Geoff Kabush has been racing bikes professionally for longer than just about anyone — and at 45, he’s still going strong. So we sat down with Geoff to hear about his unconventional beginnings in mountain biking; how the sport has changed over the course of his career; what’s kept him motivated nearly three decades into his career; skiing; social media; and much, much more. TOPICS & TIMES:Starting “mountain” biking on a 10-speed (3:25)Social media & athletes (11:01)World Cup XC to a more varied schedule (20:41)Geoff’s favorite events (26:44)Underbiking (29:32)The evolution of XC racing (34:53)Product development (38:55)Longevity (43:17)Skiing (46:08)RELATED LINKS:Blister + Spot InsuranceDavid’s Spot TestimonialBlister Summit 2023Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Geoff Kabush on Longevity, Having Fun, & Career Evolution

Just a few years ago, Jakob Jewett thought he wanted to be a professional skier — and was racking up strong results in freeride competitions. But fast forward to 2023, and he’s now got his first season of Elite World Cup Downhill racing under his belt, and has just signed on as the newest member of Pivot Factory Racing. So we sat down to chat with Jakob about his move to racing bikes and what flipped that switch for him; his approach to racing & learning consistency from the one and only Troy Brosnan; the upcoming 2023 season, including the new qualification rules and race format; and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Joining Pivot Factory Racing (2:53)Jakob’s 2022 season (4:17)Race Weekend Prep (7:40)Offseason prep, training, and mental resets (12:24)Bike setup (14:49)Track preferences (16:17)2023 season changes (18:18)Evaluating risk and achieving consistent race results (19:46)Jakob’s 2023 goals (26:48)Racing DH vs. branching out (28:29)Freeride skiing (32:58)RELATED LINKS:Blister + Spot InsuranceDavid’s Spot TestimonialBlister Summit 2023Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pivot Factory Racing’s Newest Member, Jakob Jewett

Most small bike manufacturers don’t dive straight into running a World Cup race team, but Gamux isn’t most companies. So we sat down with their founder Pascal Tinner to talk about all the ways that Gamux is doing things differently — from putting such a strong emphasis on racing, to building a fully-machined DH frame, with a Pinion gearbox and a belt drive to boot. And along the way, we get into frame geometry, mullet bikes, some teasers of upcoming Gamux models, and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Pascal’s lifetime in racing (3:10)Frame development (7:40)Andreas Kolb & working with athletes (12:08)2021 Prototype (16:09)Pascal’s engineering background (28:03)Belt drives & gearboxes (35:49)Mullets (43:15)Frame geometry (46:28)Running a race team (51:12)Upcoming production bikes (57:11)RELATED LINKS:Blister + Spot InsuranceBlister Summit 2023Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gamux on Doing Everything Differently

2022 was Blister’s busiest ever year for bike reviews, and we’ll have even more coming your way in 2023. But before we dive headlong into the new year, we wanted to sit down and recap a bunch of our favorite bikes and gear that we tested last year, including suspension, brakes, tires, and more. And along the way, we chat about bike versatility vs. specificity, tease some upcoming reviews, and a bunch more.TOPICS & TIMES:Orbea Rallon (6:30)Revel Rail 29 (9:37)Pivot Shadowcat (11:56)Kavenx VHP 16 & Canfield Jedi 29 (16:50)TRP DH-R Evo (23:59)Hope Tech 4 V4 (28:43)SRAM GX AXS (31:44)RockShox ZEB (35:53)Ride Concepts Tallac Boa (39:10)Rimpact Pro (43:49)Continental Kryptotals (48:00)RELATED LINKS:Eric Olsen (Ep.126)Matthew Fairbrother (Ep139)Blister + Spot InsuranceBlister Summit 2023Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gear of the Year, 2022

Velocio co-founder Andrew Gardner enjoys biking in many different forms, and earlier this fall, he and Jonathan Ellsworth went on a gravel ride through New England — which Jonathan, something of a gravel biking skeptic, found to be delightful. So Andrew, Jonathan, and David Golay sat down to talk about gravel riding and how / why mountain bikers might find it to be more enjoyable than we think; the ways that the various biking communities silo themselves off, and how that serves many people poorly; why “gravel” riding is a lousy term; and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Jonathan’s introduction to gravel riding (4:50)David’s (lack of) gravel experience (9:58)Andrew’s background in all bike disciplines (12:11)Why the term “gravel” isn’t very accurate (20:36)Gravel as a race discipline vs. just a way people ride bikes (24:35)Identity as a bike rider & siloed cliques (31:22)Re-defining the term “gravel” (35:17)The case for mountain bikers trying gravel riding (44:17)Velocio (54:53)RELATED LINKS:Blister + Spot InsuranceBlister Summit 2023Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Gardner on Open-Mindedness, Gravel Riding, Velocio, & More

