The Pinkbike Podcast

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.

With many top-tier racers changing teams or finding themselves without a sponsor for the coming year, this might be the silliest of silly seasons. We’ve seen Loris Vergier move to Trek, cross-country powerhouse Pauline Ferrand Prevot go to Absolute Absalon, Emily Batty leave Trek after forever, Zink off YT, and many other moves. Number 41 covers all the big team news, from racers to freeriders.

The Pinkbike Awards are our way of highlighting the people, performances, events, and gear that stood out to us over the previous twelve months. Categories include Mountain Bike of the Year, Value Mountain Bike of the Year, Suspension Product of the Year, Component of the Year, Value component of the Year, Innovation of the Year, and a bunch of others that we talk about in episode 40. We explain our nominations for each category, why we chose each winner, and answer your questions from the awards articles.

The end of the year means that it's time for us to make a bunch of predictions about what 2021 holds for mountain biking, from racing to sales to new gear and more. Will bikes continue to fly off showroom floors? Will Greg Minnaar win his 23rd World Cup and morph into an actual goat? Are we going to see new drivetrains at opposite price-points from SRAM and Shimano?

The end of the year means two things: it's time for a bunch of resolutions that definitely won't pan out, and every website doing a bunch of questionable best-of lists. And while our annual Pinkbike Awards are our official way of recognizing some of the year's most impressive products, people, and events, each editor also puts together a list of their personal favorites from the past twelve months. Thing is, we pretty much all disagree with each other, which brings us to the theme of today's podcast.

Ben Cathro had been part of our downhill coverage for multiple seasons prior to him officially joining the Pinkbike team as presenter and race correspondent, and 2020 saw the return of the Privateer video series with Cathro as the focus. But with Corona throwing a wrench into basically everything world-wide, Ben's season of World Cup racing didn't exactly go as planned. Closed borders, serious injuries, suspension testing, and double-header events on borrowed bikes that lead to a first-time podium all made it an unforgettable year.

How many enduro races did he win on the Altitude? What was the highest wheelie drop he did on the Norco Shore? Why the heck does the Propane Spindrift climb so well? How come he put the Nomad's Fox 38 on backward? And is the Trek Slash his favorite Halloween-themed enduro bike?

If you spend enough time in the forest, you’re bound to see or hear something that gives you the heebie-jeebies. Maybe it’s a set of eyes that followed you, or maybe you’re convinced that those eyes belong to a Bigfoot. And were those lights in the sky just a plane… or was it an alien mothership from Alpha Centauri? Today's podcast sees Mike Levy, Mike Kazimer, Brian Park, and special storytime guest Richard Cunningham talk about naked cyclists, plane crashes, car chases (RC, who knew?), a few AK47s, and unmarked helicopters patroling semi-abandoned rocket testing facilities.

Is the Salsa Blackthorn really just a purple all-mountain bike? How is the Stumpy even rideable without Horst Link suspension? Why didn't we get a Trance X to test without Fox's computer-controlled Live Valve suspension? Where does the new Mojo 4 excel? How was my bonspiel? Do the P-Train's steel tubes make any difference on the trail?

Find out how the contestants were chosen, the best moment that didn't make the final cut, the answer to the most-asked question in the comments, and more. As always, we also chatted about the latest mountain bike news, and answered a few listener questions.

Mountain biking is pretty great right now, but there's still a lot of room for improvement.

For episode 31 we turned our attention to some helpful hints for enjoying those cold and muddy rides.

Would you rather wheelie like Wyn Masters or corner like Bryn Atkinson? Ride anytime you want or have one perfect ride per week? Episode 30 will make you ponder some difficult choices that you're unlikely to ever have to make, but that doesn't make choosing any less difficult.

If you've been riding for a couple of decades or more, you might remember the golden days of freeriding where it seemed like new heights (and distances) were being reached each month. The days of shoprats playing New World Disorder 5 on repeat endlessly are long gone, but does that mean freeride is dead? Or maybe it's just slopestyle? Speaking of that, what's with Crankworx not including skinnies and teeter-totters on the course anymore? Only joking...

Inspired by our "Things We Were Wrong About" podcast, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages to different approaches that brands take to women's bikes. We also interviewed three of the industry's leading female marketers from three brands with very different approaches. We chatted with Kelli Emmett, the Brand Manager at Juliana Bicycles, Brook Hopper, the Global Marketing Manager at Liv Cycling, and Elorie Slater, the Marketing Manager at Pivot Cycles. All three came to cycling from different backgrounds and work for brands that have entirely different approaches to designing bikes and marketing to women, which made for an interesting conversation.

With everything delayed or outright canceled due to the pandemic, it's been a lean year for race fans. But when it rains, it... snows? The World Championships saw racers face some of the muddiest, trickiest conditions in years, with rain and snow turning the usual Leogang hardpack into a wild event for everyone. Episode 27 is all about the stripes, with us unpacking the weather, the gear, and the unexpected results.

