Podcasts about hardtail

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, Molly Hurford and Peter Glassford discuss 4 listener questions including Hardtail vs. Dual-Suspension, Packs vs. Vests Vs. Bottles Vs. Hip Packs, and then using Structured workouts outside (Spring transition for cycling) and finally, how to know if you are cross-training too much! (#CrosstrainingIsNotACrime)    Submit a question for a future episode with this anonymous form!  This Episode is Brought to  You By:   PAYABLE APPS - Use our link Payableapps.com/ATHLETE – to pay no app fees for 6 months plus for a limited time new users , who use Square , can save on $200 of square App Fees!  Payableapps.com/ATHLETE – Try it out for your next Event, Pizza day, jersey order or clinic/camp!   Consummate Athlete Event and Goal Based Training Plans, available in the Training Peaks Store. This ready to go plans are available to start whenever you are and provide a valuable and proven workouts to guide you to your goal or event. Use Code ‘CAPOD' to get 25% of any of the plans . bit.ly/PGPLANS   Shop Amazon - Use this link to support the show (for free!) while you shop: https://amzn.to/3Aej4jl   Curious about becoming a Consummate Athlete Podcast Sponsor? Please Connect with us HERE   Listen to the Consummate Athlete Podcast Find links to your favorite Podcast App (remember to rate and review!) https://pod.link/1100471297 List to the Consummate Athlete Podcast on Spotify Watch The Consummate Athlete Podcast on Youtube Show Notes For Consummate Athlete Consummate Athlete Phone Consultation Submit a question for a future episode with this anonymous form!  Camel Bak Chase Vest  Big water bottles are getting more popular Recent Podcast episode on going outside for cycling in spring INTENTION - 5 high performance habits on Molly's other podcast  Shred Girls Launch Party for Book #4 of the series    Connect with Molly & Peter Subscribe to our Newsletter Books By Molly Hurford https://amzn.to/3bOztkN Follow The Consummate Athlete on Instagram and Facebook Follow Molly Hurford on Instagram Follow @PeterGlassford on Instagram Consummate Athlete Links for Coaching and other services Past Consummate Athlete Guests: Steve Magness, Dr. Stacy Sims, Dr. Stephen Seiler, Simon Marshall,Frank Overton, Dean Golich, Joe Friel,Marco Altini, Katerina Nash, Kelly Starrett, Geoff Kabush, Ellen Noble, Phil Gaimon, Dr. Stephen Cheung, David Roche, Matt Fitzgerald, Dr. Marc Bubbs, Christopher McDougall, Rebecca Rusch, Kate Courtney, David Epstein ,Kelly Starrett, Juliet Starrett, and many more

War das Überholmanöver von Tom Pidcock beim Olympischen MTB-Rennen in Paris fair? Warum rockte bei den Frauen ein Hardtail? Wer sind die kommenden Stars? Wie sieht es aus in der deutschen XC-Szene? Unsere Redakteure beantworten alle Fragen rund um die megaspannende MTB-Rennsaison 2024.

The hardtail Strat is a different beast from it's tremolo equipped brother, with a tone, and feel of it's own. Today we look at the history, and spotlight the famous players, all with a beautiful 1957 hardtail Stratocaster.Follow me on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/askzac/To Support the Channel:Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZacTip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZacVenmo @AskZac Or check out my store for merch  - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/#askzac #hardtailstrat #stratocasterSupport the Show.

Today on the podcast, the guys discuss Jeff's insane adventure race and Liam's Downieville race recap as well as their recent trip to Mammoth and a new tire from Maxxis before jumping into a classic array of listener questions ranging from if Jeff is totally blind to the best time to replace your cassette and chainring and everything in between. Tune in! Our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCczlFdoHUMcFJuHUeZf9b_Q Worldwide Cyclery YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCxZoC1sIG-vVtLsJDSbeYyw Worldwide Cyclery Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldwidecyclery/ MTB Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mtbpodcast/ Submit any and all questions to podcast@worldwidecyclery.com

Welcome back to OffRoad InRoads and to the episode following Canadian XCM National Championships. We are back from an impromptu summer break for the podcast and we have a busy fall of racing ahead. To kick September off Haley and Lespy traveled to Whitehorse, Yukon to race at the Canadian XCM National Championships. It was an incredible opportunity to visit the Canadian North and to compete for a maple leaf jersey. It was a great weekend for the team with both Haley and Lespy earning their first Elite National titles.Today's guests also made the trip up to Whitehorse and the both share a similar story, it was an incredible experience and I need to go back! First up on the show we have Ruby West who is an athlete that takes multi-discipline to the next level. XCM Nationals was Ruby's 4th National Championship event of the season, having competed in Road, Track, and Gravel Nationals already this season. Ruby finished up 2nd on the day to go with several other National Champs podiums this season. Ruby grew up racing off-road, with the early part of her career spent on the mountain bike and ‘cross bike. She returns to off-road racing to create the balance that she needs to perform her best on the track. We chat about her experience in the Yukon, how she balances pursuing Olympic dreams on the track with her love of many different kinds of bike racing and what the future may hold for her. Next up, we have Carter Nieuwesteeg on the show, a professional off-road and founder of Anything Goes Event Series (AGES), the company that produces the Fernie Gravel Grind. Carter had this event on his radar for a while and although the day didn't play out as he had hoped, he really enjoyed the experience in the Yukon and is counting the days until he gets back there. We hear about what happened in the race and how he turned it around the next week to finish the season up on a high note at the Revy Fifty. Carter essentially holds two full-time jobs, one being an athlete and the other running events for AGES. Between BWRs, MTB Stage Race double-headers and everything that goes into running AGES, it was a full-on summer for Carter but he wouldn't have it any other way. We chat about that and his thoughts on the off-road scene from the dual-perspective of an athlete and an event organizer. Hardtail's are the next big thing, you heard it here first. Thanks to Maxxis Tires for supporting this podcast and bringing you inside the action with athletes at the biggest off-road races in North America.Enjoy the show.Hosted by: @andrewlespyJoined by:  Ruby @ruby__west and Carter @carternieuwesteegProduced by: Bill Schieken @cxhairsNote: Due to technical challenges, this episodes audio quality is not at our typical level, we apologize and will ensure it is improved for upcoming episode. Thanks!

Dylan Johnson tells us why he believes his drop bar hardtail is the perfect bike for the Leadville 100 in this audio story. Written and narrated by Matt Miller. This story first appeared on Singletracks.com on August 29, 2023. Photo credit: Dylan Johnson The Singletracks podcast is brought to you by TPC -- The Pro's Closet. Spring is the perfect time to upgrade, and TPC has an industry-leading selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes, plus frames, wheels and accessories. Each Certified, Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced, and every bike includes thirty day returns. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tpc.bike/singletracks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and enter code Singletracks40 to save forty dollars on every order over two hundred. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/singletracks/support

