The Pinkbike Podcast

Kaz, Matt, and Dario talk about the beauty of bike park laps, the new Crankworx Full Tilt event, and dig into more reader questions.

Kaz and Dario go over the highs and lows of an exciting weekend of World Cup racing, and a whole lot more.

Kaz, Dario, and Stephane chat about the first round of the Enduro World Cup, and dive into more listener questions.

Episode #286: A New DH Bike, The Future of Enduro, & Reader Questions

Mike Kazimer, Stephane Pelletier, and Matt Beer come to you with the latest MTB news and observations.

Kaz, Dario, and Matt come to you with the latest MTB news and observations.

Mike, Dario, and Stephane go over the highs and lows of Sea Otter, then dive into some fresh reader questions.

It's time for some tariff talk. For this episode we brought in special guests Seve Frothingham (Bicycle Retailer) and Tom Place (Outbound Lighting) to help make sense of it all.

The team talks through this week's news and tech.

The team talks through this week's news and tech.

Henry, Kaz and Dario come to you with the latest MTB news and observations.

Intense is one of the oldest, boldest and storied frame brands in mountain biking. That said, it certainly hasn't been plain sailing for the Californian company. While their ever-present race teams have enjoyed success at world cups, with their race-focused approach providing clarity and intention, the brand's aims have been a bit harder to discern. Regardless of whether it's the 951 deal with Costco, or a greater reliance on carbon manufacturing outside of the US, the brand is going back to its roots and putting the frame-first. As such, their new distribution model takes the same name, and looks to give riders greater freedom with how their bike rides, and their dealer network more agency and freedom when selling an Intense. Brian Park and Henry Quinney sat down with Jeff Steber, Mike Carr and John Hall to talk through the changes.

How light is too light? And what does "instant engagement" really mean anyway?

Dario, Kaz, and Henry gear up for another content tsunami.

We round up this week's news and answer your questions.

Henry and Matt recount the blind tire test, plus normal Dario talks us through one drool-worthy bespoke bike.

This week's podcast brings you Jessie-May, Dario, and Henry to talk through their Show-and-Tells and answer some of your questions.

Kaz, Daz, and Haz run through the Haro Greer review, talk yet more etiquette (as if it ever ends), and give their lukewarm takes on the industry, freeride bikes, and most importantly, the health and growth of Toblerone the shih tzu.

We used to fight over a degree, and now some bikes can offer a degree in either direction with a headset, 10mm on the chainstay, progression adjustment, and smaller geometry tweaks—all from the stock platform. But does this help or hinder the consumer's riding experience? Dario, Daz, and Denry show us their current favorite parts of biking and discuss whether a bike can ever be too adjustable.

Is oversharing a thing in mountain biking? Kaz, Dario, Henry and Matt talk about the ethics and considerations behind pirate trails. Plus, we cover EXT latest DH fork, a steering damper and the Slash+ before answer questions, giving terrible relationship advice and talk about whether the E13 Sidekick hub is a worthy investment.

Last year we visited Specialized's eMTB facility in Cham, Switzerland to ride some bikes and poke around their ebike innovation centre. We sat down with Jan Talavasek, Marco Sonderegger, and Joe Buckley, three of the key people behind eMTB development at Specialized, to talk about past, present, and future. We also got a special appearance from the venerable Marketing Todd, who swears Specialized is done making new bikes and that we should stop asking sneaky questions about future models. They had a lot to say, and we got a few tidbits out of them, so the pod runs a bit long. Alternatively, you can read the article + photos here. This was recorded before we'd figured out how to press the big red button to do video podcasts, but we'll be back soon with our regularly scheduled podcast. 03:07 The Evolution of E-Bikes & the Development of the Turbo Levo 14:58 The Shift in Perception of eMTBs 30:52 Brand Equity & the Levo's Original Name 33:51 The Swiss Office 44:02 Future Developments in eMTBs 50:20 Understanding E-Bike Performance Metrics 56:51 The Impact of Market Timing 01:00:00 Engineering for Performance, Legislation, & Consumer Safety 01:12:04 Charging Technology and Battery Longevity 01:15:59 Data-Driven Design and Testing 01:24:02 Field Testing and Component Tracking

