Podcasts about rockshox

Aventuras sobre dos ruedas - Bicis y motos offroad

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2025 70:56

Esta semana tenemos mucho enduro con todos tipos de bici bastante diferentes pero a su vez creadas para lo mismo. Por un lado la Focus SAM2, una e-bike con cuadro de aluminio y sistema de asistencia Bosch Performance Line CX con baterías de 600 Wh y 800 Wh; por otro la Pivot Firebird, una enduro con cuadro de fibra de carbono, muchas posibilidades de personalización con varias configuraciones de la geometría y comportamiento del amortiguador trasero. Pero no terminamos ahí las novedades, FOX sigue presentando nuevos productos con sus amortiguadores “gravity” renovados, el X2 y el DHX2, que ahora cuentan con un diseño monotubo para mejorar su comportamiento; RockShox ha renovado su tija telescópica Reverb AXS, con un nuevo emplazamiento de la batería y más recorridos disponibles; Evoc nos ha presentado nuevas protecciones (coderas y rodilleras) con tecnología Liteshield Flex; ; tenemos una edición (MUY) especial de la Yeti ASR 40th aniversario... Y además dos noticias “diferentes” como el anuncio de un mito como Gary Fisher de que tiene unas e-bikes de carga rápida preparadas para ser presentadas, y la Ampler Nova, una e-bike que puedes cargar con un USB-C nos han dado pie a comentar los retos que tienen en muchos casos las e-bikes y la situación que se puede derivar de los famosos aranceles que está imponiendo el presidente americano. Aunque esto último lo hacemos simplemente como comentarios de lo que estamos viendo en el mundo de la bici y no como expertos en economía (que no somos). Tienes más información en los siguientes enlaces: Primeras Pedaladas Focus Sam2: https://www.mtbpro.es/afondo/primeras-pedaladas-con-la-nueva-focus-sam2 Primeras Pedaladas Pivot Firebird: https://www.mtbpro.es/afondo/primeras-pedaladas-nueva-pivot-firebird Nuevos amortiguadores FOX X2 y DHX2: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nuevos-amortiguadores-fox-x2-y-dhx2 Nueva tija RockShox Reverb AXS: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nueva-rockshox-reverb-axs-diseno-actualizado-mas-recorrido-y-menor-precio Nuevas protecciones de EVOC: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/evoc-presenta-nuevas-protecciones-para-codos-y-rodillas-con-tecnologia-liteshield-flex Yeti ASR 40 th aniversario: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/yeti-asr-40th-solo-200-unidades-numeradas-de-una-autentica-retro-dream-bike Gary Fisher y su marca de e-bikes de carga súper rápida: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/uno-de-los-padres-del-mtb-lanza-una-nueva-marca-de-e-bikes-de-carga-super-rapida Con un cargador USB-C ya puedes cargar esta e-bike: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/si-tienes-un-cargador-usb-c-ya-puedes-cargar-la-bateria-de-esta-e-bike

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Nueva tija telescópica electrónica inalámbrica Fox

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2024

Los componentes de primera calidad están pasando a la activación inalámbrica y Fox parece ser el último en sumarse al juego. Un ojo atento captó esta tija telescópica revestida de Kashima con un dispositivo electrónico ubicado sobre el collar del asiento, una orientación diferente para cualquier componente del motor que la Reverb AXS de RockShox.

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BH GravelX R, Trek Slash+ y Supercaliber con Flight Attendant.

pero tienes trek slash flight attendants rockshox dt swiss

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2024 40:10

Esta semana también tenemos tres bicis muy distintas. Pero arrancamos felicitando su 30 cumpleaños a DT Swiss. La mítica marca suiza patrocina este episodio. Tienes más información sobre su historia y sobre su gama de productos en: https://www.dtswiss.com/es La BH GravelX E es una gravel 100% "race" diseñada y creada para todos los que quieren ir rápido por las pistas. Una bici sin concesiones. Más info en: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/nueva-bh-gravelx-r-maximo-rendimiento-para-gravel-race La Trek Slash+ es una ebike para los amantes del enduro de "largos recorridos" de verdad. De ese enduero en el que hay que subir y en el que la bajada se disfruta en cada curva, en cada peralte... Más info en: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nueva-trek-slash-e-enduro Aunque seguimos con Trek, cambiamos de disciplina para hablar del nuevo modelo de Trek Supercaliber que incluye la tecnología Flight Attendant de RockShox. Más info en: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nueva-trek-supercaliber-99-slr-fa-con-el-amortiguador-rockshox-sidluxe-ultimate-isostrut

Folge 263 - Öl und Gummi Fetisch. Mit "Pushard Suspension" Fahrwerksguru Gino Schlifske und Dennis Stratmann

Single Trails and Single Malt

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2024 65:41

Wer ein geschmeidiges Fahrwerk oder einen guten Dämpfer Service möchte, wird sicher schon über "Pushard Suspension" gestolpert sein. Dahinter steckt kein Geringerer als Ex Downhill Worldcup Rider Gino Schlifske. In akribischer Kleinstarbeit und unbändigbarer Neugier hat er sich zu einer von Deutschlands Top Adressen für MTB Fahrwerke entwickelt. Ob Fox wirklich besser als RockShox ist, welches Gabelöl das Beste ist und warum Standard Setups immer nur ein Kompromiss sein können, erzählt er in dieser Folge.

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New bikes from Specialized, New RockShox suspension and Zwift's first smart bike | BikeRadar news show

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2024 53:49

In this episode of the BikeRadar podcast, Jack Luke is joined by Alex Evans and Simon von Bromley to discuss some of the most interesting bike tech stories from recent weeks. First up, Alex takes us through the details on Specialized's updated Chisel – its high-performing full-suspension alloy MTB. Following that, Simon gives his take on Zwift's latest innovation – a (relatively) low-priced, modular smart bike called ‘Zwift Ride'. Alex, Jack and Simon then discuss the new RockShox forks and dampers, and ponder why we only see incremental upgrades to certain products nowadays. We finish on Specialized's new premium alloy gravel bike, the Crux DSW – claimed to be the lightest alloy gravel frame available. https://www.bikeradar.com/news/2024-zwift-ride https://www.bikeradar.com/news/rockshox-forks-shocks-2025 https://www.bikeradar.com/news/2024-specialized-crux-dsw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Tackling the 2024 UNBOUND 200 with Coach Justin Bowes