This week's episode is part 2 of our interviews from the Made Bike Show in August 2023. We speak with Moots, Fat Chance, Hot Salad, Seeker, Neuhaus, Pinebury, Circa, Story Street, Paul's Components, Stinner, Horse, Frameworks and Bosch. Episode Sponsor: Hammerhead Karoo 2 (promo code:THEGRAVELRIDE) Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello, and welcome to the gravel ride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in-depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes. Who are pioneering the sport I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner down, unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. This week on the podcast, I've got round two of my interviews from the made bike show in Portland, Oregon. In this week's episode, we've got John from moots. It's talking about that seven 50 B wheel size got Chris from fat chance. Be vivid from hot salad. Chris McGovern from seeker and McGovern cycles. Nick new house, the pine Berry team, circa story street. Paul's components, Aaron from Stenner. A horse. Frameworks Bosch. We've got it all. Another exciting episode. Can I tell you how jazz that was to attend this show and get all these great interviews And I guarantee I'll have some of them on, for longer form interviews so we can get an even deeper dive as to their backstory and what they're all about as a brand. And frame builder. Before we jump in, I do need to thank this week. Sponsor hammerhead. And the hammerhead crew to computer. As many of you wind down your advent seasons, you may be looking forward to a winter filled with exploration and adventure rides. And there's no better device than the hammerhead crew too, for those adventures. It's the most advanced GPS cycling computer available today with industry leading mapping navigation and routing capabilities that set it apart from other GPS had units. You can seamlessly import. Roots from Strava commute and more you can route and reroute on the fly and create pin dropping routing with all with turn by turn directions. With upcoming elevation changes. You know, this device is always up to date with the latest software as they do biweekly software updates, making sure that they're adding the latest features, whether you bought the device two years ago or tomorrow, you're ready to go with a hammerhead kuru too. For a limited time, our listeners can get a free heart rate monitor with the purchase of the crew to visit hammerhead. Dot IO right now and use the code, the gravel ride. At checkouts today, it's an exclusive limited time offer for our podcast listeners. So don't forget that promo code. Just add the heart rate, monitor to your cart, along with the crew too, and use the code, the gravel ride today. With that said let's jump right in to all these conversations from the made bike show in portland oregon [00:02:48] Jon | Moots: Can I get your name and brand? John Caribou from moots based outta Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Good to see you again, John. You too. One of the like, moots doesn't need a lot to draw attention to itself. The titanium frames have always been gorgeous. We've had you on the pod. I've toured the factory. I know the type of work you do, but one of the bikes you have today is making a lot of noise here at the Maid show for a very specific reason. Can you talk about that? Yeah. It's Yeah very much in prototype stage right now. But the seven 50 D wheel size seems to be catching a lot of people interest and, comments out there on the social medias. But yeah, it's, I think it just lends itself to the lineage and the heritage of Moots over time. Just always being on that forefront of innovation and trying different things. It doesn't mean that. This is a defacto new standard by any stretch. It's definitely a new option and honestly that, that wheel size been, has been ridden for some over the last four to five years. We just haven't seen it. Gotcha. And you W t B was the partner who came to you with the rim and the tire, presumably, to explore this. People who've been around mountain bikes for a while will remember that. 26 to 29 moments. Can you talk about what's the rationale behind a bigger wheel size? Yeah. It's, to me being around the industry long enough, I do remember the introduction of the 29, and it was the same company that, W t V that came to us with a rim and a tire at, in 98 and said, what do you think about this? Let's, do you want to build maybe a test bike? And we all know, the. History of the 29 inch proliferation in the bike world, and not that this is gonna happen there, but always nice to be nimble enough to set up and build a frame around a given wheel size. And Moots is in that position to be able to do that. Yeah I remember that moment and getting on the first 29 ERs and thinking it took a little bit more to get the wheel going, but when you rolled over stuff and when you had those bikes going, It was remarkable for me and I was a very early convert to that bigger wheel size. So it's just a curious kind of intellectual process I'm going through and understanding like, what would a gravel bike feel like as someone who rides very technical terrain, I could see the advantages of rolling over stuff more easily. And you mentioned the contact patch extending on a bigger wheel and what that might mean to the rider. Yeah, I think it's, if you think about. Riding gravel. There's not a lot of extremely technical situations where you're making hard turns. It's a lot of straight line speed. It's a lot of straight line hits to the outer edge of the tire and rim combination at that point. So making it longer and, quite a bit bigger, spreads that out and lessens, washboard, it lessens baby heads and whatever you might encounter. In a similar passion that the 29 did for the mountain bike world. Yeah, I think it's just been really interesting as gravel you could argue that it started out as being road bikes plus as we started to allow bigger tires in there and explore different terrain. But it's super interesting as we get into this moment many years into the gravel evolution, to start just exploring things differently and thinking about, yeah, it doesn't need to feel like a road bike as you're going faster and these bikes are getting more capable. Who knows, maybe a bigger tire size and bigger start, a bigger ring rim size will have advantages that riders will start to see as they start to spend time on this new size. Yeah it'll be interesting and, we're anxious to put more time on it. Honestly our time has been limited, but we're getting there and, throughout this fall, late summer, we'll be logging miles and jotting down our thoughts and getting feedback to W T B and. Anybody that would be interested in listening. Yeah. Amazing. Thanks John. I can't wait for that additional feedback. Yeah, Craig, thanks for having us. [00:06:54] Chris | Fat Chance: Okay. Can I get your name and the brand? Yeah. The name is Chris Chance and the brand is Fat Chance Bikes. We're now building all our bikes in Medford, Oregon. Got a nicely set up shop there and we've just introduced the Thai crisscross, been doing it in steel for a number of years and I'm really excited to be doing it in titanium and the people that have been buying them are really excited to ride them. Were you working with titanium with the mountain bikes many years ago to begin with? Yes. Yeah, we started in 93, building a titanium yoti. Okay. Called it a fat chance back then. But yeah, so we built a bunch of titanium bikes and getting back into, you know, relaunching the brand. A couple of years ago we were mostly doing steel, but you know, Ty really called me back. What do you like about Ty for for a gravel bike purpose? Well, in general I love Thai because, you know, it never rusts. It's got a nice kind of springy resilience to it. I I like to do the engineering where we're, I have much experience in steel in designing bikes and tube diameters and wall thicknesses to get the, the, the ride properties I want, the the resilience, the, the stiffness where I want it, and the, just the lively feel in the bike. And so I I translate the stiffness of a steel tube into titanium using a computer, and that way you get all the benefits of titanium. It's lightness, it's kind of springy feel, but I'm designing the bike more for the stiffness of the ride. So it gives you the performance you want as you're riding, like, especially like off road, you know, if you're going down a, say a trail at like as much as 30 miles an hour, your bike is, you know, bouncing around or whatever, and you're just focused on where the front wheel is going. But if you're bouncing around a bunch, your body is taking information from what the rear wheel is doing through your feet and you, without really being conscious of it, you're doing the corrections of that through the pedals, cranks and, and frame to the wheel to keep the rubber side down. And so how the bike feels is just really important to me that I want to have the rider and the bike work as one. Right. And so having that, that ability to Sense what the bike is doing at some, like, not even a conscious level, but developing the trust that the bike is there for you, you know, you can do what you wanna do and the bike is, is supporting you and having that peak experience. What is the customer journey to get a, a fat chance at this point? Is it, is it a custom process? Are you building stock frames? We built stock frames, but we do some custom sizing and you can you can email us at yo at Fat Chance Bike. And get the conversation started. There's also a phone number on our website, fat chance.bike. It's do bike instead of.com and we can talk on the phone, we can do email and just get everything nailed and build you an awesome bike. I know some of the, you know, challenges in working with titanium tubes are around tire clearance and things like that. Yeah. What, what kind of tire clearance can you achieve? Yeah, so we can do pretty much any tire clearance, if you notice on this spike. We have what we call a demi yolk. Yep. And that affords us the same rigidity, excuse me that a full tube would, would offer, but gives us the, the clearance for wide tires. Like this bike will take up to like a, a 44 millimeter 700 C or a 2.1 up to two inches or 2.1 inches. And if you need to write a double, we can account for that. Typically our stock bikes are just one buys up front. Got it. But we have a lot of room because we're using this demi oak design. And what kind of turnaround time do you look at to get a bike? Yeah. Right now we're in the roughly eight to 12 weeks, depending on the model. Okay. Yeah. Pretty quick. Yeah. That's great. Thanks Chris. All right. [00:10:36] B Vivid | Hot Salad Bicycles: Can I get your name and brand? Yes. It's B Vivid from Hot Salad Bicycles B. Where are you building out of? We're here in Portland. Okay. Yeah. And how did you get into Frame Building? Oh, long story. Give us a short version. We can have you back for the long form one. Okay. I used to sit at Destroy Bike Co in the Bay Area and Sean Eagleton was building bikes there and I was like, this is a thing, I can build bikes. That is absolutely what I'm doing. 15 years later, here I am debuting hot salad bicycles. And I've been chasing welding all over the country. Amazing. So you've built up your expertise and now you're ready to go out with hot salad. Yes, exactly. So you're a custom builder. So talk about the customer journey. Like how do you like to get to know the customer so that you can build the bike that's right for them? What kind of materials do you use? Yeah, so I build in steel and titanium. And I like to talk to the customer. We have quite a few emails back and forth. I would just wanna know where you're riding. Like what are you riding on? What do you like to ride fast? Is that a thing? Do what is your current favorite bike that you like to ride? And then what don't you like about that bike? Yeah. Those are the basics. If we're having that conversation, just say, for example I've been on like a random carbon bike, some specialized bike, and I like the way it feels. Sometimes I, even me, I have a hard time articulating like, what is it that I like or what have I, what I don't like? How do you eke out those qualities that then translate to you as an artisan giving me what I really am expressing? Absolutely. I do some research, right? I go look at that specialized bike and I see what specialize is saying about it. But I also know the inherent differences between carbon, titanium, steel, right? Titanium is gonna be a little flexer. So if we're trying to make a carbon feel, which is what Rook asked for on her bike you're gonna have to go up a tube size right. And that's gonna make it a little bit stiffer, give you that snappier ride quality of a carbon bike when Ty is so much flexer. Gotcha. So there's just small things like that where over the years I collected those tidbits from other builders and other people who are willing to gimme time. Amazing. Yeah. And what type of bikes do you like to build? All types. I'm down for the weird ideas. I built that titanium clunker behind you as well that I showed at Philly Bike Expo. And then this is a beautiful all road that wanted to be a little bit more aggressive because Rook is an excellent rider. And I make commuter bikes. I just making, so it doesn't really matter what type of bike it is. And from a customer interaction, how long does it take to get a bike? Once they've, once you've locked down the design elements of it, you've done your research. How long does it take to produce a bike and get it back out to the customer? Yeah, probably about a month. And I know that's a long time, but I'm currently doing all of my own finish work as well. So unless you want me to send it to Black Magic or something like that. And then it could be probably as little as two weeks. And how do you think about finish work? Are you doing your own painting or are you doing anodizing? What kind of options do you make available for customers? Depends on the material, obviously. Yeah. But I have a powder coder who is excellent and he can do fades, he can do sharp lines. And then I also have, I do. I did the t anodizing on this as well. And then, yeah, those are the two options that I currently offer, but I'm hoping to add wet paint in the nearest future. Okay. Okay. And what's the best way for people to find out more about the brand and your story? Yeah, hot salad bicycles.com. Okay. And are you on Instagram and any, the socials? I'm hot salad underscore bicycles on Instagram. Got it. Thanks for the time. B Yeah, thank you. [00:14:06] Chris | Seeker & McGovern: Can I get your name and brand? Chris McGovern. And now what brand are you gonna say? That's my question. We're here with Seeker right now. We do have a McGovern bike in the house, but we're launching Seeker bike company today. Yeah. That's awesome. So McGovern bikes, custom carbon bikes. Yep. Great looking stuff. You've been building for a while. Yep. But we got these seekers in front of us. So tell me about the brand. The intention and what we're doing here. Yeah. Basically with these metal bikes, the steel and titanium gravel bikes, I'm just trying to get, basically make it more available, get people on bikes, on building more readily available, easier to do. Obviously the materials are superior. Materials for riding gravel, the carbon customer is a different customer, basically, yeah. Where are you building these bikes? These are be, these are being built in the, in Portland. Oregon. Okay. At the moment they're going to be built in Olympia, Washington eventually. But yeah, US made, yeah. And what's the customer journey look like? Or do you have stock sizes? Is this a custom jam? Yeah, so we're gonna do stock with custom options, basically. Okay. So the geo will be stock 50 to 60 centimeters and two centimeter increments. But we can customize anything. So I want you to go to the website, be like, yep, I'm a 54. I want that stock color. I want that build kit. Boom. And we're gonna try to have that two week turnaround. And when I think about my, like tire size desires and things like that, do you have flexibility there or have you built around a particular tire vision? So the gravel this version of bike is designed around a 45 C 700 by 45 and up to a 46 tooth single ring. So it could be two by or one by. Gotcha. But I want you to be able to do unbound and throw the big meat on if you're rolling, if you're Keegan Swenson or whatever, you wanna roll that big single Yeah. With the the mullet build or the Explorer build, whatever. Yeah. We want to have that clearance for that. So we've designed around that. Yeah. And you mentioned you're offering a steel bike and a tie bike. What do we see different visually between the two bikes and what sort of adaptations do you make going to tie from the steel? So on. What we see here basically is the same geometry, same style. We have a different seat stay cluster on this one. I do think that the tie bike will end up being the mono stay, like the steel. Okay. We're just need, we're working on repeatability of that. Tie's a little bit trickier to bend but we're gonna do that, I'm pretty sure. The same weeding of the tubes, the down tube is swedged for a little bit to the T 47 bottom bracket. So it's a little stiffer, laterally, 44 mil head tubes. The geometry will be very similar. The, if you've ridden tie, the ride quality is a little bit different. Yeah. Titanium's kind of like air quotes, the forever material. So that's why the tie offering is there. It's a different customer again. Nice. Yeah. Let's talk quickly, Chris, about the origin of the Seeker brand. 'cause I do remember this project at the very earliest start of Covid. Yeah. Lockdowns. Yeah I've, okay. I've been riding bikes for a million years and your brain goes in weird places when you're riding your bike all the time by yourself. And I've had this saddlebag designed in my head forever, and usually just meant I'd come home from a training ride and get the scissors out and chop on the bag I was currently using. And during Covid, for whatever reason, I just decided I got on Amazon, ordered a sewing machine, bought some fabric, and started making saddlebag. I love it. And it turned out to be really good. Some people wanted it, so I made some for some friends and then I was like, oh, I'm gonna get some labels. And I actually was labeling them as McGovern cycles thinking, Hey, when someone buys a bike, I'm going to throw a saddle bag in their box. Yeah. And then bike shops wanted 'em and I was like, ah, it's gotta be something else. So we came up with the seeker logo. I worked on the artwork with Matt Loomis, who's done a bunch of work with Paul Components. We came up with this cool logo. And the people like it. Like we've been selling a lot of t-shirts and stuff and so I felt oh, this branding is strong. Let's do some bikes. Yeah. I think it's super evocative seeker. Yeah. Exploration. Yeah. Makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Are you I've seen you explore a lot of different bag. Options for your running. Yeah. For various things. Yeah. Are you now just settled on the seat pack as being the one product from Secret? Oh, no. So it's our only like stock product for the bags right now. I do some top two bags. I do some I call it the rapid response bag, like for racing scenarios, it's like quick to it. I do frame bags. Those are a little bit more custom. They require a template. Yeah. I build, I built hydration vests. I built. Fast packs. I built backpacks. I'll sew anything really. But I think the secret stuff, we're gonna keep it towards the bike oriented stuff. Possibly. The new website is Secret Adventure Gear, so it's still open-ended. Yeah. You're ready to go? Yeah. We're ready to go. We're ready for whatever you need. We're ready. I was just gonna ask, what's the best place for people to find out more information about the bikes and the bags? I think right now as the Instagram handle, yeah. Okay. Is a secret At secret, a dv. The website is secret venture gear.com. Sweet. Yeah. Thanks for sharing this, Chris. Yeah, thank you. [00:19:07] Nick | Neuhaus: Can I get your name and brand? I'm Nick Newhouse with Newhouse Metalworks. Nick, where are you building out of? We're building out of Novato, California, so Northern Bay Area. Nice. Right up the road from myself in Mill Valley. That's it. I started to hear about your brand through a neighbor in Mill Valley who had one of your hard tail mountain bikes and then later learned you've been doing some gravel bikes. Can you just talk a little bit about the brand and the type of gravel bikes you're putting out there in the world? Yeah, so we just released this weekend actually our steel anti Tanium drop bar, bike lines. The steel line is the Solana. It'll be available in a road, an all road and a gravel version. And to pick the part, those three different categories, what do they translate to? Yeah, so the road version will have a 32 C max. It'll fit a double chain ring larger sizes for those longer road rides. The all road model kind of blends a little bit of gravel, a little bit of road, right. It's got a, a little bit of that road geometry. It'll fit up to a 40 C tire. Still can fit a double chain ring and then the gravel model will go up to a 48 C tire. And it'll be won by specific for those rougher roads, dirt roads, gravel roads wherever you wanna take it. Gotcha. And I interrupted you, I think you were gonna move on to the titanium model over here. Yeah. So the Eon is our titanium version of that. It'll be offered in the exact same configurations. So you'll have your road, you'll have your all road, and you'll have your gravel. We will also offer the eon in an advanced model, which will be very much a, a custom frame set and a departure from our stock sizing. And it'll come with three D printed dropouts that are unique to your specific build. Okay. And it does look like on this titanium model, you're doing some unique stuff with three D printing already. Yeah, so we we use three D printing on all of our bikes. You know, it's not a gimmick. We use it to make sure that we're building the best bike for our customers and the best bike that we can possibly put out into the world without you know, going to a point where they're just, you know, this unobtainable price point. So we always three d print our y yolk. It just, it helps us have flexibility and material choices for rider, weight, size use. We do that on our mountain bikes and all of our drop bar bikes. Got it. And what was, what's sort of the quick origin story of the brand? Yeah, so I've got a a background in motor sports. I've always kind of just fabricated things. Always been a cyclist, you know, you can't grow up in Marin County and not ride bikes. And a couple years ago people finally just wanted to, you know, they, they were knocking on the door wanting to buy bikes and, you know, I wanted to build good bikes. So, yeah. Am I correct? The sort of origin started building. Hardtail mountain bikes. Yeah. That's definitely what we're known for. Okay. So our, our hummingbird model, definitely our top seller. Well received, well reviewed and we're just looking to expand that success into the drop bar market. Nice. And working with both titanium and steel, obviously there's different challenges and different learning curve around working with titanium. Did you start doing titanium on the mountain bikes? We did. Okay. Yeah. So You know, titanium has just always been something that was present, needed to be done. You know, it's like there's a right bike for everybody. There's a right material for everybody based on use, based on needs, based on price point. The way I like to say it right is your steel bike. It's your Cadillac, C T SS V ride's. Great. You can live with it day to day. It comes in at a good price point. The titanium bike is your Corvette. It's sportier. It's faster, right? You know, maybe not the greatest for taking the family to the park. But it serves a purpose as well. Got it. What's the customer journey look like for you? If they've discovered the brand, what does it look like from them getting into contact with you for the first time to getting a bike in their door? Yeah, so we really try to maintain the quickest lead time possible. Right now we're at four months. Our throughput is very high. We have a very manufacturable process right there in Marin County. If a customer wants a bike, they have options. You can order a bike on our website. You can order your build kit on our website. You can email us, we can help you with sizing. It's really, you know, the door is open to, to the customer experience that's desired. Okay, gotcha. Cool. Well I look forward to seeing you later this year at Adventure Revival Ride. Yeah. With the Marin County Bike Coalition and definitely have to check out your facility at some point. Definitely, yeah, we'll be moving into a new shop shortly and we plan to have an open house, so we'd love to have you there. Fantastic, thanks. Thank you. [00:23:28] Kyle | Pinebury: Can I get your name and the brand? Kyle Rancourt. And the brand is Pine. Berry. Can you tell us a little bit about what you're showing here from Pine Berry? Yeah. We make lightweight Marino, wool cycling apparel and active wear. Nice. And where are you manufacturing? In Massachusetts. Our first production one was made in Massachusetts and we're also manufacturing in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Hilderbrand North Carolina for our, our knitwear. And when did you launch the brand? April, 2023. Okay. April of this year. Yeah. And what was it about wool and the type of wool you're using that inspired you to go on this journey and start the brand? I wanted to, mainly, I wanted to make the cycling apparel and active wear that I wanted to wear. And I fell in love with lightweight, you know, performance Marino wool a long time ago. And I haven't seen anybody really in the industry focus on that. It always seems like. It's sort of an afterthought for some of the brands, like they'll have a small collection or a piece or two. And so when doing research before starting this brand, I discovered this amazing fabric in, in yarn manufacturer outta New Zealand called New Yarn. Okay? They have a patented yarn spinning technology. It's twist free spinning. So when you, when you spin merino yarn and it gets twisted, you take out a lot of the natural benefits of the fiber. You reduce elasticity, durability, and loft. And so breathability and new yarn with their twist free spinning they're, they're able to make a fabric that's almost nine times more durable. It has 85% more elasticity. It's five times faster drying, and the list goes on. It sounds like it just, Supercharges what we know about wool to begin with. Exactly. That's the perfect way to put it. So is it, is it still considered Marino wool or is this like an entirely new word we need to learn? That's a great question. I still refer to it as Marino wool. Okay. But new yarn kind of is, is branding it as performance wool. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting, you know, you were talking about building this brand around. Sort of purpose-built cycling clothing. And those was that was the cycling clothing you'd wanted to wear and Yeah. Yeah. My experience, like I, I love Marino. I kind of think about it from a hiking perspective and went on a bike packing trip and wanted to wear a t-shirt, so I grabbed a hiking Marino wool wool shirt. So it's super cool that you're focused on kind of cycling as your core market. Obviously the clothing works everywhere else. Yeah. Do you wanna talk a little bit about, it seems like you have both kind of performance tees. As well as jerseys, right? Yeah. Yeah. And actually I like that you brought that up. 'cause I, I wanted to make a point there about our performance tees. Even though they are meant for sort of all sports and all outdoor activities, they have some elements of, of cycling built into them. Like they're a bit longer than a typical tee. They're longer in the back than they are in the front. And actually I'm working on developing a tee that would have a. A zippered pocket in the back of it. Okay. Like a pullover tea that has a zippered pocket. So, nice. Yeah. What's the best way for people to learn more about the brand and the products? It go to our website, pine Bury Us. We have a ton of information on there. We have a whole page dedicated to new yarn. We have a whole page dedicated to our story, you know, in, in addition to domestic manufacturing, all our products remain in the us. We're also plastic free. All of our packaging and shipping materials are plastic free and recyclable. And we have, you know, a real commitment to like sustainability in the environment. I love it. And are people ordering directly from your website today? Yeah. You can order directly and we ship anywhere in the world. Okay. Yeah. One of the final questions I'll ask you is, you know, oftentimes I think in, at least in my mind, historically, will got, will got, will got categorized as something that I'm gonna wear when it's cold. Yeah. Great. Can you dispel or affirm that statement? No, that's a great question. It is not just for cold weather. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanna underline that we are actually specializing in lightweight wool that can be worn year round. In spring 24. We'll have an ultra light Marino that would, will blow people away at how light and fast drying it is and could be worn in, in the hottest of climates. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I knew that. I was teasing a little bit. Because I'm with you. It's like, I remember on that bike packing trip, it was quite hot on during the days, and it's just a great material in terms of how it handles moisture, how it dries, how it feels, and I'm, I'm a little bit surprised more people don't understand that and embrace it. Right. My, my favorite way to put this is to get in a little, a little like sciency here. Our body's cooling system is evaporative, right? We're evaporative cooling system. So you heat up, you sweat. The, the, the sweat captures heat and when it evaporates, it carries the heat away from your body. So you want a garment that's gonna support that system. Marina wool is by far the best to do that. It is, it's able to wick moisture away from the body at the vapor stage, so before it turns into a liquid. So that's why it can dry fast five times faster than synthetics or conventional Marino. Yeah, this new yard Marino. Awesome. Thanks for sharing all that. Yeah, thank you. [00:28:39] Rich | Circa: All right. Can I get your name and the brand? My name is Rich Fox and I'm the founder of Circa Cycles in Portland, Oregon. You beat me to my next question, which is, where are you building? We're in Portland right now. And you're a Portland based builder? We are, yeah. We've been doing this in Portland for, I started the company 10 years ago. The first two years we're pretty much r and d. As you can see we do things a little bit differently than some folks do, and the first couple of years were just spent basically in our underground lab. And we always with the same, we will get into what is different about these bikes, but using this same technique from the get go, the underlying philosophy. Yes. There were some things we and the first generation prototypes definitely are different from where we ended up. Sure. So why don't you talk about, the attributes of the bike that make it different than almost anything I've seen today. Oh, okay. Sure. So what you're looking at is a bonded anodized aluminum. Lugged frame. So we're anodized lugged and bonded aluminum. And which you can also laser etch into, which is also another fun thing that you brought. Pretty amazing finishes I see over there in the corner. Thanks. So when we talk about lugs, and I did talk to another builder who was working with lugs, which were the much more traditional style that my father's road bike has, we're definitely not talking about those type of lugs here. We're talking about a lot more substantial. Parts of the bike in your version of a lug? Yeah. In, I guess I'd have to, I'd have to ask you what stands out as how sub What do you mean by substantially? I think this sort of oversize nature, like it appears to the naked eye. Oh, okay. That almost the entire kind of seat collar area that's joining the top tube and the seat tube is one large lug rather than a petite. Crafted one that got TIG welded. Okay. Yeah. There are a few things going on. So as I was, when we'd made the decision to get away from welding altogether and work with the bonded assembly, we knew that we would, we'd also made the decision around the same time that if we're gonna bond, we're gonna have to create our own lug system. If we're gonna create our own lug system, it's gotta be. Because, and we would've to create our own lug system because it'd have to be something that Maxim maximizes the performance characteristics of the adhesive systems that we're gonna be using. So there's nothing off the shelf that you can buy that's going to do that. So we'd have to engineer a solution that would handle that for us. Along the way we decided, okay, we don't want to cast those lugs because the general volume strategies around bike frame manufacturing and the way that things. Change over even the way that angles change across size variations in a frame. 