While mountain biking doesn't have the long history that most mainstream sports can brag about, our gear-centric niche has seen plenty of notable and important mountain bikes over the years. What makes a bike important? Well, that's up for debate, which is exactly what we do in episode 26.

The trail-ish category that I'll be on includes Giant's Live Valve-equipped Trance X Pro Advanced, Salsa's very purple Blackthorn, Ibis' fourth-generation Mojo, Actofive's P-Trail for a wildcard, and another soon-to-be-released machine. On the enduro front, mikekazimer has got himself Trek's new Slash and Rocky Mountain's new Altitude, Propain's big-travel Spindrift, Kavenz's high-pivot machine, and two more mystery bikes that you'll find out about in a few weeks.

If you've spent any time on a proper downhill bike, you'll know why we love 'em. All that suspension, traction, and geometry, combined with more reliable components, can turn seriously scary terrain into a good time, and any downhill bike on the market can make you feel like a World Cup pro. So how come we're wondering why you'd buy one?

The Grim Donut's conception was equal parts tongue-in-cheek and genuine curiosity, but we never thought it'd actually work. Fine, it doesn't work everywhere, but if you watched the video, you'll know that it certainly seems to work well when pointed down some steep, fast terrain. In timed testing, ex-EWS racer and full-time maniac Yoann Barelli went six-seconds quicker on the Donut over just two-minutes; that's a massive improvement in this world. Oh, and that was also his first time on the bike. And the chain jammed off halfway down

We've all got a buddy or two who seem to depend on nothing more than luck to hold it together, be it their life or most of their rides. They usually pull it off somehow, but 'disaster pending' is probably the best way to describe, well, most things about them.

We weren't there when a teenaged Mike Kazimer said, ''Disc brakes won't ever be a thing,'' but we can certainly remember working on some examples that made us appreciate the power and reliability of V-brakes, as crazy as that sounds. Speaking of questionable choices, it sounds like Sarah Moore still wants to use her Shimano Dual Control shift/brake levers, and Levy once preferred old-school geometry.

While Levy would have loved to talk about Bob Lazar, tic-tac UAPs, and strange US military patents, Kazimer insisted on keeping it about bikes. So, is there really a derailleur cabal? And what about all those so-called "spy shots" that sure seem staged? Does Pinkbike really have a stake in Scribd? And are bike companies planning to screw you over with hub spacing?

There isn’t a ton of hardtail content on Pinkbike, but that doesn't mean we've completely forgotten about them, especially as we're aiming to put more time and effort towards value-minded bikes and products in the future. After all, ditching rear-suspension is a sure-fire way to save some big coin. Of course, there are more reasons to ride a hardtail than the price tag, as anyone who spends all their time on one might tell you...

No, we're not talking e-bikes today. On the long list of topics that we riders seem to have strong, heartfelt opinions about, electronic components probably sit closer to the top than the bottom. Especially when that new battery-powered thingy costs four times as much as the battery-less thingy you already have that does the job just fine. Hmm, so what's the point?

We're only halfway through our cross-country Field Test series, but this week's podcast is all about exactly that. Sarah and Levy answer a bunch of questions about our nine bikes, including favorites and least favorites, surprises, and whether we've changed our minds about the future of cross-country bikes. Warning: plenty of spoilers in this one.

Is there anyone in the cycling universe that you'd call a hero? What about someone you looked up to and took inspiration from? Kazimer, Brian, James, and Levy talk about who they look up to from the mountain bike world.

Modern bikes are better than ever, but that doesn't mean there's no more room for improvement. In this episode, Brian Park, Christina Chappetta, James Smurthwaite and Kazimer discuss what could be changed to make mountain bikes, and the sport as a whole, even better. Grippy tires that don't go flat, inexpensive bikes with good geometry, investment from larger corporations, and building a more supportive, inclusive riding community were just a few of the suggestion that came up.

In case it wasn't already obvious, mountain bike editors have it very, very good. We at Pinkbike, along with a relatively small group of equally spoiled people around the globe, get to ride and write about the latest and most interesting mountain bikes. A lot of them cost more than anyone in their right mind would ever spend on a bicycle, but a lot of us aren't in our right minds, are we? Halo-level bikes with five-digit price tags are often what brands prefer to send us to be reviewed - they don't want a set of inexpensive, troublesome brakes or low-end wheels dragging their frame down that's been in development for the last two years - but the more sensible out there understand that you usually get diminishing returns after a certain price point. Beginning with the idea of assembling a capable, reasonably priced trail bike for our needs, Episode 14 of the Pinkbike Podcast sees Kazimer, James, and myself talking about what'd we'd purchase with our own limited funds.

Did you see that so-and-so released a brand new bike? It has some pivots, a shock, and even comes with geometry. Wheels, too! You can get it in that low-key color that everyone's sure to be a fan of, and I can pretty much guarantee that it'll easily outperform anything that wasn't made within the last couple of years. Wind back the clock a decade or two and magazines were showing us a future that would surely be full of wild machines; two-shock suspension designs, CVT transmissions, carbon leaf springs, and who knows what else?