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2024 66:52

In this episode, Craig Dalton and Justin Bowes reflect on the lead-up to the Unbound Gravel 200 race, sharing insights into the unique training approach adopted to prepare for the challenging event. They discuss the strategic training block, the importance of quality over quantity, utilizing power meters for training effectiveness, and the significance of recovery in a compressed time frame. The conversation dives into the pivotal four-day mini camp, highlighting the benefits of stacking workload and the nuances of balancing intervals and endurance rides. Support the Podcast Join The Ridership Key themes include strategically structuring training around time constraints, leveraging prior endurance experience, the impact of power meter training, optimizing recovery for peak performance, and the mental challenges faced leading up to a formidable gravel race like Unbound. Key Takeaways: Strategic training plans can be tailored effectively to accommodate time constraints and previous endurance experience. Balancing interval workouts with endurance rides is crucial for building strength and endurance for challenging events. Utilizing power meters can provide valuable insights into training progress and help optimize performance. Adequate recovery periods are essential for the body to absorb training load effectively, leading to improved performance. Mental preparation and breaking down the race into manageable segments can help athletes. Transcript: [00:00:00] - (): Craig Dalton: Justin, welcome back to the show, [00:00:02] - (): Justin Bowes: Craig. Thank you for having me. It's good to see you again. [00:00:05] - (): Craig Dalton: Post Unbound. We did it. [00:00:07] - (): Justin Bowes: That's right. You did it. Yeah, you did it a big way. [00:00:12] - (): Craig Dalton: I appreciate you coming on board and being my muse to help me tell my story. I feel like you were an integral part of my life for a while this year. **** - (): In our last episode, we talked about kind of what the run up to my non cycling related vacation looked like. And maybe we pick up the story post that vacation. [00:00:33] - (): Justin Bowes: Sure. Yeah, it was, we discussed on the, on the first pod that, we, we were having a little bit uncharacteristic buildup, um, not only because you had some, prior work, obligations with, as far as travel, but we were starting quite late, um, as well. **** - (): So we had to, be a little creative in how we wanted to, to approach your training. So, right when you were, uh, leaving, we had really built up your training load, um, because obviously we knew that you were going to be leaving and you're gonna have time off the bike. You weren't gonna be. **** - (): Completely immobile. I mean, you were, we're going to be able to, do some running and walking and some lifting and, and, um, a few stationary bike sessions in there and things like that, but it's not the most ideal unbound training, especially when you're training for the 200 and. We're only a couple months into it or, a couple of months out from it, I should say. **** - (): And so, uh, the thought behind, how I wanted to structure your training was to take advantage of the, the, the amount of time that you did not have to train. And so where a traditional buildup would have multiple big ride days on the weekends, um, not only that, but then also, during the week, You would have your meat and potato interval session, but also bookend it with some big endurance rides on the front and the back end of it, but you just didn't have that available to you. **** - (): So, um, I needed to make sure that we were going to take advantage of not only the lack of time that you had available to you, but also you're, you're no stranger to endurance, um, athletics. So you had a background that I could work with. And that makes all the difference. If you were just coming to me off the street and say, Hey, can you get me ready? **** - (): And less than four months, for a 200 mile gravel race, the hardest 200 mile gravel race in the world. It would, that would be a different story, but thankfully you, you had some background in endurance, so it wasn't. A foreign concept to your body. [00:02:48] - (): Craig Dalton: It was interesting in my training block leading up to Cuba because we really didn't do a lot of meaningfully long rides, but I also understood like, I'd never really done meaningful intervals before. **** - (): And clearly like the workouts you were prescribing to me that were one hour in duration. Pretty tired afterwards. Like I felt like I really gassed myself because now that we're looking at a power meter and we're really saying it's not like perceived level of exertion. It's like, here's the exertion you need to achieve. **** - (): Um, and it was really, I mean, frankly, it was like, I was burying myself on a lot of those workouts, which was very different than anything I'd been done doing in the, the decade before, to be honest. [00:03:32] - (): Justin Bowes: Right. Right. And I mean, it's, it's the old adage, quality over quantity. And again, I, I keep coming back to, the time crunch. **** - (): I mean, that's what we were up against. And so I really wanted to make sure that, the lead up to your trip to Cuba, but then also once you get back, we added enough low to you. to your training so that, um, the break was needed. And so your body would be able to absorb all of that load while you're gone because, yes, you would still be active, but you weren't training. **** - (): And so it allowed your body to recover from all that. And by the way, Um, Craig did an amazing job, um, of hitting all of his workouts. Like, I want to say there's less than a handful that were just kind of like, didn't nail them perfectly, but it wasn't for the lack of trying by any means. Um, and so, um, with that, and you brought up the point too, it's just like, you've never trained with power before, and so there was just, that was just another element to the training that we had to kind Yeah. implement. It wasn't like, Oh yeah, I've been training for years with power. So I know what my zones are and why and all of that. So kind of helping coach you through, the use of the power meters and, and the importance of that. **** - (): I think it gave us a really good detailed picture of where the training was going and you could see. Yeah. and ultimately feel, yourself getting stronger, after each week, things just got better and better and better. So once you got back into the country, then it was time to start, we'll continue on the interval workouts, but we're going to start introducing, the longer sessions as well. [00:05:21] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, yeah. And I remember like I definitely felt tired when I left for that week off, um, and unfortunately not incredibly refreshed after my quote unquote vacation, because there's a lot of running around with the family, but coming back and looking at the training calendar, we had a couple of things up in the air, but we knew like that next six weeks was going to be a big build of long rides, endurance rides, and continuing on some of the interval work. [00:05:47] - (): Justin Bowes: Right, right. And so, had, had things been different as far as scheduling of the trip and things like that, we may have flipped the script a little bit and did all of your big rides be, on the front end, and then do all the more structured training, the higher, shorter, sharper stuff on the back end. **** - (): But I just felt like with your background and what we wanted to accomplish with Unbound, um, it was better for us to, to stack those. shorter, sharper workouts on the front end and then give yourself time to relax or, absorb. And then once you came back and we figured out, some pieces as far as like, Hey, when can we get out and do back to back big rides? **** - (): And I want to talk about that too, because I think it was really important, um, in the buildup, um, for the race, um, those, those four days of just, some really good rides, but it, it, it, It was working and from my standpoint, I could see, the fatigue building, but your recovery was also taking, it was, it was working as well, and so it was like, we'd stack the work on you. **** - (): But then the recovery days were structured so that, those. again, your body absorbs that work. And the cool thing with watching you is he can, you, Craig, he can handle a lot of work, so I'd be looking at your workouts, every day. And I'm like, he's, he's doing this, like he's actually absorbing all this workload. **** - (): And that's where it was really starting to fuel my confidence. And what you were going to be able to, um, accomplish at Unbound was, not only is he nailing all these workouts, but he's also recovering on the backside of it too. And that was just, again, it was fueling my confidence for you to egg you on to say, Craig, you can do this. **** - (): Like we're in a really good position. And I didn't want to get down into all the weeds with you as far as like what I was seeing, right? Right. Because ultimately it's just like, I just want Craig, you to understand you can do this. So it was really cool from my standpoint to see. [00:08:03] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. It's interesting. As you talk about, like, if, if we had given more time that you might've done the longer rides earlier and then that kind of high performance stuff later, right. **** - (): I kind of feel like I might've struggled with confidence With that approach, even though like, obviously I would've had massive workouts six weeks back. [00:08:24] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, yeah. . But I [00:08:25] - (): Craig Dalton: kind of, I kind of like the, the idea that we were progressively testing me Yes. On these harder and harder weekends towards the end. **** - (): Right? [00:08:34] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. And I, and definitely by design , but at the same time it, it, it worked out, I think, better than I even. had hoped for because, again, in theory and on paper, I'm looking at what I want you to do, but ultimately it's what can your body and, now that we're getting deeper into it, what can your mind and your body do? **** - (): Handle. And so that's where, that's where, the coaching science and the coaching art kind of, blur the lines together of like, okay, this is what I expect him to be able to do, but this is what I'm seeing him, doing. And it's just, it's a really cool kind of blend of, the science and the art coming together. **** - (): And again, it just stokes my confidence. And hopefully that comes across in my communication with you is like, I'm really excited. I can see this happening. And this is why I believe that you're going to be able to, perform this, um, crazy, crazy event. So [00:09:39] - (): Craig Dalton: yeah, I think what was good for both of us was knowing that, and I'd said to you early on, knowing that I kind of put myself and you behind the eight ball starting late. **** - (): Yes. But that, I had this, I could make a four day. Kind of mini camp whenever we needed it in May as like this option to really kind of do some big volume. [00:10:01] - (): Justin Bowes: Right, right. And that was, that kind of gave me, that was kind of one of those moments of like, okay, good, at least. We, we, we've got it to where, it's in our back pocket. **** - (): I've got that card to play. Um, it's going to lend itself really well. And, fortunately it was, you were really flexible on, when that could actually happen. And that, that definitely makes a, a big impact because, within the month of an event like, the 200. **** - (): Like, we can't miss days. We can't, there's like no makeup days or anything. And each day is just that much more important for the next and the next and the next, and. Um, yeah, having you be able to go out and just knock out these four days of, big rides and, when we were talking about how we were going to do that, when a lot of, I don't want to say a lot, when, when most people have that kind of that opening of like, Hey, I'm going to do a, a mini camp, whether it's a long, four day weekend or in the middle of the week, however it works out, they're so excited to go and put in the big miles, they're, they've got free time. **** - (): They've got the, the hall pass to go and just train. That's awesome. That's great. But the biggest mistake made by most people that do that is. They go out and do a seven or eight hour ride, on day one, and they're not used to that. And on day two, day three, they're just like, yeah, two hours here, three hours there, whatever. **** - (): And if that, because they just completely blew themselves to the moon on day one and weren't ready for that. And so, so I prescribed to you that we'll just stair step ourself into the, into that block so that. We get the most bang for our buck out of that, that mini block of training. And. It worked. **** - (): It worked well. [00:12:03] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think that was definitely a critical weekend for me. I think I rode four hours kind of mixed terrain with a buddy of mine on Thursday, four, maybe five hours on Friday and then eight and a half or nine on Saturday and followed up by two or three on Sunday. [00:12:21] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, that was, again, it was, it was a big, um, big chunk of time in the saddle. **** - (): Um, and it was a big, um, bite on your end. I mean, to take, to, to put in that much time, but again, it just, it, it just speaks to the training that we did leading into it helped. your body absorb those big days. And once you, once you came out of that, to me, like I didn't want to, I didn't want to like pile on just like the raw, raw cheerleader, like, Oh my God, he's going to do this sort of thing. **** - (): I, I was, I was, I internally, like on this side of the screen, I was like, hell yeah. Like this is, this is going to work. Like he, he's going to He's going to do okay at this. [00:13:12] - (): Craig Dalton: I think I got a hell yeah. In the comments and training peaks, [00:13:15] - (): Justin Bowes: you probably did. Yeah, [00:13:17] - (): Craig Dalton: that's sad. I think that for me, that Saturday ride was the one that I reflected on, on game day, because it was 10, 000 feet plus of climbing in. **** - (): Very, very challenging terrain. Like in fact, like I forgot, cause I don't go so far north as much like coming across pine mountain and up San Geronimo Ridge, things that the locals around here might understand, like it was just super rocky and this was like six, seven hours into the day that I hit just these trails that I just forgot how steep they are and how rocky they are. **** - (): So when I came home from that. And was able to get on the bike the next day. I was like, okay, like it was only 77 miles and I'm doing a 200 mile race, but I did the elevation and I can guarantee some of those miles were a lot harder to come by than what I'd experienced in Kansas. [00:14:13] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. Um, I mean, just quickly for the listeners, just kind of given, give them some numbers behind the, uh, that particular ride. **** - (): I'll, I'll preface this by saying, even the professionals in the 200, they're not going to be able to go out and mimic. an exact 200 mile, day. And so it's just, it's just, that's a big day for anybody. And so if you can get in, for you, we're, we're targeting, like, we had the kind of the, um, beat the sun, uh, goal. **** - (): Hey, I'd like to get in, under 15 hours, just a couple, just high level. This is kind of what I want to do. So when you were able to clock in at over eight and a half hours in the saddle with, over 10, 000 feet of climbing. And coming in with a TSS of over 400 in under 80 miles, that's a big day. **** - (): And you're right. It's it's it, of course it's not, a hundred miles or even 125 miles or anything like that. Like, most people will, who do the 200 who have serious training behind them. They're going to be pushing that 150 mile, training day on one of, on their last big. **** - (): Uh, training block, but you being able to get out there and produce the power that you did, the load that you were able to accumulate and the efficiency. I should note, the efficiency factor that you were able to, um, uh, complete this ride in again, it was just like, it's just pure gold in the bank, like, not even cash, like gold, like, it's solid, it's, it's, it's tangible, like, he's going to be able to reflect on this ride when things maybe get a little dark in Kansas and be able to say, I, Look what I did. **** - (): Like, I can do that. And so when you have a ride like that, Craig, it's, it's, it's really good. Um, and it's, it's hard to quantify from a coaching perspective to an athlete until they actually do it of like what that truly means, um, to the end goal. **** - (): Yeah, yeah, I think it's so important [00:16:24] - (): Craig Dalton: to have those just tough tough days to reflect back on and put in the bank and I feel like when I, when I got to Kansas, I had sort of maybe a 90 percent confidence interval on my ability to complete the event. I knew, as you said before, I knew that I had Done everything that was asked of me pretty put a pretty solid effort in, but there was always that little bit in my mind saying, like, I've never ridden in Kansas. **** - (): I don't know what the terrain's like, and I've certainly never ridden more than 130 miles. Right? [00:17:00] - (): Justin Bowes: Right. And that brings up an interesting, question that I don't know. I've, I don't think I've posed to you since to to unbound, but like, mentally. That week leading into it, where was your head at? Like you, you've touched on like, Hey, I've never ridden in Kansas. **** - (): I've never ridden the 200 miles, kind of speak to, mentally where, where you were at leading into the race that like that week of. [00:17:27] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. I think it was a little bit all over the place. Like I started seeing footage of the actual terrain and I started actually, let me step back for a second. **** - (): They talked about the North course being chunky. And when I think about chunky, I think about where I ride at home, but I realized in retrospect, it's chunky at home, but 15 percent grades [00:17:50] - (): Justin Bowes: and [00:17:50] - (): Craig Dalton: Kansas chunky is chunky, but 6 percent grade, so it felt a lot different. Um, so that's a point on the chunkiness. **** - (): And then second, I started to see some of the more, um, minimum a maintenance roads and they had these great dual tracks that. We're pretty hard pack. Yeah. And I was, I was definitely conscious that conditions could change and good God, if you were in the Facebook group, the, the amount of meteorologists that came out of the woodwork was pretty insane that week leading in, but there's definitely some rain on the calendar. **** - (): Right. Yeah. [00:18:23] - (): Justin Bowes: No, I just felt like I may have oversold, um, the northbound course as being as chunky and technical, um, but I think, I'd rather you go in. With a higher level of like, Oh, okay. **** - (): This could be pretty rough. Um, as opposed to, Oh yeah, the North course is fine. Yeah, it gets chunky in sections, overall it's fine. But then you get there and you're like, Whoa, I was, you did not warn me about this. You did not, my expectation was down here. And now it's like, what is happening? **** - (): I [00:18:55] - (): Craig Dalton: think what it left you with, Justin was just an awareness of. This could go wrong for my equipment if I'm not careful. And I'll get into a little bit once we start talking about the ride itself, like how I rode the race. [00:19:10] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. Um, [00:19:11] - (): Craig Dalton: but once I got to, I, I got out to Kansas on Wednesday night, got to Emporia on Thursday, did my first group shakeout ride for 15 miles on Thursday, actually in the rain. **** - (): Um, Start, it was nice to just get the bike on the dirt out there and start to get a sense for it. You start to understand, in any grid shaped race or race course, the 90 degree corners are what you have to be aware of because Right, while you may have good dual tracks when you're coming around a corner, it, it can be very much marbley, kind of gravel in the middle. **** - (): So it was good to sort of just. Test the cornering a little bit, so to speak. [00:19:53] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, it's, yeah, a lot of gravel races. You just have that natural, flow of the course and, and everything, but yeah, out in Emporia, it truly is. a hard right, a hard left, and, and, if you get out of that line, um, or, you, you find yourself, drifting out of that corner or out of the race line and into the, the, the sides of the course. **** - (): Yeah. It can get, it can get pretty chunky and it's, and not only that or loose too, but not only that is just the amount of. Shrapnel being thrown up at you, with that, that many cyclists, on a course, um, yeah, it's, it's tough. [00:20:40] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, exactly. So then Friday I hooked up with the, my, my crew in the house. **** - (): I was staying with shout out to Doug Bucko and Phil. Uh, we did a little ride in the town we were staying in and then I went into the, um, the meat, mandatory media event. Yeah. That lifetime was holding, and it was interesting because I did glean some perspective there as well, because they talked about how they felt like the first 28 miles of this race was going to be incredibly fast and actually that turned out to be a useful tidbit. **** - (): Um, After the race started, so we can talk about that in a little bit, but I sort of, I did a little ride on Friday, felt good. The equipment felt dialed in retrospect. I sort of had tire size envy a little bit because it was weird because I normally ride like a 47 at home. And, um, we talked about this early on. **** - (): You're a big fan of the IRC Boken and the biggest they come in is a 42. And I was like, well, I'm riding my titanium unicorn. I've got a front suspension fork. Like I don't need all that volume. And it, it seemed interesting to me to kind of go to something a little bit faster rolling potentially. But the big tire guy in me, when all the pros were talking about running 50 started to get a little bit jealous. [00:21:55] - (): Justin Bowes: Right. Yeah, it's, it's, it's so personal. Like, um, yeah, I can give you my recommendations and, what I've seen work, for myself and other athletes and competitors and things like that, but it's, it's, yeah, it really comes down to your comfort level of, You know what you, what you, what you can ride and what feels good underneath you and, and things like that. **** - (): And I, yeah, I'm, I'm all about my IRC tires, but at the same time, yeah, I couldn't help but be a little like, [00:22:28] - (): Craig Dalton: Hmm, [00:22:28] - (): Justin Bowes: 50 would be pretty nice, and I did [00:22:30] - (): Craig Dalton: talk to the IRC guys and they said, Hey, the guys are from Japan are here. Yeah. And I'm making them listen to all these pros who are talking about fifties. [00:22:39] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. [00:22:42] - (): Craig Dalton: So I feel like, like Thursday, Friday was all going swimmingly. And then through like being part of a larger group, my dinner on Friday night, we didn't end up sitting down to like maybe seven 30 or eight. Yeah, which is later than we had all intended by a few hours, right? I had been drinking a bunch of electrolyte stuff that I had picked up in the the expo area and For whatever reason and I don't really think I wasn't really in my head about the race because I was very kind of just at peace with Where I was at and what was going to unfold was going to unfold Friday night. **** - (): I had a horrible night's sleep. I had a headache. I just kind of couldn't go down, which definitely rattled me, getting up at 4 30 AM to start eating on Saturday morning. [00:23:30] - (): Justin Bowes: Right, right. Yeah. It's, it's tough. Um, yeah, it's, especially when you're with a group of people at a big race like that and, Emporia, I mean, they do an amazing job trying to absorb. **** - (): Influx of what, uh, 12, 000 plus people with support staff and racers. And, but yeah, with dining options being as limited as they are, um, and then trying to, get a group to dinner or prepare dinner, whatever that case may be. Yeah. It's, it's, it's tough. And. I'm, I'm of the belief, I've always had this, in the school of thought of, it's not the night before, it's two nights before, um, as far as like your most important rest, um, and, recovery time and things like that, because even if, Craig, even if everything went perfect on Friday night, The enormity of what you're about to do on Saturday morning will keep you from having a restful night's sleep, it's just, yeah, maybe, maybe you fell asleep a little bit quicker, but, just knowing that, oh, my gosh, I got to get up at 430. **** - (): I've got to have, double check this triple check that. I've got to start eating like immediately. I got to, make sure, everything's functioning. And so it's even with the best laid plans, it's always going to be, um, um, a rough night. So, but, again, objectively looking at it. **** - (): And I think I shared with you on our call the other day was, if somebody just tossed this file in front of me. Um, and just said, Hey, tell me what you think, without any context or knowing who it was or anything like that. It's like, this guy had a great race and it was indicative of, um, again, I think just your confidence of, being prepared and knowing it is what it is at this point and yeah, you, strapped in and got to work. **** - (): So. [00:25:31] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, yeah, I think, I mean, I felt great about my equipment going in. I spent way more time thinking about hydration and nutrition than I ever had before, and I was, I was really jazzed with the way the First Endurance EPO Pro High Carb Drink worked for me. So to give some perspective, I used two 12 ounce bottles of the high carb drink, and then I had a use way backpack with water in it. **** - (): And my plan was at every opportunity to refill those bottles. I would refill with the. The first endurance high carb mix that kind of annoyed maybe my, my compatriots a little bit. Cause I was like, Oh, I got to dump this powder in. And by the way, for any product designers out there, I need a product that will encapsulate a serving of first endurance. **** - (): That's better than a plastic bag and faster to pour into [00:26:24] - (): Justin Bowes: a bottle. **** - (): So you felt like **** - (): the, **** - (): the first endurance high carb. That was. That was good for you. [00:26:31] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. So I was using that, uh, trying to goal was to drink a bottle an hour and do Right. A goo or something in addition to it. So Right. Aiming around, I think 85 to 90 carbs an hour. Mm-Hmm. . And I had, I had trained on that on every one of my long rides. **** - (): Exactly. [00:26:48] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. And some people will say, well that's on the low side now, but, um, and, and it. It is, but at the same time, if that's what you're training with and that's what your body's used to, and again, being able to get through all the training sessions the way you did, why, why change that, and, and try to like go all pro and be like, I'm getting 120, 130 grams, of carbs per hour. **** - (): And then all of a sudden, you're two hours in and your body's like, I. Don't know what this means, and just let's just shut down on you. Um, you were, you were talking about, um, you touched on it really quick on, um, your bike and everything. Talk a little bit more about like the equipment that you did, end up using, for the race. [00:27:33] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. So I was using, it's basically my standard setup at home with the exception of, I was running 700 by 42 tires as IRC Bokens. Uh, as we mentioned before, I did have the RockShox suspension fork on there as well as a dropper post. I considered taking the dropper post off, um, because I didn't think it was going to be warranted, but I'm glad I did not. **** - (): I'm glad I left it on. [00:27:58] - (): Justin Bowes: Interesting. [00:27:58] - (): Craig Dalton: Okay. Part of that rationale was nothing new on game day philosophy. Um, but I, I can go on and on and on about dropper posts and in the context of unbound. It certainly enabled a heightened level of comfort during any of the technical sections. So little Egypt and right. **** - (): Call reservation. And then oddly, like on the more, on the longer kind of just gentler downhills, it just allowed me to really get in sort of a chilled out yet arrow position. [00:28:33] - (): Justin Bowes: Okay. [00:28:34] - (): Craig Dalton: So it, it, it turned out really well. And. Obviously there's like a slight weight penalty, uh, with it, but it just provides me so much comfort when I go downhill and so much confidence that, I was like, I'm just going to leave it on. **** - (): And I'm totally glad I did. [00:28:51] - (): Justin Bowes: Nice. No, I, I don't think we talk much about droppers when it comes to, to unbound. I don't think that's like any, in any of the, like the hot topics it's, it's, it's all tires and and now that they've banned, arrow bars, from the pros and stuff. I mean, it's just like all the focuses, your, your number. **** - (): Uh, holder now, so you can keep it flat and arrow and all of that. Um, and then your tires and, and wheel choice. Um, but yeah, dropper, like I think it makes a lot of sense, especially, just from a positioning standpoint. of just giving you your body a different position for that long of a period, because if you think about how being in a static cycling position for, 13, 14, 15 hours, being able to mix it up and know that you can, like you said, just have a little confidence boost and just like a different position for those descents. **** - (): Taking some pressure off your lower back, off your hamstrings, the glutes, all of that. I mean, the little things like that really do add up, especially over that course of, that type of distance. [00:30:01] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I do feel like at this moment I should, I should make one admission to my, my training progress. **** - (): I will say like the one area, Justin, where I felt like I failed down and fell down when fortunately it didn't bite me in the ass is while I did do a ton of foam rolling, I wasn't as committed as I should have been to my foundation back exercises. Truth comes [00:30:27] - (): Justin Bowes: out. Um, it's funny because I, like I doubled down on my foundation, uh, back exercises, the, the month leading into unbound, um, I've, I've always had a really strong back, um, partly from, swim background and everything. **** - (): But, um, as we've gotten older, um, things are just a little bit, they make themselves a little bit more aware and a day like, unbound granted, I did the hundred, not the 200. Um, it's still, It adds up. And so I was just like, I'm doubling down on my, my foundation work. So instead of, a minimum of twice a week, I was doing it four plus times a week. **** - (): And, um, I, I, I definitely felt a difference. Um, Just finishing and standing in the finish corral with everybody. And it was like, wow, I can actually like stand straight up, normally, normally you have that pre or post race kind of like slouch and slump and you're like, and have to like come back up to, um, vertical, uh, slowly. **** - (): Um, but yeah, big time. So interesting that you mentioned that. Um, [00:31:42] - (): Craig Dalton: So yeah, a hundred percent. It was not a recommendation to not do those things to anybody listening to what [00:31:46] - (): Justin Bowes: Craig did on. [00:31:47] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, exactly. So talking about race day, I mean, so, we got, it was surprised, like it was very hassle free to kind of get to the start line. **** - (): Yeah. Probably got there maybe a few minutes later than probably could have gotten further up in the Peloton if you, if you will. [00:32:03] - (): Justin Bowes: Okay. [00:32:04] - (): Craig Dalton: If I got there a few minutes early, but we were there maybe 20 minutes early and we got right to the basically to the 14 hour flag, which is where we