'cause they don't scale geometrically or logically in a way. Yeah. We would have to, we would need some kind of a lug manufacturing strategy that would be able to do lower volume and give us incredibly precise control over certain aspects. For example, the tube to the tube to lug interface we need. Super, super tight control at that bond gap. Yeah. And we'd also really need to understand a lot about the bond surfacing itself. So the reason those lugs are somewhat beefy is that a few things are going on. One is that we are trying to maximize contact area for the bond. Yeah for the bond. Two, we are solving a problem of We want the thing to look stout. Yeah. You in the way early days of of deciding what we were doing, there were prototypes that we put in front of people that's, and they said, oh, that looks fragile. And if you're already doing something that's a bit unique and a little bit quite, is off the beaten trail to some re in some respects, you need to do a. W put some extra design work into a SW and keep things that people might be concerned over. So what type of technique are you using, say, for this head tube? Are you machining that out of a block of aluminum? Yes. Everything, all of the connectives on the frame. So all of the lugs, the dropouts any connectives on the seat stays, et cetera. Those are all proprietary things that we've designed, engineered in c and seeded from solid blocks of aluminum billet. Gotcha. I'm using a combination of three, four, and five axis. C N C machines. Yeah. It's interesting when you look at the junction up here on the C tube connecting these tubes in that bolted in right. Does that sort of create limitations around the sort of tire diameters that you can achieve for a gravel bike? No. No. That's definitely that. While there are certain areas on this, the frame that we're looking at right now, that might be a little, that might have a restriction for what you can do that's not the, that's not the, that's not the area. Okay. So that particular solution that's going on there is driven by the fact that the C NNC work that we do, the precision the complexity of the parts, the precision of the details, the quality of the finish work that we're trying to achieve makes those parts. And at a volume that we're not a hundred thousand a year manufacturer. Yeah. The volumes that we're working at makes those parts pretty expensive. So ultimately we have to find ways. Of elegantly identifying components in the frame assembly that we can do in higher volumes so that we can offset the cost. So at the top of the seat stays those plugs, you'll see the same part. This is the same part as what's on the other side, it's mirror. Yeah. So that's two of, two of the same part on the same frame. That's good. But now I can use that same part on any on any frame size. Gotcha. Which gives me some extra flex, so all of a sudden I can really amortize out the cost of that part across lots of different frame sizes. Yeah, I feel like this is a bike that needs to be seen to be best understood, to Definitely encourage listeners to go and check out the show notes and find a link to circa bicycles. Ride circa.com. Right on. And yeah, just as far as like the customer journey goes, if once someone discovers the brand, what does it look like to get a bike underneath them? Are you building fully custom bicycles or is it a stock range? We don't do, we found that we don't really need to do fully custom. Yeah. An interesting byproduct of our manufacturing strategy is that because we have this modular kit of parts, essentially that we've developed over time is that it lets us, our, we consider it we have three, three fit options. Essentially, we have a standard geo which is suited towards. The majority of the population from a arm and leg and torso length Yeah. Standpoint. But we also are really easily able to create a long reach or a short reach version of the same design. Yeah. And that's basically a free thing. So we're essentially doing semi-custom geometry for free. If you do have a fit scenario where you need to be upright or you want to be more if you have a long torso. A short torso. Yeah. Or you have some kind of a, a. Physical limitation if you have less mobility in your back or more mobility. Yeah. If you needed a sort of a higher stack would you adjust the machined head tube to achieve that? Or is that not an area that you adjust? It's typically not necessary. Okay. We, our size range right now is pretty broad. Our, we have the, our platform goes from an what we call our extra small, which Although you can't see it in our conversation here, this is the seat tube for our extra small, okay. Which is for those folks listening imagine basically something about the length of A B M X seat tube. So we created that for a rider who had, I think she required a 711 millimeter standover. It's either seven 11 or eight 11. One of those, okay. But very super short stand. So we created like a 17 degree sloping top tube for her. And but now that's become our extra small platform. Nice. Covers a pretty petite rider. And then our extra large platform goes up to 6 3, 6 4 riders. Okay. So between that size range and the ability to pull the cock pin in and out we feel like we do a pretty good job of accommodating most. G I'm sure most fit requirements. Super cool. And what is the typical turnaround time? It depends on on load at any given time, but bare minimum is six weeks. And that just depends, but that's bare minimum. And it can go out to two to three months depending, but sell them longer than that. The only time we've ever had something that really stretched. Was during the nightmare of Covid times. Yeah. And nobody could get any parts. Yeah. So the frames would be done and we'd be sitting around really hoping our order from shaman or RA would show up of course. Which they never did well. Super striking bikes and encourage people to go take a look at 'em. Thanks for the time. Thank you so much for paying attention for for Karen. [00:37:22] Devin | Story Street: Can I get your name and the brand? Yeah. My name is Devin Ross and I am the owner and the builder for Story Street cycles. How did you get started building? I've been working in the ski in the in and the bike industry since about 2006, and most of my experience was through on the service side of things and retail and sales. Kind of on a whim back in 2015, decided to take a frame building. Course at U B I in Ashland and kind of really enjoyed it and started doing some more kind of small custom building for friends and family. And over the last few years have developed that into kind of our first run of production, small batch frames. We do a. All road frame and then an all mountain frame. Cool. Let's talk about this all road frame. Does it have a, a, a sort of model name or just your all road? It's just the ar. Okay. I have the AR and the am What are you building this frame out of? So the frame is out of steel. It is kind of a combination of Columbus steel and a little bit of the kasai tubing from Japan. The All of the hardware and all of the small components such as the head tube, the bottom bracket, and dropouts are all from Paragon Machine Works. And then the finishing kits kind of are all the color matched options from Wolf Tooth. And what size wheel are you running on this bike? This current one is a six 50 B with 2.1 tires on there. Okay. The general frames are, Designed with clearance up to 45. I think usually like a 38 to a 42 for a lot of this type of riding is kind of the sweet spot. But we can, we got clearance and everything to go up to some bigger options. Nice. And what's sort of the, the customer journey when they discover you? You mentioned you've sort of brought a small batch phenomenon. Mm-hmm. So you have a handful of bikes in stock. You typically try to fit them on one of those models and Yes. So we do. On the all road side, we have a 52, 54, 56, and 58 in the pre-made ones. The frames are all kind of built and welded and ready to go. And then when a customer is ready to to purchase them, then we will kind of figure out what the overall paint scheme and the the highlight. So the, all of the frames are gonna be painted, are gonna be powder coated to the customer specification. And then all of the finishing kit and everything, our decals, we try to go along the same kind of seven standard colors that wolf tooth does, just to make all of the, the matching and everything like that make your accessorizing easy. So that way we can still get the, the same custom kind of one of a kind finish that that people can get with choosing their color and choosing their finishing kit without the the longer lead time. For a full custom build. If people are still interested in doing kind of their own custom geometry we see that a lot with people looking for a little bit taller of a head tube. A lot of times people that have maybe longer torsos, shorter legs and stuff, we still do offer those options to do a fully custom in either of our. Or All Road or, or All Mountain. Okay. And if people wanna find more out about the brand, how do they find you? So we're on Instagram at story street cycles and then our website is story street cycles.com. Awesome. Thank you. Cool. [00:40:55] Paul | Pauls Components: Yeah. Can I get your name and company? Paul Price Paul Component Engineering. Good to meet you Paul. And you too. Thanks. Yeah. I know you've been around the industry for a long time making beautiful componentry outta California. The one area I wanted to talk to you about though are these clamper disc brakes cable actuated, disc brakes. It's something I've long seen on some of the sexiest bikes around, but misunderstood because I had some old, I won't name the brand. Mechanical disc brakes. That really didn't serve me well. This is true. This, yeah. The the cable breaks were always for the cheap bikes and there's certain advantages for cable breaks. And I knew when we developed this thing that there had to be some people that just wanted to keep it simple, but really wanted a really good product and didn't necessarily enjoy bleeding their breaks that much. Yeah. And how, how are you able to achieve. The stopping power of a hydraulic brake with a cable actuated brake. That took about three years and about 10,000 prototypes. But we just make everything to a much tighter tolerance, like we just made it as good as we can. All those other cheap brakes come from Taiwan and everything is just smashed and squished to, to get made. We actually machine to very tight tolerances, so everything fits together really nice. We also bolted up a little bit and figured out a way to just get tons of power out of it. It go ahead And does it mount in the exact same fashion as a hydraulic disc brake would on my bike exactly the same. Exactly. The mounting is exactly the same. Yeah. Okay. And do the different levers have different poll ratios that you need to consider? This is important. Yeah. The long pole lever, which was, is a v brake lever that's called a long pole. And then you can buy the clamper with that arm or a shorter arm for like your road bike levers and your short pole levers. We make something called a cantilever. And then we also make a camp campy version because it pulls a completely different amount of cable as well. And are those. Completely different versions of the brake bracket itself, or are they just a component? No. To you buy the brake, which is not cheap. But you can just change one part to change to match any lever that's around. Got it. And are we using a typical brake pad, disc brake pad in Yeah the pad is a, is came out of an avid model that. It fits a whole bunch of different breaks and we just wanted to pick something to where you could go in a bike shop in the middle of, the desert or New York City or wherever and they're gonna have some pads in stock, so that's not a problem. Going back to my cable pole, breaks of my mountain bike of yester year. Yeah. Now I remember cable stretch needed to be adjusted. Obviously you've got brake pads that'll burn out a little bit. Yeah. How do I deal with that with a clamper product? You first thing you do is you install 'em and then you go on three bike rides. And what that does is it moves all the grease around that's inside all the parts which fit very well together, all get cozy together and the the pads bed into the, to the rotor real nice. And after that, your housing is compressed as it's gonna get your cable stretched on the initial stretch. And you're good to go. And one of your colleagues was showing me a little micro adjust you could do on it, that it seemed like it would tighten the pad up. Is that right? Yeah, both sides, there's adjustment which you can actually do on the road or trail, which is a really nice feature. Absolutely. Yeah. What's the best way for people to find out about Paul's components? Paul comp.com. P a u l c o m p.com. And And check that out. Send us an email, give us a call if you have any questions. Perfect. Thank you. You're welcome. [00:44:45] Aaron | Stinner Frameworks: All right. Can I get your name and brand? Yeah. Aaron Stenner Frameworks. Nice, Aaron. And where do you guys build out of? We are in Santa Barbara, California. Nice. And how long have you guys been building? I've been building full-time since 2012. And current team's been in place since 2 20 15. How did you get into it in the first place? I was managing a bike shop and running a pretty robust like fit department, so we were doing a lot of fitting. And I ended up going to U B I to just learn a little bit more about frame building and why angles and why this and why that. And so I learned how to build bike at U B I and I came back and people heard that I knew how to build frames and it just snowballed from there. Yeah, that seems to be the way it works. It's friends and family. Yeah. Then extended friends. And then maybe I got a business on my hands. Exactly. Yeah. So then were you building with steel at that point? Yeah, primarily steel. And I started doing like lug bikes and braised bikes and then morphed into TIG welding. And we've been doing primarily TIG welding bikes since 2013. And are the bikes typically custom built for the customer or is are you doing small batch? So we do we don't we build the order, so we don't have any inventory, but we do have sizing, size models. So we do have a 52, 54, 56 kind of model based and we are model based, meaning like we have a gravel frame model and we have a road model. So model based, we have sizes, but we can do custom geometry depending on what you need. And then we have a paint program that's similar where we have pre-picked schemes or pre-designed schemes, and then you can iterate and design within that. Gotcha. Yeah, I've seen a lot of really stunning sinners out there on the roads. Thank you. Which is great. What is this bike that we're looking at today? Yeah, so we have the, our new Refugio. So we've, our Ravel bike has been our refugio for many years. And this one, The big upgrades is we went from a 45 C tire to now being able to fit a 50 C tire. Brilliant. Keeping Our chain stays still relatively short. These are at like 4 28. And we have U D H compatibility, so running the universal STR universal trailer hanger. And it also still work with a transmission drive train. So on this bike we have transmission on the rear like a road oriented crank set up front with a 42 tooth train ring. So you get this like really nice wide range. Mountain bike, road meets, road bike compatibility build, buildable. Yeah. Model. Those are our big changes. So U D H and 50 C tire. And then we also are integrating all of our cables internally now on Okay. Gravel frames as well. And that's a dumb question. As you've built a frame like that, you're committed, you gotta go inside. At that point. Yeah, to a degree. And that's kind of stuff we're working on. So like right now yeah you more or less need to pick a bar, stem and headset that worked that way. I think everybody's learning that this is a nice way to route this stuff. So we are we do also have the ability to run like regular external cables and just have 'em drop into the top of the headset as well. Okay. So you could run traditional parts as well. Okay. Yeah. So both work. So you don't have to commit only to one one style. Gotcha. And what does the customer journey look like once they discover you? Like how much interaction are you having with me as a customer prior to ordering? And then what does that timeline look like to get a bike these days? Yeah, so we have we just launched a configurator like literally last Wednesday. We've been working on it for about a year. So you can actually go on and design your pain scheme, build out your bike online and get a live quote and So you could have a very hands-off approach if you're that type of customer. But we also, our email's on there, we have a contact form right there. If you have any questions, you have any concerns, you can just email us in. Yeah. And we're happy to answer any questions. And we do everything from the configurator, which is pre-picked, more or less to full-blown custom if you want it. The configurator will give you a very guided tour of costing. And then if you want to go full custom, that's more of a conversation to have. Yeah. Gotcha. Just pick your own adventure. I feel like every time I come across a bike customizer, I lose tens of minutes of my life dreaming, changing, going backwards and forwards to try to find something wonderful. Yeah. Yeah. That was the idea is we wanted people that don't want to email in or don't have the time to do the emailing. Yeah. We wanted to give 'em a tool that they could sit out at the end of the night and play around with and get an idea about our brand and what things cost and what we're all about without having to have a direct conversation. But we're there and we're ready when they want to have that conversation. Yeah. Awesome. So remind us, how do we find you? Yeah, so Entner Frameworks is our website just tinder frameworks.com. We're on Instagram sinner frameworks. Those are our two main points of contact. And yeah, let us know if you have any questions. Perfect. Thanks for the time. Awesome, thank you. [00:49:12] Thomas | Horse Cycles: Can I get your name and brand? Thomas Callahan Horse Cycles. Thomas, how long have you been building under the Horse cycles brand? 17 years. Amazing. Yeah. What got you started to begin with? I was doing sculpture fine art, so I had a studio and was ready to commit to a nicer bike and decided to make the tooling and buy the tooling to build my own bike rather than invest in a, I think I was looking at Italian track bikes at the time. Okay. And then people just started to ask me to build them bikes, which was really great. 'cause I wasn't, it was hard to fine art wasn't super accessible, conceptual fine art wasn't super accessible to a larger audience. Yeah. Yeah. Super cool. And what's the bike that we're looking at today? Are you all custom or do you have sort of product models? Yeah, they're product models, which is really nice. It's like a really good base to work from. So even the custom stuff, usually there's a platform, all road platform, a road platform, a mountain platform. From there we go. Custom. This is a fully custom tie bike. This is tie number five. And it's a all road adventure bike. It's got the envy adventure fork on it, tapered head tube super supple Vermont Rider customer. So yeah, it's got a SCO fade from the head tube back and yeah. It's beautiful. Have you been working with Titanium for a while? I've been working with it for about five years. Just, before I put it out in the universe just to make sure that I have the confidence and the skills and was playing around with it. 'cause I wasn't sure I really wanted to go that way. But it's a fun material to grow into. You just really wanna make sure that you're doing it properly and what does a customer journey look like? If they wanted to work with you, just people reach out. Get some more info about the process, get on the website, talk about their needs and see if, it would work out. And usually around four months lead time and do a lot of full builds. But I really love connecting with people. That's one of the best parts other than being able to work with my hands is really connecting with people. To build something together. And that connection is really why I do what I do, yeah. 'cause, people are great. It's such a great journey as a customer, working with a builder to express like our collective vision for this bike. Yeah. And then receive it. I imagine that you get a lot of love back from customers. Yeah, I do. And really the people that I'm able to work with, first of all, I'm so appreciative. Because it takes a lot of effort for customers, but they're really amazing people. The industry is great 'cause, it's a BA based on physical and mental fitness, and that's usually provides a pretty positive, personal platform and, they're good solid folks. So a hundred percent. If people wanna find out more about horse cycles, where do they go? They can go to horse cycles.com, they can go to my Instagram horse cycles, gimme a phone call, reach out. I'm, I'm there and I'm not going anywhere. Perfect. Thanks for the time. Thank you. [00:52:13] Jonathan | Frameworks: Can I get your name and, and company? Yeah. I'm Jonathan from Framework Bicycles. We're based outta Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Nice. And how long have, have you guys been around? We've only been building bikes for about one year now, but my wife and I own and operate an aerospace tool and die shop Gotcha. For about 11 years. So that makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Why you have the capability to do these amazing and aluminum lugs that we're looking at. That to me are like sort of one of the more striking features of the bike. Thank you. Do you wanna just kind of describe how this bike is constructed in the tubes and it lugs? Yeah, so I guess we use a hybrid construction method that's not unique to us right now. Like Bastion's doing it, Atherton's doing it. Pivot just did it with that full suspension bike. I know you're a gravel guy, but we machine bill it aluminum lugs and wind filament wound carbon tubes in house that are bladder molded and cured in in mold. And then we bonded together. Essentially, the joint details are all handled by the C N C machine. Okay. So you've got sort of the, the joints of the bike, if you will, with these aluminum lugs that you're machining, and then in between carbon fiber tubes. Yep. And you were, you were mentioning that you have the ability to kind of customize the carbon fiber tools for the cust Yeah. Tubes. Yeah, the tubes. So we, we have a couple main things we can change. Everything we do is inside of a three D modeling software. So each bike is a total one-off. It's parametrically modeled. So we enter your fit data tire clearance, all that kind of stuff. The CAD model updates from there. So if I, if I needed sort of a, a taller head tube would Yep, totally. Would that translate into, yeah, we, we would look at, well the combination of top tube drop head tube, it's gonna change everything in the back of the bike from their back, right? Yep. So we'd look at your touch points for the bars, head tube lengths from there also with the four you wanna run. So that's gonna give you that dimension there on the head tube. And then, Even things like where these joints intersect one another, we can control that. So say you were a small rider and this tires getting too close to the down tube, we can actually bring that up a bit. Gotcha. Yeah. Gotcha. And what kind of, if I came to you, what kind of modifications do you consider for the tubing on the carbon fiber side? If it was a super heavy rider? Super tall rider? Yeah. Wall thickness is like, we can change tube diameters too. So I would say there's two spectrums. If you're a really small rider, you don't need like a really round, big round tube. It's too much for you. Yeah, so my wife, like for example, I run a smaller down tube on that so that the shape, the size of the tube and the shape is your main driver in terms of strength. From there, what we tune is wall thickness, so how many layers of carbon we put into each tube, and then below that is the fiber orientation. Because we're C N C, winding them, we can whine for torsional strength, bending, stiffness, anywhere in that spectrum to give the different compliance in the frame where you need it. Since it's a somewhat novel approach to frame construction. Yeah. How do you describe to customers or would be customers, what the ride quality might feel like on this bike? It's hard. So we do have some bikes out for review with media outlets right now, but they're custom bikes that are built for those people. Yeah. So they, they'll ride it, but it's like, if I made you a bike for your fitting, it's gonna be a bit different. So what I would describe it as is kind of picking the best of all worlds. You get some damping from the way the joints go together. You still have the kind of lightness and strength of carbon fiber, but with none of the chatter or buzz or like squeak in the bottom bracket. 'cause everywhere we're interfacing metal parts, it's going to a metal part on our bike. Okay. So really stiff bottom bracket shelf. And it they ride really quietly. Yeah. Someone else had mentioned that. You know, this type of joint juncture up here does add a lot of rigidity to how the stays come into the tube here. Like this detail here. Yeah. Yeah. So what we do to try to get some of that back is, I'm a big proponent of top tube drop. Like basically the, the stick out of your seat tube, your ride perception is gonna be way more on how your saddle's moving back and forth with frame flex than anything happening in the frame. So that's why people are playing with things like the drop stays. To try to get that to bend in like an SS shape a little bit. Yeah. But if you just make this cantilevered bar longer, you're gonna get way more comfort from that. Got it. That's basically the easiest way to do it. What does the customer journey look like to discover you and how do they find you? And then what does it look like from there If you wanna purchase the bike? Yeah. 'cause we're super active on Instagram. That's basically how most people have found us. I'm big on just sharing process stuff while I'm in the shop. People either love it or at least they'll like check it out quickly and come back like a month from then. So I'm on stories all the time showing how we machine stuff, how we make the equipment that makes the bikes. So pretty much right now we're trying to get set up with a couple shops, but we're direct to consumer. Yeah. So it's reach out to us. I'll email you back. We typically recommend that if you're not very confident about your fit, like where your touch points are on the frame that you work with the fitter local to you. Yeah. Send us that detail. The discussion from there is what type of bike are you looking for? Road bike, gravel bike in that spectrum. Mountain bike. So your touch points and the style of bike you want kind of dictate the geometry we go to from there and then it's ticket deposit and we ship you a bike in like four to eight weeks. Super cool. Tell me the website and Instagram handle framework bicycles.com and on Instagram where framework bikes. Awesome. Thanks. [00:57:29] Zack | Bosch: Can I get your name and the brand you represent? Sure. Zach Kreel and Vapor Propulsion Labs. We do Bosch, pinion, supernova, and three by three hubs. Right on. So Bosch has been making electric bicycle motors for how long? Gen One came out in Europe in 2010. Started working with 'em in 2009 over a 18 month period of time to, to work on that project. Gotcha. Yeah. What's been curious to me is obviously, like many of us are aware of the bigger brands doing e-bikes in their lineup, but over the last few years I've started to see builders like Jeremy CIP build with your product. So building, a custom bike effectively. Yeah. And accommodating the Bausch motor in the bottom of it. How does that come to be and what kind of trends do you see in that area? Yeah, so we, we are definitely seeing the custom handmade guy come and express interest. A lot of times there is this misconception that this is way complicated and in general you're replacing the BB with a motor node that can be welded in just like a BB shell can and you're accommodating that. And we try to cut the red tape for the handmade guys to be able to make sure, or to reassure them. That this is pretty easy. So yeah, when you see from an engineering standpoint, from a bill of material of the electric standpoint, all that stuff, we hold their hand to to get them to make the first one, and then they're ready to roll. Yeah. When you see the raw frames that they're producing, it's obvious oh, you can just bolt the engine there on the bottom, and that part's clear. But as you look at what's required to kind of function and power and control the motor, There's more to it than that. So what are the other components of the system that they need to be thinking about as they're building these bikes? Well, a lot of times, you'll think about the end consumer and you'll say, okay, is this gonna be, for somebody that is running a cargo bike, if it's a, if it's a touring, a gravel rig, if it's a, if's a's pavement bike, if it's a car, alternative bike, those particular frame builders will potentially. Alter the gauge of their tubing. Potentially. It depends on how much load is on it, but that end customer is driving where these will go. And from our standpoint the Bosch system is super robust. It's tested all the way to E M T V standards now and that typically works for everything that everybody in this building is gonna make. What kind of controls are necessary to connect to the motor? So the motor, the botch system is a, it's a closed system. So there's basically, the hardest system is the motor connected to the battery, and then there's the display. The motor has the brains inside there. It measures the human input at a thousand times a second, roughly. So super fast. And then it it connects to the battery. There's a communication between battery and motor, and then there's also communication to the. To the head unit or your smartphone, all of that stuff is, its ecosystem and they're all required to have on the bike itself. And is it a pedal assist system? So it's just adding wattage to my It is, yeah. Personal output. So it measures your input super super accurately. And then you level, you choose the level of assistance eco up to turbo and eco's, like 50% of your input turbo is up to 400% of your input. Gotcha. And I see behind us. It's not only a tandem, it's a triple. Is that right? Yes, that is right. So that's a, that's our concept bike. My daughter's the one who's gonna be in the middle there. So lucky her. That particular rig is cool because the middle stoker, that section of the frame can be removed and then it can turn into a tandem. That's incredible. We brought that one here for frame builders to see as like the most complicated bike that they could ever imagine. And then give them the perspective of okay, a single is super simple compared to that. Yeah. And is there's just one, is there just one Bausch engine in that bike? Yep. Okay. Yeah. And it's a, that's a dual battery. There's a three by three internal gear hub in the back with e shift. So electronic shifting, there's a Bluetooth wireless controller to the ba

