the table to be judged by all.