decided we were going to start. **** - (): Cause it was important to me. I know from, from past experience, it's important for me to kind of get swept up and make miles when miles are easy. And so I was pretty adamant with the career that I was with that, like, for me, this was like an imperative. Like I, I definitely wanted to start there and ride in a big pack for a while. [00:32:35] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. And, we, we, we did touch on this, um, a little bit that, while you, you definitely need to be with your people, and be with those people that are going to, you. get you through those first, couple hours. Um, but be cautious of not getting swept up in the moment, of, of what Unbound is. **** - (): And for, for anybody who's never been to Emporia on race day, um, I mean, it's a, it's a big deal and you, it's very easy to get caught up, even the days leading into the race of, Oh, we can go do another shakeout, right. Or let's spend five hours at the expo on our feet, because we're having so much fun and we're talking with everybody and things like that with, without much thought of like, Oh, by the way, the biggest race of your life is, two days away and you need to like, Chill and relax, but, um, I, I totally agree. **** - (): Like, you, when. You have to take advantage of those easy miles. Um, with, with, with the caveat that, Hey, I don't want to get swept up and do too much too soon. But I also want to, as you say, make, make hay while the sun is shining. Right. Um, and, and put it away. So when things start to turn south a little bit, no pun intended, um, it's. **** - (): It's you're further up and you're further along and you're feeling better than, had you been too conservative and held back. [00:34:07] - (): Craig Dalton: And maybe, I mean, maybe because we couldn't get farther up, it was actually kind of a, the pace felt very pedestrian. The first 28 miles to me, like, I never, I never had to really, put in any meaningful effort to cruise. **** - (): And I, I was watching some videos this last weekend about it. And a guy who had done it in 12 hours. And I saw the difference of what the 12 hour pace looked like in the 14 hour. And I was like, maybe if I'm like totally nitpicking my day out there, maybe I should have been up a little bit further, but there's something to be said for like, I definitely had a chill first 28 miles. **** - (): And then. We hit, we hit the first technical section and it was interesting. I was definitely conscious of my equipment because I had weirdly, like I'd seen flats like barely out of town. [00:34:59] - (): Justin Bowes: I was like, [00:35:00] - (): Craig Dalton: God, I don't, I don't want to have a flat, there, people are flatting all over the place. **** - (): We would hit these, the, uh, the technical descents and you'd sort of, You have to ride in one of the dual tracks. We're kind of the safest way there. And there was a little rocky kind of drop offs. Nothing too technical if you had a clean look at it, but as you were riding in a group, sometimes you're inevitably forced into a line that you wouldn't have opted into. **** - (): I think that's where you risk, flatting or crashing. [00:35:28] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. And I think that's where most people get in to the big trouble is, they try to, they try to switch those lanes. When they really shouldn't. Um, and that's, a couple of things, a lot of those dual track MMRs, we'll have like a, a big grass section down the center of it. **** - (): Yeah. And the grass looks inviting, but it hides a lot of stuff in there, whether it's, a rut or a. Bigger, nastier rock that's been kicked out of the track into, it's just laying there. And so that's where I think people really make the mistake of like, Oh, this line's going faster on the left. **** - (): So I'm going to hop from the right side to the left side or vice versa. And that's where the cuts happen. And the, even crashes just because they hit something that they weren't expecting and things like that. [00:36:18] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, that 100 percent started to be a necessity to do those cross lane jumps for me. **** - (): Like, as we came out of the other side of the, the first technical section, like, you would just see one group moving up and another. Kind of fading back on a climb. And I was definitely conscious of that middle section. Like this is when it could go all wrong, you feel the need to kind of keep joining groups with forward momentum. **** - (): And yes, I was very pleased that, um, my, my buddy Doug, Was right there with me. I had kind of no sense because I was just sort of focused on saying, with that group in the first 28 miles. And when we came through the technical section, it was great to see his enthusiastic face pull through. And I was like, this is awesome. **** - (): Like, cause I, we hadn't written together, but once or twice. So it was great to see that. We could potentially spend a bunch of time together. So from mile 30 to mile a hundred, we were riding together and riding with groups. Um, it's interesting and unbound cause the amateurs can use arrow bars. **** - (): So you would see these guys and girls who would kind of maybe go slower on the hills, but once you got on the downhill or a flat, they were happy to have a train of people behind them. And I was, I'm not ashamed to say I was taking advantage of that as much as possible. [00:37:35] - (): Justin Bowes: Heck yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. Real quick, before I forget, um, I think on the first pod that we did, um, you were asking me about the climbs. **** - (): Um, and, cause I had given you some description of like, punchy, um, death by a thousand cut because of just the, how many there were, succession and things like that now that you've done it, like what, what was your overall, um, Observation as far as like the climbing was concerned. [00:38:07] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. I mean, everything's so short relative to what I'm used to. And I knew that was going to be the case going in, but on the plus side, you can always, you can generally always see the top of them. So you kind of knew, and you could measure your, you could gauge your efforts. When I, I think about sort of towards mile a hundred, it started, we started to get to some that required a little bit more effort. **** - (): And actually this was, One of the, probably the darkest mental moment I had was I kind of, I lost Doug's wheel. He caught some good wheels. I was behind someone, uh, who was not moving as efficiently and we kind of separated. And I, I thought to myself, I don't feel like I want to make this effort over the top of the hill to bridge this gap. **** - (): But I was also staring down the barrel of like the one guy I know in this race is now riding away from me. Right. Um, there's a little bit of a dark moment there, but to your question about the hills, like, I was comforted that I could always see the top. I knew they were quite short relative to what I'm used to riding, and it was really a matter of, for me, there was maybe, I think, three times. **** - (): I ended up getting off on the last 25 percent of a climb or last 15%. Okay. Because I gauged that I could do it, but I felt like I was going to go into the red too much. And it felt prudent to just hop off real quick and walk. [00:39:32] - (): Justin Bowes: And that was, that was pretty late on though, right? [00:39:35] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. [00:39:36] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. It wasn't like mile 30 and you're like, okay, I'm going to start saving. **** - (): Yeah. [00:39:41] - (): Craig Dalton: Not at [00:39:41] - (): Justin Bowes: all. Not [00:39:42] - (): Craig Dalton: at [00:39:42] - (): Justin Bowes: all. Yeah. [00:39:43] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. So it was interesting. I was, I, there was a lot of mental gymnastics between mile 100 and one 48, which was the, the second checkpoint for us. Cause I had lost Doug. Um, it was starting to get hot. It was just. I talked to a few people and you probably mentioned the same thing to me. **** - (): Like you can't think of the totality of the 200 miles you have to do. You really just need to break it down into chunks. Yep. Right. So I started really thinking about, um, our crew chief, Phil, who was a godsend out there. He had such great. Support for us at the aid station. We had an easy up. He had everything imaginable. **** - (): I knew he had bottles on ice for me. So I jokingly referred to miles 100 to 1 48 as project Phil. [00:40:30] - (): Justin Bowes: Okay. [00:40:31] - (): Craig Dalton: And. Everything I did either was a positive effect towards Project Phil or a negative effect. So if I was, if I found a good wheel or I was riding well, I was like, okay, we're making progress, we're going to get to Phil. **** - (): And if I, fell off the pace or something, I was like, this is a serious blow to Project Phil. And I, it's funny. I started sort of naming a few of the characters that I would ride behind and, There is a guy, a guy I was calling the orange crush because he had an orange jersey. [00:40:59] - (): Justin Bowes: Okay. [00:41:00] - (): Craig Dalton: And every, he was like one of those arrow bar guys. **** - (): Right, right. Which was quite helpful. And then, at one point, um, at one point I got a really nice, um, Uh, I've started following a guy with a, with a beat the sun patch on his hip pack. [00:41:16] - (): Justin Bowes: Okay. [00:41:17] - (): Craig Dalton: And I was like, that's a good sign, actually. Like if this guy is, has clearly beat the sun in the past, this is probably a good sign. **** - (): So, got into a rhythm that mile 110. Or 112 water stop I'd forgotten about. And that was absolutely a godsend because, um, I need it. I just needed some relief and the volunteers there and everywhere were just phenomenal. So they poured a bunch of water over my head and just kind of cooled me down and filled me up and set me on my way. **** - (): And so I got to mile one 48 and my buddy Doug was sitting in the chair. With Phil and I was like, this is great. Like, I wasn't expecting to catch Doug again. Right. So it was, that was a nice sort of mental jump. And, he, he had run outta water, so he wasn't feeling that great, but he's like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna head, he'd been there a little bit, I don't know how long, but Phil had taken care of him, got his bike all tuned up, and um, he's like, I'm gonna head out, but I suspect you'll catch me. **** - (): And in my head, I didn't know whether that would be the case, but yeah, I ended up heading out of town and catching up with Doug, um, which was great to just know that I had someone to ride with. And he rebounded quite well for that last, um, the last 50 miles of the race. So we were very simpatico. [00:42:37] - (): Justin Bowes: Nice. Did, um, I didn't, I didn't ask you this, but, um, just talking about the aid stations. Did you have, did you give yourself like any treats, like something to look forward to in the aid stations or did you just keep it strictly business? I had a vision [00:42:51] - (): Craig Dalton: of a lot of treats. I asked, I asked, uh, Phil to get me some gummy bears. **** - (): Okay. Unfortunately, all the gummy bears melted in the sun and he, he did have everything. Like we had like sandwiches, he got a pizza from Casey's and I, I just, I felt like my nutrition was working. And so I was kind of like, besides some, um, Lay's potato chips, it's like, I'm just going to stick with the program. **** - (): I never rolled in feeling like super hungry or anything. So I was like, I'm doing something right. So why don't I just keep doing it? [00:43:28] - (): Justin Bowes: No, that's great. Yeah. I know, from other athletes that I've coached for the 200, they always, we'll have. I mean, yeah, the Casey's pizza is clutch. Like I think everybody knows, like if you're coming to the Midwest, um, you got to get a Casey's pizza in your aid station, um, or, a cheeseburger or, potato chips seem to be like, high on the list as well. **** - (): Yeah. That's, that tends to, uh, be a really fit, good favorite, just because, I mean, it's like the salt you want, the starch and the carbs and all of that goes down really easy. And then usually like a Mexican Coke to, to, to wash it down with. So how were your, um, timing wise, how long did you stop? [00:44:12] - (): Craig Dalton: Very little amount of time. I think my, my ride time was just under 13 hours, 30 and my total elapsed time was 14. [00:44:22] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. So two, two dedicated aid stations and two water. Yeah. And I stopped [00:44:28] - (): Craig Dalton: at both, I stopped at both aid stations. I honestly think at mile one 12 at that neutral aid station, when they were pouring water on me, that might've been longer than my checkpoint to stop [00:44:40] - (): Justin Bowes: looking at your file. **** - (): I think you're right. Yeah. Yeah. [00:44:44] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. So, yeah, it was a bit crazy. Like, I just didn't, I, like, I know myself, like I know I just need to keep going. So I didn't, I sat down for a minute and, Phil was great. He was like there with lots of stuff, but I was like, let's just swap the bottles out. He put some ice down my back, he put my pack in the cooler, like, to get ice water on it. **** - (): And, uh, after a few things, lubing up the chain, et cetera, making sure the bike was all right. Yeah. It just felt like it's time to go. [00:45:12] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, no, that's good. I, that's, definitely, um, a word of caution to, athletes, especially new to the 200 of like, unless you're in a bad state, in a bad way, uh, you want to minimize the amount of time you hang around in the aid station, just because your legs start to. **** - (): revolt a little bit and they don't want to cooperate, and so the, the shorter time you can, uh, the quicker you can get in and get out, um, with giving yourself enough time to resupply and not forget anything is always going to be better than just, standing around for, 10 plus minutes, John, John with everybody and things like that. **** - (): Cause if you don't need to, man, Yeah. A hundred percent. Get back after it. So. [00:46:01] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. And I think, at that second aid station mile one 48, I think Doug was a lot more conscious of the idea that we could beat the sun than I was. I think the last, the last 50 miles had been a little bit mentally hard on me. **** - (): I was not in a dark place by any means, but I'd kind of was like, this is what it is. Like I gotta, I'll pedal as far as I can pedal and as fast as I can pedal and it is what it is. But. He, he had never beat the sun before. And I think he saw it as a really great opportunity. And as we had talked about as my kind of, my number one goal was to finish. **** - (): Second goal was to finish healthy. And third goal was to beat the sun. Right. It was great to know it was out there. And the funny thing was my, my Wahoo was, it had 54 climbs as the listed number of climbs. And I believe by aid station two, by checkpoint two, we've done 52 of 54 climbs. [00:47:00] - (): Justin Bowes: Right, right. Yeah. [00:47:02] - (): Craig Dalton: Which is pretty, it's pretty crazy. So we've done like, close to 10, 000 feet of climbing already. And I think they maybe have listed it as 11. Anyway, negligible amount of climbing over the next 50 miles. So I was like, well, that's, that, that feels good to know that most of it's behind me. And, and, and everybody had said this, like getting to checkpoint two Was really the hardest part, right? **** - (): And you just need to ride back to Emporia. [00:47:25] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, exactly. I mean, there's always there's always going to be, a Joker station or, segment. Um, generally, it's like the Kohola, uh, Lake climb. Yeah. Um, and, For those who don't know, um, or didn't follow the weather or anything like that, we had pretty optimal conditions all day. **** - (): I mean, we started, um, cloud cover, cool, nice, favorable breeze, um, all of that. And, for us in the 100, it wasn't until we really got closer to Kohola Lake, I mean, it was like. After the aid station, which, we shared, um, there in council groves, um, the, the clouds were starting to thin out and you could, you see a little bit more of a shadow underneath you and everything like that. **** - (): Um, but it, you guys were in it a little longer, the heat, the sun and everything like that, but it still wasn't like in 2021 where it was just essentially a hairdryer. on your face, the entire day. Um, and so with the Kohola climb, that can always be a spoiler. Um, and I think I mentioned this to you on our call the other day. **** - (): It was like a lot of people, as soon as they get over that climb, you're roughly, inside the last 25 miles basically to, to the finish and. Yeah, your climbing's essentially done too and people like, oh, this is great and just like get on the gas and in a 10 mile span They're completely shattered and on the side of the road because they just completely underestimated You know, whether it be the previous 70 miles or the previous, 180 that you just did are in your legs and Any extra efforts can really put a Put you in the box really quickly. **** - (): And a lot of people's wheels fall off after that Cahola climb. Um, because they're like, Oh, we're done. Yeah. Yeah. But you're not done. You still got some mileage ahead of you. Yeah, [00:49:27] - (): Craig Dalton: exactly. I think we were, we were looking over our right shoulders at the sun and looking at it kind of starting to go down and we're like, we do need to keep going pretty efficiently [00:49:41] - (): Justin Bowes: to [00:49:41] - (): Craig Dalton: make it. **** - (): And, you go, you continue riding the dirt roads and then you go under the highway. And then you're at the university and you've got that final paved climb before the finish line. Yep. Um, and we're like, we've, we're like, we're going to do this. We're going to do this. [00:49:57] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. [00:49:58] - (): Craig Dalton: And I think we ended up finishing like 15 minutes to spare before the sunset. [00:50:03] - (): Justin Bowes: No, it's, it's, it's awesome. And I think, uh, to, to put it in context, um, this is the first year. That a lot of people were nervous about it because The start time had been pushed back, uh, to accommodate the new, uh, starting protocol with the, the pro men. Then 15 minutes later, the pro women, and then essentially a half an hour behind them, you all started. **** - (): So I mean, taking away 30 minutes doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're up against the sun actually setting on you, it, it, it comes quickly. Like you said, I mean, you had 15 ish minutes to, in your pocket, um, that could have easily gone one way or the other, um, quickly. So, yeah, [00:50:53] - (): Craig Dalton: yeah, you, you could, you could see to your point earlier about the aid stations, like you could have very easily burned 15 minutes sitting around on your ass, having a pizza, [00:51:03] - (): Justin Bowes: totally. **** - (): And I mean, and not 15 minutes at one, you could do, Seven here, eight there. And in, in the grand scheme of things in a 14 hour raise, what's seven minutes. Right. Well, add that up and all of a sudden you're, you're finishing in the dark. [00:51:21] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. So a hundred percent. So, yeah, I mean, I haven't finished. **** - (): Crossing the finish line was, was great. I mean, riding down commercial street with, um, with Doug was just fantastic. That's so cool. Have us, yeah, have us both meet our goals and the crowd were great. And we've got our names announced and, uh, Yeah. It just like, it wasn't lost on me the entirety of the experience. **** - (): The town was wonderful. It's it's, it's obviously a grand spectacle of the gravel cycling community. Right. So I think coming down that I was, I was generally genuinely emotional, just felt very fulfilled with my day and effort to have it conclude before sunset and, come down that finishing line shoot. **** - (): It just. It felt great. [00:52:10] - (): Justin Bowes: Oh, I bet. I mean, I, I did share this with you, uh, the other day. Um, not only did I have you, have you, uh, competing, but I had, uh, one other in the 200 and another one in the a hundred and as a coach, even though I was racing, I still have like, you know, The best I could compare it to is, being a father of three, it's just like, it's like you're looking after your kids, right? **** - (): You're nervous for them. Yeah. And, um, and so after I got done and cleaned up and went about the rest of my day on, on, on Saturday and everything like that, now I turn my I turned my browser to the race results to see, how everybody's faring out there and projected times and, and things like that. **** - (): And when I, when I popped open my laptop and, and pulled up the results and you were still on a course, obviously, but, uh, just seeing your splits come in and everything, I was just like. Damn right, like, look at this guy go, like, he's, he's actually doing this and, um, we can talk about it all the time, as coaches of like, I know that I was giving you the proper training, and you were executing the training and things like that. **** - (): But you never, I mean, there's so many variables that can show up on race day and, Mechanically, uh, correct me if I'm wrong, you had a clean race mechanically, right? Yeah, [00:53:30] - (): Craig Dalton: totally clean. Yeah. [00:53:31] - (): Justin Bowes: And for that to happen just by itself is amazing. And then on top of that, you hit your nutrition and hydration and everything just, it worked, and so, um, with, with a race like unbound, You know that something's going to go wrong, somewhere, some way, something's going to happen. And it's, it's, it's such a rarity to have a clean run, especially on your first time, not knowing what to expect and, and all of that. Um, but for you to be so successful with that, um, And it was just, yeah, as your coach and now as your friend, um, I'm just super excited for you. **** - (): I was just, I was over the moon, um, excited to see your finishing time and, and, uh, to, to just hear, hear it in your voice and, and at first it was, it was just in text messages back and forth, but just, getting the tone of like, Your satisfaction with everything was just, it's, it's huge. And yeah, it was awesome to, to be a small part of that. [00:54:37] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, no, it means a lot. It's been, it's been a great journey working together. It's been very fun. I, I haven't had proper coaching in ages. Um, and I recommend it. I recommend you, I recommend fast cat. It was just, it was enjoyable to just Go through a process, see improvement, uh, along the way, build confidence to do something that I'd never done before. **** - (): And frankly, that I was, a bit scared of this whole journey started because I wanted to do something that scared me. Um, and, and to come out the other side of it, just, I'm very grateful for the entire experience, the last six months [00:55:18] - (): Justin Bowes: Oh man, Craig, it's, it, again, it's been a privilege and Just exciting to, to, to see how you developed and just your professionalism with, with regards to your training and, accepting some new guy that you've never met before, be like in charge of this craziness. **** - (): Um, and, um, yeah, it just, you, you didn't flinch. Um, I, I appreciate you being cautiously. Questioning about hate, why are we doing it this way? Why, where are we going? Um, why would you have me do this instead of that? Um, I mean that, it wasn't like I ever thought, Oh, he's questioning my ability or anything like that. **** - (): He just generally wants to know why we're doing the training that we're doing. And, um, and I appreciate that. Like I love, when, when, when my athletes are like engaged. To the point that they want to know, I mean, it's, it's nice to when you just blindly follow the plan, but, when, when you're so engaged and you're so invested in the outcome of this goal that you've set for yourself and you're like, Hey, I just want to know what's going on and. **** - (): It, it just, it tells me again, it's just another little, box to check, with, with my coaching hat on of like this, this athlete is he, he's invested, like he cares and he wants to do what needs to be done to, to, to succeed at this goal. And that makes a big difference on my end, um, because then I know, yeah, these are going to be hard workouts and they're going to put them in the box a couple times. **** - (): But because he wants it and he's, he's, he's wanting to follow the plan, um, and be consistent with it, he's going to do really well. And, um, yeah, it showed. So, um, one, one final question. If I can, um, and I, I touched on it on our call the other day is like on a scale one to 10, how would you rate this overall experience from training to the event to your, your overall experience with, with Unbound here? [00:57:34] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, I said it last week and I think I'll stick to it. It's a 10 out of 10 for me. Okay. And. Yeah, the only, I hesitated a second there, Justin, because I might've knocked it down to a 9. 5 because I, again, like I watched someone else's video and I was like, Maybe I could have pushed a little harder early on, but it's in the grand scheme of things, neither here nor there. **** - (): Like, I think again, like the, I learned a lot along the way. It was fascinating, working with a power meter, thanks to SRM, uh, using their power meter pedals. It was interesting to me going carb journey and trying to figure out, would that work for me? Along the way, everything was, great on the training. **** - (): Like we had to cram a little bit, but that was all good. The family was super supportive of it. And then, getting to Emporia and having that bluebird of a day, um, was something, that it couldn't have counted on at all in terms of the weather. The, the mileage came easy and fast. The technical elements of it were no issue for me whatsoever. **** - (): And I felt like I had the right bike to take a few hits harder than I might have wanted to, to keep the pace going, but never had any issues there. And then to, to ride with my buddy Doug and have the experience with the, the whole crew. We had a number of guys doing the hundred and one guy doing the three 50. **** - (): Great to make some new friends out there within the houses we were staying at. And the overall experience, yeah. 10 out of 10. [00:59:06] - (): Justin Bowes: Nice. Okay, good. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, yeah. When, when you shared that with me the other day, um, yeah, I got off our call and I was just like, Um, I was just like, all right, I, I, it just, it's, it's, it's so rewarding, um, to see an athlete just like check all those boxes and, feel good about, what they accomplished. **** - (): Um, because yeah, I can put together the plan for you. Um, but it's ultimately all on your shoulders to execute. Yeah. Take care of all this, the variables outside of the training plan that is, you know, recovering responsibly, being, diligent to, the consistency of, following the plan and all those little things that I can't, I can't even like begin to. **** - (): Yeah. Help you with, that's just your wife, and so, um, again, Greg. Congratulations. It's, it's so cool to, to see and, and have a time like that. Um, I'll, I'll give the listeners, a little, uh, number crunch here real quick. You're right. I mean, you were just in under, um, 1330 at 1327 for 203 miles. **** - (): Um, TSS, obviously off the charts with 645, um, that's, to be expected for sure. Um, average speed, I mean, just over 15 miles an hour for the 200 miles over that type of terrain is fantastic. Um, your normalized power, um, was so good. Um, Yeah, it was just the only thing that we didn't capture was heart rate. **** - (): Um, [01:00:48] - (): Craig Dalton: yeah, I failed to talk about that. I was so mad for so long that my strap wasn't working. [01:00:54] - (): Justin Bowes: It's the worst when it's on and there's just nothing you can do about it. I kept [01:00:59] - (): Craig Dalton: thinking like by the first aid station, I would take everything off and recover it, which I did. And then it still didn't work. Yeah. **** - (): And like halfway through. The next segment, I just like ripped it off my body and shoved it in my pocket. [01:01:12] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. I mean, just, I mean, that's, that's one like little nitpick on my end and sense of like, it would just been really interesting to see, um, the correlation between your power and the heart rate and where, I mean, it ultimately, it was always going to drop off and start to decouple, but you know where that was for you. **** - (): Um, because then, for me, I can go back to the training and say, okay, yeah, this is, this is white. We went as far as we did and, and all of that. So, oh yeah, yeah. I mean, so there's, there was one less than ideal thing, pop up out of here and it was stupid heart rate monitor. So. [01:01:51] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. **** - (): In the grand scheme of things. [01:01:53] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. [01:01:54] - (): Craig Dalton: Justin, thanks so much for coming back on board and helping me recount this, uh, this event or this experience that's going to be in my memory for a long time. [01:02:02] - (): Justin Bowes: With that, is there an Unbound in your future again or too soon? [01:02:07] - (): Craig Dalton: It's a little too soon. And I think I mentioned to you that last week, it's hard to imagine having a better day out there. **** - (): Then, then I had all things considered and with so many great events out there that I would love to do in time away from the family. I don't, I don't know if unbound would be it again. [01:02:26] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, no, that's fair. That's fair. [01:02:27] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, [01:02:28] - (): Justin Bowes: no, I mean, it's hard to go out. And, as, as good as you did. And like you said, I mean, uh, another experience would it, taint this one, and in the sense of like, next year is like, flats on flats on flats or, body shuts down or, whatever the case may be, or the worst weather ever. **** - (): I mean, so yeah, go, go out on top. [01:02:50] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. I'm going out on top, I think on the 200. For me, it's either like. Go shorter and actually like, see what it's like to race an event. Cause I don't, the 200 miler, like it's hard to consider it a race for me. It was really about managing my way across the finish line as efficiently as possible. **** - (): Or going the other way, which has always attracted me, which is like the bike packing. route and, trying some of the real long distance stuff longer than 200 miles. Sure. [01:03:18] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. The, the 350, the XL crew, that is, that's next level, man. Yeah. I, I, I always, I always like tease myself, like, that would be so cool just like to push your limits. **** - (): Um, And, and, and see what that's like, um, for that distance and everything. But then reality kind of sets in on me and like, you, you're not going to do that. So I'll stick with my hundred. I love my hundred distance. [01:03:44] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. I feel like there is like an overnight riding experience that I need to have as that next unchecked box. I've sure I've done like the team racing 24 hours, but I've never done. Sort of a self supported overnight. [01:03:59] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. Yeah. [01:03:59] - (): Craig Dalton: Straight through. So I am, I am curious about that. Why don't we leave it at that? **** - (): That'll be a mystery. And if, if, and when I decide to do something crazy like that, we'll chat more about it. [01:04:09] - (): Justin Bowes: Heck yeah. Love that. [01:04:12] - (): Craig Dalton: Good to talk to you, Justin. [01:04:13] - (): Justin Bowes: Craig, it was great seeing you and congrats again, man. It's awesome. [01:04:17] - (): Craig Dalton: Thank you.