Angi Weston is the founder of Radical Roots MTB, a group that provides "fun, safe, mountain bike skills progression" through various lessons, programs, events, and group rides. In addition to working with riders, Angi also trains MTB skills coaches and is based in Bellingham, WA. What led you to launch Radical Roots in 2018? What can riders learn from riding flats that they can't learn riding clipless pedals? Do you think it's better to learn skills on a hardtail than a FS bike? Are the junior riders you work with looking to develop different skills from the adults that attend your other camps?  How much does having a good mountain bike contribute to rider confidence, and perhaps even skill? How do you know if you need to upgrade your skills vs. your bike? What are the skills your students are most interested in learning? Is there a fundamental skill or skills everyone should learn first? What are the skills you're working on personally? Are there things you wish you could do better? What makes someone a successful MTB skills coach? Visit radicalrootsmtb.com to connect with Angi and find out about upcoming clinics. Photo: Katie Sox. The Singletracks podcast is brought to you by TPC -- The Pro's Closet. Spring is the perfect time to upgrade, and TPC has an industry-leading selection of new and Certified Pre-Owned bikes, plus frames, wheels and accessories. Each Certified, Pre-Owned bike is inspected, tested and serviced, and every bike includes thirty day returns. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tpc.bike/singletracks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and enter code Singletracks40 to save forty dollars on every order over two hundred. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/singletracks/support

