The OTB Podcast

This week on the OTB podcast, we sit down with Mic Williams—founder of WRP (Williams Racing Products) and the brains behind Trinity MTB—for a deep dive into the wild world of high-performance bike tech and bold ideas that just might change the game.We chat about how WRP went from humble beginnings to having components on World Cup winning bikes, the art and science behind component design, and what it takes to get prototypes from idea to trail-ready. But that's just the start...Mic also gives us the inside scoop on Trinity, his vision for a high-pivot, high-performance mountain bike brand, and we unpack the wild "derailleur in a can" concept he's prototyping for it.If you're into innovation, bikes that break the mold, and hearing from someone who's not afraid to stir the pot in the MTB world, you're gonna love this one.

Downhill racing is alive and well in the USA!With the Tennessee National at Windrock and Round One of the Monster Pro Downhill Series kicking off in recent weeks, the American scene is buzzing—complete with a stacked lineup of World Cup talent. Teams like Commencal Muc-Off, Trek Factory Racing, Canyon Collective, and Yeti Factory Racing were all in the mix.Kieran Bennett is joined by Sean "Griz" McClendon to break down the action from both events, share insights on what's coming up next, and—as always—take a few entertaining detours down memory lane.Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlFox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

In this episode, we sit down with Syd Schulz and Macky Franklin, the dynamic duo behind the popular MTB YouTube channel Syd & Macky. From racing the Enduro World Series to tackling epic bikepacking adventures, they've done it all—while keeping things fun and relatable. We chat about their recent time in New Zealand racing the Volcanic Epic and spending some riding time in Nelson, their journey to where they are now and dive into some of the ins and outs of managing an impressive YouTube following.Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlFox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

The downhill scene in the US is looking maybe stronger than it ever has, so we catch up with our foreign correspondent Sean "Griz" McClendon to talk about the upcoming races at Windrock and Ride Rock Creek. As always, Griz has is finger on the pulse and pulls out some names to watch and tells us who has been flying in the pre-season races!Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlFox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

From one Masters brother to the next, we catch up with Eddie Masters in studio while he was in sunny Nelson for the NZ Enduro National Championships on an unfortunate extended stay.Eddie has seen and done it all and is this episode is nothing short of some great thoughts on the current climate of World Cup racing, the New Zealand scene, permanent numbers and more! You don't want to miss this one!Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlFox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Hardline Tasmania is done and dusted, along with a few riders race seasons being dusted too. Wyn Masters joins us this week to discuss the event, riders motivation behind it, some interesting behind the scenes knowledge, his thoughts on the 2025 World Cup season and more!Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlFox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Theres been a lot of team changes going on for the 2025 World Cup season so we dive into who is going where, good choices, bad choices, who is going to excel and more! Join Kieran Bennett, James Rennie and Chris Vanderkolk for the usual talk of downhill racing with a mixture of side quests, a not too serious look at the sport! Brought to you by: Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice! To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.html Fox Suspension https://ridefox.com/pages/bike If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Erice Van Leuven joins us this week for her first ever podcast! After two incredible years in the Junior Women class winning multiple DH world cups, a World Cup overall, two World Championships and even an EDR World Cup round, Erice is moving up into the Elite field and has also joined the Norco Race Division team! We catch up with Erice on how settling into the new team is going and also take a look back through the archives to where it all started with her viral YouTube video absolutely tearing it up on a 16" BMX down trails in Rotorua - If you haven't seen it... https://youtu.be/ygSblbZwHn8?si=zbUXMWVjDxyp1Ylo Brought to you by: Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice! To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.html If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

We catch up with Lachie Stevens-Mcnabb as the announcement has just come out that he is joining the Trek Factory Racing squad for 2025. After his break out 2024 and the unfortunately closure of The Union, it's no surprise that he has made the move into the factory team.