Ed Masters is always good for an entertaining story — and his recap of his extremely wild Vallnord race run from earlier this year is reason enough to tune into this episode. But Ed also has a whole lot of insights to offer into what makes a race season come together; how he approaches race day — on both the Enduro and DH bikes; the delicate balance of risk vs. reward and where to push the limit; and the importance of consistency and stability for a successful team. So we get into all of that, plus the upcoming management of World Cup DH by ESO and the pending rule changes; some of our favorite moments from the 2022 season; mentoring up-and-coming talent; and much more.TOPICS & TIMES:Hitting the reset button after 2021Goal setting for 2022Finn Iles’ Mont Sainte Anne runBernard Kerr & Pivot Factory RacingThe “extra 0.5%”Race tacticsFearEd’s wild Vallnord runRisk vs. reward & taking chancesESO & the 2023 seasonUp-and-coming riders on PivotTeam dynamics & staying looseRELATED LINKS:Blister + Spot InsuranceBlister Summit 2023Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ed Masters on The 2022 Season, Team Dynamics, Rule Changes, & More

Ellie Smith is the reigning Australian National DH Champion (having won the race on an Enduro bike, no less), and that was just the start of her 2022 season. So we sat down with Ellie to chat about her breakout year and what she learned over the course of the season; racing many different disciplines; bike setup and European vs. Australian DH tracks; her mental approach to racing and what does (and doesn’t) work for her; welding food manufacturing equipment for Mars Foods (!?!), and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Getting introduced to MTB at school sports day (2:42)Clicking with racing (6:23)Australian National Champs & winning on an Enduro bike (8:39)Crankworx & forming a plan for the 2022 season (13:09)Bike setup (20:41)European vs. Australian DH tracks (22:42)Norco Range DH (25:06)Racing Enduro vs. DH & the mental side of both (28:23)Lessons learned from 2022 (35:16)Coping with pressure (37:53)Crankworx (39:17)Ellie’s 2023 plans (41:47)Privateer life (43:29)Welding & working on food equipment (47:59)RELATED LINKS:Blister Summit 2023Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ellie Smith on Racing all the Disciplines, Bike Setup, Welding, & More

Though ski season is well underway in much of the Northern Hemisphere, we’re still testing a lot of bikes, too, and have updates on what we’ve been spending time on. So we sat down to chat about the especially-aggressive Canyon Spectral 125, the super-adjustable Trek Fuel EX, the impressive (and surprising) Santa Cruz Nomad, and a bunch more. And we also discuss some of the upcoming bikes that we’re most excited to spend time on soon.TOPICS & TIMES:Canyon Spectral 125Trek Fuel EXIbis Ripmo V2SFezzari La Sal PeakRevel Rail 29Santa Cruz NomadMost exciting new bikesRELATED LINKS:Blister Summit 2023Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canyon Spectral 125, Trek Fuel EX, Santa Cruz Nomad, & More

We’re continuing our deep dive on suspension technology with EXT’s Franco Fratton, and this week, it’s all about dampers: how they’re built, how they work, how EXT goes about designing them, and more. And along the way, we debunk some common misconceptions about damper performance and design, too.TOPICS & TIMES:How a damper is built (3:13)Orifice dampers (10:03)Oil displacement (16:33)Damper consistency (21:33)Hysteresis (30:48)Choosing targets for damper design (33:11)Critical damping (38:16)Rebound vs. compression damping rates (42:36)Mountain bikes vs. other off-road vehicles (47:31)Heat & dampers (53:46)“Living inside a damper” (1:05:14)Valve design (1:07:13)Shims vs. poppet valves vs. spool valves (1:14:11)RELATED LINKS:Franco Fratton (Ep.110)A Very Deep Dive on Suspension, Pt.1 (Ep.140)Blister Summit 2023Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Very Deep Dive on Suspension with EXT’s Franco Fratton, Pt. 2

A lot of small frame builders start out just making the bikes they wanted to ride, but not many come up with anything nearly as polished-looking — or involving as many exotic construction techniques — as Machina Bikes. So we sat down with Tom and Sion to talk about their wild carbon fiber / titanium / aluminum Enduro bike (which also features a gearbox and mullet setup for good measure). Along the way, we chat about their process of developing and refining the bike; how and why they settled on the design they chose; what they still want to refine; discuss potential plans for production; and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Tom and Sion’s backgrounds (3:04)Tom’s original park bike (9:35)Development of the Enduro bike (15:27)Jointly deciding on specs & design (17:43)Prototyping & lessons learned (32:44)Choosing a gearbox (42:18)Mullets (50:21)Racing-driven product development vs. building bikes for fun (1:05:27)Production? (1:07:14)RELATED LINKS:Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Machina Bikes on Building a Dream Bike