Gravelbikes sind neben E-MTBs die bommende Radgattung schlechthin. Auch immer mehr Mountainbikerinnen und Mountainbiker wechseln auf die angesagten Schotterrenner. Oder sie stellen sich die Frage, was eigentlich das bessere Rad für sie ist. Auch unsere Redakteure sind dieser Frage nachgegangen.

Laufen die boomenden Schotterrenner den klassischen Mountainbikes den Rang ab? Noch mehr Infos zu den Themen aus dieser Podcastfolge Podcast und mehr: Unser Newsletter hält dich auf dem Laufenden - hier abonnieren! Du interessierst Dich auch für andere Facetten des Radfahrens und Outdoor-Lebens? Dann hör doch mal in unsere anderen Podcasts rein: Alles ist fahrbar - der MOUNTAINBIKE-Podcast Jetzt Rad fahren - der KARL-Podcast rund ums urbane Radfahren, innovative Verkehrskonzepte, E-Bikes, Lastenräder, Fahrradpolitik und vieles mehr Hauptsache raus - der OUTDOOR-Podcast Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen? Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich. Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten. kostenlos-hosten.de ist ein Produkt der Podcastbude.Gern unterstützen wir dich bei deiner Podcast-Produktion.

In this episode of the podcast, we interview Adam Sklar, the founder of Sklar Bikes. Adam shares his journey into cycling, starting with his entry into mountain biking through his ski friends during his childhood in Boulder, Colorado. He talks about his early experiences in bike racing and how he discovered his passion for frame building during his time in college in Montana. Adam discusses the challenges and joys of building custom bikes for his friends and the process of transitioning from custom bikes to smaller batch production. He also talks about the design philosophy behind Sklar Bikes, which focuses on creating versatile and fun bikes that offer different riding experiences. Craig and Adam touch on various topics, including the materials used in frame building, the process of designing and manufacturing custom bikes, the popularity of gravel bikes, and the unique features of Sklar Bikes, such as the adjustable dropouts and external cable routing. Throughout the episode, Adam's passion for building bikes and creating unique riding experiences shines through. Listeners are encouraged to check out the Sklar Bikes website and reach out to Adam with any questions or inquiries. Episode Sponser: AG1  Sklar Bikes  Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:01]Craig Dalton (host): Adam, welcome to the show. [00:00:03]Adam Sklar: for having me. I feel like I've been [00:00:05]Craig Dalton (host): I feel like I've been admiring your bikes from afar for a while, so I'm excited to have this conversation and just learn a little bit more about the origin story of the brand. [00:00:15]Adam Sklar: Cool. Yeah, I'm excited to talk about it. start off with, [00:00:18]Craig Dalton (host): Let's start off with, uh, just learning a little bit about you. Where'd you grow up and how'd you discover cycling in the first place? [00:00:24]Adam Sklar: Cool. Yeah, so my name is Adam Lar. Um, People know me for my bike brands, car bikes. Um, so yeah, I grew up in Boulder, Colorado, and I guess my entry to bikes was through my ski friends. I grew up ski racing and then in the summers all my ski friends were into cross country mountain biking, like mountain bike racing as you were if you were a kid who grew up in Boulder. Um, and so after a couple summers of them, Like begging me to go mountain biking with them. I finally tried it and it, um, hooked. I guess I got hooked super hard. It was sort of the thing we could do where we went outside all day and our parents wouldn't bug us, um, or like ask questions about what we were doing. So we would go up in the mountains and pack our lunch and go on these big long rides. Um, and that was, so that's sort of, yeah, what my entry point into cycling was. Um, amazing. [00:01:21]Craig Dalton (host): Amazing. And then did you catch the racing bug from your [00:01:24]Adam Sklar: Not really. They, I tried to make it, make it go. Um, I definitely, my last year of high school was the first year of Nica in Colorado, and that was cool. And I thought I would get into racing, but I moved to Montana and they didn't really have bike races there. Um, so I never, I never really got super vacy, but I, I wanted to be for sure. And what, what [00:01:52]Craig Dalton (host): And what, what led you to move to [00:01:53]Adam Sklar: Um, I came to Montana for college, so I went, I went to engineering school at Montana State in Bozeman, and yeah, that's how I ended up in Bozeman. Gotcha. [00:02:04]Craig Dalton (host): And in the course of your education there, did you learn to weld? [00:02:08]Adam Sklar: a little bit, yeah. So I, I built my first frame, winter break of my freshman year of college, so I was, um, or well built as, Maybe a generous word, but I, I got some tubes and stuck 'em together with like, stuff from Home Depot. And at, at the end of my time in Boulder, I'd met this guy Walt, who does, Walt works. And uh, he built me a fork for my mountain bike. 'cause we were all into rigid 29 ERs, single speeds, you know, very bolder. And, uh, I showed it to Walt and he felt bad for me, and so he gave me a brazing lesson and taught me how to do it. So then I, I did a couple more on my own and then, yeah, went back to school. I got a job in the machine shop on campus and it just so turned out that the guy who ran that shop had built frames in the seventies and eighties, and so he really took me under his wing. And so I was working in the machine shop helping engineering students with like their senior projects, machining stuff, and then, Some nights there would be no one there, so I would just machine bike tools or work on bikes and that's sort of how I built up a lot of my, my shop and experience. Amazing. If you had [00:03:24]Craig Dalton (host): amazing, if you had to guess, how many bikes did you make while you were in school? Cool [00:03:28]Adam Sklar: Oh, probably, I bet like 20. I ended up, I think I met Tom, like I, Tom Youngs, who was the shop guy. I think I built seven when I met him, and then I probably built another 20 or something. Sort of like the, the business started 'cause I was spending all my money building bikes for friends and, which is, you know, it's how it goes. Like you build one and it was really fun. It's so cool. You ride it and you're like, wow, I made this. That's amazing. And then your friends see that and they want one. And I also wanted to build more bikes, but I had enough, you know, I can't, I couldn't just keep building myself bikes. So I got my friends to buy 'em. And then, um, I was like, why do I have no money? I need to make one bank account that's just bike stuff and if that's zero, then I'm not making money. And that was kinda the start of learning how to do a business as well. What [00:04:22]Craig Dalton (host): And what type of bikes, I think you might have mentioned this, but what type of bikes were you making for your [00:04:27]Adam Sklar: then? It was, yeah, that was still in our rigid single speed 29 or days. So pretty, I think like out of the first 20, I bet 15. Were those. Yeah. Did you have an [00:04:39]Craig Dalton (host): And did you have an opportunity to kind of explore the different characteristics of the various steel tube sets available? [00:04:46]Adam Sklar: I think that early on, yeah, I was still learning about that stuff. Um, a lot of experimentation, a lot of, there were some frames, nothing was ever wildly unrideable, but you know, you build one and you're like, okay, that's super stiff. That feels bad, or, you know, that bottom bracket's way too high. Like, I won't do that again. Um, so luckily my friends were very forgiving with some of those first ones. Um, but I think, yeah, I mean the, the understanding of materials really happened over time. I think, you know, you're, you're starting and you're just working on the actual fabrication craft. So like, it would come in phases. Like at first it was like, I need to get good at welding and be really focused on the welding. And of course you're always looking at materials and things like that. But I think after I had nailed down the craft a little bit more, I spent a lot of little dove into materials a little deeper. And I guess being an engineering school also helped with that. 'cause you learn, there's a lot of in the bike world, you know, interesting rumors that get spread around about materials. But having a scientific background in that stuff. Kinda helps you see what parts are true about those things and what might be made up Interesting. [00:06:06]Craig Dalton (host): That's super interesting along the way. Just 'cause I'm curious, like as you were learning the craft of frame building, was there an area of the frame that was the trickiest to kind of master? I mean I, in my mind, I'm thinking like around the bottom bracket seems to be the hardest place to get the welds [00:06:25]Adam Sklar: yeah. I mean, Uh, yeah, I mean, still the hardest thing with like the big tires, big tire chain ring clearance. You know, you'll see all these very creative chains day yolks out there these days. And it's funny, bikes are, bikes are so simple, but, uh huh. Recording can, oh, can you hear me Still? [00:06:54]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah. Yeah, [00:06:55]Adam Sklar: Oh, you went away. Oh no. Okay. What was I saying? Oh yeah, chainstay. Yos. Yeah, threading. And like the cool thing about that era, so this was like 2012 ish, and so the first big tire era I got to go through was like plus mountain bikes, but also gravel bikes. Were kind of just starting to be more popular than I think, and. At that time we were like, how do we fit a 40 C tire in here with a road double and stuff like that. So that was, um, yeah, it was fun to be figuring out those problems and maybe figuring 'em out. Before companies, like big companies had to, you know, they, they have to make sure that works for the run of a thousand bikes they're gonna do, but I was doing one at a time, so we could make. These cool big tire bikes before they came out commercially, which was pretty cool. Yeah, [00:07:54]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah, I think that's, it's been such an interesting journey the last six years or so, just around that specific challenge of. [00:08:01]Adam Sklar: clearance. Mm-hmm. [00:08:02]Craig Dalton (host): clearance and how to make that work with gravel bikes. That's interesting to hear you kind of attacking that early on through your exploration of the mountain bike first and then later transitioning like, oh, I already figured out how to do that for super big tires. Now I just need to downsize it a little bit for this gravel and road crankset [00:08:22]Adam Sklar: Totally. Yeah. So you [00:08:25]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah. So you graduate from college, you've made, you know, twenties, 20, 30 bikes. At that point, did you immediately kind of say, Hey, this makes sense for me to pursue as a business, or was there something you were doing along the way at that time as well as you were doing this [00:08:40]Adam Sklar: Yeah, I, um, no, I. I was pretty hesitant to do it as a job. I had talked to a lot of builders and pretty much all of them said, don't do this for a job. Um, I really wanted to do it. I mean, I was, so, it was all I thought about and I literally like jumped out of bed on the weekends, excited to go build bikes in my garage and it was what I wanted to do. But I was, um, during, it must have been my junior year of college, I met. A guy at a Cycl cross race who owned an engineering firm. And so he ended up giving me a job and I was working there. My last, so I was in school and I was working at the engineering firm and doing bikes. Um, but the firm was like sort of product design stuff. We did a lot of, we'd call 'em like electro mechanical devices, like kitchen devices or, I worked on some drones. Um, some like three D camera mounts for Google was a big thing I did. Um, That was fun. I learned a lot about complex like CAD modeling and working with engineering clients, which was, it was a really cool experience. Um, and then, yeah, a year and a half or so into that. So I did that for half, I don't know, a year or something, and then graduated. And then that summer I went and rode the Colorado trail with some friends and I took like, I took like three weeks off for that and before like the phone was ringing more and more for bikes and I came back and my boss sat me down and was like, you have to choose this or choose that. And so I ended up choosing bikes and he ordered a bike from me, was the first thing he did. So it was, it was a very gentle push off into the world of that. It was nice. I love it. I [00:10:24]Craig Dalton (host): I love it. I love it. Silly question, but did you, did you design your own bike for the Colorado Trail, and if so, what [00:10:31]Adam Sklar: Oh yeah, yeah. I did it with, so that was actually really fun. It was like four or five of my good friends from high school who, the nerd, the cross country racing nerds who got me into bikes and we were all on bikes that I built. So, um, think two of us were on rigid. We all had gears at that point, but two Rigids three I think had 140 mil travel hard tail, like 11 speed. But yeah, we were all. On Lars, which was pretty cool. [00:11:04]Craig Dalton (host): That's awesome. So talk about like sort of the early years of the brand and how when you, when you went full-time, [00:11:11]Adam Sklar: year was [00:11:12]Craig Dalton (host): what year was that? [00:11:13]Adam Sklar: I think that was 2016 that I went full-time. [00:11:16]Craig Dalton (host): Okay. [00:11:17]Adam Sklar: Yeah, the, so I was sort of just figuring out, I mean, I was building really, I was, I was super psyched to build bikes and I had my shop space that I'm still in. That's the year I moved into the shop space. And, uh, yeah, I was psyched and orders were starting to come in, so I was building custom bikes, so I'd get, you know, an order for custom mountain bike, custom gravel bike, touring bike, and then that process. By that point, I had probably built 50 or 80 ish spikes and develop that process a little bit more so, With a customer when they come to you, on average for the custom bikes, it would be 60 or 80 emails per bike. So it's a pretty involved process where they tell you their needs and you know, I'm asking, it's not just like, what are your measurements? It's like, what, where do you live? What's the riding like? What goals do you have with like, do you want to do a big bike tour on it? Is it to win cycl cross races? Is it, you know, there's so many. And then you're sort of teasing out what the things people tell you mean, because, you know, you can say all sorts of things. Like, my favorite one is people say like, I want a bike that rides like a big B M X bike. But they've never actually ridden a, like B M X bikes are scary to ride. You know, you don't, you don't want, that's not what they mean. But I know what they mean when they say that, but it's not, unless they're an actual B M X rider, I would never believe them. When they say that, what does that, what does that [00:12:51]Craig Dalton (host): What does that, what does that translate to you? That they want the bike [00:12:55]Adam Sklar: To me, it's like playful, nimble, I think is a word that I would use and like lofty, like easy to bunny hop and stuff. But yeah, beer mix bikes are [00:13:03]Craig Dalton (host): that makes sense. [00:13:05]Adam Sklar: You don't want that. Um, so yeah, big really involved process building these custom bikes that were yeah, from the ground up all the way custom. Um, yeah, and I did that for a long time for. Eight, I guess the next eight years, just building 30, [00:13:25]Craig Dalton (host): And, and were you starting to go to like the handmade bike show [00:13:28]Adam Sklar: Yep. I went to the Handmade bike show, I think that was 2016 was the year I won Best Mountain Bike. I was. Which, um, those awards are a little silly, but that definitely put me on the map for a lot of folks. Um, and yeah, I think after that my, my lead time went up to two years and it really didn't ever go down from there. Which was an interesting journey in itself. It's gets some [00:13:57]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah, to get some perspective, like how long from beginning to end, obviously you've got the massive number of emails in advance of actually welding anything, but how long would it take you to manufacture a custom bike? [00:14:09]Adam Sklar: yeah, so most of the time is definitely in the design process. I mean, that's typically once we started it, it would be about. Six weeks to get everything dialed in. And that would include like build kit and paint colors and all that stuff. But once I have the design in hand ready to go in the shop, it's usually like I can, in two days of work, I can get it done. So like 15, 20 hours. Um, yeah. And that got faster and faster over the years. But [00:14:40]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah. Got it. And when did you start to see gravel bikes become more of what customers were asking for? I. And were you kind of prepared for that transition to designing drop [00:14:52]Adam Sklar: Totally. Yeah, I think that must've, so I was big on the, the mountain bike big award thing happened, and that's my background as well is in mountain bikes. Um, and then it must've been right around then, yeah, maybe 2016 ish, 17 in there. Um, I definitely noticed. Something that I liked, well, I had built myself a couple. I was a hesitant gravel rider, just 'cause I was like, I'm a mountain biker, you know, road biking's lame, which is dumb. But, um, you know, here in Bozeman, the trails, if you, if you, there's amazing gravel riding. We're in this big valley that's like a hundred miles across one way, 30 miles across the other. And there's, it's just full of sweet gravel roads and. If you have a gravel bike, it adds four months to the riding season. 'cause there's like two months on either end that the trails are snowed in and that. Um, so I had built myself some gravel bikes and I was getting super into it and I noticed that my friends were mountain bikers. It was a way for them to have two more months of riding and my friends were road bikers. It was a good way to like, get them to go do actually fun riding. And um, it just seemed like such a fun way to bring. All the bike people together. And then at the same time, what we were just talking about where big companies were kind of figuring it out. I think it was, it was a time like the, the coolest part about the custom stuff is that interaction, getting to hear what people are looking for. And it was really cool with gravel bikes because you know, I got to talk to hundreds of people who were like, this is the gravel bike I can't find out there and this is what I'm looking for. And through, you know, That six week long process with all those people. Um, I think I got some pretty cool ideas about what people are actually looking for in a grapple bike. Um, so I think that [00:16:52]Craig Dalton (host): Given your mountain bike background, when you first designed your own personal gravel bike, was it on the rowdier side? [00:16:59]Adam Sklar: yeah. Well actually, you know, I think the first, well actually the very first bike bike I built was. Kind of a, it was like a cyclocross. We were still calling 'em cyclo cross bikes then. Um, but yeah, I did, I think the first, yeah, they definitely leaned mountain bike year. They had that mountain bike ego to them. Um, yeah, and I did a lot of experimentation. Um, I remember, I don't know, I probably built myself like 15 of, maybe not that many, 10, but, um, ranging from, yeah, full. Drop our mountain bike to big tire road bike. Um, and that's been, that's been part of the journey too, to realize what I like in there and also to help me understand what people mean. You know, hearing about their background as a cyclist, what, what they're used to. I think that's a huge part of design. People might come to you with an idea of what they want, but also. There's, there's something, you know, muscle memory of riding a bike. And if you're used to riding road bikes and you hop on one of those rowdy mountain, like mountain bikey gravel bikes, most of those people aren't gonna like it. And I think the other way is true too. If you're a mountain biker and you get on a really steep road, road bike with big tires, that's gonna feel unnatural. So the custom bikes are kind of weaving in. Like, what are your goals? Like do you want to, are you a road biker who wants to get on single track? Like how do we make it familiar enough that it feels like home? You know, it feels like something you like, and how do we make it capable enough that it can make you feel confident to, to do those things? You want to push yourself on that. That's sort of the balance I'm always, I've been trying to do. Yeah. [00:18:54]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah, it's such an interesting journey. As the listener may remember, I went through my own custom bike design experience, and it's easy to go in and say, I want two, two tire clearance and I want this, that, and the other thing. And then as you get the design out the other side, You start to see the compromises, the longer chain stays, the different things that they need to do, particularly when working with a metal to achieve those dimensions. And for me, it was like I needed to be more realistic and say, okay, I need to knock it back a little bit because I don't wanna entirely lose, [00:19:29]Adam Sklar: the notion [00:19:30]Craig Dalton (host): you know, the notion of a road bike feel. I don't wanna turn this into a, a mountain bike. And there was an interesting just give and take in my own personal journey to say, okay, you know, 700 by 50 is plenty big as a tire. Let's go with that as a max and let's see how things fall. And we can get a design that is still playful enough, but accommodates everything i, I realistically need at this point in my custom bike. [00:19:56]Adam Sklar: Yeah. It's so easy to want it all. But that's kind of part of the fun of these bikes, I think is like they're, they're, you're not supposed to ride on Montreals, but that's why they're so fun. And mountain biking is so [00:20:11]Craig Dalton (host): exactly. And [00:20:12]Adam Sklar: and it's so fun on a mountain bike and like, don't make your gravel bike, mountain bike. Go, go mountain biking if you want to do that. [00:20:21]Craig Dalton (host): yeah. Yeah. I know you've spent enough, you spent time in Marin County, so you know how rowdy the trails can be out here, so, [00:20:27]Adam Sklar: is [00:20:28]Craig Dalton (host): Mine is probably definitely way closer to a mountain bike than a traditional gravel bike, but I I, I am conscious of, [00:20:35]Adam Sklar: have a mountain. [00:20:36]Craig Dalton (host): I have a mountain bike, so I don't wanna get too close to that chassis. It needs to feel good when I'm on the roads and still be, you know, zippy enough to do all the gravel bike things. [00:20:47]Adam Sklar: Yeah, you, I don't. I don't think everyone needs like 12 bikes. I mean, personally, like I have three bikes I ride, so I, I like there to be some, yeah. I don't wanna like be confused about if I should ride my heart tail or my gravel bike. You know? I guess sometimes you still are, but nice to have 'em be a different, different vibe. Yeah. [00:21:12]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So as the, as you've kind of continued to develop the brand, it sounds like you did a ton of these custom bikes with a lot of analysis about what people were needing. [00:21:24]Adam Sklar: there, [00:21:25]Craig Dalton (host): Was there, how, how has the brand evolved at this point? I mean, I know we have a, a model we wanna talk about that's being done in a smaller batch production, but kind of how did it get from custom bikes to, to where you are today? Was there a midpoint where you started to do like size runs of models and things like that? [00:21:43]Adam Sklar: Yeah. And in 20, I think it was 2018. I did my first non-custom model, which is a Hardtail mountain bike that I called the sweet spot. And so that was similar story like with the mountain bikes for, for probably most of the time we've talked about so far. It was split between like 50 50 custom gravel bikes, custom mountain bikes, and this was in mountain bike. Sort of the era of like figuring out this whole new long front end, like. Long front center, steep seat tube thing, which has definitely bled into gravel bikes and similarly to the soup or something, which we'll get to. I was just seeing pretty much everyone came to me because of the style of bikes I was designing. You know, they see pictures of the bikes I built and they're like, that looks like what I want, which is cool. And I was building them a fully custom bike, even though it felt like a lot of the time they were just defaulting to like, I think you should build me what you think is right. And so it felt like, I'm not gonna say a waste of time, but it felt like a lot of customers could be better served by a more off the shelf product and it would save time and money for them and be a product that I believed in. So that's why the sweet Spot came about. Um, and that was cool. And I built probably 50 of those over the next few years. Four sizes, three colors. Sorry. Is that noise bad? Okay. Um, yeah, and that was, that was more successful than I thought it'd be. It was a scary leap. I mean, I, I, I talk about that like when we get together at nabs and stuff with all the handmade builders. Like, everyone's like, I can't believe you're doing that. Um, not custom. It's crazy. But, oh, sorry. Go ahead. What? [00:23:39]Craig Dalton (host): What did that actually look like for you as a builder? Is that just a matter of, okay, now I'm gonna buy 10 sets of tubes at a time, I'm gonna cut 'em, I'm gonna weld them in a batch process. Does it, how did it change kind of how you were approaching it? And I mean, part of it obviously is like a financial commitment, buying all that tubing and putting your energy towards welding something that isn't sold already. But yeah, maybe just describe like what you went through to get to that [00:24:05]Adam Sklar: Yeah. I mean, it was a, it was a whole new process to really develop a product, whereas, I guess this is something I've been thinking a lot about, like the custom stuff. You're, you're solving different issues every time. Um, so from a branding perspective, right, the product is different every time, which is not really good for building a brand. Um, so doing the, the sweet spot, which is the same every time, um, I think it gives a stronger message. It's like, here's what I believe in for a mountain bike. Um, as far as the logistics of it, they all have the same rear ends, so I. Which is one of the harder things to do, that chainstay part. So I would weld like five at a time of the bottom bracket to chainstay, to dropouts and just kind of keep those around. And then there's a couple other things like bending and slotting and putting a dropper port in for a seat tube. So I'd keep around a C tube. I was, when I did one, I would do four or something. And so I've got a box of them around and someone orders one and I can like throw the chain stays and the jig, throw the C tube on, and from there it's like four or five hours to finish the frame. So it made it Yeah, really quick to do those. Um, yeah, [00:25:23]Craig Dalton (host): Got [00:25:23]Adam Sklar: nice. And then my painter keeps the paint on hand, so it makes paint go faster. You know, we know all the hardware that we need to have to build it up. Bolts and stuff like that. So I just really streamlined everything and that was cool. People got to get the bikes. Instead of waiting two years, it was three months, which is, I think, more reasonable. I never intended to have a two year wait. That was, yeah. [00:25:49]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah. [00:25:51]Adam Sklar: Yeah. Maybe take a [00:25:52]Craig Dalton (host): and maybe take a moment, Adam, and just describe there, there is something visually unique about the bikes you put out there in the world. I particularly key in on the, the sort of top tube, and that seems to be like a hallmark of the brand at this point. Is that true or do you build bikes with straight, top [00:26:10]Adam Sklar: yeah. The curvy top tube I started doing very early on. It was, it was mostly because I wanted to alize the tubes, which they're all, they're curvy, but they're, they're pretty ized. Which, you know, I was in engineering school and we were learning about beams and stuff, and so the, you know, the wider cross section is the ultimate and, uh, Laterally, stiff vertically compliant as they say. So that was sort of what I was going for. But then I also was building frames that looked like that, and I thought, yeah, I mean, what we're talking about with the brand, like I wanted a bike that you could tell without paint was one of my bikes. Um, and so I think I've achieved that, which is nice. Uh, yeah, it's nice to have [00:26:53]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah, it's super clever. [00:26:54]Adam Sklar: was a way to be consistent, even though I was building different custom bikes every time, it was still a slar. And I like that. [00:27:04]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah, that makes sense. Well, let's, let's jump onto the, the latest model. You're releasing this super something, the gravel bike. I'd love to hear just about some of your design philosophy. [00:27:14]Adam Sklar: that bike and the [00:27:15]Craig Dalton (host): With that bike and help the listener understand, you know, who's the intended rider and what are some of the things you considered when designing this bike? [00:27:23]Adam Sklar: Yeah, so the super something has been exciting. We, um, The first batch went out earlier this year, and the second batch is on a boat from Taiwan right now. So that's exciting. Um, that that project started, yeah, two years ago. It takes about a year to design that bike, but as we've been talking about, it's sort of that culmination of the hundreds of people I've talked to about what they want in a gravel bike, and then that paired with also all these friends who. Especially during pandemic times when everyone was getting into gravel biking, it felt like I had all these friends, like, what bike should I buy? And I should mention that the custom bikes were, in addition to being a really long wait, were very expensive. And I kind of got bummed, just telling my friends over and over, like maybe. Like the salsa is really nice. Um, so I wanted to make a bike that in like good conscious, I could tell my friends who are newish to cycling or, you know, maybe an experienced mountain biker, experienced roadie. Like this is a super nice bike that you can build up to be a really cool gravel bike. Um, and yeah, I, experimented, you know, with the rowdy, the rowdy mountain bike ish geometry. And didn't love that. I love more the experience of riding a bike, like not, you know, engaging, still an engaging ride. So it's, it, it leans a little bit more on that traditional geometry end. Um, it definitely takes into account some elements of new school geometry. So they're designed around a little bit shorter stem. They're higher offset, um, which allows for a bit of a longer front end, but the trail is still similar to. Like road a little bit more than a road bike. Kind of similar, um, yeah, a little bit more than a road bike. What, what tube [00:29:23]Craig Dalton (host): And what, what tube set did you end up deciding [00:29:26]Adam Sklar: So it's our own tube set that we developed there. It's all really nice air hardened, like double butted cro Molly. It's, it's the good stuff. I mean, I know a lot of brands like slap a label on there and say it's some. Have a name. I don't have a cute name for it, but, um, it is, it's really nice. Um, and it rides super well, so I should, I should come up with a name for it, if anyone has an idea. Yeah. It must have been a pretty [00:29:55]Craig Dalton (host): So it must have been a pretty heady decision as a custom frame builder and having so put so much energy into your craft. [00:30:03]Adam Sklar: in [00:30:03]Craig Dalton (host): A vendor in Taiwan to manufacture this for you? What was that process like to give you the confidence to put your name on this bike with it being produced offshore? [00:30:13]Adam Sklar: it was huge. Um, I have a great trade partner in Taiwan and you know, in our first meeting he rattled off the companies he works with and it's pretty much every reputable metal bike company that you've heard of, um, does one, which is maybe an industry secret I'm not supposed to reveal. But, um, it's. They, you know, still hesitant, but we got samples, you know, that process, it took a long time. So four months in, I found I got samples and then I, you know, we checked 'em out, tested 'em, and they're all good to go. Um, they've been really nice to work with. Yeah. The factory, those are made in Max Way, which if you're a big nerd, you've probably heard of, they made, you know, surly salsa all city. I bet you, you know, all the rive Dells and, and then they make, they make so many people's bikes. So very reputable company. [00:31:11]Craig Dalton (host): Got it. [00:31:12]Adam Sklar: But yeah, it was a big investment. Huge investment, huge change. Scary for the brand. Um, yeah, big decision for sure. Yeah, for sure. [00:31:21]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah, for sure. I mean, if you think about it as a listener, you know, to bring in 15, 20 complete bikes in one fell swoop, that's a big financial investment. But Adam, I mean, it sounds like you've developed a confidence in your consumer base for the demand for this bike to kind of take that leap. And even if you have to hang onto some frames for a few months while they sell out, you know that they're gonna [00:31:46]Adam Sklar: Yeah. Yeah, it went really good. We did, I did a little pre-sale, so about a year ago we did a pre-sale on the first batch, and those sold out in like 20 minutes, 250 frames. So that was pretty exciting. And then, The next batch works I'm excited to have in stock. That's cool. And it sounds all good, but from a business perspective, it turns out it's nice to have stuff for people to buy. So I'm excited. We'll actually have some in stock this time and that'll be nice. Can you. [00:32:16]Craig Dalton (host): Can you, can you talk through, since you know, obviously in the, in a audio podcast, it's a little difficult to see. I'll definitely be putting links to your website on the show notes, but can you describe kind of the dropout and break mount on the rear end of the bike? [00:32:32]Adam Sklar: Yeah. So the, the, so the, for the super something dropouts, they use the Paragon Machine Works rocker system. So it's an adjustable dropout. So you can, you can loosen two bolts and you can change the chainstay length, which does a few things. Um, The first is it allows you to run a bigger tire, so slammed all the way forward. It'll clear like a 700 by 40 feet I think, but if you put them all the way to the back, you can run a 29 by 2.1 inch tire. Um, which is pretty fun. That's what I run on mine and I really like it. Um, also you can kind of tune in. I mean, it's a pretty minor difference, but you can tune in the ride quality a little bit more stable all the way back, a little bit more snappy, all the way forward. Um, and then, yeah, you can also swap that out. Um, if you wanted to run single speed, you can put in an insert that has no hanger, or now you can do one that's u d h if you wanted to do that. Or you can switch between a post mount or a flat mount break as well with those inserts. So it's really versatile. I wanted something that, [00:33:42]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah. [00:33:43]Adam Sklar: yeah, after the really unattainable custom bikes for so long, something that was approachable and. you have like a bike you wanna swap the parts off of or do a part spin build, like that's been fun to see people building 'em up in all sorts of different ways. So it's really versatile in that way. And then [00:34:04]Craig Dalton (host): And then it looks like you might be routing some of the cables externally [00:34:08]Adam Sklar: Yeah, I'm a full external routing always kind of guy. So they they're they're fully external. Yeah. Yeah. [00:34:18]Craig Dalton (host): Got it. Yeah. It sounds like, and you sort of expressed this on the website, that depending on what the rider's desires are, you can really configure this [00:34:28]Adam Sklar: a lot on, you know, on [00:34:29]Craig Dalton (host): a lot on the, you know, on the spectrum of, um, 20 niner [00:34:34]Adam Sklar: pouring bike, [00:34:35]Craig Dalton (host): touring bike, gravel bike kind of style, mountain bike style, all the way to something a little bit r or on the other end of the spectrum. [00:34:42]Adam Sklar: Yeah. I mean, it really was, it was designed, I mean, my, my gravel bikes typically look like 4,700 by 40 C with a decent amount of like, saddle to bar drop. I, I wouldn't say racy, but maybe more traditional road bike fit. And so that's sort of what I had in mind in that. But it turns out that that geometry is really similar to like, The rigid 29 ERs that I was riding in 2008. And so they're really fun set up that way. And we've seen people do, you know, flat bars or like a sweat back bar. Um, I also, it was fun. I built up a 60, so I ride a 58, but I sized up to a 60 centimeter frame and that's the bike I just rode on the tour divide. So it was like much more stable. I had a ton of room for my frame bag. That was so, I had so much fun on that set up too. So it's been cool to experiment with it and have, instead of, I'm so used to being able to, you know, change every millimeter, but it's been fun to be like, oh, I'll just do a different stem, like a normal person. [00:35:50]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah. [00:35:51]Adam Sklar: Yeah. [00:35:53]Craig Dalton (host): That's amazing. Now I have to geek out on do, were you on the tour divide [00:35:57]Adam Sklar: Yeah. I left at the Grand Apart, um, from Banff with, with everyone. [00:36:03]Craig Dalton (host): Amazing. Like without, I feel like we could go another half hour if [00:36:07]Adam Sklar: Oh yeah. [00:36:08]Craig Dalton (host): the questions. I would wanna ask about [00:36:10]Adam Sklar: It was fun. If I wrote a, I rode a super something on it and it did. It was, yeah, it was so fun. Wouldn't, wouldn't have taken a different bike. But tour divide was hard also, I'll say that. Yeah. It sounds [00:36:21]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah, it sounds like everybody got caught with some pretty tough weather conditions and it's a pretty tough year to do [00:36:28]Adam Sklar: it was. It was a little wet. [00:36:32]Craig Dalton (host): Did it, um, did it dramatically change, end up changing, like how long it you thought it was gonna take you to complete? [00:36:38]Adam Sklar: And you know, I, I didn't do the whole thing. I should be clear about that. But, um, I, yeah, I rode, I rode home from Banff. Um, I thought I was gonna make it to Denver, but yeah. Um, I made it, I made it back to Bozeman. Um, the weather, we missed that. The real money part I think was that great base in section in Wyoming. And. We were also, there was a section right by Yeah. Where I stopped and it was 40 degrees and raining and my friend had a, his family has a ranch right there with good food and a creek to sit in and I couldn't help myself but peel off, so, but it was beautiful. I mean, it's such amazing riding all the way through there. It's, the Canada section was so beautiful. [00:37:29]Craig Dalton (host): And were you were, did you set your super or something up with a drop bar or were you [00:37:33]Adam Sklar: I did a drop bar. Yeah. Big. The crust towel rack is that 670 millimeter bar and it's so, I love that bike. It's, I, I love it so much that I sold my two other drop bar bikes. 'cause I just, I, I'm having so much fun on that bike. Um, yeah. [00:37:53]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah. Amazing. Well, I'm glad. I'm glad you dropped that at the last minute. I'm such a tour [00:37:58]Adam Sklar: Oh, really [00:37:59]Craig Dalton (host): I've thought about it on a number of occasions to do it and just trying to carve out that right moment in my life to be able to [00:38:06]Adam Sklar: Totally. It's a commitment, but I would recommend it if you have ever wanted to do it. It's, it's really cool. [00:38:15]Craig Dalton (host): Yeah. Yeah, no doubt about that. Awesome. Adam, any anything else you'd like the listener to know about the brand while we have you? [00:38:25]Adam Sklar: What would I want them to know? Uh, bikes are fun. We make fun bikes. Check out the soup or something@slarbikes.com, production mountain bike coming next year. If you do those two, uh, send me an email if you have any questions. I'm happy to chat. Okay, [00:38:45]Craig Dalton (host): Nice. I love it. Adam, thank you so much for the time. It was great to get to know you a little bit and, uh, I can't wait to see more of these bikes out there. I find 'em just so visually appealing and I like what you've described as the vision for how these bikes are created and conceived and what their intended uses are. So keep up all the good [00:39:05]Adam Sklar: Craig. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun.    