The news has dropped today that Ellie Hulsebosch has joined the Santa Cruz Syndicate for 2025 and beyond! We caught up with Ellie recently to talk about her new deal, her breakout 2024 World Cup season and much more! Ellie is a rising star on the downhill circuit and has the skill and drive to be at the top, we are definitely looking forward to watching where she goes in the next few years! Brought to you by: Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice! To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.html If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

We're back for one final episode to round out 2024 before holiday season kicks in and we decided to let you guys, the listeners dictate where this episode went! We've got team rumours, listener questions and the always popular power rankings by Chris have made a return. Thanks for joining us for another year, we'll see you in 2025! Brought to you by: Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice! To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.html If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Rae Morrison joins us this week as we take a dive back through her very nice career racing on the enduro circuit over the last 10 years. From the classic humble kiwi beginnings of putting everything she had into going racing as a privateer to spending a number of years as a factory racer with Giant/Liv, theres no doubt that she gave it everything. After announcing her retirement from full time racing at the end of the 2024 season, Rae is by no means done! Tune in to find out her exciting plans for 2025 and the future. Brought to you by: Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice! To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.html If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

And were back! Its been a few weeks but the crew is back together to catch up on everything that has been going on. Lester and Red Dog attended the Le Petite Brevet, KB went to the Ignition MTB festival in Australia and Chris... well we're not really sure, he probably went running. All the hot topics are covered this week, whats the difference between a brevet and a gran fondo? how long does it take to dry a chamois? What ever happened to bus stops? You know, the important stuff! Brought to you by: Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice! To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.html If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Do we even need to introduce Lachie? After an incredible 2024 World Cup Downhill season that saw him land two podiums, including an absolute nail biting second place at the final round, Lachie sat down with KB to talk about the season just gone and what has lead him to this point. Another rising star out of New Zealand, we're excited to see what the future brings for him! Brought to you by: Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice! To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.html If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

John Kirkcaldie, an absolute legend of New Zealand downhill racing joins us this week to discuss just about everything from his years of racing in the USA - The bikes, the contracts, the antics, we leave very few stones unturned! JK did it all, from his early days as a privateer on a Foes, to being part of the factory Schwinn power house team with Dave Cullinan, to his very successful years with Maxxis racing on the Norba circuit. Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice! To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.html If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

The 2024 Whaka100 is in the bag and as you would expect, it didn't go smoothly for the boys. Who finished? Who didn't? Who cramped first? All in all though, another great event and as always, it didn't take long for everyone to decide they would be back again in 2025! If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Post race interviews from the Whaka 100, straight from the finish line featuring (in order): Craig Oliver Ben Oliver Matt Wilson Sammie Maxwell Jesse Cseh Jon Odams Katy Winton Gav MyRide Welly McCarthy Lester Perry

The Whaka 100 is just a few days away so the boys get together to discuss how the preparation is going, weather chat, tyre choices, fueling (aka. how many gels will KB consume), nang chat and more. Excuse some of the dodgy audio, its worth pushing through! If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Conor Macfarlane joins us this week, fresh off the plane from Red Bull Rampage where he was digging for Tom Isted. We dive into Conor's history at the event both competing and digging, how lines are chosen, the gruelling schedule of 12 hour days on the mountain and of course it wouldn't be complete without discussing the judging! If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

This week I'm joined by Sean 'Griz' McClendon, a veteran of the downhill scene in the USA and current commentator of the Pro Downhill Series - We catch up to talk about why the sport needs a strong series in the USA and what this could potentially do for the racers who are trying to make it as a professional. The downhill talent in the US is maybe at all time high and now is the chance for the Pro Downhill Series to capitalise as the World Cup series faces so many questions around its future for the privateers and "non-factory" teams. With Clay Harper spearheading the Pro Downhill Series, the man behind the US Open of Downhill, now is the time for the US to rise again and provide a home for worlds best racers. Keep your eyes peeled as Sean and I continue to to expand on our USDH series of episodes!

We're a day late and a buck short but we've finally managed to get our Mt Sainte Anne World Cup DH final recap together and man what a race! The story lines from Lachie Stevens-Mcnabb being a whisker off the win, to Erice van Leuven wrapping up an incredible junior career with another win, but ultimately it was the GOAT retiring that stole the show - can you believe Greg Minnaar actually just raced his last race ever? Its been a great season with plenty to talk about, but stay tuned because theres plenty more episodes to come! If you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

This week, we're joined by none other than Sam Hill himself! A man who needs no introduction, Sam boasts an unparalleled career with five Downhill World Championships, two World Cup Downhill titles, and three Enduro World Series titles, solidifying his legacy as one of the greatest in the sport. Sam joins us to discuss what he's been up to in 2024, including his new business venture, Sam Hill Signature Trail, and The Foes Project. We also get his thoughts on the current state of World Cup Downhill racing, and take a trip down memory lane to revisit some of his favorite bikes and tracks from over the years. For more details on his latest business venture, visit https://samhillsignaturetrail.com.au.