In a special end-of-year podcast, Henry is joined by Kaz, Matt, and Dario to talk through the winners of each category, as well as explain the rationale behind the choices. 00:08:50 Value Product of the Year 00:14:31 Value Mountain Bike of the Year 00:25:16 E-MTB of the Year 00:45:13 Innovation of the Year 01:05:42 Suspension Product of the Year 01:22:01 Product of the Year 01:32:41 Mountain Bike of the Year

After a whirlwind 2024 Season, we had the opportunity to sit down with Jordi Cortes of Fox Factory and Neko Mulally of Frameworks Racing to debrief on the latest tech, the incremental changes that riders are now making to maximize setup, and ask whether aftermarket performance devices are really worth it. Have we got to the stage where it isn't about only setting up your suspension well, but rather setting up your bike to get the most out of your suspension?

Kaz, Dario, Sarah, and Henry bring you this week's Show & Tells, review reflections, and listener questions.

In our first Vodcast, we blast through Kaz's Trek Top Fuel review, Henry showcases his latest snorkeling kit, and Dario talks us through his mighty 41lb enduro bike.

With eight different bikes and several pieces of supporting content, this Field Test has certainly been a big one. Now, it's time for its final piece - the Roundtable discussion, where we answer the ultimate question - how likely are we to recommend these bikes? And what would our order of preference be?

Our usual mix of bike and tech reflections. Does the perfect bike ever really exist?

Hear ye, hear ye, let's talk even more about mountain bikes.

When Greg Minnaar left the Santa Cruz Syndicate, it was about as big of a news story as you get in mountain bike racing. A rider who went against the very best of each generation, it was at one time impossible to think of him racing for anyone other than the Californian brand. One season later, to say he's landed on his feet would be an understatement. His 2024 racing season didn't unfold as he would have hoped, but he rounds out the year with a World Cup podium, fresh motivation, and a partnership with a brand he seems to be very well aligned with, even if now it's about helping other riders win, and not his own racing ambitions. Brian and I caught up with him to talk about old bikes, blank chequebooks and the lucky number 13.

This week, we tune in with the tech team for some Show and Tells and answer your questions. We'd love to answer some of your questions. Pleave us a message here.

This week, Dario reports his findings from a Redbull Rampage that managed to deliver more score controversy than ever, Matt talks about his heavy WTB test tires (and Henry begs to try them), plus Kaz explains why mechanical T-Type is not only possible but viable.

Thank you to so many of you for getting in your questions. We never imagined we'd have so many, and please keep them coming because we are looking forward to working them in to future episodes. This episode, Henry and Brian tackle some more before we take a week off the pod to recharge our batteries. Leave us your question for future episodes here.

Kaz plans his holiday to Bishops Itchington, Kaz and Henry disagree about fork offset and Sarah tries to discern who is more likely to try and buy upgrades, XC or DH riders. Please leave your own question here.

In this Q&A, we answer a lot of your questions about breaking your bike and how to make your bike look as bad as Dario's. To get your question answered, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message at speakpipe.com/pinkbike.

In this Q&A we answer a lot of your questions about everything from fueling your rides, what makes the difference at the highest level, and why Matt Beer will always be faster than us (and probably you too). To get your question answered, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message at speakpipe.com/pinkbike.

We answer your questions and talk about winning pedals, useless graphs and suspension gearboxes (again). To get your question answered, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message at speakpipe.com/pinkbike.

We answer your questions and comments about wheel size, geometry and seatposts. To feature, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message here.

In another Q&A Podcast, Dario, Kaz and Henry have gleaned the comments from the last week's tech articles to answer your questions.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with World Cup racer turned skunkworks rider Bryn Atkinson alongside Shimano's MTB product manager Nick Murdick to chat about drivetrain development, rider feedback, gearboxes, and a lot more. Although they didn't spill the launch dates for new XTR and Saint, they did give us some great insight on why products like Saint sometimes take a (ridiculously) long time to bring to market.

We get asked some great questions in the comments on both articles and videos, so Dario, Kaz and Henry thought it was about time we answered some! To get your question answered, tag an editor in your comment or leave us a voice message here.

Matt and Henry have been busy. Very busy. In the opening weeks of the bike park, they crammed in just about as many runs as they could handle on these bikes to compare, contrast and understand what makes a great downhill bike in 2024. Here, they talk about their feelings and rank the bikes from bottom to top, explaining their reasoning as they go. If you have a question about bike tech, news or racing, please leave us a voice note here, and we'll try to answer it in the coming weeks.