We’ve been following the development of the Trinity MTB with a great deal of interest, and Mic Williams is back on the show to talk about the latest developments — of which there are many — including the now-operational custom gearbox, which is poised to pick up where Honda left off with their famous RN-01; some updates to the frame construction; and a lot of other details. And along the way we get into it about his experience testing the V3 prototype at Crankworx; “mistaking the way to perfection”; brain chemistry (?); the prototyping process; & much more.TOPICS & TIMES:Crankworx Cairns (3:16)Product testing on a public stage (10:57)“Mistaking my way to perfection” (13:19)The Gearbox (25:38)Prototyping & refining ideas (37:31)Status of the V3 Prototype (44:30)Handcrafted bikes (47:54)RELATED LINKS:Trinity MTB (Ep. 125)Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trinity MTB’s Gearbox & V3 Prototype

The Whole Enchilada in Moab is one of the best-known mountain bike trails in the world, but most folks take a shuttle to the top. Hannah Otto just demolished the FKT for the full loop, including the road climb to the top — for men or women — breaking the prior record by almost a full hour. So we sat down with Hannah to get the whole story, including her planning, nutrition, bike setup, and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:The Whole Enchilada trail (1:46)Planning the FKT attempt (7:26)Gear selection (11:55)Bike setup (15:20)Attempting the FKT (17:52)Pacing and goal setting (24:39)On-bike nutrition (29:47)FKT culture & setting personal goals (33:10)Hannah’s 2022 race season & becoming a privateer (35:15)2023 plans & goals (44:13)RELATED LINKS:Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open Mic\Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hannah Otto on Setting the Whole Enchilada FKT

The Pacific Crest Trail is well known in the hiking world and beyond, but what if there was a mountain biking version? Gabe Tiller has ambitions to establish a route — predominantly on dirt — from British Columbia all the way to the southern tip of Baja Mexico, and founded the Orogenesis Collective to make it happen. With the trail taking form — and slated for a “soft opening” in 2023 — we sat down with Gabe to get the whole story, including his vision for the trail and where the idea first took root; what’s gone into building and planning the trail; what still needs to be done; how you can help; and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Origins of Orogenesis (2:20)Planning & the Orogenesis Collective (3:53)The importance of local relationships (8:43)Route finding (17:12)The route (21:28)How Orogenesis will be used (27:22)The name “Orogenesis” (31:21)The Pacific Crest Trail as a template (32:42)Challenges of building a 5,000+ mile trail (37:19)How to get involved in the project (42:27)RELATED LINKS:Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Orogenesis Collective on Building the World’s Longest MTB Trail

Traumatic brain injuries are an unfortunate reality of many outdoor sports, and after professional snowboarder Kevin Pearce suffered one that derailed his career, Kevin founded LoveYourBrain, along with his brother Adam, to provide resources and support for others going through their own journey of recovery. And so we sat down with Adam to talk about everything that LoveYourBrain does, the conversations around TBIs in the action sports world, and a whole lot more  — including their fundraising raffle where you can win a Revel Rail29 or Rover.TOPICS & TIMES:LoveYourBrain history & Kevin’s injury (1:57)The LoveYourBrain mission (7:19)Fostering community (9:31)TBI recovery & making peace with a new normal (12:35)Changing the perception of TBIs (17:58)Improving conversations about TBIs in the action sports world (20:55)Prevention education (23:20)Supporting someone recovering from a TBI (27:04)RELATED LINKS:Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

LoveYourBrain on Care, Community, & Recovery from TBIs

When we first had EXT founder Franco Fratton on Bikes & Big Ideas back in Ep. 110, we had plenty to cover with just the story of his long and remarkable career in suspension design and didn’t delve too far into the technical side of things. But Franco is an incredible wealth of knowledge when it comes to suspension design, so we’ve got him back on the show to share a whole bunch of that knowledge, in part one of a multi-episode series with Franco. So strap in, you’re going to learn some stuff in this one.TOPICS & TIMES:Dampers vs. Shock Absorbers (2:21)Sprung vs. unsprung mass (8:12)Coil springs & the need for dampers (9:32)History of damper design (10:04)Adjustability vs. damper quality (22:01)Orifice dampers (23:55)Valve types (28:36)High- vs. low-speed adjusters (30:15)Range of adjustments (36:22)Damping “knee” (42:20)Twin tube vs. monotube dampers (47:28)Damper design philosophy (59:58)RELATED LINKS:Franco Fratton (Ep.110)Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Very Deep Dive on Suspension with EXT’s Franco Fratton, Pt. 1