Katy Winton joins us in the hot seat this week to talk all things bikes! Katy is an absolute ripper on a bike and has just migrated back to NZ for the foreseeable future, first up on the hit list for her is the Whaka 100 in Rotorua!

Merch, team rumours, LOI's, RFP's, ROI's, LOL's and more. Join the boys as we dive into the Loudenvielle World Cup Downhill, who would most likely be a drug dealer on track walk, team rumours for 2025 and more!

The World Downhill Championships are done and dusted (literally) and that had to be one of the tightest battles for the title ever! The Kiwi juniors were absolutely flying once again with back to back golds for Erice Van Leuven, a bronze for Sascha Earnest and a host of other solid results. Join Kieran Bennett, James Rennie, Lester Perry and Chris Vanderkolk as we break down all things World Champs, Lester's trip to Whistler, Kieran destroying himself on his XC bike and more!

The prodigal son, friend of the show, former Downhill World Champion, Cam Cole returns! KB, Red Dog and Chris are joined by Cam to talk about a bit of everything and then eventually get on to the topic of World Champs that is happening this weekend. As always, Cam is full of excellent insights into the sport!

Wyn Masters joins us this week to talk all things cycling, from how the current World Cup Downhill season is going, the logistics of running his own team, his privateer award, 2025 rumours, the Tour de France and some classic yarns from the mid 2000's of course! Wyn has seen and done it all, this isn't one to be missed!

In our latest episode we get to know co-host Christ Vanderkolk, with KB, Red Dog and Lester putting him in the hot seat to find out how he got into riding and his peak as a 4x specialist. Full of yarns, tangents and all of the usual entertainment!

The Les Gets World Cup was another one for the history books, from ice rink conditions, to Greg Minnaar nearly winning and Amaury Pierron putting in another absolutely storming victory, it had plenty of excitement. Join Kieran Bennett, James Rennie, Lester Perry and Chris Vanderkolk as we break down all things Les Gets, plus plenty of tangents as per usual!

Lachie Stevens McNab grabs himself an elite World Cup Downhill podium at Leogang, Ellie Hulsebosch takes the fastest time of the day in the women's field and Erice and Sacha complete a Kiwi junior podium lockout at Val Di Sole, the future is now with Kiwi talent! Join us as we discuss all things Leogang and Val Di Sole World cups, along side the ever present tangents we find ourselves on! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

Lachie Stevens McNab and Ellie Hulsebosch join us this week for a catch up on the start of their season and their epic performances at the Bielsko-Biala Downhill World Cup. Also joining us is the man behind the Union Joe Bowman to tell us all about how and why the team started along with the ins and outs of managing a World Cup race team! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

The boys are back and Bielsko-Biala sure did turn on an epic race, a new venue, mixed conditions and a rise of the kiwis! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

The winner of round two of the EDR series and now current points leader Charlie Murray joins us to catch up on his incredible weekend in Poland! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

The World Cup season has started and we are back! Better late than never, we finally managed to get the crew back together to break down all things Fort William; electronic suspension, horrendous kits, race chassis's, speed suits, 75mm rise handle bars and more! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

This week we've got Blenki back in the hot seat with KB and Lester to talk about his new deal with Zerode, how the new bike is going for him, Hardline and plans for 2024 and beyond. As always its an extremely insightful chat with a legend of not only NZ downhill but a legend of the World Cup scene too. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

KB, Red Dog, Lester and Chris are back and just when we thought the mountain bike world was a bit quiet, the slopestyle riders at crankworx decide to form a union and stage a walk out! Throw in some Sam Hill rumours, Whaka 100 news and the usual tangents we head off on and its a banger of an episode! Brought to you by: www.troyleedesigns.co.nz www.smothoptics.co.nz www.filthy.net.nz --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