Festibike, pinganillos, Mahle X30 y MMR Grand Tour

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2024 70:32

Tras haber pasado buena parte del fin de semana en la última edición de Festibike, se hace obligado hablar de las sensaciones que nos ha dejado el evento madrileño y, en relación al sector de la bici, de las cifras de ventas de bicicletas en España durante 2023. A continuación, nos metemos en un 'jardín' de esos que tanto nos gustan, debatiendo acerca de las últimas medidas de seguridad adoptadas por la UCI para el ciclismo de carretera, como las tarjetas amarillas o la posible supresión de los pinganillos. Pero tampoco perdemos de vista la actualidad de producto, hablando de los últimos lanzamiento que, además, hemos tenido la suerte de probar, como el nuevo sistema Mahle X30 o la renovada MMR Grand Tour, sin olvidar novedades en gravel (Specialized Crux DSW) y MTB (nuevo cartucho Charger 3.1 de RockShox y casco ABUS HiDrop). Más información: Festibike: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/festibike-2024-despide-una-edicion-marcada-por-los-bike-test Cifras del sector 2023: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/cifras-de-ventas-en-2023 Mahle X30: https://www.maillotmag.com/afondo/primeras-pedaladas-nuevo-mahle-x30 MMR Grand Tour: https://www.maillotmag.com/afondo/primeras-pedaladas-mmr-grand-tour-00-plus-mas-alla-del-gran-fondo Specialized Crux DSW: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/nueva-specialized-crux-dsw ABUS HiDrop: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/abus-hidrop-el-casco-de-la-marca-alemana-para-disciplinas-gravity Novedades RockShox: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/rockshox-actualiza-sus-horquillas-pike-lyrik-y-zeb-con-el-nuevo-cartucho-charger-31

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Episode 244 - The New RockShox Damper vs. the Fox Grip X2. Which is better?

The Pinkbike Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2024 40:37

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

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Deep Dive - 2025 RockShox Fork and Shock Updates With Chris Mandell

Ask a Cycling Coach - TrainerRoad Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2024 17:44

After years of success, RockShox has updated its trail and gravity suspension lineup with some new internals for model year '25. The latest Charger 3.1 damper is now found across all fork models, while rear shocks gain an XL air can option and a high-flow main piston for Super Deluxe models. They have also re-introduced the Vivid Coil shock with some technology derived from the Vivid Air released last year. We sat down with Chris Mandell from SRAM and RockShox to help make sense of all the technical. We discussed the motivation behind the changes made, how they were achieved, and how they make an impact out on the trail.Learn more about everything discussed in this video - https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/rockshox-announces-charger-3-1-damper-vivid-coil-and-updates-super-deluxePlay Vital Downhill Fantasy - https://www.vitalmtb.com/fantasy

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Automatic Suspension That Makes You Faster? - Rockshox Flight Attendant - Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast 477

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2024 73:33

Try TrainerRoad risk-free!

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17 Questions - Ellie Hulsebosch

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2024 8:45

Win Prizes from RockShox, SRAM, Troy Lee Designs, FSA & Maxxis! https://www.vitalmtb.com/fantasyEllie Hulsebosch of The Union is a first-year Junior on the World Cup Downhill circuit. She's been stacking up wins this off-season and is ready to slay Fort William this weekend.#MTB #DH #bike

De DT Swiss a Industry Nine... ¡Nos ha salido un 'Especial Componentes!

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2024 67:13

Tras muchos días ausentes, por diversos viajes y presentaciones, por fin logramos juntarnos los tres miembros de la redacción para recopilar y acercaros las últimas novedades del sector. Y comenzamos, precisamente, por el último viaje de J.Daniel Hernández, que ha estado visitando la sede de la firma DT Swiss, obviamente, en territorio suizo, para traernos novedades como el nuevo sistema Ratchet DEG o su familia de suspensiones. Saltamos a Italia para comentar que Pinarello ha puesto en el mercado las bicis con las que compiten los Pidcock y Ferrand-Prévot, tanto en sus versiones Dogma XC como en las 'sencillas' XC. Sin dejar el MTB, seguimos desgranando novedades procedentes del grupo FOX, como la nueva tija telescópica Transfer SL, el plato Race Face Era, los nuevos manillares Era y Turbine de esta misma marca o la nueva horquilla Marzocchi Super Z. No nos olvidamos tampoco de la competencia directa, RockShox, que recientemente presentó sus nuevas horquillas de trail y enduro, Psylo y Domain, así como una renovada Rudy XPLR de gravel. A nivel de neumáticos, Hutchinson nos trajo hace unos días su nueva línea de XC, representada por el mítico Python, mientras que Bontrager ha actualizado sus gamas de gravel, XC y trail, bautizando cada neumático, además, con nombres icónicos de cada disciplina. Nos nos olvidamos de las transmisiones y comentamos las últimas novedades de Shimano y su accesible ESSA, así como la nueva versión del motor E-P3+ de Polini para transmisiones por correa. Y acabamos este intenso programa revisando las novedades de Trek y su nueva luz+radar CarBack, la nueva Giant Stormguard E+3, el casco Lazer Verde KinetiCore, la Cannondale Synapse Neo... para finalizar hablando, una vez más de bujes, con las novedades en la colección Solix de Industry Nine. En este programa, además, estrenamos patrocinador: MMR. La marca asturiana ha renovado recientemente su gama Adrenaline de carretera, de la que puedes encontrar todos los detalles en este enlace: https://mmrbikes.com/ Aquí os dejamos las referencias a todos los contenidos: DT Swiss Ratchet DEG: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/dt-swiss-presenta-el-nuevo-sistema-ratchet-deg-que-equiparan-sus-bujes-240-deg Pinarello Dogma XC: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/pinarello-dogma-xc-y-xc-las-mtb-de-tom-pidcock-ya-estan-disponibles FOX Transfer SL: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/fox-transfer-2025-mas-fiable-con-menor-mantenimiento-4-tallas-y-recorrido-ajustable Race Face Era y Turbine: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nuevo-plato-race-face-era-aluminio-carbono-y-acero-en-una-pieza-unica Marzocchi Super Z: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nueva-marzocchi-super-z RockShox Psylo y Domain: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nuevas-horquillas-rockshox-psylo-y-domain-mas-accesibles-para-trail-y-enduro Hutchinson Python: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/las-5-claves-del-nuevo-hutchinson-python Neumáticos Bontrager: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/bontrager-renueva-su-gama-de-neumaticos-para-xc-y-trail Shimano ESSA: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nuevo-grupo-shimano-essa Polini E-P3+: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/polini-presenta-su-version-del-motor-e-p3-para-transmisiones-por-correa Trek CarBack: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/nueva-trek-carback-la-luz-de-dia-flare-ahora-con-radar Giant Stormguard E+3: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/giant-stormguard-e3-la-suv-de-giant-ahora-disponible-en-una-version-mas-economica Cannondale Synapse Neo: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/nueva-cannondale-synapse-neo-y-neo-allroad-con-motor-bosch-performance-line-sx-y-la Lazer Verde KinetiCore: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/lazer-verde-kineticore-el-nuevo-casco-urbano-y-ecologico-de-la-marca-belga Industry Nine Solix: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nueva-familia-industry-nine-solix-tope-de-gama-para-gravel-y-carretera-sl-y-g-y-mtb-m

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Geek Warning: Rear Radars need to work 100% of the time

Escape Collective

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2024 59:19

In this jam-packed episode, James and Dave discuss a handful of new gravel and road bikes that caught their attention during the week. Trek enters the rear Radar game to compete with Garmin, yet James' early impressions of the CarBack raises more questions than answers.DT Swiss has just released a new mountain bike rear hub with a wholly new ratchet system, you can read about the new 240 DEG hub at escapecollective.com, and a bonus episode of Geek Warning with DT Swiss is also available, too. Meanwhile the coverage of new products from EVT, Fox, RockShox, and more continues at the end of the episode.On our mind and over the heads of the geek's families is the topic of gravel suspension. The geeks discuss who it's for (and who it's not), and why it's proving to be more than a gimmick.Plus there's a PSA, which is likely a repeat on something previously discussed, but that only makes it more important.Time stamps:3:00 - Kona's new gravel bike for mountain bikers6:30 - FiftyOne's new Sika road bike11:55 - Parlee's new and unexpectedly-European-made Ouray road bike15:40 - Trek enters the rear radar game with its CarBack23:15 - DT Swiss' 240 Ratchet DEG hub26:30 - Chatting all things gravel suspension (including Cane Creek's Inverted answer to the space)43:25 - PSA: Your dropper needs love47:50 - Classified adds Enve to its partners list49:25 - New RockShox things50:40 - Fox overhauls its Transfer dropper53:00 - EVT enters the portable repair stand game55:10 - OnGaurd's new RockSolid angle-grinder-resistant lock

Rear Radars need to work 100% of the time

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2024 59:19

E' arrivato il Flight Attendant

Siamo Sport

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2024 23:15

Oggi le sospensioni di Nino non sono più un segreto, RockShox presenta il Flight Attendant per cross country sulle sospensioni SID e SIDLuxe. Il funzionamento automatico consente un continuo adattamento attraverso cadenza, watt e cambiata. Basterà pensare a un adattamento e Flight Attendant l'avrà già fatto… Oggi ne parliamo con il nostro responsabile dell'ufficio tecnico Andrea Meroni.