Hardtail or full suspension bike? It depends.

On this week's episode of Geek Warning: Specialized says its new Epic World Cup will replace hardtails for racing, and while the bike looks interesting, this isn't the first time we've heard such a thing and hardtails have proven time and again that they've got a lot of lives.Also in this week's show: Wahoo is probably for sale, but who should buy it? Might you soon be taking your e-bike to an auto mechanic for service? Why did Boyd Cycling open up an aluminum rim factory in South Carolina? And James gives a recap of the shiny new stuff – both affordable and expensive – he saw at last week's Sea Otter Classic, along with a PSA on how your DRL might not be providing the visibility you think it is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As requested by many of our listeners, we sat down to talk about the making of Bryson's custom hardtail frame under the supervision of legendary frame builder Paul Brodie. Yes, the Paul Brodie of Brodie Bicycles fame. We go through the process step by step, from the first meeting with Paul, to the course format and what to expect from a guided experience, to design principles and geometry decisions and all the way to the many iterations of the bikes throughout the years. We had a lot of fun reliving the experience and it was great to hear the highs, lows and everything in between of building a custom steel hardtail. With Fahrzeug Der Zukunft, Bryson continues to ponder the future of bikes, so the course definitely had more than one lasting effect! Geometry

This week we sit down with event organizer, Ben Brainard to discuss the Shasta Gravel Hugger. Founded in 2020, this March event in Northern California has proven to be a great season opener for many gravel cyclists. Episode Sponsor:  Hammerhead Karoo 2 Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello, and welcome to the gravel ride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in-depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes. Who are pioneering the sport I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner down, unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. This week on the show. We welcome Ben Bernard, the founder of the Shasta gravel hugger event in Northern California taking place in March each year for the last four years. It's become a real great early season option. For those of you looking to test your metal in the early parts of the year and not able to go out to some of the Midwest gravel races, like the mid south. Ben has a real interesting approach to the race. He's got a great area to play with around Mount Shasta. If you've never been there before, it's a real amazing. Landmark. In the region, if you're driving, say from San Francisco up to Oregon, you pass through the town of Mount Shasta and then around on the north side of the mountain and the views are absolutely spectacular. I've got a number of friends from Marin county who love this event and have been up on a number of occasions. As Ben will describe the weather sometimes plays a factor in the event and really dramatically affects your choice of equipment for this early season race. Before we jump in i need to thank this week sponsor hammerhead and the hammerhead caru to computer this ad read for my friends at hammerhead is very timely. As I literally just got in my inbox, my email for my latest. Software update. The hammerhead crew. Two's the most advanced GPS cycling computer available today. With industry leading mapping navigation and routing capabilities. That set us apart from other GPS options. So you can explore with confidence and on the go flexibility. That keeps getting underscored every single time I get one of these software updates, because I know the team at hammerhead are a listening. And be working and pushing out responses. So I love that about the crew to the crew too. If you don't know, it's got a touch screen display that's intuitive and responsive and full color. So your navigation experience is more like a smartphone than that, of a typical GPS device. You can see your data more clearly than ever. While also withstanding rugged conditions since it's water and scratch resistance. I've talked about the hammerheads climber feature with predictive path technology before. It allows you to visualize and prepare for upcoming gradient changes in real time. With or without the root loaded. I love this when going to gravel events, because I'm someone who just, I like to know if I'm going to sit in and grind or whether I should try to power over something. Because it's a short climb. This is all available in real time on the crew too. That's why I trust it as my head unit this year and I will do so again, next year. Hammerhead has been previously named bicycling magazines, editor choice, award. In the GPS cycling category. So you don't need to take my word for it. For a limited time, our listeners can get a free heart rate monitor strap with the purchase of a hammerhead crew to simply visit hammerhead.io right now. And use the promo code, the gravel ride at checkout. Someone in the ridership mentioned to me that the way to get the e-commerce system work is go ahead and put the hammerhead crew two in your cart first. And then add the heart rate monitor, and that coupon code, the gravel ride. After the fact to make sure you don't run into any hiccups. And hopefully. You can get a new hammerhead to computer in front of you for your next year's riding endeavors. With all that said let's jump right into my conversation with ben [00:04:04] Craig: Ben. Welcome to the gravel ride podcast. Cast [00:04:07] Ben: Thanks for having me. It's, it's an honor. [00:04:09] Craig: I'm excited. I, you know, Shasta being not dramatically far away from my, from where I live and certainly a place that I've been before, ever since I started seeing the Shasta gravel hugger on the calendar. I've been excited to talk to you cuz it's a beautiful area and I wanna learn, learn more about the event. [00:04:27] Ben: Excellent. You got it. It is a beautiful area. I've just loved going, riding my bike down there, especially in the winter, as I've said before this time of year it is, it is perfect. We got great smooth roads and the weather is usually pretty stinking good except for on race day. Yeah. I wanna [00:04:43] Craig: step back and talk about that a little bit later. But before we get get into the race itself, why don't we just learn a little bit about yourself? How did you find your way into that region? How'd you find your way to gravel cycling? . [00:04:55] Ben: Yeah, I've been in the valley here for I guess about 22 years. The Rogue Valley that is, so I'm, I'm north of where the race is by about a 45 minute drive. You know, like most people work brought us here. And then I got immersed in, in work for several years and, and finally when that led up a little bit, Picked up my bike about, you know, from, from a young age I was riding bikes, but, but not racing bikes. And about 12 years ago I started racing and then slowly found my way into gravel and then yeah, eventually promotion. It's crazy. So, [00:05:34] Craig: so to set the context for our listeners, I've been up to Shasta, I've been north of Shasta. On my way to Bend, I think is what normally I go by Shasta and, and, and continue up that road. It's a pretty rural part of Northern California. So can you des just sort of describe the area and maybe paint a picture for, you know, what brings people there? What's the sort of the economic engine of the region, et cetera. [00:05:59] Ben: Yeah, I would say timber is what developed this area. And, and so, so that's the main thing. We've seen less and less timber. I. In this area, you know, the mills have kind of dwindled down to where there's, you know, one big one or something. And, and so I would say now this particular area is recreation is a big, a big thing. And then secondary would be tourism yeah, tourism. And, and I just slipped me, what was the, the other one I was gonna say. But but yeah, it's a beautiful area and it's a great place to visit. . Yeah, [00:06:33] Craig: certainly Mount Shasta. I guess I first became aware of it because of the mountain at Mount Shasta and the desire to climb it and go up. It, it's just sort of, it's an attainable, quote unquote mountaineering experience for a lot of people. And I know they've got, you know, a great outfitter right there in, in, in downtown Mount Shasta to help you get up the mountain. And that's where I first got exposed to it and mm-hmm. , it was clear. Obviously there's a lot of wilderness around that area. I stopped there once on my mountain bike on the way home from Ben to explore a little bit, but just kind of got the, the tip of the iceberg for what the terrain is around there. When you think about like where you live now and around Shasta itself, how would you describe the, the, the gravel biking terrain that. [00:07:18] Ben: Yeah. Oh man. We have so many gravel roads. So, you know, I live just over the border in Oregon in the rogue Valley. And our gravel roads are for the most part, very pristine, like very well developed gravel roads. The problem we have around here is they almost all go up the side of a mountain. And so, , they're great roads to ride in the summer, but in the wintertime, you're gonna, you're gonna bump into, into snow pretty early on and get turned around a lot of the time. And so that's what led me to, to going down into the Shasta area because I, I can ride these awesome gravel roads the strata Bianchi roads and, and, and stay below, let's say 3000 feet most of the time. And that way I, I can, I can stay outta the. Interesting. [00:08:06] Craig: Yeah, that it, it didn't dawn on me that actually Shasta would have better weather than where you are. [00:08:13] Ben: Yeah, it's, I would say it has a few more sunny days in this area. I mean, I could, I could have drizzle here, go up over the Siskiyou, pass in, into Siskiyou County and, and voila, it's a sunny day. It's, yeah, it's quite a bit about the weather in the wintertime, especially. . [00:08:30] Craig: Interesting. So you mentioned you sort of rediscovered the bicycle about a dozen years ago, and eventually during that path you started riding off road. Was that by virtue of the fact that there's just so many dirt roads around where you [00:08:42] Ben: were? Yeah, well, I, I would say that I found gravel and dirt roads from a good friend Tom Neland, who started putting on the honey badge Arise, which are, are are pretty fun event around here. A free event. And he's the one that introduced me to the gravel roads in the Mount Shasta area. So I had, I had an old Hardtail mountain bike that I used for commuting, and they had some, I don't know, two inch slicks on it or something like that. 26 er. And, and I went to one of his honey Badger rides, which they kind of focus. unique courses and, and gravel. And and that's how I found the gravel bike. And from there it was just riding cross bikes. And I actually been, I, geez, I guess three or four years that I've been racing gravel pretty seriously. I mean, as. as a primary source for, for my events that I attend. And, but I got my first gravel bike this last year. It's right here behind me. But most of the roads around here are so nice that a cross bike is absolutely fine. I mean, if you don't need to go beyond 30 fives [00:09:48] Craig: usually. Yeah. Yeah. So there's a, a quite a big leap between finding a love of riding gravel bikes and riding on dirt roads to creating an event. , what made you decide to take that leap? And remind me when the first Shaster gravel hugger event was? [00:10:06] Ben: The first event was in 2000, March of 2000. So, it's four years. This next year will be our fourth year of putting, no, [00:10:14] Craig: 2020, sorry. Yeah, 2020 was the first [00:10:16] Ben: one. Yeah. Yeah. 2020. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. And it's grown steadily ever since. [00:10:21] Craig: and was the first one. Did you just sort of put it out there, Hey, come one, come all, or did you put a little organization, a lot of organization behind it? [00:10:30] Ben: Yeah. You know, in 2020 there were some, some big rides, obviously some big races, and, and I was drawn to those events and so I'm like, well, geez, we have these beautiful roads here. You know, we need an. In this region, they're, of which they're, you'd have to go to Bend to get a gravel race or, or, or, or the Grasshopper series in Northern California, which are still several hours south of here. And so, so yeah, I just decided that these, these roads kind of reminded me of the strata Bianca Roads, these beautiful white crush granite roads. , wanted to mimic the, the Strata Bianchi and the Peru Bay. That was the original plan, but we had a couple promoters around here and they like to put on events and, and, and like small little local events, and I wanted to try to make this more of a regional national type of event. And so I figured. Someone that had the passion for, and the vision for this particular type of a race probably should be at the helm. And so I decided, you know, the whole, I guess I'll do it myself kind of a thing. And, and it, it must take off. So it's great. And did you, was it [00:11:40] Craig: always sitting in early March as the time it was held? [00:11:44] Ben: Yeah. I originally had plans to, to call it strata something, you know, mimicking the strata Bianchi roads. But eventually I just didn't want the conflict with that particular race. And it's on the same exact day as strata Bianchi. And so we kind of, I wanted to put it early in the year because as we all know, as the summer goes on, the race counter gets more and more competi. This particular week is one week ahead of Midsouth. I did not want to try to go up against the Midsouth. If I'm trying to be a a national type race, then, then, then you wouldn't automatically go up against Midsouth. Yeah. And so I kind of placed it on the calendar right here for those two reasons originally. And, and then the third thing is when, when I was training riding turbos in, in the, in the winter. , I wanted to get out and do an early event. You know, like even if you're just, you know, doing some base work or something like that, you still kind of want to go out and test yourself and, and, and this is perfect. It, it, it fit into how it, it fit in exactly to a spot that I would want a race personally. Yeah. So, yeah. That's kind of, that [00:12:51] Craig: makes a lot of sense how either there, yeah. Yeah. It makes a lot of sense. Like I know any Wouldbe race organizer at this point, there's gravel events throughout the. And to your point, like if you want to create an event that can occupy a little bit more of a national profile and kind of be a destination, that early season spot is one that's open and granted, not everybody's gonna have the wherewithal to go to Mid-South, but it certainly has the name and. The recognition and sponsors that is gonna draw a lot of athletes and not head going head-to-head with it, but also similarly for recreational athletes. Providing that early season goal and opportunity I think makes a ton of sense with that March date. As I've seen pictures over the years. , you have experienced some dramatic weather. Can you kind of describe kind of the, you know, just the many different personalities the course can have based on the weather conditions? [00:13:49] Ben: Yeah. Like I've said, this area has fantastic weather in the wintertime, but we have been, I don't blessed cursed. I don't know what, but we. all three years that we've had the race so far, we've had snow on course at some point, you know, and so year number one was probably the worst year if you ask me. It was cold, it was raining at the start, and then by the time we got to the highest point of the race, there was snow on the ground. So you dig back in the photos of, of that first race and, and it, and it was pretty sloppy and, and and. The next year we had snow overnight, but it was a beautiful sunny day and it just created these just in incredible pitchers. The course was good except for, you know, the infamous Jeep Trail, which which was just saturated actually, and so it, it, it didn't have a chance to dry out, but But these roads, for the most part, with the exception of this Jeep Road, east Louis Jeep Road, that seems to be pretty famous in this race. The roads hold up to all kinds of weather, so well the majority of 'em are gonna be just if you get some rain in the week ahead. They are faster than most pavement roads. So they're big, wide open county maintained gravel roads that are really smooth. Most of the. [00:15:07] Craig: Yeah, I was, when I was on the Shasta Gravel hugger website, I was looking at the tire recommendations as I often do for, for travel events. And you made mention like totally capable in a, in a dry ish road, gravel day 30 twos to 37. You're, you're, you're all good. Mm-hmm. . But if it's actually wet on the course, all of a sudden it's a different. [00:15:29] Ben: Yeah. We have, we've had road bikes do well, so Luke lamp party came up here and raced on a road bike with, he could stuff some 30 millimeters in there. And it was one of the years it was super wet. Could he have been higher than third place with, with a proper gravel bike? Possibly that particular year, but like last year, I would say that. He, he might have been able to win it on a, on a road bike. And that's the fun thing about this particular race, like we call it gravel and it, it, it attracts a lot of people, but it is almost half pavement. So. It is a real, I try to do the build up the sectors. And the reason we have sectors is because there's gravel sections. And then of course we have, you know, maybe, I think our longest one's like a 12 mile section of pavement. And, and so yeah, picking the right tires is, is huge. And, and if you can get away with running some 32 millimeter slicks, like I write it a lot. my cross bike with, with kind of a road ish wheel on 'em, and, and it does fine. So yeah, let's dig [00:16:34] Craig: into the courses that are available to riders now for the 2023 edition. What, what course options do you have? [00:16:41] Ben: Yeah, our big one is called the Full Hug and it's a hundred miles and it has about 4,500 feet of climbing in it. I wanna. And then we have the half hug. I kind of like the bro hug. It's like it's half, half that. It's, it's a hundred kilometers. It is just a, just I think 65 miles with about 4,000 feet of climbing. So it's, it's close. Most of the climbing's in the second half of the, of the race. And then brand new this year, we are adding a more social. Loop, which is gonna be 35 miles. And, and we have also added an e-bike, which is something that's brand new for me to include an e-bike option in, in, in the [00:17:21] Craig: race. So, interesting. And it sounds like, from what you were saying before in our tire discussion, from a technical perspective, no one should be too nervous about what they're gonna get into up there. [00:17:32] Ben: Yeah. I mean, we have one high speed descent. Might, would definitely make you wish you had some different tires on if you're, if you went small. But all aid, all ages, all levels. We'd be fine. Just, you know, you gotta be careful. People can recognize when, when it's getting dangerous and slow down, so, yeah. Yeah, for the most part, roads are [00:17:51] Craig: fantastic. And then are you providing aid stations out there on the course for the riders? [00:17:56] Ben: Yeah, so we have, last year we had two main aid stations and then a third. Third was just in an emergency aid station that wasn't quite stocked as much close to the end in case someone was crashing and boning or something like that. Most people didn't stop at that one, but yeah, fully supported. We encourage everyone to use our aid stations as opposed to try to seek outside help along along the way. You know, we try to discourage and make it fair enough for everybody if they don't have a, a dad to hand water bottles up in random spots. So we encourage everyone to, if they do want something special from, from a teammate or a family member, then do it in our, in our speed zones. [00:18:35] Craig: Yeah. When you think about how you're promoting the event and the types of athletes that you're trying to attract, Are you categorizing this as a full throttle race? You know, if there's a spectrum between like hardcore race and gravel ride, where are you trying to sit? And I realize that you could answer that differently for the 10% at the front of the race versus the rest of us. But I'd just be interested to kind of get your thought process on how you're, you're categorizing it. [00:19:01] Ben: Yeah, I mean, I would, I, I'd categorize it as a race, like, yeah, we're chip timed, we are keeping track of different age groups, so yeah, full on race. But it, it falls into the, the gravel theme of you know, the molet, you know, we have let the racers race and then if anyone wants to, you know, just go out there and knock off a, a big, long day, then. We'd love to have them too, so, so yeah. It's, yeah, it's, it's definitely a, a party for some and, and, But we always try to maintain that there's a race going on and we try to promote the race piece of it too. Because, you know, we're trying to attract these big professional racers to come, which will, you know, create excitement for the everyday person to come and see how they stack up against people. So it's been fun. [00:19:52] Craig: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And if I look back over the last few years, for whatever reason, whatever you've done, the timing, the location, the ethos you have managed to attract, Several or dozens of elite riders to come and chest their metal there in March. [00:20:08] Ben: Yeah. Yeah. Originally, you know, it's an interesting story. So you're number two. So you're number one is, was the start of covid. So we're in March of 2000 2020, excuse me. And. And there's some grumbling about Covid of course. And then we pretty much shut down, right? And then there was hardly any races that year. And then the next year is like in the early spring it felt like, okay, things are starting to, to open up and, and a county like Siski I don't know. They, they would kind of, I just think they kind of poo-pooed the, the co covid thing in that area, the maj majority of people. And, and so they were welcoming of us trying to do something that year. And so year number two, we really quickly threw it together and And the funny story is that I noticed that Pete Stetner was, was liking some of my Instagram posts. And so I'm like, huh. So we shot Pete a quick message and he's like, yeah, I'm, I'm open that week and I'd love, love to come, kind of a thing. And, and . And so I would say he was the start of the, the professionals showing up to the race. And then we were able to leverage that Pete, you know, hey, Pete's coming and you know, we got Jacob Rath Raey come down from, from the Portland area. So we had a couple of pros in year number two. And then in year number two, the women's field was, was even probably more stacked top to bottom. There was, I think only 13 of the, the women's pros, but we had Clara Hansinger, we had Maude Farrell, and then of course Moe Wilson. That was, that was our, our, our, our podium with ma taking the wind. Mo second and Clara Haunting are third. So, so yeah, it, it's definitely. The interest of the, the regional pros. And then last year Adam, Rob, you know, he's coming all the way over from Quebec, but he just wanted one, an event and one that wasn't in, in snow and winter. And so he came out here and, and yeah, we got Brennan words coming up from, from the Marin County and, and, and had a great showdown last year with some really strong writers. Yeah. [00:22:13] Craig: Yeah. It's, it's been, it's been fun to watch the kind of growth, and I, I think you'll continue to see people get attracted to it. Again, it's just good part of the calendar. Mm-hmm. , clearly it's got enough ca like enough quality terrain and racers up there to make it a, a worthwhile early season test of your fitness. [00:22:32] Ben: Yeah, exactly. This next year though, the calendar has become quite a bit more competitive on my, my day because Belgian Waffle Wright has. That they are gonna be holding a, an event in Arizona on the same weekend. So the, so now the work is for me to try to, you know, attract these, these pros to come to my event over, over heading to Arizona, which, I mean, March in Arizona sounds pretty good to me but but yeah, [00:23:00] Craig: yeah, yeah. I think there's room for, you know, if you put on great events, , there's room for multiple events on the same day at the end of the day. Mm-hmm. , there's people looking for different things. I think you also mentioned over email some, some initiatives that you've put forth and maybe some changes in how you're kind of rolling people out during the day. Do you wanna talk about some of those 20, 23 initiatives? [00:23:21] Ben: Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, there's. There's been some chatter amongst the, the female racers. Now a lot of them like to see how they stack up, up, up against the men, but there's also been a decent amount of chatter about how unsafe it is for them to try to be going out there and competing in these, these massive, this mass participation events that that have a ton of guys that they're trying to jockey with. And so this next year if as long as we get enough in the field to make it worthwhile, we are going to ship the women off 15, 15 minutes ahead of the men's race so that they don't have to go deal with that first sector and the chaos associated with that. They will, we'll also be able to give them a chance to, to kind of highlight the women and, and announce who's here and who's competing and, and, and give their sponsors a sh a shout out and. and then, then we send them off and then we can go about bringing the guys up 15 minutes later. And then, you know, I just ahead [00:24:21] Craig: a follow up question on that, Ben, when you, when you think about that first sector, is there elevation, is there technicality? What do you imagine happening during those first 15 minutes that allow the women to sort of have a sense of more autonomous racing for that portion? [00:24:37] Ben: Yeah, so the first sector is, is I, I wanna say it's about six miles. It's relatively flat. The first, the first quarter of a mile last year was in relatively loose gravel, and then it got pretty nice and smooth after that. So, so the first quarter of a mile it was, it was pretty chaotic. It was pretty dusty, and, and it was definitely, If you weren't in the preferred two lines, you know, you are out in some, some loose gravel and so, so yeah, I, it made for a hairy first couple of minutes of the race and, and the race ha at that point was already on. I, I think the original attack with with Adam and Br Brennan was right before they went onto that sector, so it was already full race mode. So yeah, it was extremely hectic. [00:25:26] Craig: Yeah, it's interesting. And before I ask this next question, I wanna state, I don't know the right answer to this mm-hmm. and I think. Over time, it's gonna evolve, and it may even be on an event by event basis, but as the women are, are set out 15 minutes ahead and granted it will give them a clean look at that first sector and the ability for some women to attack one another and perhaps to kind of stretch out the field. At some point the front end of the men's race is going to start interacting with those female athletes out front. And I don't know if you've gotten this feedback from the women. As the, as the elite men start to come through, obviously there's gonna be women who have fitness who attempt to glom onto some wheels and, and kind of get caught up in the momentum of the men's peloton. How do you kind of imagine that playing out? [00:26:16] Ben: That's a great question. And I think, I think it's one that I'm gonna look, I'm gonna probably look to a few of our, our professional ladies that are coming in to help guide me on that. So, so the big question is like, do we do. tell them like, Hey, don't jump on wheels. This you're in your own little race. Or, or like year number two, when we had wave starts they just were able to jump on whatever they wanted to. And, and so I, I don't know the answer to that question, but we as. By the time we roll off on race day, I hope to have a, a very clear explanation to all the racers about what we're, what we hope to see out there. [00:26:58] Craig: Yeah, I think that's a good, that's a good approach. I mean, obviously like the women should be leading this conversation about what makes sense, I suspect, but don't know that, you know, they will think it's fair game to grab wheels. Like it's, it's implausible that over a hundred mile day mm-hmm. . Racers are gonna work with racers. That's just sort of the nature of bike racing, right? So it's hard to imagine everybody's saying like, okay, we all agree cause it's just gonna be super hard to police. But I just think it's interesting and I, again, like I've, I've seen a number of races attempt this approach where they're giving a 15 minute head start. We've obviously seen the co-mingled starts. We've seen lots of different derivatives of this, and I do think that as a community, as we put these offers out there, it's just important to be open and say like, Hey, we don't know what the right solution is. But potentially after the year of 2023, at a bunch of these tests, if you will, going out and getting feedback from women, we'll arrive at something that makes sense, that still has that community feel, but elevates the safety, elevates the ability for the sport to high. Female athletes as much as oftentimes the ma male athletes get [00:28:15] Ben: highlighted. Exactly. That's been, that's definitely been my initiative for the, for the last several years is, is to try to, to, to give these ladies a, a chance, I mean, . We originally had ideas of doing a, a reverse discrimination prize purse because, you know, women's cycling has been so underfunded or, you know, the rewards or or prize money was, was so minuscule compared to, to the men's races that, that that we wanted to like highlight that as, as one of the things, we have a prize purse for the women only. but with permitting in California, that's not allowed. , you can't have discriminatory prize purses anymore, which is great for, for women across all the different events. But but yeah, we're trying to highlight these ladies and, and probably some of 'em have a harder time, you know, making the same kind of sponsorship money as, as a, a guy of similar skills. So, [00:29:07] Craig: yeah. Yeah, it's certainly an interesting problem and I think the important thing is, people are talking about it. And again, that the, the women who are involved are having the lion share of opinion and we can just use their opinions as guidance as it relates to the race in its entirety. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. And so, how large of a field do you typically see at the Shasta Gravel hogger hugger? [00:29:30] Ben: Yeah, so last year we had 400 people take the sign up for the race, and then we had about 335, I wanna say that actually went across our start line. So yeah, I mean that's kind of, that's kind of where we were last year. We, we have grown every single year that we've been in existence, so hopefully, you know, we can see something north of 500 this year. [00:29:52] Craig: And great. When, when we, I mean we've talked through what to exper, what to expect in terms of the course terrain and what type of equipment you'd like to see people ride at the end of the event. What does that experience look like if someone's making time to spend their weekend up with you at, in Shasta, what, what expectations should they have after the race? [00:30:12] Ben: Yeah, we definitely wanna try to bring the party to the after. After the race. So yeah, we have a burrito truck last year and most likely they'll be back again this year. So nice big burrito to finish off the day. Beer and and then of course, everyone telling their war stories, so. people hung, hung around until dark last year. And so yeah, there's a, there's a nice little after party. Last year we had a band the brothers Reid, and they absolutely killed it. But I found like most people weren't paying attention to the band. They were. Telling their war stories. And so probably not gonna bring a band back. We'll just be playing, you know, some good music in the background and, and let the racers chat about what they, what happened out there, . Nice. [00:30:56] Craig: And so give the listener a few benchmarks. So if you were coming from San Francisco, for example, how, how long does it take to get up to Shasta or if you're coming from somewhere in Oregon? [00:31:05] Ben: Yeah, I, I mean, you can get, I think it's about four hours from Portland down. And then similar from, from the Bay Area maybe a little bit less because there's 45 minutes, I guess to here. But so yeah, it's, it's, it's a pretty easy drive. I wouldn't suggest doing it before a 9:00 AM start, but you probably could from the Bay Area if you were got up nice and early. [00:31:28] Craig: Yeah, I was gonna ask that. Are people typically staying overnight in Shasta, the nights before? [00:31:32] Ben: Yeah. The, there's Yreka is the closest town with hotels. That's only about a 10 minute drive or probably even less than that. And there's plenty of hotel rooms there. A lot of people stay in weed and Mount Shasta, which Are also great places, but I wanna say 25 to 40 miles away. Okay. 25 to weed. So, so yeah, there's more like rental properties. If you're like doing a VRBO or Airbnb or something like that, there's more in the Mount Shasta area. That tends to be a little more of a, of a recreation type town. So, so there's, yeah, there's plenty of options. But the thing, one of the things that we've. Every year so far is in the parking lot. Next to the, the start finish line is, is plenty of room and we've allowed camping on site. So if you van camping, RV camping, if you can get your, if you can get your rig in there and, and not get stuck, then, then and then yeah, it's have at it free. Yeah. [00:32:29] Craig: For a hot second there. I just had in my mind, oh, it's in Mount Shas. The mountain of Shasta is obviously covers a vast area, and certainly, yeah, again, remembering my, my, my trips up to Oregon. Once you get past Shasta and Shasta, the town, and on the other side of the mountain, amazing, spectacular views of Mount Shasta through that valley. [00:32:51] Ben: Yeah, we we're kind of, we're, we're almost all north of Mount Shasta, so I mean, we, we go down and we touch weed, which would, I would kind of say is like the southern part of the Shasta Valley. And then Mount Shasta would be further south and more like on the side of the mountain. And so if you want the great views of the mountain, then the North, north Valley is where you want to be. And we. . Oh, just so many. Incredible. If the, if the mountain is out as they like to say, it's, it's absolutely stunning from many, many different spots on on the course. Some, some have even said it's distracting. It's, it's so, It's so beautiful. [00:33:32] Craig: So yeah. Yeah, I would agree. It's one of the like the beautiful things about driving through that valley, which often seems like a, it takes forever, but the nice thing is you've got that amazing mountain view the entire time. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Cool. Well, I'm super glad to finally get you on the show, Ben, to talk about this event. I love the sounds of it. I love that area. Like I totally recommend it from a, a visual perspective and everything you've talked about, the writing makes me believe that it is a great early season event. [00:33:59] Ben: Yeah, I sure hope so. And, and hope to see this thing continue to grow through, through the next couple of years. So hope to make some nice announcements here soon about cool people that are attending. So people are starting to finalize their. Schedules for this next year and, and yeah, hope to make some announcements. Right [00:34:17] Craig: on. And I'll throw the gravel hugger.com link in the show notes so people know how to find you. But they can also just search Shasta gravel hugger and they'll get to the right location. [00:34:27] Ben: Absolutely. Super easy. Yep. And if you wanna find out a little bit about what the race is We have a race recap on YouTube. You can also just google Shasta gravel hugger on YouTube and, and there's a 20 minute recap of what happened last year and we hope to do something similar this next, next year to, to kind of give everyone a feel of what, how the race goes. So, [00:34:49] Craig: awesome. Thanks, man. [00:34:51] Craig Dalton: That's going to do it for this week's edition of the gravel rod podcast. Big thanks to our sponsor hammerhead and the hammerhead kuru. To computer. And huge thanks to ben for coming on i've been curious about the shasta gravel hugger for awhile and was happy to learn more about At The event. I'll put all the appropriate links in the show notes. So you can go find and check out that video on YouTube that Ben was mentioning. If you're interested in connecting with me or other riders in the area, please join the ridership. That's www.theridership.com. It's a free online cycling community, open to anybody and filled with gravel cyclists from around the world. If you're interested in able to support the podcast. You can visit, buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride. Any contribution or support is greatly appreciated. Or if you have a moment, ratings and reviews are hugely appreciated. And really help with our discoverability. Until next time. Here's to finding some dirt under your wheels  