In this episode of Rewatchables we dive into the iconic New Zealand downhill movie Pusher - KB, Red Dog, Lester and Chris are joined by Byron Scott who co produced the movie to talk about how it came about and dive into stories of the 2005 New Zealand National Downhill Mountain Bike Series. Sit back and enjoy some great stories, or if you want to watch the movie and listen we have that up over on our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@TheOTBPodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

The boys are back to discuss what went down at the New Zealand National Mountain Bike Championships at Coronet Peak in Queenstown, national jersey controversy, how did the 26" bikes fare, where did KB lose time and much more! Hosted by Kieran Bennett and James Rennie with Lester Perry and Chris Vanderkolk. Video version available on Youtube.com/@theotbpodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

We catch up with Ellie Hulsebosch, Tuhoto Ariki Pene, Louis Hamilton, Toby Meek, Oisin O'Callaghan, Lachie Stevens McNabb, Thibaut Ruffin, Benoit Coulanges and Jess Blewitt. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

Greg Minnaar joins the podcast this week to discuss his move to Norco after 16 years with Santa Cruz Bicycles, KB and Red Dog cover off how the switch happened, his thoughts on the new bike, his longevity in the sport, tales of the past with team mates like Missy Giove, Steve Peat, Nathan Rennie and Josh Bryceland and of course, it wouldn't be The OTB Podcast if we didn't discuss the era of 26" downhill bikes! A very special thank you to Spoke Magazine, Advance Traders and Norco for making this episode happen! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

Sam Blenkinsop, Toby Meek and Lachie Stevens-McNabb on how their weekend went down in Christchurch at the Christchurch Adventure Park. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

Zerode is going World Cup racing! Ali Quinn, co-owner of Zerode Bikes joins us to discuss their new team of Sam Blenkinsop and Taylor Vernon who will be piloting the G3 downhill bike this season. We dive into the why, the how and the who of the new team! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

We are back for 2024 and why not kick it off with an episode of team rumours! Some facts, some totally ripped off theories and as per usual, plenty of random chat and shoe horning in some 26" wheeled content! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

Hallucinations, massive bonks, incidents with birds, bears and angry American road workers and thats barely scratching the surface of the tales from Matt Fairbrother as he joins us to tell us some insane stories from his time on the road bikepacking between EWS/EDR races over the last two years. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

The boys are joined this week by Whaka 100 winner Craig Oliver to learn how you're actually supposed to do the race and do well at it! It was a mixed bag from the OTB team with the overall theme of the day being uncontrollable cramping, Lester's ability to lose water bottles and KB eating way too many gels in a single day. Join us for the highs (mostly Craig) and the lows (mostly us) of the Whaka 100! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

KB, Red Dog & Chris are back to break down the Snowshoe and Mt Sainte Anne World Cups covering everything from team rumours, has the Discovery take over been better, what is really going on under the covers of the Demo and more! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

Benoit from Accounts has gone and won his first World Cup! KB & Red Dog are joined this week by GT Factory Racing mechanic Matt Clarke to break down the madness of the Les Gets World Cup, team rumours, gossip from the pits and more. Matt brings some (actual) knowledge from inside the paddock this week! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

What a race! A brand new track for the World Cup circuit and a good one at that made for some epic racing, lots of mistakes, big changes in overall points and plenty of drama to recap. Jump in with KB, Red Dog, Chris and Lester as they unpack everything that was the Loudenvielle Downhill World Cup. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

KB, Red Dog & Chris are back in studio to discuss all of the drama from the Andorra World Cup, what could have been such a good raced ended up being a bit of a shambles but there was still plenty to discuss! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

KB, Red Dog and Chris are back to breakdown the 2023 World Championships from the iconic Ft William. An anything but predictable race that was damn near impossible to watch if you were from New Zealand! A Kiwi podium sweep for the Junior women, Blenki winning the 1980's class, power rankings and more! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kieran-bennett4/message

World Cup Downhill, EWS, E-EWS and now Ultra Endurance Bikepacking, Joe Nation has just about done it all! We catch up with Joe to talk about his move into the world of Ultra Endurance Bikepacking, what motivated it, how he prepares and of course some unreal stories about his race at the Tour Divide where he finished up third on his first attempt! Don't forget you can save 15% at troyleedesigns.co.nz by using the code "otbpodcast" at check out!