Geek Warning: To be, or not to be

Escape Collective

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2024 65:30

So many new bikes to talk about this week! Giant's new TCR is a meaningful evolution of the previous one, but should it have been a revolution instead? Meanwhile, the new Liv Pique offers a preview of the next-generation Giant Anthem, and Specialized's new Epic and Epic Evo genuinely push the envelope of what XC bikes are supposed to be. And do electronics belong on bicycle suspension? Why does Trek offer seven colors in one model of Emonda? And what the heck does “Ari” mean? All of that and more in this week's episode of Geek Warning.Timestamps:3:04 – Giant's got a new TCR road racing bike, but is it all it could (or should) have been?14:04 – Liv's new Pique Advanced mountain offers a sneak preview of what's to come in the new Giant Anthem16:35 – The new Specialized Epic ticks an awful lot – maybe all? – of the boxes.26:33 – RockShox's Flight Attendant electronic terrain-sensing suspension finally comes to XC34:33 – Trek is “right-sizing” in a big, big way41:01 – US-based consumer-direct brand Fezzari finally addresses the elephant in the room46:24 – Not everyone wants to know how the sausage is made52:50 – The suckiest addition to any home workshop

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To be, or not to be

epic giant equipment cycling trek bicycles bikes flight attendants specialized xc tcr mountain bikes rockshox road bikes

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2024 65:30

Specialized Epic 8 and RockShox Flight Attendant – we interview the people behind the scenes

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2024 50:35

Specialized's cross-country bike, the Epic 8, was launched with an updated RockShox Flight Attendant, updated to work seamlessly with XC race rigs. In this episode, Tom Marvin speaks to Brian Gordon, Specialized's product lead on all things XC, and Chris Mandell, North America PR man for SRAM. They discuss the new Specialized Epic 8 and Epic 8 EVO, as well as the latest wireless developments in suspension – Flight Attendant. Along the way, host Jack Luke quizzes Tom on his experience of both new bikes and RockShox's electronic equipment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Novedades: Specialized Epic 8 y RockShox Flight Attendant

epic pero cuando eso novedades flight attendants specialized xc rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2024 52:33

El lanzamiento del nuevo RockShox Flight Attendant especialmente pensado para XC no es un lanzamiento cualquiera. Cuando una aparece una tecnología como esta son muchas las marca que la adoptan y presentan nuevos modelos que la incluyen. Eso convierte nuestro día o nuestra semana en una montaña rusa de emociones. Pero además, el mismo día en que se ha lanzado Flight Attendant, también ha aparecido la octava generación de la Specialized Epic y Epic EVO. Y, como ya intuíamos, la versión S-Works de la Epic 8 monta el Flight Attendant. Pero la nueva tecnología de RockShox es solo uno de los muchos “titulares” que podríamos sacar de esta nueva Epic 8 así que nos hemos decidido a grabar un podcast de “última hora” que te recomendamos complementar con los artículos que hemos publicado en MTBpro: Nuevo RockShox Flight Attendant para XC: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nuevo-rockshox-flight-attendant-xc Specialized Epic 8: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/specialized-epic-8-2024

Greg Minnaar is on Norco - The Inside Line Interview

Endörfina com Michel Bögli

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2024 40:27

Downhill mountain bike racing legend, Greg Minnaar, announced that he joined Norco Bicycles after 16 years with the Santa Cruz Syndicate. Minnaar has more Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill victories than any other Elite male racer. While 2023 was supposed to be his farewell season after two-and-a-half decades of racing, a flat tire at World Championships in Fort William left Greg with a poor result and a hunger to end his competitive career on a high note. When Santa Cruz decided to let Greg go, he found a new home at Norco. In this interview we talk with Greg about that change, the possible challenges of working with a new bike and team, as well as his expectations for the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup DH race season.Video Contents0:00 - Intro / Is He on FOX or RockShox?3:31 - Any Other Sponsor Changes?4:21 - Why Didn't He Retire in 2023?7:55 - Did He Try to Stay with Santa Cruz Syndicate?10:50 - Norco's Race Engineering Program13:09 - How Will He Adapt to the Norco Prototype DH Bike?16:17 - From VPP to High-Pivot to DH Bike20:20 - Does Suspension Platform Really Matter?22:30 - The Source - Norco Junior Development Team25:29 - What If He Doesn't Get Results or Gets an Injury?30:44 - 2024 Race Goals32:48 - Insight into 2024 World Cup DH Format36:06 - Would He Wear the Fox One-piece Suit like Christian Craig?36:58 - What Will He Miss Most about The Syndicate?Thanks to Maxxis Tires, FOX and Jenson USA for supporting Vital MTB's The Inside Line podcast.#MTB #mountainbike #downhill

23: Coach Spotlight - Matheny Endurance

Pedal The Springs

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2024 58:05

If you're looking to take your cycling to the next level in 2024 – whether you're an amateur or pro, training for fitness or to reach a performance goal – getting a personal coach can help get you there. Daniel Matheny has been coaching athletes of all ages and abilities in a variety of sports (primarily cycling) for over two decades, from Juniors at USA Cycling to pros at CTS. Now through his Matheny Endurance, he offers athletes a range of services – from mapping out personalized custom plans to providing on-site race day support. Matheny is a top athlete himself and also the local go-to in Colorado Springs for setting up courses for some of our top area races – like the Pikes Peak APEX and Rampart Rager Gravel. We talk about his background, services, trainer tips and where he goes for inspiration, in this edition of Pedal the Springs. Host: Torie Giffin, Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort Owner Guest: Daniel Matheny, Matheny Endurance Links to show topics: Breck Epic https://breckepic.com/ Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort https://www.bicycleresort.com/ CTS & Chris Carmichael https://trainright.com/ CTS Trainright Podcast https://trainright.com/podcast/ Colorado Trail Race https://bikepacking.com/event/2023-colorado-trail-race/ EVOQ Cycling Podcast https://www.youtube.com/c/EVOQBIKE Leadville 100 MTB https://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/mtb/leadvilletrail100mtb/ MTB Marathon World Championships https://ridesnowshoehighlands.com/event/uci-2024/ Matheny Endurance icoachbadasses.com https://mathenyendurance.com/ Pikes Peak Apex by RockShox https://www.coloradospringssports.org/events/pikes-peak-apex/ Primal Wear https://www.primalwear.com/ Rampart Rager https://www.rampartrager.com/ National Strength and Conditioning Association NSEA https://www.nsca.com/ Professional Mountain Bike Instructors Association PMBIA https://pmbia.org/ Fast Talk Laboratories https://www.fasttalklabs.com/ SUPA Podcast Stand Up Pedal Action https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/supa-stand-up-pedal-action/id1578907633 Steamboat Gravel https://www.sbtgrvl.com/ Strava https://www.strava.com/ USA Cycling https://usacycling.org/about-us/ Pedal the Springs is produced by Studio809 Podcasts from our community podcast studio at the NextUs in Downtown Colorado Springs and presented by the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort, the only bicycle-themed lodging and must-stay for cyclists coming to Colorado. Check us out at https://bicycleresort.com for more information. Explore all the community podcasts at https://studio809podcasts.com

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#321 Franz Burini

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2023 166:17

Meu convidado de hoje descobriu o esporte na infância, através do futebol. Praticou as modalidades escolares, mas o futebol o acompanhou até a faculdade. Seguindo os passos do irmão mais velho, começou a praticar o surfe quando tinha acesso ao mar. Durante o curso de medicina, a bicicleta era o seu meio de transporte. Formou-se e escolheu trabalhar com os esportes. Ao mesmo tempo em que ia ampliando seu conhecimento, a medicina esportiva evoluiu e ele se aprofundava cada vez mais na profissão. Hoje, 22 anos depois, é referência no segmento e tem um currículo digno de alguns dos atletas que atende. Ele é médico metabologista, doutor em Nutrição Humana Aplicada, pós-graduado em Medicina Esportiva e Metabolismo, e tem muita experiência acumulada em diversas confederações esportivas como a de boxe, remo, surfe, desportes aquáticos e futebol. Conosco aqui o surfista, boleiro, ex-triatleta, médico do esporte e de diversas celebridades, influenciador do Instagram, um apaixonado pelos esportes tanto quanto pela sua profissão, o botucatuense Franz Homero Paganini Burini. Inspire-se! SIGA e COMPARTILHE o Endörfina através do seu app preferido de podcasts. Contribua também com este projeto através do Apoia.se. Você já deve ter ouvido falar da completamente nova SCOTT Scale. O mítico modelo, que é referência em termos de mountain bikes de cross country, está de quadro novo, cheio de novidades tecnológicas e, claro, com todo aquele DNA vitorioso que só marca suíça tem. Talvez o que você não saiba é na que linha existem também modelos com quadro em alumínio, como a fantástica Scale 965, uma excelente opção com roteamento dos cabos completamente integrado ao quadro, suspensão RockShox com a exclusiva trava RideLoc e grupo Shimano de 12 velocidades. Visite a revenda autorizada SCOTT mais perto de você e conheça a versão em alumínio da hardtail mais avançada do mercado. SCOTT. Inovação, tecnologia e design. Um oferecimento da @probioticaoficial. Desafios e conquistas fazem parte de uma jornada de quem ousa se superar a cada dia. A Jornada PRO continua e nossa próxima largada será no Mundial de Ironman. 10% das compras , com o cupom ALMATRI de 20% OFF no site da Probiótica, serão revertidos para um projeto social. Compre kits personalizados, inspirados na linha de produtos utilizados pela @pami_oliveira em sua jornada de preparação. O cupom dará, também, direito a participação em experiências exclusivas como treinões com a participação da atleta, transmissão ao vivo da prova. Junte-se a nós nessa Jornada!

Vivid Detail with Zach

The Path Bike Shop Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2023 88:19

In this episode of the podcast, Zach Walker from the shop joins Tani and Auk. They cover everything from his introduction to the bike industry, down to the nitty-gritty of the new RockShox Vivid. Plenty of viewer questions are answered before ending with Auk's new Giant 2024 Advanced Elite, custom-built by Zach himself.

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Trek Madone SL, MMR Adrenaline, Santa Cruz urbana y la evolución de las suspensiones

espa seguimos trek santa cruz medio urbana la vuelta adrenaline vivid la evoluci probamos madone aumentamos rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2023 60:09

La Trek Madone SL era una bici muy esperada por los amantes del rendimiento. Hablamos de todas sus características y, además, aprovechamos para debatir sobre el presente y futuro de las bicis aero. Seguimos en la carretera, descubriendo la MMR Adrenaline 5.0 que usará el equipo Caja Rural-Seguros RGA en La Vuelta. Probamos la anterior versión y quedamos encantados con sus rendimiento así que seguro que la versión 2024 no defraudará. Aumentamos el ancho de neumáticos para hablar de la Santa Cruz Skitch. Medio urbana, medio gravel… Un hito en la historia de Santa Cruz que, de momento, no estará disponible en España. Y acabamos con RockShox y su nuevo amortiguador Vivid. Una excusa perfecta para hablar de la evolución de las suspensiones y contar alguna que otra “batallita” de abuelos. MÁS INFO: Trek Madone SL Gen7: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/nueva-trek-madone-sl-gen-7-mas-economica-que-la-slr-y-300-g-mas-ligera-que-la-anterior MMR Adrenaline 5.0: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/nueva-mmr-adrenaline-50-para-2024-un-cuadro-de-800-g Santa Cruz Skitch: https://www.maillotmag.com/actualidad/nueva-santa-cruz-skitch-su-primera-bici-urbana-electrica-con-fazua-ride-60-y-espiritu RockShox Vivid: https://www.mtbpro.es/actualidad/nuevo-rockshox-vivid-con-tecnologia-touchdown-y-progresividad-regulable

Do Pros Need Different Geo? Best MTB Festival? Upgrades For Climbing Everest? Ep. 117

festival pros mount everest upgrades climbing mount everest rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2023 57:10

Today on the MTB Podcast, we discuss a couple of new RockShox forks and Jeff's emergency adventure race training before jumping into a solid array of listener questions ranging from bike sizing to our stage names, enduro Everest preparation & everything in between. Tune in! Submit any and all questions to podcast@worldwidecyclery.com Italy Trip: https://allmountainrides.com/products/ultimate-dolomites-8-days Our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCxZoC1sIG-vVtLsJDSbeYyw Worldwide Cyclery Instagram: www.instagram.com/worldwidecyclery/ MTB Podcast Instagram: www.instagram.com/mtbpodcast/ MTB Podcast Website: https://www.mtbpodcast.com/

Geek Warning: Is Mavic is coming back to the United States?

Escape Collective

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2023 75:56

Legendary French wheel brand Mavic is rumored to be gearing up to come back to the US market – but is the US market ready for them to come back? The Geek Warning crew also had a mountain of new gear to discuss this week, including new bikes from Orbea, GT, and Polygon, stunning road wheels from Syncros, and updated cross-country suspension from RockShox. And what's up with this giant pile of new go-fast gear the UCI just revealed? Ronan did some digging.

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Is Mavic coming back to the United States?

united states acast coming back equipment cycling bicycles bikes gt polygon uci mavic mountain bikes orbea rockshox road bikes

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2023 75:56

Legendary French wheel brand Mavic is rumored to be gearing up to come back to the US market – but is the US market ready for them to come back?The Geek Warning crew also had a mountain of new gear to discuss this week, including new bikes from Orbea, GT, and Polygon, stunning road wheels from Syncros, and updated cross-country suspension from RockShox. And what's up with this giant pile of new go-fast gear the UCI just revealed? Ronan did some digging. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike McAndrews | Mountain Bike and Motocross Suspension Legend

Vital MX

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2023 93:53

Mike McAndrews is a true legend of the suspension world, getting his start for Fox's motocross team in the early moto days before moving on to factory Kawasaki as Jeff Ward's wrench, turning them one more time for Bob Hannah as he also started Factory Connection suspension. From there he made his way to Rockshox, then to Specialized, off to Fox shocks, and back to Specialized where he resides today above all suspension-related development and duties for the big S.