We sat down with Jan Favre to talk some more about hardtails, industry fads and his single-speed adventures. Jan felt triggered by the Hardtails episode we recorded with Luise Rohland over the summer and sent in a thoughtful riposte to our conversation. Naturally, rather than letting the DM rot in our inbox, we invited Jan for a recording to elaborate on his message, some of the thinking and rationale behind his arguments and of course, his own riding. As an experienced shop mechanic, he has a great perspective on things like bike geometry, suspension and what really makes a difference out on the trail. Also, in a quest for simplicity, Jan set up his personal bike as a single-speed and it was interesting to hear how his BFeMax is holding up, from general riding at home, to park days with Anna Newkirk, all the way to multi-day adventures exploring the former Iron Curtain along the Bavarian-Czech border with his dad.

74 episodes ago we had Steve from Hardtail Party on the B1KER Bar and wow how time has flown by. If you aren't familiar with his YouTube channel he primarily does content on hardtails. At first glance, one could wonder, "How could there be enough hardtail content to support a channel dedicated to it?" At 56k subscribers obviosly we'd got it figured out. Steve is not only a mecca of hardtail knowledge but an all around bike nerd with tons of usual information. Every conversation with Steve is always pleasant and a learning experience. ►Featured Links http://bit.ly/2SCD1hW ::: Hardtail Party Channel ►B1KER Bar Podcast https://bit.ly/b1apple ::: iTunes https://bit.ly/b1gplay ::: Google Play https://bit.ly/b1soundc ::: SoundCloud https://bit.ly/b1spotify ::: Spotify ►Support B1KER http://patreon.b1ker.com ::: Patreon http://donate.b1ker.com ::: Donate http://shop.b1ker.com ::: B1KER Shop http://etsy.b1ker.com ::: Etsy B1KE Shop ►B1KER Social Media https://www.instagram.com/b1kerb1/ https://www.facebook.com/b1kerb1/ https://www.twitter.com/b1kerb1/

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.

This week we're re-sharing one of our favorite podcast episodes, and we'll be back next week with an all-new show. Pat White is a longtime product manager for Kona Bicycles and Doug Lafavor aka Dr. Dew has been designing bikes at Kona for decades. In this episode we ask: Which factors make a hardtail ‘hardcore' or more aggressive compared to say an XC or entry-level hardtail? What are aggressive hardtails good for in terms of riding style or trails? What are the limits? How important is frame material when it comes to designing a hardtail? Is there one material that's generally superior to the others? Are there higher costs involved in building hardtails from steel than aluminum? Where does the compliance in a hardtail frame come from? Do you look at component selection differently for a hardtail vs. a full suspension bike? If so, what are the key areas where the builds differ? Is there any lingering debate about wheel size when it comes to hardtails? Are sliding dropouts an important selling point? What do you think about Internal cable routing on hardtails? There seems to be a focus on making seat angles steeper lately. How do you approach seat tube angles for hardtails compared to FS bikes? Are there things you're able to do with hardtail geometry that just aren't feasible with a FS design? How is the balance between chainstays and reach considered on a hardtail? For a lot of riders cost can be a factor in deciding to go with a hardtail. What does the typical hardtail rider look like? Do you own a hardtail mountain bike? How often do you ride it? What are some tips for riders to get the most out of a hardtail mountain bike? Do we need to modify our riding style, or reconsider preferences for things like tire and fork pressure? ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available to Singletracks Pro supporters: singletracks.com/support --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/singletracks/support

We sat down with Luise Rohland to talk about hardtails, her experience racing one at SES Laax and, naturally, why you would want to do without rear suspension in the first place. Of course, there are many different shades of hardtails, from the fully rigid, single speed version that Bryson built himself, to Luise's more modern do-it all trail bike, all the way to Pascal's silly long and slack Moxie with all the travel. Between the loss of traction and the gain in cerebral flexibility, there are plenty of reasons to ride a hardtail and we all share our different takes. To close out, we got to hear Luise's insights into the different challenges, pains and tribulations of racing her hardtail at the recent Swiss Enduro Series in Laax.