Brian Park and Sarah sat down with Federico Sbrissa, Pinarello's Chief Marketing Officer and Federico Meneghetti, the R&D Engineer on the mountain bike project just after Tom Pidcock took the win at the Nove Mesto World Cup at the end of May. We talked about why Pinarello decided to make a mountain bike after a decade without one, how their prototype mountain bike came to win a World Cup race just four months after the project was started, and what's next for Pinarello in the mountain bike space. We also go into a lot of detail about the suspension, geometry and layup of the Dogma XC cross-country mountain bike.

There was a time when every new bike seemed to be in a spiral of one-upping each other. Saying it came down to who could make the biggest bike would be oversimplifying the conversation, but at the same time, reaches swelled and swelled before coming back down in recent years. Why? We also discuss idlers, fads, and why the mixed-wheeled bike might just be our favourite setup yet.

Orbea has over 180 years of manufacturing heritage, starting as a gun and ammunition manufacturer in the Basque Country of Northern Spain way back in 1840. When the business of gun making waned, the company pivoted and began using the tubing machines and raw materials they'd acquired to manufacture bicycles. In the 1930s, Orbea made the switch to bicycle manufacturing entirely, and by the time the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939, they were producing 50,000 bikes per year. It wasn't always easy going however, and in 1969 the company found itself on the edge of bankruptcy, which would have caused 1,500 workers to lose their jobs. To prevent this, the employees purchased the company from the founders and set it up as a cooperative, which allowed the company to stay in business. A few years later, the company moved their headquarters to Mallabia, where they are still located. To this day, they are still a cooperative, which means that the employees own the company and have a very real say in how it is run.

Last month Dario and Brian traveled down to Auburn, California to tour Specialized's new facility and record a podcast. We were the first media through the door of their new Auburn Innovation Centre, and got to peek behind the curtain of the Ride Dynamics team—arguably the most influential product development team in our industry. The office itself was still under construction. In contrast to Specialized's Morgan Hill headquarters, this new office in Auburn feels much more practical, with less glamour. A place where things get done with a minimum of distraction. We recorded this podcast with The MTB product team of Sam and Brad Benedict, as well as the Ride Dynamics R&D manager Chance. They had a lot to say, and we got a couple of secrets out of them, so it runs almost two hours long. Visit the full Pinkbike article for in-depth photos and more context to the discussion.

Both forks will prove to be very popular, not least because one of them could likely feature on your next enduro bike. Which do we prefer most, and why?

The tenth-anniversary edition of Red Bull Hardline Wales took place over the weekend, and so Mike Kazimer, Dario DiGiulio, Christina Chappetta join Sarah Moore to chat about the progression, the insane runs, things we noticed from the sidelines, and whether we think we could ride the 2024 course if it was all we focused on for the next five years.

Bang-for-buck bikes, ever-improving geometry and some terrible naming conventions, it's never been a better time to get an entry-level mountain bike. And that's not even factoring some of the post-pandemic deals that are on offer. Kaz, Sarah and Dario fill you in with all the details from their test.

We catch up with the tech team to talk all about what they're reviewing, what we're seeing at races and what they would love to ride.

Martin Maes is something of a contradiction. On one hand he's an articulate man with a stoical outlook, and on the other he quite simply doesn't do things quietly. Whether it's coming onto the scene as one of the first true-enduro youngsters before eventually delivering on his potential after many years of trying with GT, or getting mired in a doping scandal and beating downhill racers at their own game, there is so much about his career that is exceptional.

Sarah chatted with Christopher Blevins right after he got back from his whirlwind of a trip to Brazil where he won the first Olympic cross-country race of the season. The 26-year-old American former Short Track World Champion last won a World Cup XCO back in 2021 in Snowshoe, but he came out with all cylinders firing in Brazil with the goal of qualifying for the Paris Olympics and getting as many points for the United States to secure two spots for the men's team. From getting stung by the most poisonous caterpillar in the world, to recovering on downhills, dealing with cramps, life on Specialized Factory Racing, to what he thought of the cross-country race courses in Brazil, this was a really interesting conversation. We also got into why he switched to mountain biking from BMX, his creative pursuits outside of cycling, and being a mountain biker right now in the US.