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SRAM Apex goes wireless, Commencal gets into gravel, a big BB blowout, and Ronan's big bike ride

Singletracks Mountain Bike News

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2023 72:34

SRAM's new Apex redesign brings AXS wireless electronic shifting to the masses, but there's also a new mechanical version, and it's all 1x12 – and we've got all the details. Commencal has announced its first gravel bike that's “not just another gravel bike” (even though it mostly is), RockShox's Flight Attendant automatic electronic suspension is coming to XC, someone lost something in Lenzerheide, and Ronan outlines some of the tech decisions from his recent record-setting ride in Ireland. And finally, is UDH coming to road bikes now? (Hint: yes, it is).12:45 – New SRAM Apex!31:30 – Commencal gets into gravel37:33 – RockShox's updated SID spotted in the wild43:46 – A big oops on the start line in Lenzerheide48:17 – Ronan optimizes everything for his 15-hour time trial1:02:15 – SRAM's UDH is now coming for road bikes, too Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Tripp Bartlett | DCMTB S2E9

Dirt Church MTB

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2023 89:37

What a trip its been! Tripp Bartlett came to town to shred some bikes and join us on the pod. We got the down and dirty on how Tripp ended up being SRAM's ultimate hype man. Tune in to hear how Tripp went from a dirty hiker on the AT (Tomahawk) to New England's field guide for SRAM.

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How RockShox Tests and Develops Suspension, and Why Service Intervals Matter

Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2023 62:18

Chris Mandell is the North American Public Relations Manager for SRAM where he's worked for the past 8 years. He currently lives and rides in Bellingham, Washington. Is mountain biking suspension harder to design than say suspension for cars or motorcycles? What's different? How much of RockShox testing is real world vs. lab based? Is shock heat management important for the average rider? What is the advantage of larger diameter fork stanchions? What's the idea behind the electronic suspension controls in SRAM Flight Attendant? Why aren't there more inverted fork designs? What are some common misunderstandings about mountain bike suspension? Are suspension designers as focused on reducing weight as they have been in the past? By loosening weight requirements, what improvements can be made? What's your method for setting up a new fork? Which suspension innovations are you most stoked about? A full, edited transcript is available at singletracks.com. 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

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Andrew Juskatis - Giant Bicycles and the Giant Revolt X Gravel Bike