This week we chop up the fact that we're both back on two wheels, plans for this hardtail summer, reveal the mystery issue that was keeping the Fatboy from taking it's maiden voyage and a whole lot more. Enjoy! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lowlifechopperpodcast/support

Pat White is a longtime product manager for Kona Bicycles and Doug Lafavor aka Dr. Dew has been designing bikes at Kona for decades. In this episode we ask: Which factors make a hardtail 'hardcore' or more aggressive compared to say an XC or entry-level hardtail? What are aggressive hardtails good for in terms of riding style or trails? What are the limits? How important is frame material when it comes to designing a hardtail? Is there one material that's generally superior to the others? Are there higher costs involved in building hardtails from steel than aluminum? Where does the compliance in a hardtail frame come from? Do you look at component selection differently for a hardtail vs. a full suspension bike? If so, what are the key areas where the builds differ? Is there any lingering debate about wheel size when it comes to hardtails? Are sliding dropouts an important selling point? What do you think about Internal cable routing on hardtails? There seems to be a focus on making seat angles steeper lately. How do you approach seat tube angles for hardtails compared to FS bikes? Are there things you're able to do with hardtail geometry that just aren't feasible with a FS design? How is the balance between chainstays and reach considered on a hardtail? For a lot of riders cost can be a factor in deciding to go with a hardtail. What does the typical hardtail rider look like? Do you own a hardtail mountain bike? How often do you ride it? What are some tips for riders to get the most out of a hardtail mountain bike? Do we need to modify our riding style, or reconsider preferences for things like tire and fork pressure? Photo credit: Kona --Support future episodes of the Singletracks podcast: https://anchor.fm/singletracks/support --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/singletracks/support

This week, Loctite and I get into some updates on the projects we're working on, dive deep on some life/career updates, give some advice for steering yourself toward a higher calling and a whole lot more. Enjoy! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lowlifechopperpodcast/support

In episode 5, we talk with Melany Lowe, who lives in Columbus, Ohio. Melany has infectious energy! She enjoys riding mountain bikes, is a board member for the Central Ohio Mountain Bike Organization (COMBO),  and is a member of the Lady Gnar Shredders. While the team has historically had a large group of road bikers, Melany has helped build the mountain bike side of the program. She is also known for riding her hardtail down super gnarly enduro trails! Through COMBO, Melany has created something called “Women Crush Weekends.” WCW is meant to create community and friendships within the state of Ohio and beyond. Since the episode was recorded, the first event at Mike's Bike Park has taken place and was a huge success! In fact, Jen attended and had a great time. Talking with Melany was really inspiring and this episode shows how much of an impact a leader can have on a group. Jen and Melany are already making plans for the Lady Gnar Shredders and COMBO to get involved with the Ohio NICA League GRiT program! GMM is funded by NICA National with support from Rapha Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and Continental Tires. Also, the folks at The Gravel Lot, another wonderful podcast, have spent countless hours helping us! Learn more about COMBO here: https://www.combomtb.com Learn more about NICA, GRiT, and getting #morekidsonbikes and #moregirlsonbikes here: https://www.nationalmtb.org Jen Malik is the League Director for the Ohio League. Learn more about the Ohio League here: https://www.ohiomtb.org Nikki Peterson is the League Director for the Nevada League. Learn more about the Nevada League here: www.nevadamtb.org

This week we chop it up about our current projects. My Evo finally becomes the hardtail it was always destined to be and Loctite's 39 Rat Rod gets a remodel. Enjoy! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lowlifechopperpodcast/support

This week I welcome back my friend Trish for a reunion episode, because we literally just got home from a super fun event in the Northeast Kingdom with a bunch of bad ass women and we can't shut up about it already...We spent the weekend at the Vertical event, organized and hosted by Heidi Myers of Rasputitsa and Mary Zider and Ande Smith of Colavita, which on the face of it, was about gravel and mountain bike riding and fly fishing. But as you'll hear, there was SO much more going on, and we left with a whole lot more than sore legs and tushies.If Trish and I have done our job right, you will end this episode on the edge of your seat wondering how you can get in on all of the Vertical fun the next time, so you'd better start following @rasputitsagravel on Instagram, and keep up with all the good stuff on the Rasputitsa Gravel website.So many AMAZING sponsors and supporting brands helped to make the Vertical event amazing - it takes a village, people! Huge gratitude to Colavita, Dirt Church Brewing, Barr Hill Gin, Stowe Cider, Topo Chico, Orvis, BlueSky MTB, Kingdom Trails, Jasper Hill Farm, Northwoods Stewardship Center, Rishi Tea, Indigo Sole, Caroline's Dream, Pete and Gerry's, live music from Rutabaga Collective, and amazing local food options For The Love of Food and Auntie DeeDee's.Last but not least, if you haven't yet listened to my episodes with all of the amazing women who were directly involved in this weekend, you really should get on that RIGHT THIS SECOND!:Heidi Myers of Rasputitsa fameCori Brago Jenn MinerySabra DavisonGrab a friend, get out there, and start getting a little wild!

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.

We’re joined by the host of the popular Youtube channel Hardtail Party for this episode. Steve has a deeper understanding of the pros and cons of hardtails as your everyday ride than just about anyone, and has some extraordinary recommendations on how to select your next bike (but you may be surprised what he recommends for a Leadville racer). Enjoy this episode with an incredibly smart guy with a very smart channel and a really great riding philosophy.  

Die Welt ist im Wandel, heißt es im Fantasy-Epos "Herr der Ringe" und das gilt auch für die Mountainbike-Welt. Nach den großen Evolutionssprüngen Hardtail, Fully, E-MTB tritt eine neue Gattung hervor: leichte E-MTBs. Sie sollen die Qualitäten von E-MTBs und Bio-Bikes vereinen, doch wie funktioniert diese Fusion und welche Vor- und Nachteile gehen damit einher? In dieser Folge von "Alles ist fahrbar" diskutieren wir mit mit Szene-Insider und E-Bike-Entwickler Clemens Oertel/Motion Pioneers GmbH die neuen Light-E-MTBs sowie den aktuellen Stand der E-Bike-Technik, erhalten einen Blick in die Zukunft und erfahren, wie ein E-MTB entsteht.

Wer den besten Sport der Welt entdecken will, steht vor nicht nur einer Hürde. Denn meist entdeckt man über Freunde oder Bekannte das Mountainbiken für sich, hat sich neue Fitness-Ziele gesetzt, oder ist Wiedereinsteiger nach vielen Jahren Pause oder durch den E-MTB-Trend. Und auf die Frage, was man denn zum Biken braucht, gehen die Meinungen auseinander. Der eine sagt dies, der andere jenes, der Bikeshop-Verkäufer hat auch seine Meinung und am Ende muss alles auch noch bezahlbar sein. In dieser Podcast-Folge erklären wir Euch, was Ihr wirklich zum Biken braucht und warum - und was Ihr getrost erst einmal weglassen könnt. Ein bisschen wie Showcooking: wieviel diese komplette Ausrüstung kostet, haben wir während der Aufzeichnung recherchiert und mitberechnet.

On episode #168 it is my pleasure to welcome back a friend of the podcast, legend of the Irish mountain bike scene, organiser of the Vitus First Tracks Enduro Series and winner of every race on the planet, Mr Glyn O’Brien. We chat with Glyn about riding a hardtail over the winter, what are the benefits (if any) of doing this, what set up Glyn went for and should we all have a hardtail in the garage? For more information and show notes visit: www.mtb-tribe.com  

Heute erwarten euch viele Kilometer (zu Fuß), ihr erfahrt Details zu Sebastians bandscheibenfreundlichen Bike Umbauprojekt und er bricht eine Lanze fürs Klapprad (was hat Sascha da nur losgetreten?!) und zu guter Letzt schimpfen wir über Rowdys im Wald. Sascha wir müssen reden! Was andere eine solide Mountainbiketour nennen, läuft Sascha zu Fuß, denn am Wochenende war er mit einem Laufkumpel als Vorbereitung für den (leider abgesagten) KoBoLT Ultralauf auf dem Moselsteig. 45 Kilometer und 1300 Höhenmeter sind es dann geworden. Sebastian sitzt endlich wieder auf dem Mountainbike und wird von Fahrt zu Fahrt mutiger. Um auch langfristig weiterhin Spaß auf dem MTB zu haben und seinen Rücken zu schonen, plant er aktuell wild an seinem ultraleichten Fully herum. Dazu macht er aus einem mittelschweren Fully und seinem leichten Hardtail eben ein leichtes Fully, aus zwei mach eins. Schildi ist gut im Training (auch er geht laufen…HALLO?!) und hatte am Wochenende ein beschämendes Erlebnis mit rasenden MTB Rowdys. Als Vollblut MTBler regt er sich mal kurz gehörig über “seine Kollegen” auf.

Heute erwarten euch viele Kilometer (zu Fuß), Ihr erfahrt Details zu Sebastians bandscheibenfreundlichen Bike Umbauprojekt und er bricht eine Lanze fürs Klapprad (was hat Sascha da nur losgetreten?!) und zu guter Letzt schimpfen wir über Rowdys im Wald. Sascha, wir müssen reden! Was andere eine solide Mountainbiketour nennen, läuft Sascha zu Fuß, denn am Wochenende war er mit einem Laufkumpel als Vorbereitung für den (leider abgesagten) KoBoLT Ultralauf auf dem Moselsteig. 45 Kilometer und 1300 Höhenmeter sind es dann geworden. Sebastian sitzt endlich wieder auf dem Mountainbike und wird von Fahrt zu Fahrt mutiger. Um auch langfristig weiterhin Spaß auf dem MTB zu haben und seinen Rücken zu schonen, plant er aktuell wild an seinem ultraleichten Fully herum. Dazu macht er aus einem mittelschweren Fully und seinem leichten Hardtail eben ein leichtes Fully, aus zwei mach eins. Schildi ist gut im Training (auch er geht laufenHALLO?!) und hatte am Wochenende ein beschämendes Erlebnis mit rasenden MTB Rowdys. Als Vollblut MTBler regt sich Schildi mal kurz gehörig über seine Kollegen auf. ...

Heute erwarten euch viele Kilometer (zu Fuß), ihr erfahrt Details zu Sebastians bandscheibenfreundlichen Bike Umbauprojekt und er bricht eine Lanze fürs Klapprad (was hat Sascha da nur losgetreten?!) und zu guter Letzt schimpfen wir über Rowdys im Wald. Sascha wir müssen reden! Was andere eine solide Mountainbiketour nennen, läuft Sascha zu Fuß, denn am Wochenende war er mit einem Laufkumpel als Vorbereitung für den (leider abgesagten) KoBoLT Ultralauf auf dem Moselsteig. 45 Kilometer und 1300 Höhenmeter sind es dann geworden. Sebastian sitzt endlich wieder auf dem Mountainbike und wird von Fahrt zu Fahrt mutiger. Um auch langfristig weiterhin Spaß auf dem MTB zu haben und seinen Rücken zu schonen, plant er aktuell wild an seinem ultraleichten Fully herum. Dazu macht er aus einem mittelschweren Fully und seinem leichten Hardtail eben ein leichtes Fully, aus zwei mach eins. Schildi ist gut im Training (auch er geht laufen…HALLO?!) und hatte am Wochenende ein beschämendes Erlebnis mit rasenden MTB Rowdys. Als Vollblut MTBler regt er sich mal kurz gehörig über “seine Kollegen” auf.

Jeder macht sie, nicht jeder gibt sie gerne zu. Doch zu einer innigen Leidenschaft fürs Mountainbiken gehören Missverständnisse und Fehler. Manche sind Lappalien, andere sollte man lieber nicht wiederholen. In dieser Folge geben drei Redakteure des Mountainbike-Magazins ihre peinlichsten, dümmsten und gefährlichsten Momente beim Bike zum Besten. Von Unterhose bis Kettenfräse und unfreiwilliger Waldübernachtung ist alles dabei. Zeit für Popcorn! (P.S.: Redakteur Zimek hat nach besagter Waldübernachtung morgens in Hagen das Tageslicht erblickt, nicht wie im Podcast erwähnt, in Wuppertal.)

Steve started the Hardtail Party YouTube channel after noticing that hardtails were under represented on YouTube. I remember thinking at first, "How is he going to have enough content for this?" Here were are now and he has over 20k subscribers and is going strong. As you can imagine by the name of his channel, we'll be talking hardtails! ►Featured Links http://bit.ly/2SCD1hW ::: Hardtail Party Channel ►B1KER Bar Podcast https://apple.co/2PM5kFR ::: iTunes http://bit.ly/2Am6D9p ::: Google Play http://bit.ly/2CY8jbz ::: SoundCloud ►Support B1KER http://patreon.b1ker.com ::: Patreon http://donate.b1ker.com ::: Donate http://shop.b1ker.com ::: B1KER Shop ►B1KER Social Media https://www.instagram.com/b1kerb1/ https://www.facebook.com/b1kerb1/ https://www.twitter.com/b1kerb1/ ►Camera Gear and Settings http://camera.b1ker.com/ ►What I Ride http://b1ker.com/?page_id=641 ::: Raliegh Back Alley SS http://b1ker.com/?page_id=739 ::: Santa Cruz Bronson CC http://b1ker.com/?page_id=634 ::: Marin Cortina CX Pro ►Contact B1KER http://contact.b1ker.com

Assistant editor, Jack Luke, and technical writer, Simon Bromley, talk through some the hottest stories published this week on BikeRadar.com, from pictures of what could be Chris Froome's new bike, to the new Canyon Aeroad and all the juicy details on Mondraker's latest ultralight XC frameset. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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...

We address some frequently asked mountain biking questions including whether to go hardtail or full suspension, 27.5 vs 29, etc.     Like GEAR:30 on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GEAR30/ Follow GEAR:30 on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gear_30/?hl=en For the best deals on amazing outdoor gear, check out our deals of the week at https://www.gearthirty.com Check out gear reviews and watch other great videos from GEAR:30 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8bAS978OE4 . Don't forget to subscribe.

THIS WEEK ON LRP: - Should you really get a dropper post? - How did Nate get into Mountain Biking - The best places to ride in Grand Rapids, MI - Would you ever buy a $10k Hardtail? (Yeti's new bike) - What is it like riding in Sedona? - Taking on the “”White Line” - WHY YOU SHOULD SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TRAILS (JOIN WMMBA) - Virtual Reality, do's and don's More from Nate: https://www.facebook.com/CentDistrictGR/ https://centraldistrictcyclery.com/ SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TRAILS! : https://wmmba.org/ NOW, GO DO IT. NOW https://wmmba.org/membership/ Big thanks to Nate from Central District Cycling. Nate was kind enough to join us to talk about some awesome MTB topics! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/localroots/support

Hi, guys welcome to the first episode of Trail Talk Live! In this week's episode, we cover the new Commencal bikes and Specialized Epic in the news and discuss if bikes will be more expensive in 2021 and what is the best value hardtail under $1000. Enjoy!

Ist es denn nicht bequemer am Gravelbike wenigstens vorne eine Federung zu haben? Ja mag sein aber ich habe meine Gründe warum ich mein Gravelbike so liebe wie es ist. Für ein Hardtail würde ich auch eine Verwendung finden, aber zwischen Wollen und Haben liegt ein großer Unterschied. Erwähnte Produkte: ► Panzerglas: https://amzn.to/37Jy4cn ► Handyhülle: https://amzn.to/3fFzRBP ► Gopro 8 Windschutz: https://amzn.to/30WNiJx ► Gopro 7 Windschutz: https://amzn.to/3fFkvxb Ich freu mich auf dein Feedback und Fragen. eMail: mtbtravelgirl@gmail.com ► Unterstütze den Podcast: http://bit.ly/2Si4Mvn ► Travel and Ride Podcast auf Youtube: http://bit.ly/3asAooa ► Youtube MTB Travel Girl: bit.ly/2xj3qs6 ► Instagram: http://bit.ly/3cDVDoV ► Mein Blog: http://bit.ly/2PSi93K Denkt dran: Schwingt euch aufs Bike und Travel and Ride ;)

Alles über die unkomplizierte Art des Mountainbikens Kaufberatung: Die besten Hardtails um 1000 Euro Für Einsteiger: Hier gibt's alle infos, die der MTB-Newbie braucht Podcast und mehr: Unsere Newsletter hält Dich auf dem Laufenden - hier abonnieren Du interessierst Dich auch für andere Facetten des Radfahrens und Outdoor-Lebens? Dann hör doch mal in unsere anderen Podcasts rein: Faszination Rennrad - der ROADBIKE-Podcast Jetzt Rad fahren - der KARL-Podcast rund ums urbane Radfahren, innovative Verkehrskonzepte, E-Bikes, Lastenräder, Fahrradpolitik und vieles mehr

In der Natur mit der Natur verbunden sein, den Körper fordern und das Adrenalin auf den Trails genießen, das ist Mountainbiken. Wenn Ihr mit diesem faszinierenden Sport beginnen wollt, ist ein Hardtail, also ein Bike mit Federgabel, aber ungefedertem Heck, die beste Wahl. Es kostet kein Vermögen, ist zuverlässig und bietet auch schon für kleines Geld den vollen Fahrspaß und ist das Allround-Fahrrad schlechthin. Ist ein Gebrauchtkauf sinnvoll, kann ich beim Online-Versender kaufen, wie viel Geld muss ich einplanen, um Spaß zu haben, worauf muss ich bei der Schaltung achten und viele Fragen mehr beantworten Redaktionsleiter André Schmidt und Redakteur Christian Zimek in dieser Podcast-Folge, die auch für Kenner und Könner sicher noch den einen oder anderen Wissens-Nugget zu bieten hat. Alle Biker, die etwa ein preiswertes Hardtail als Zweitbike suchen, finden ebenfalls jede Menge Tipps und Hintergrund-Infos. Die besten MTBs für um die 1000 Euro - diesen und mehr Links gibt's in den Shownotes

In this episode I sit down with the guys at the Mountain Bike Haus. We discuss how mountain bike haus got started, who's the best chef, current and past bikes, favorite trails, frienduro, and much more.  Please check out their website mtbhaus.com, or on Instagram @mountainbikehaus If you are interested in trying BTOP CBD Oil, go to btocbd.com Artwork for the podcast was created by breannemalott.com

[audio: https://conspiracyclothes.com/nowheretorun/audio/NTR_12_21_100.mp3] I talk about recent interviews, progress of Icke project, Worry, seminary, Destiny Lab, and I play a clip from Paul Washer at the end. Recent interviews with Chris PID Radio http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pidradio/2010/12/18/vftb-live-supernatural-films-and-spiritual-frauds.mp3 TIM and Mike show http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-89351/TS-427326.mp3 Hardtail news with Doc http://jumbofiles.com/n4dzi605179s Destiny Lab http://destinylab.com Terry Melanson Blog http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Blog/?p=4082#comment-18268 Full Washer Sermon http://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fillbehonest.com%2FTaking-the-Message-to-the-World-Paul-Washer&session_token=UY5wtx07Gs_Ed11rELh08KCrKC18MTI5MzA1MDQyMQ%3D%3D

Today is militia wednesday where myself and Joe Racer will be discussing the Arizona Border Situation and those who are there battling Los Zetas

[audio: https://conspiracyclothes.com/nowheretorun/audio/Freedomizer.mp3] Chris White from www.nowheretorunradio.com and http://www.2012decption.net returns to our show TOPIC Is The Bible Written Or Changed By The Illuminati… what does history, science and reason say about the subject.