Matthew Fairbrother showed up in Scotland for the 2022 EWS season opener, at age 17, having never left New Zealand before, and with no plan for what was going to follow that first race. And in what is one of the wildest mountain bike stories of the year, he wound up bikepacking over 3,400 km between races over the course of the season — and still finished 13th overall in the U21 Men’s category. So we sat down to get the whole story, which somehow just gets even crazier from here.TOPICS & TIMES:Planning the tour (2:17)Matthew’s gear (7:37)Bike setup & weight (10:55)Matthew’s approach to sufferfests (13:32)Hallucinations and “fluffy animals” (15:20)Motivation & the mental game (17:40)Sleep, nutrition, and animal attacks (22:20)Scotland to Switzerland to Slovenia & diving into races (26:17)Making it to North America (32:05)Other racer’s reactions (34:27)Whistler & over-enthusiasm (35:46)Moose encounters & crossing the US border (42:44)Burke & Sugarloaf races (46:28)Wrapping up the EWS circuit in Europe (48:00)Lessons learned (54:11)The MTB community (58:07)Matthew’s 2023 plans (58:53)RELATED LINKS:Eric Olsen (Ep.126)Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matthew Fairbrother’s Outrageous EWS Tour

We’ve been testing a ton of new bikes and gear (as always) and we’ve got updates on a bunch of it including the new Santa Cruz Tallboy and the RockShox Pike that came on it; the Intense Tracer 279; the Kavenz VHP 16; we chat about crank length and Hope’s new super-short 155 mm option; we offer some updates on our upcoming brake shootout, and thoughts on brake selection in general; and a whole bunch more.TOPICS & TIMES:Intense Tracer 279 (2:21)Revel Rail 29 (15:27)Kavenz VHP 16 (18:36)Santa Cruz Tallboy (20:55)RockShox Pike (23:59)Continental Tires (32:39)Crank length & Hope 155s (42:14)Brake shootout (48:05)RELATED LINKS:Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reviewer Reports: Brake Shootout, New RockShox Pike, Revel Rail 29, & More

BTR Fabrications has a well-earned reputation for building burly, aggressive hardtails, and we sat down with Paul “Burf” Burford (the “B” in “BTR”) to talk about his design philosophy and pioneering aggressive hardtail geometry; racing DH on a hardtail; their wild one-off Gasser DH bike; racing with the Athertons; and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Burf’s background & founding BTR (2:06)BTR’s history & the Belter DH hardtail (9:08)Hardtail geometry (15:34)The BTR customer (25:53)The Pinner Trail full suspension bike (32:39)The Gasser DH bike (45:43)Burf’s Big Idea (52:17)RELATED LINKS:Ep.125: Trinity MTBEp.93: Williams Racing ProductsIntroducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BTR on Hardcore Hardtails, Bike Geo, & Building to Last

Pete Fowler’s path to founding Pinner Machine Shop was an unconventional one, including teaching himself how to be a machinist, running a mill in his kitchen while his partner was at work, and a whole lot of other twists and turns. So we sat down with Pete to get the whole story, and chat about how and why he keeps Pinner running on top of holding down a job at Chromag; saving countless vacations from Whistler bike park carnage; where his product ideas come from; and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Founding Pinner Machine Shop (2:17)Learning machining & kitchen milling (8:24)Sustainability & keeping bikes running (14:26)Pete’s design process (19:04)Learning, growing, and staying motivated (21:13)Chromag (27:59)Pete's favorite part of running Pinner (32:14)RELATED LINKS:Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pinner Machine Shop on Self-Taught Machining, Making Parts in a Kitchen, & More

One of the biggest stories of the World Cup Downhill season that just wrapped up has been the formation of the new rider’s association to better collectively advocate for their interests and those of the sport. So we sat down with newly-appointed rider representative Emilie Siegenthaler to talk about why the riders decided to band together, what they hope to get out of the association, how the 2023 season is shaping up, and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:What is the association, and why form one? (2:46)How Emilie got involved (7:21)Goals for the association (10:33)Rider safety & concussions (25:47)Discovery/ESO & establishing new lines of communication (28:17)What we know about the 2023 season (36:04)Voting structure of the association (40:42)RELATED LINKS:Introducing: CRAFTEDIntroducing: Open MicBecome a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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