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2023 38:21

This we sit down with Andrew Juskatis from Giant Bicycles to discuss the Giant Revolt X gravel bike. With 50 years in the bicycle business, Giant brings massive engineering and manufacturing resources to the sport. The Revolt X model features front suspension matched with a compliant rear end and dropper post. Sounds like my kind of ride! 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. We welcome Andrew. from giant bicycles to the show. Andrew is a global product marketing manager. And had a hand in the launch of the new revolt acts, gravel bike. I have to say after I saw former Gaston friend, URI has walled. Old riding this new giant bicycle where the RockShox suspension fork on it. I couldn't resist reaching out to the team at giant to learn a little bit more. I'd been curious as to when we'd start to see larger manufacturers bring suspension forks into the gravel bike world. I know it is a topic. That many of you feel very passionately one way or the other about, but I thought it would be interesting to talk to Andrew about that decision and how they see the market evolving. Giant is a close to 50, maybe 50 plus year old company. That's been producing bikes for many, many other brands, as well as developing their own brand. Back in the eighties, they've got a huge amount of research and development and organizational strength in the engineering department. So it was exciting to talk to them about what they were seeing with this bicycle. Obviously they have models available. With, and without that rock shock, we talk about the revolt X model as well as one of the other models that shares a similar chassis, but not an identical chassis. And we'll get into why giant was uniquely capable of producing something specific. For running a suspension fork versus just slapping something on the same bike or the same frame that they had produced for the non suspension. Model. Anyway, I look forward to you listening to this conversation, Andrew and I are contemporary. So we share some stories about our early experience in the mountain bike market and the evolution of that market. And some of the parallels were. We're seeing in the gravel world. With that said, let's jump right into my conversation with Andrew. Andrew, welcome to the show. [00:02:29] Andrew Juskatis: Hey, thanks for having me, Craig. [00:02:31] Craig Dalton: It's good to, good to have you. I'm, I feel like I've been wanting to have someone on from Giant for a few years now, and I couldn't resist reaching out through my friend Yuri Oswald, who just started riding for Giant u s A. Uh, when I saw the new Revolt acts, it seemed like too, too much of a bike that was right up my alley not to get someone on the show to talk about. [00:02:53] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's, it's a new launch for us. It just came out this February. Um, so it's still new, it's still hot, and it's an interesting product from Giant. [00:03:02] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. Before we dig into that, let's just get a little bit about your history. Where, where did you grow up and how did you discover the bike, and ultimately, how did you end up working in the bike industry? [00:03:13] Andrew Juskatis: cow. That's a long story, but I will try and make it short for you so, I'm coming up on 50 years old. I've been riding and racing bikes, specifically mountain bikes since I was 14 years old. I grew up in Southern California. I started ri erasing and then riding, you know, around 87, 88. So I've, I've been through the f almost the full trajectory of mountain biking as, as a result of that, my love and for cycling has grown. So Southern California. Um, you know, went to college at University of Utah and just absolutely fell in love with the sport of mountain biking. But out of that, I took my first job, um, working for cycling publications. So over a period of nine years, I worked for five different magazines starting in 1996, working for Mountain Biking, mountain Biker Bike Magazine, bicycling, and then eventually finished off my tenure at Venu and throughout the entire. I was the tech editor for all those publications. I did a lot of product testing, um, and, and had a pretty good gig doing all that, but it was 2004 when I was an editor. I flew from Colorado out to Southern California to be a guest at Giant Bicycles when they were introducing their maestro suspension technology. And I remember specifically as an. Riding that product, meeting the people behind the product and saying, Hey, giant has something going on for it. Like this is legit. Not only is this technology legit, but the people behind it are serious about what they're doing, and it really put, honestly put Giant on my radar for what is going to be my next job. Lo and behold, position opened up in their marketing department in 2005. I took the job at Giant, and here I am, what, some 18 years later. On the other end of the stick here, talking to editors around the world. [00:04:58] Craig Dalton: Amazing. I love that we're in the same age range and went through sort of our coming up and mountain biking around the same time. I know we could probably share a lot of stories that might not be interesting to our gravel riding audience, but thanks for sharing that. And just for a little bit of context, can you just talk about the origins of the giant, uh, giant company and the giant. [00:05:19] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, for sure. And for, for those listeners who aren't aware, you know, we're ob. OB obviously a legacy brand. We just celebrated our 50th anniversary. And again, another really long story short, the reason why giant exists is way back in the seventies when Schwinn was having its bicycle boom, Schwinn was manufacturing the great majority of their product. You know, here in the United States. They realized that they needed to expand, they needed to bring prices down to some more affordability. So they sent off kind of their Lewis and Clark guys over to Asia to source out, uh, bicycle manufacturing over in Asia. And one of those guys ventured over to Taiwan, which at the time wasn't. Producing anything to do with bicycles and fortuitously stumbled across a fledgling little company, manufacturing company called Giant at the time. Um, at the time they were not making bicycles, but had the capability to do so well. Long story short. Giant became the main manufacturer of Schwinn bicycles kind of in the, in the late seventies there. And so they were pumping out the great majority of Schwinn bikes that maybe our parents grew up with, or we grew up as, grew up with as kids. That grew and grew and grew. The manufacturing business continued to improve. The factory got bigger and bigger. We got better at it. And then in the, um, early eighties, we started our own brand, and that's the brand that I worked for, which is Giant, that's the brand that most of your listeners are familiar with. So, early eighties on that, we started making our own product, unique product, own designed, um, manufactured and engineered by us. And that's the brand that we're talking about today. [00:06:55] Craig Dalton: I remember in the very late eighties selling a giant iguana or two on the mountain bike side. If I can name, drop that little bit of history to [00:07:04] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, that's still a running joke I get all the time. What do you feed the Johnny Iguana? I, I love oldie, but goodie. [00:07:11] Craig Dalton: And I also remember obviously like, you know, in addition to that Schwinn product line that they were producing for many years, they then expanded to a lot of product for a lot of different manufacturers. And I remember sort of learning that as I was working in a bike shop on the East coast and realizing that, you know, of the seven brands that we were selling, it was three or four of them were actually produced in the same factory, um, via Giant, which was kind of interesting at the. [00:07:38] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, for sure. So our manufacturing side of the business. Does produce bicycles for some other brands out there, but the great majority of of product that comes out of our factory is giant. And just to clarify, you know, anything that comes out of our factory is engineered and, and designed by that brand. So everything is unique. Like the giant brand is completely different than anything else that might come out of that factory. Um, but I'm here today to talk about, you know, giant product and the giant brand. So excited to get. [00:08:09] Craig Dalton: Yeah. And you know, as we trace back kind of the brand history as you've been there the last 18 years or so, obviously Giant is a full service brand, meaning they're doing everything from kids' bikes, Tor de France and you know, U C I downhill bikes across the product line. When you think about how the brand kind of approaches. Entire suite of product. Is it, does it, does it sort of come from the top down and you're trying to make the best product possible? Or is each, each kind of division kind of focused on like, oh, I'm trying to make an affordable bike, or commuter bike, or what have you, and really just trying to be best of class in the area that it's competing in. [00:08:49] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, first things first is we make sure that we have the right people leading the right categories. From that, every one of those category managers, their goal is to build the absolute best in class for that. Whether it be, uh, a youth bike, whether it be a road gravel or mountain bike, we always wanna shoot for the top. Only after we have all those, these pieces in place, do we start thinking about price points. How do we want to, you know, what price points do we want to hit? We look at, maybe sometimes we'll look at our competitors and see what they're doing and see how we can, you know, beat them. But for the great majority of time, because our factory, we are the factory. We have the greatest buying power in the entire cycling industry. If you think about it. I mean, we buy more D R X T rear derailers than any other brand on Earth. So normally we're, we're always gonna get the best pricing out of that. We don't normally focus on pricing. You know, your, your, your listeners can certainly do their own shopping and, and look at different brands and different prices, but that's certainly something where we differentiate our categories. Um, how do we break it down? And that's something we can talk about when we talk about Revolt X. What are, what are the prices here in the United. [00:09:54] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I'm curious and excited given your tenure at Giant, just when you started to see like a gravel bike first emerge in the lineup, and obviously the date you dropped to me earlier I think was 2013. The category barely existed at that point. So I'm curious if you recall, like why was that bike created originally? [00:10:14] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, that's a really good question. And I, I, I don't wanna say it was created by accident, but at the time, w. You know, the category managers, the marketing staff, we're in touch with the market. We ride a lot. It's our passion. So we're out there and seeing what, what people are doing. Gravel at the time from a mass production level really didn't exist. This is over a decade ago, like you just indicated. The consumers were, you know, maybe the, the elite that bleeding edge was kind of experimenting with, you know, taking a road bike and putting on the biggest tires possible and riding it in more aggressive terrain. I would say we caught onto that, that, that, that trend and it was, it was just a developing trend way back then. And we said, Hey, you know what, let's experiment. It seems like it makes sense. This might actually go somewhere. This, this might not be a fad. Like single speeding, right? Like that came and went for the most part. This actually has legs given the trends at the time of. Generally speaking, you know, road bike sales were just beginning to slump off. People might, might have started getting turned off a little bit about road riding just because of safety issues or just because of wanting to explore their terrain a little bit more than a traditional road bike could take them. Um, so it was kind of a culmination of a lot of a different events. Let us dip our toe in the water with the first Revolt series, and that was like over a decade ago. And looking back at the bike, looking at the geometry, looking at the max tire size, you know, I'm not gonna say it was wrong in every way, but it was an experiment, right? It was our first mass production toe dipped in the water, and we learned a tremendous amount from that first generation. So here we are today talking about our latest generation, which is the Revolt X, which as your listeners know, is a front suspension, gravel bike, and definitely happy to talk about that. [00:12:06] Craig Dalton: Yeah, it's so interesting. I feel like back in that 20 13, 20 14, 20 15, like there was this pocket of riders that weren't necessarily, you know, riding gravel. They were just happened to be riding on dirt roads or wanted a more durable drop bar bike for commuting. And so there was like enough of a pocket in there despite like. People wanting to use the bike for many different things. That type of bike made a lot of sense. And then, you know, as we moved forward into 20 15, 20 16, you started to sort of see this very much more specialized gravel event happen and people like really leaning into a gravel bike as a replacement for a road bike potentially in certain scenarios. So talk a little bit, if you can, at, at sort of a broad level. How you saw the revolt model evolve over those early years into, you know, 20 16 20 17? [00:13:00] Andrew Juskatis: Right. And so just like you indicated, Craig, you know, the, the racing scene at that time was. Just starting to bubble up more local events, little kind of underground events, but we, when we a, anytime we create a new product, we do ask ourselves. Okay. Is this product going to be raced or is this product going to be ridden? Is this for the adventure rider or is this for the guy, you know, shaves his legs and has the liker, uh, one piece kit on and is going, going for the number plate thing? So at that time we said no on racing, cuz racing really didn't seem like it was that big a deal. So the original revolt was geared more towards a. Was more towards exploration, was riding those b and C level roads, or even some, you know, all all, maybe at the time very light single track kind of stuff. But it was not [00:13:47] Craig Dalton: it originally a, was it a carbon bike originally? [00:13:50] Andrew Juskatis: no, no, no. Again, I, I would use the term experimental at the time, and so first generation, I think we talked about this a little bit offline, but committing to composite cutting molds. Is an entirely different thing than building an aluminum bike. Aluminum bikes obviously take a lot of engineering. There is a lot of technology in it, but the commitment level to building an aluminum bike from a, from a mass production standpoint is. Significantly less than committing to composites. So, like I said, bit of an experiment. The first revolt, um, we want to dip our toe in the water. It was aluminum and so really easy if we needed to second generation, if we needed to change geometry. It's very, very easy to do that once you cut molds, and, and I know you and I know a lot of your listeners know this, but once you cut those molds for composite, there's no going. And you know, I think we talked about this offline, the commitment level to cutting molds for a composite bike can can be darn near a hundred thousand dollars per size. So you need to think about your return on investment when you're committing to composite. [00:14:56] Craig Dalton: Yeah, for sure, for sure. Amazing. Like I love taking this journey with you. And then, you know, as I mentioned to you offline, like I became super attracted, I think, to the revolt aesthetic and performance attributes in that like 2018 timeframe, maybe, maybe 2019. But found that it was sort of oriented towards a, a narrower tire size at that time. Does that kind of track with the, the sort of design and performance objectives at that time for that model? [00:15:26] Andrew Juskatis: for sure. At that time when we, you know, we're trying to look into our, our crystal ball of the future, just, you know, point of reference when we build, uh, or create a new range or series of bicycles, you know, we're looking at a three year lifespan. No more, absolutely no more than a five year lifespan before we're gonna come out with the next generation. So three years generally. But we need to look at our crystal ball because we need to see what trends are happening, what trends are, are, are growing. What trends are faltering At the time, we, um, wanted to kind of maximize tire size without going bonkers. And I know a lot of folks, including yourself, kept screaming for larger and larger tire size at that, like that second generation revolt. Um, we didn't feel it was necessary, but when we move into this next generation here, like especially with Revolt X, we can talk about larger tire. [00:16:14] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, let's get into it. Let's get into the revolt. Um, and, and maybe you can sort of break down. You've got one series that has the Rock Shock Suspension Fork and a Dropper Post, which I love the idea of. And then you've got the other, the other sort of, uh, standard rigid bike. [00:16:33] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, that, I mean, that's a, a great takeoff point. And, and kind of just for the record, let me, let me state our, our view of what you, just, what you just talked about. So, currently in our line, um, we launched this, uh, a little over a year ago was our Revolt Advanced Pro, and that's her composite, um, revolt bike. That's the bike you're gonna see our, um, professional racers on. Um, you're gonna. With most folks should probably pick that bike if they're gonna put a number plate on for most type of terrain. Um, and we certainly in our marketing materials and our communications, we talk about racing openly, freely, and, and proudly with that bike. No, it is not just a race bike. It's a very lightweight, it can be used for exploration or simply, you know, riding on ruffle roads. That's fine. But you will hear us talk about racing quite a bit with that, with that current model of revolt advance. The bike that we're focusing on today is the re, is the Revolt X Advance Pro. And so that has a suspension fork, just like you said. Just like you love, and it has the suspension seat post on it. It does have a little bit of suspension on it if you notice that in the spec, but the dropper as well, so. Not to say that's not a race bike, but we're not gonna be positioning it. Our professional racers probably won't be seen racing on that bike. It's a bit more for exploration really. Those all day adventure rides down rougher, rougher terrain, which there is certainly a trend for, but just to put it in perspective, um, in terms of sales numbers, You're gonna still see most people choosing the Revolt Advances Pro, that that composite line, um, for their everyday writing, this Revolt X is for a unique person like yourself or maybe some of your listeners who want and are asking for more. [00:18:15] Craig Dalton: Yeah, it's interesting, you know, as when rock shock and sh tram launched that fork, gosh, maybe a year ago, [00:18:21] Andrew Juskatis: Right? Mm-hmm. [00:18:23] Craig Dalton: like I realized that, you know, the early adopters of that fork were likely gonna have to either retrofit it and deal with the geometric changes that it's gonna apply to their bike or get a custom frame built because, The larger manufacturers just weren't ready to kind of jump on that trend. I think it made sense to like allow rock shock to put it out there in the world alongside, um, what Fox had been doing for some time earlier than that and just see where it was gonna sit. But I was sort of eagerly waiting for a larger brand like Giant to put one on a bike just to expose the world to the attributes of something that was purpose built and designed. Around that fork because to your point, not everybody's racing and it seems like there is a world and there are locations in the world where this type of suspended gravel bike, while it's still oriented around. Gravel riding, right? You're still gonna ride it on the road and mix train or whatever. But giving the rider an advantage, whether it's more comfort or stability, or safety or performance, with that suspension fork was gonna be something that is gonna appeal to yet these ever more refined niches of gravel that are emerging. [00:19:38] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, it, it, it's interesting, Craig, you know, you and I were talking offline before and I, I learned a, a bit about your history, um, certainly with mountain biking and, and we all remember way back in the day when, you know, the rock chalks RS one first came out, it seemed like a gimmick, maybe a novelty, and manufacturers, pretty much all of them simply took that suspension fork and threw it on an existing frame and frames back then were all steel, but, You know, that was one way to kind of dip their toe in the water to try out suspension and see if it's gonna stick and, and all of that. But they were taking a new product. That seriously altered the geometry and putting it on an existing frame, and that would've been the easy way for us to approach this. It certainly would've been the more economical way. Again, you know, we think about commitment to cutting molds is so expensive in order to open a new mold for composite frame. But we said, and we believe, you me, we argued about this a lot, um, within the company is do we fully commit if we're gonna put a suspension. On a revolt, do we fully commit to creating an entirely new series of molds? And the answer was, we either do it or we don't. And so we did it and we committed to a full size. Um, of new frames that are suspension, augmented, or suspension adjusted to accept a 40 millimeter fork. Um, it's a gamble. Uh, we will see about how sales are, um, universally again, um, it's, it's, it's definitely a risky move cuz we invested a lot into this frame to make sure that it, it handles correctly. We didn't want it to be, you know, a tugboat and really sluggish. If you put. A longer fork on an existing frame, it would slack out the front end so much so that it would, it would kill the characteristics of the bike. We didn't want to do that. [00:21:23] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think that's a critical balance. And for the, for the listener who can kind of, can't visualize, like with the suspension fork, your head tube has to, there has to be a little bit more space, right? Cuz those forks are longer in order to add that 40 millimeters or whatnot of suspension in there. So there has to be an adjustment and if you just slap it on your average, It's gonna make it a little bit more relaxed, and maybe that is actually appropriate for how you're gonna ride, said bike, but is not the intended geometry that the designer put underneath you to begin with. So it is important to have someone thinking about those adjustments and designing them into the frame. Geometrically speaking, but also you mentioned to me that you, you also added a little bit more beef to the head tube in an understanding that the bike is gonna face different challenges and obstacles out there. [00:22:12] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, th That's exactly right, Craig. So if you think about this, so our existing revolt, advanced Pro, all size medium, has a head two length of about 150 millimeters in order to properly compensate for the kind of that axle to crown length of a suspension fork. The Revolt X Advanced Pro that we're talking about today is 115 millimeter head tube, so that head tube is significantly shorter in order to accommodate that longer lever arm of a suspension fork. And just like you indicated, um, in order to make sure that the bike would be safe, strong enough to handle that longer lever, lever arm, the engineering of the frame is a bit different In order to handle that, that suspension fork. [00:22:54] Craig Dalton: Now, I know you've got a ton of experience personally and passionately about mountain bikes in the mountain bike world. When it came to putting a dropper post on that bike, what were you thinking and how do you feel that, you know, the dropper post adds value in that particular bike? [00:23:09] Andrew Juskatis: For me it was easy because I am a mountain biker and it, within the company I was early adopter of, of a drop seat post and. I can't imagine riding a bike today without a drop seat post. It just has become part of the ride experience. And maybe I'm even more radical in thinking that pretty much every bicycle should have a drop seat post on it. And, and I know I'm joking about the roadside of things, but maybe I'm not joking about the roadside of things when it came to this product, especially considering its intent of being rid ridden over more rough terrain, vari. Yeah. I mean, that was a no-brainer. And so there is a, a dropper seat post on all of the models of the Revolt X. [00:23:52] Craig Dalton: Okay. Yeah. Well, you'll get no objection from me here. As everybody well knows, big fan, I considered an upgrade to any bicycle I have underneath me, but I will get off my soapbox or maybe not even mount it today because I've been on it many times before on the pod. [00:24:07] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah. [00:24:10] Craig Dalton: We've talked a little bit about the, the fork and the, the dropper post, but let's talk about the frame and some of the other attributes. I know that there's some shared attributes. The revolt, advance, and the Xs. In terms of like that flip chip, let's drill into what that means and let's talk about the tire size and capability of the bike. [00:24:26] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, for sure. So some of the similarities between the two, uh, ranges. So that's the, the Revolt Advanced Pro and this new Revolt X Advanced Pro is, and that's one of the features you just mentioned, is the flip chip dropout. Flip Chip dropout is simply a flippable chip that is located in the rear dropout of the frame. That dropout, whether it can be shifted from its low. Or to its high position, that's 10 millimeters of difference, what that 10 millimeters does for yourself and for your listeners, you do understand that that will elongate the wheel base, making it more stable ride. Um, I think more significantly than that even is that it allows for different tire size. So in its short position, when the flip chip is, is shifted forward, that allows for a 42 millimeter maximum tire size. If you really. [00:25:14] Craig Dalton: On the 700 Seari. [00:25:16] Andrew Juskatis: 700 C. Yeah. If you wanna flip to the, um, long position that allows for a 53 millimeter tire, um, in that long position, that's, [00:25:25] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:25:25] Andrew Juskatis: that's pretty meaty [00:25:27] Craig Dalton: What are the, what are the different lenses of the stays, if you recall? [00:25:31] Andrew Juskatis: off top of my head. I, I don't know, but it is a 10 millimeter difference from the short position to the long position for sure. All geometries are available on our website, so you can see. And that, that is size specific as well, that change. [00:25:44] Craig Dalton: Got it. And then on the, on the rigid fork, on the advance, is there a flip ship up front [00:25:49] Andrew Juskatis: No, no, we didn't see the need for a flip chip up front. Um, you can run, you know, a 53 millimeter tire. It doesn't matter. Um, there is no flip chip up front. That's, you know, we, we, we ask ourselves these questions when we're creating the product. That starts to get down the wormhole of how much is too much. You start adding, A lot of features to a product like this. Obviously that adds complication. That can add complexity and maintenance, and it can also add weight. So what is really gonna make a difference for the rider is something we always ask ourselves. [00:26:21] Craig Dalton: And when you design these bikes, are you designing strictly around a 700 sea wheel set, or are you also, you know, accommodating a six 50? [00:26:28] Andrew Juskatis: No, we, we think about 700 c I mean, the majority of of consumers who are gonna purchase this product are interested in purchasing this product. Certainly will ride a 700 C wheel. I know others, including yourself, might wanna run a different size wheel. Um, you're obviously free to do that as well, but are geometries listed. Don't get in, go down that, that rabbit hole of what if you use this size. [00:26:50] Craig Dalton: Yeah. It's interesting, you know, several years ago, I think just sort of the, the design constraints or the vision at that moment was. You needed to do six 50 B wheels in order to get that bigger tire size. And now that you and you, like many others, are able to run 700 by 50 tires without changing geometry. To me, who was a big proponent of six 50 b a number of years ago, I'm, I'm sort of more open to the idea that, you know, at 700 c you. you could need. If you can go up to 700 by, you know, in your case 53, like I don't see a need for, for much more than someone on the bike packing margins to ever want. More than that. And then to your point, like the bike, both aesthetically and performance-wise, you go down to a 700 by 40, which maybe is a sort of standardish race size. You can take that tighter, uh, rear end with that flip chip. And you've gotta have the supercharged race bike underneath. [00:27:50] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, so it does have that, that variability in it, and we're just seeing, I don't, we are seeing less six 50 B out there in the market because again, um, we've been able to compensate very well for 700 C so we're, we're pretty satisfied with that decision. [00:28:06] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Any other attributes of the bike that you would typically point out? [00:28:12] Andrew Juskatis: Well, the, the neat thing about it is, you know, if you're a reader or if your, uh, listeners are familiar with the Revolt Advanced Pro, one of the, the core features on that is what we call our, our diffuse handlebar and diffuse seat post. Um, in general, you know, kind of taking a big step back with Giant, one thing we've always been really proud of is not promoting, not creating gim. Um, integrated suspension systems, you know, really, really complex things, unique to frames like that. We try and avoid doing that kind of stuff because we see a lot of our competitors making those decisions to add whatever their own integrated suspension system and, That's not our angle. That's not what we're pro we're proud of. So when we introduce the technology, we want it to be effective, but we want it to be simple as well. Diffuse is our kind of flexible handlebar and flexible seat post. It's a D shaped seat post. It's a D shaped handlebar. It offers a little bit of compliance. It's a little bit of compliance. No weight penalty, simplicity, you know, it's not gonna break. It doesn't require maintenance, and it's something that riders can feel. Now obviously the Revolt X that we're talking about today, um, doesn't have that diffuse seat post. It has a, a dropper seat post, which does have a little bit of suspension in it, about 20 mils of suspension. Um, But the point I'm trying to make here is that there are options for seatpost. If you don't wanna run a dropper, you can run a traditional round, uh, seatpost if you want, or you can run our defuse seatpost, which offers, I'll call it a 10 millimeters of four AF travel on it as well. So options for the, uh, for the rider, for the owner. [00:29:54] Craig Dalton: And for clarity, so that the diffuse C Post it, it's the, the frame accommodates a round C post, but the diffuse has a D shape somewhere in the. In the post. [00:30:06] Andrew Juskatis: No. Well, so the entire seatpost itself is D shaped. It's using a series of shims you can put in, um, that D shaped into our round seat tube, or you can use a different shim to put in a, you know, a round seat post. [00:30:19] Craig Dalton: Okay, [00:30:20] Andrew Juskatis: So options, the bottom line is options. [00:30:23] Craig Dalton: one of the hallmarks I always think visually of the giant design has been that sort of dropped seat stay. And I know it's not just an aesthetic decision. What's the kind of design philosophy behind that? [00:30:37] Andrew Juskatis: Rudimentary suspension. If you think about it, it kind of creates a pivot point for the seat tube. If you think about it, your listeners can visualize this. The actual flexing of the seat tube is kind of pivoted off that drop. Um, That drops stay. If you put the stay up in a old school traditional format, it would kind of negate that. So, long story short, it offers a tiny bit of overall seat tube suspension as the seat post, as your seat, as your weight. Kind of pivots off that pivot point. [00:31:09] Craig Dalton: that makes sense. And am, am I correct, does that technology also translator or maybe it originated on the road side of Giant's business? Are the road bikes kind of leaning into that compliance as [00:31:20] Andrew Juskatis: Started way back when everything we just talked about started from the Cyclecross side of things. Um, started with our Tcx Tcx featured a lot of what we're talking about today. That was our test bed for Diffuse. Um, that was our test bed for kind of the, the, the drop stays because it, and, and you know, we all know how the sport of cycle cross has gone. It, it's, it's kind of been superseded by, uh, by gravel. But everything we just talked about today was tried on our cyclecross bike first We proved it and it moved on to revolt. And then a little bit, we'll move on to, you know, endurance road bikes as well, and then to some degree onto high performance road racing as well. [00:32:06] Craig Dalton: Yeah, interesting. I just had this other giant model name pop into my head and I, I think it might have been officially my first proper road bike I bought as an adult was a giant kdx. [00:32:17] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, that's a really, uh, that's, that's a poignant topic you're bringing up. So KX was our first line of carbon fiber bicycles, you know, way back when, first one of the first mass produced, um, not the first, but one of the first mass produced carbon fiber bikes that consumers could buy, both road and mountain. That was innovative at the time, really complex to make, reasonably successful for us, but that went away. Um, today, the KX net name lives on in our extremely high performance range of componentry that is separate from giant. Um, those components can be found on many other brands as well, but that KX name lives on, um, moving into the. [00:33:03] Craig Dalton: I reme, I recall it being reintroduced, uh, as a brand for those components. And I, sorry, I can't help but jump on the way back train when I'm talking to you. [00:33:14] Andrew Juskatis: it, it's totally, it's totally appropriate. I, I, I love jumping on the way back machine and, and looking back because you know, the, the topic of. The conversation of the comments that certainly come up with Revolt X are, my gosh, you know, it looks like an old school mountain bike. And, and I, I'll be honest with you, Craig, I just hopped in the garage. I have a revolted Revolt X advanced Pro zero sitting in my garage. It's size extra large, and I just wanted to weigh it. Just, you know, this is actual production. This is the same bike you can buy again, size, extra large. I'm a pretty tall rider, but it was 20 pounds, 15 ounces, uh, without pedals. So, you know. That, that, that's fairly heavy. And you know, I think you could get a hard tail mountain bike somewhere down within that realm of range. But these are two totally different products that are geared towards two different riding experiences. So you can draw your similarities, but it's different. [00:34:08] Craig Dalton: yeah. You know, I get, I get drawn into those debates as well, and I, I, you know, living in the Bay Area and formally living in San Francisco itself, I had a hard tail mountain bike. And I can tell you that while I touch the same terrain that I, I did back in my hard tail mountain biking days, I definitely ride it differently and create different loops because of the drop bars and the gravel bike. It gets definitely like it. It exists and it's hard to describe potentially. It definitely exists in a different space in my mind and in my garage in terms of like where I'm gonna go when I get on a gravel bike versus a mountain. [00:34:43] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, for sure. I mean, uh, we're speaking of generalities here, but I'm sure as heck not going to ride my mountain bike 15, 20 miles on the road to get to some. Mixed conditions. You know, I'm not, I'm not gonna do that on my mountain bike. You can, but I, it's just not traditionally done. I would gladly do it on Revolt X, right? You pump up the tires and, and go for a 15, 20 mile, 30 mile road ride to get to those interesting BC roads or light, single track, different experience altogether. [00:35:14] Craig Dalton: Yeah, that's so true. Like you would consider that a failure of a mountain bike ride. If you had to ride for an hour, rode 30 minutes of dirt, and then rode an hour home on the road, that would not be a mountain bike ride. Whereas it's a perfectly fine gravel ride. [00:35:27] Andrew Juskatis: it's exactly what we intended when we created Revolt X. [00:35:31] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. I will, uh, Andrew, I'll put uh, links in the show notes so everybody can find images of these bikes and find where to buy them from their local, giant dealer. And I very much appreciated you coming on the show and talking a little bit about your history and the history of Giant, because it's such a, A storied brand that many of us have been familiar with for obviously, you know, our entire cycling careers, that it's great to see it come full circle and for you guys to have such a, what I think is sort of a spot on spec for a modern gravel bike. [00:36:03] Andrew Juskatis: Well, great. Thanks for having me, Craig. I mean, I, I think it's a really interesting story, not only with this particular product, but kind of where it came from, what we were thinking and, and how Giant was able to make it unique in the marketplace. [00:36:14] Craig Dalton: Yeah, and I think it's also like, you know, the economics of the bike industry are important to consider and the, the sort of, uh, engineering and manufacturing might that a giant can put forth just kind of provides a lot of confidence, I think, for owners that, you know, the bike has been well engineered, well tested, and didn't come out before it was ready. [00:36:33] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for noticing that and that that really was, you know, a massive argument within the company. If we're gonna do it, let's do it right, and let's commit to a frame that is suspension adjusted. So thanks for noticing that. [00:36:46] Craig Dalton: Yeah, of course. It was a pleasure talking to Andrew. [00:36:48] Andrew Juskatis: Yeah, thanks Craig. [00:36:51] Craig Dalton: That's going to do it for this week's edition of the gravel ride podcast. Big, thanks to Andrew for joining the show and talking a little bit about Giant's history and a lot about that. Interesting revolt acts, gravel bike. That is now available. In the United States. I look forward to seeing more front suspension, running gravel riders out there in the world to join me. I certainly enjoy it in my local terrain. If you're interested in connecting with me, please visit www.theridership.com. The ridership is a free global cycling community, where you can connect with athletes around the world to talk all things, gravel and gravel riding. There are two ways in which you can support the show. If you're able to ratings and reviews or sharing this podcast with another gravel rider are hugely appreciated. Ratings and reviews are aware. Podcasters get noticed. So reviews of the five-star variety, if that's your opinion are hugely helpful to what we do at the gravel ride podcast. Additionally, if you're able to financially support the show, you can visit buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride and contribute to our ongoing efforts to bring you coverage of the world of gravel cycling. Until next time. Here's to finding some dirt onto your wheels.

Zipp and RockShox XPLR Gravel Talk Part II

The Zippcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2022 33:43

We're back on the Zipp Speed Podcast; we're talking more gravel riding and gravel bike technology. In this episode, Zipp Product Manager Bastien Donze and RockShox Product Manager Jed Douglas. These two experts explain the key technologies behind the Zipp 101 XPLR and the RockShox Rudy XPLR suspension fork. Jed and Bastien then explain how the 101 wheelset and Rudy fork work to smooth the ride on gravel, saving the rider precious energy and preserving speed. This podcast is for you if you're into bike tech or gravel riding. This episode accompanies a tech blog published on SRAM.com of testing on the 101 and Rudy in SRAM's Indianapolis test lab. Please also check out Part 1 of this XPLR podcast series, where we talk with experience gravel riders Sarah Walter and Nico Deportago-Cabrera.

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Zipp and RockShox XPLR Gravel Talk Part I

The Zippcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 23, 2022 29:17

This episode of Zipp Speed Podcast is all about gravel. We talk with Sarah Walter of RockShox and Nico Deportago-Cabrera of Zipp about their experiences riding or racing gravel, especially when using the Zipp 101 XPLR wheelset and the Rudy XPLR fork for smoothing out the ride. This podcast is the first of two episodes taking a deep dive into two critical components of SRAM's XPLR gravel collection, the 101 and Rudy. Each works to help tame the many washboards, stones, and bumps of gravel riding. The 101 and Rudy, primarily when used together, make you faster through effective vibration damping to smooth out the ride and reduce fatigue. This podcast accompanies a tech blog you can find in our show notes or on SRAM.com under the RockShox Technology section. Also, watch for Part II of our XPLR gravel podcast, where we'll dive deeply into the 101 XPLR and Rudy with Zipp and RockShox product managers. But for now, we're joined by Sarah of RockShox and Nico and Dan from Zipp. It's time for the Zipp Speed Podcast!

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

Downtime - The Mountain Bike Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2022 60:27

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

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Behind the Scenes at RockShox With Sander Rigney

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2022 69:19 Very Popular

Today I'm joined by SRAM's VP of product development, Sander Rigney, to take us behind the scenes at RockShox. We'll be chatting about RockShox's history and finding out how the products have progressed over the last 25 years. Hear about their approach to R&D and the development of cutting edge technologies like Flight Attendant. Sander shares some insight into their BlackBox programme, the future of suspension and plenty more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Sander Rigney. You can checkout the entire RockShox range over at sram.com and find their YouTube channel here. Supporting Partners Sprung Suspension If you're looking to improve the way your bike rides and to give your suspension some love after a long summer of riding, look no further than Sprung Suspension. With knowledge from working at suspension companies, bike companies and world cup race teams, Sprung will be able to sort you out and have your suspension feeling better than it's ever felt before. As a Downtime listener, you can get 10% off service and tuning until the 15th November. All you need to do is to use the code 'downtime22' over at sprungsuspension.com. SRAM You can checkout the entire RockShox range over at sram.com and find their YouTube channel here. Podcast Stuff Downtime EP Downtime EP issue 2 is now available at downtimepodcast.com/ep. EP takes inspiration from the guests and topics of the podcast. It expands on them, and takes them into a stunning print-only format. EP is the perfect companion for some quiet time away from the distractions of modern life. Beautiful to have and hold, and a timeless piece of mountain bike history. Just head over to downtimepodcast.com/ep to save yourself £5 off of the cover price with an annual subscription for just £20 plus postage or you can purchase EP1, or EP2 on their own too. Merch If you want to support the podcast, and represent, then my webstore is the place to head. All products are 100% organic, shipped without plastics, and made with a supply chain that's using renewable energy. So check it out now over at downtimepodcast.com/shop. Follow Us Give us a follow on Instagram @downtimepodcast or Facebook @downtimepodcast to keep up to date and chat in the comments. For everything video, including riding videos, bike checks and more, subscribe over at youtube.com/downtimemountainbikepodcast. Are you enjoying the podcast? If so, then don't forget to subscribe. Each episode will get delivered to your device as soon as it's available and it's totally free. You'll find all the links you need at downtimepodcast.com/subscribe. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google and most of the podcast apps out there. While you're there, why not join our newsletter to get our Weekend Warm-Up email every Friday. Full of interesting bike-related stuff, competitions, product recommendations and more. Our back catalogue of amazing episodes is available at downtimepodcast.com/episodes

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Ep. 13 Riley Amos bounces back from nationals and worlds to take on The APEX!

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2022 32:07

Welcome to The APEX podcast where we sit down for a special episode with host John Croom where he chats with Riley Amos, one of the best mountain bikers in the country right now! Riley is a U23 cyclist for the TREK Factory team who is bouncing back from an injury subdued in training leading into national championships roughly 6 weeks ago. After the injury it was a question if Riley would be able to compete at this years worlds but he was able to recover and seacure a top 10! Riley will be at The APEX looking to better his finish from 2021! Riley Socials: https://www.instagram.com/rj_amos/?hl=en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y2ii4oTGYI The Pikes Peak APEX courses and stages: https://www.pikespeakapex.com/2022-course-information Subscribe to The APEX podcast & listen on your favorite platform Learn more about Pikes Peak APEX presented by RockShox https://www.pikespeakapex.com/ #PikesPeakAPEX

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Ep. 12 The Roundtable on 2022 Courses!

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2022 45:33

Welcome to The APEX podcast where we sit down for a special episode with host John Croom where he chats with two guest Daniel Matheny and Bryan Peck. Matheny is the course director for the 2022 Pikes Peak APEX and Bryan Peck is on our athletes who races the podcast and is coached by Matheny! Matheny & Peck sit down with Croom to give him and you the inside look on the new course for this years edition of The Pikes Peak APEX! Daniel Socials: https://mathenyendurance.com/ https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach/matheny#about https://www.instagram.com/mathenyendurance/?hl=en The Pikes Peak APEX courses and stages: https://www.pikespeakapex.com/2022-course-information Subscribe to The APEX podcast & listen on your favorite platform Learn more about Pikes Peak APEX presented by RockShox https://www.pikespeakapex.com/ #PikesPeakAPEX

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DCMTB - ep. 20 (Suspension Settings)

Dirt Church MTB

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2022 62:42

We took a swing at explaining suspension knobs, and what they do. In the end you might learn something, or you might be just a little dumber for tuning in?

Ep. 11 Russell Finsterwald is coming back to the APEX!

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Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2022 35:51

The APEX podcast where host John Croom sits down for a chat with Russell Finsterwald and chats about his goal for coming back to his hometown race searching for the win. Russ also tells us about his recent adventures at Leadville and SBT gravel along with the Lifetime Grand Prix series he is apart of. Who iis read to find out what the hometown legend's favorite stage is. Russell Socials: https://www.instagram.com/finsty/?hl=en Subscribe to The APEX podcast & listen on your favorite platform Learn more about Pikes Peak APEX presented by RockShox https://www.pikespeakapex.com/ #PikesPeakAPEX

Ep. 10 Jamil Coury: Who is Jamil and Aravaipa Running? The APEX is now offering a run!

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Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2022 25:28

The APEX podcast where host John Croom sits down for a chat with Jamil Coury who is an Ultra Runner, Father, Business man, Family man, youtuber, and more! Jamil and his company Aravaipa Running are partnering with The APEX to bring the APEX their first running event! We sit down to see how the partnership came together as well as we get to know Jamil as a person and an athlete! Jamil Socials: https://runsteep.com/jamil-coury/ https://www.aravaiparunning.com/ https://www.instagram.com/jamilcoury/?hl=en Subscribe to The APEX podcast & listen on your favorite platform Learn more about Pikes Peak APEX presented by RockShox https://www.pikespeakapex.com/ #PikesPeakAPEX

Ep. 9 Nina Machnowski uses the Leadville 100 to prep for the APEX!

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Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2022 27:11

The APEX podcast where host John Croom sits down for a chat with Nina Machnowski of Brevard College and Pivot Cycles to chat about how she is using Leadville to prep for the APEX. Nina is a college student at Brevard College in Brevard, NC where she not only studies but also races and trains! Currently, Nina is in Colorado prepping for the famous Leadville MTB 100! Nina Socials: https://www.instagram.com/nina.machina/?hl=en&__coig_restricted=1 Subscribe to The APEX podcast & listen on your favorite platform Learn more about Pikes Peak APEX presented by RockShox https://www.pikespeakapex.com/ #PikesPeakAPEX

Just Riding Along Show- Episode 52, Old Man Yells at Cloud

The Just Riding Along Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2022 59:27 Very Popular

This week, the crew kicks it off with talk about the Fooses Creek section of the Colorado trail. Kenny went motorcycling, and Andrea had a sucessful mule deer scouting trip in the high country. New Shit we Probably Hate: 3x3 Nine Internally Geared Hub Fox sues Rockshox over bleeder valves FSA updates their WE electronic road group to 12 speed Listener Questions: How hard is a SRAM road bleed? Is Apex 1 compatible with an old road bike? Is a 1/2 shell MTB helmet safer than a road helmet? Is 160mm/130mm front/rear too large of a full suspension difference? Plus- join Just Riding Along Patreon! and Affordable Trail Solutions clues us in on the Bad Jack's Trail Fest

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Ep. 8 Justin Martin "JMART" is coming back to The APEX on a mission!

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Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2022 26:12

The APEX podcast where host John Croom sits down for a chat with justin Martin of Colorado Springs! Justin Martin, also known as JMART - is a Colorado local with his roots being from Texas! JMART chats about how he became pro on the MTB, how he uses motocross for cross training and how he's chasing the dream by coming to the Olympic City USA of Colorado Springs, CO! JMART Socials: https://www.facebook.com/justin.martin.bikes/ https://www.instagram.com/jmart_bikes/?hl=en Subscribe to The APEX podcast & listen on your favorite platform Learn more about Pikes Peak APEX presented by RockShox https://www.pikespeakapex.com/ #PikesPeakAPEX

Ep. 7 Win Van Pelt brings his adventure stories to the podcast!

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Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2022 23:14

The APEX podcast where host John Croom sits down for a chat with Win Van Pelt one of the 60+ challengers of the APEX. John catches up with Win about his wild adventures, keying in on all the stories as well as chatting about 2022 goals and bucket list races! Check out Win at https://www.vanpeltgroup.com/win-van-pelt.aspx Subscribe to The APEX podcast & listen on your favorite platform Learn more about Pikes Peak APEX presented by RockShox https://www.pikespeakapex.com/ #PikesPeakAPEX

Ep. 6 Evelyn Dong: just finished Unbound and is looking towards the APEX!

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Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2022 20:12

Watch the 6th episode of The APEX podcast where host John Croom sits down for a chat with Juliana/SRAM Pro Team XC racer Evelyn Dong. John catches up with Evelyn during a hectic week between Unbound Gravel and Missoula XC. They compare notes on all things gravel and MTB and talk about what led Evelyn to biking and what she's up to this season. Follow Evelyn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evelynd11/ Juliana/SRAM team: https://www.julianabicycles.com/en-US/rider/evelyn-dong Support Evelyn in the 2021 Prescott Trails Challenge https://givebutter.com/PrescottTrailsChallenge/individuals-2/evelyndong Subscribe to The APEX podcast & listen on your favorite platform Learn more about Pikes Peak APEX presented by RockShox https://www.pikespeakapex.com/ #PikesPeakAPEX #UnboundGravel #MissoulaXC

Reviewer Reports: RockShox Suspension & Bikes Galore

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2022 38:16

We've been busy testing a whole lot of new suspension from RockShox, as well as bikes across the whole spectrum, from XC to Enduro, so Jonathan Ellsworth and David Golay sat down in Blister HQ to talk about all of it, including the new Santa Cruz Megatower V2, the Rocky Mountain Element, and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:RockShox Flight Attendant (4:48)RockShox's new 2023 lineup (12:38)YT Capra (17:33)Santa Cruz Megatower (19:30)Orbea Rallon (22:56)Antidote Carbonjack (25:02)Orbea Occam LT (28:36)Rocky Mountain Element (31:26)RELATED LINKS:Become a Blister MemberBlister LabsThis Week's Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer's GuideOUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTSOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister Podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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La semana: S-Works Torch, RockShox 2023, Gravel, Dig Days...

torch la semana gravel specialized rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2022 67:56

En el programa de esta semana hablamos de un montón de novedades de Specialized, entre ellas las nuevas zapatillas tope de gama S-Works Torch, también de la nueva colección de horquillas y amortiguadores de RockShox para 2023, de SCOTT, de novedades para gravel, del Dig Day que se va a celebrar el 4 de junio en Gavin... y mucho más, porque la semana y el ciclismo han dado para mucho, mucho más.

11 SRAM and the Power of Bicycles

Pedal The Springs

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2022 51:53

SRAM and RockShox. Chances are you know these names because you've seen them on your bike. But SRAM, the parent company for brands like RockShox, Truvativ, Zipp, Quarq, Time and Hammerhead, is much more than a company that builds bike parts; they're community builders. Find out more about their efforts to build up the cycling community in Colorado Springs and around the world through their SRAM Field Guide program, in this conversation. Global bike part manufacturing company SRAM began in 1987 and was named after founders Scott King, Stan Ray Day & Sam Patterson. Their Vision Statement is “We believe in the power of bicycles in expanding the potential of cycling. We create manufactured components and inspire cyclists.” The position of SRAM Field Guide was created to provide community representatives to help them fulfill their mission and to make an impact for cycling in the communities where they reside. There are currently 13 of 31 of the SRAM Field Guide positions filled, with opportunities open in the midwest, northeast and across the globe. Host: Torie Giffin, owner of the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort, ride leader and ambassador for cycling in Colorado Springs Guests: Chris Negrete, SRAM North American Field Guide Manager and mountain biker Molly Murrow, SRAM Southern Colorado Field Guide, hard core mountain biker Mentioned in This Episode: Aravaipa Running and Races https://www.aravaiparunning.com/ Ascent Cycling https://www.ascentcycling.net/ Bike to Work Day June 22 https://coloradosprings.gov/bikes/page/annual-biking-events Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort http://bicycleresort.com Colorado High School Cycling League https://coloradomtb.org/ Colorado Springs Cycling Club https://www.bikesprings.org/ Criterium Bicycles https://www.criterium.com/ Kids on Bikes Colorado Springs https://kidsonbikes.net/ The Pikes Peak APEX 4 Stage MTB Challenge sponsored by RockShox https://www.pikespeakapex.com/ Routes Outfitter https://routesoutfitter.com/ SRAM https://www.sram.com/en/sram SRAM Careers https://www.sram.com/en/company/careers Trails End Taproom Trailblazers https://www.trailsendtaproom.com/trailblazers Women's Mountain Biking Association of Colorado Springs (WMBA) https://www.wmbacos.org/ Special thanks to Studio 809 Podcasts Supporter and Community Partner, Springs Homes. And to supporter and partner, the MeadowGrass Music Festival 2022 Pedal the Springs is produced by the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort, the only bicycle-themed lodging and must-stay for cyclists coming to Colorado. Check us out at https://www.bicycleresort.com for more information. Don't miss an episode. Follow on your favorite podcast app:

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In the Dirt #29 - Custom frame design

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2022 38:20 Very Popular

This week Craig and Randall continue the discussion on the considerations for Craig's custom gravel frame build. We dig into the history of Reach and Stack, the meaning of BB drop and how different materials afford different options and considerations for construction. Episode sponsor: Therabody RecoveryAir JetBoots Support the Podcast Join The Ridership Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: In the Dirt #29 [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello and welcome to in the dirt from the gravel ride podcast. My name's Craig Dalton. I'm your host. And I'm going to be joined shortly by my cohost Randall Jacobs. In the, in the dirt episodes, Randall and I take an opportunity catch up on everything going on in gravel, cycling. Uh, Everything you need to know in between our long form interviews on the gravel ride podcast This week's broadcast is brought to you by thera body. You may remember thera body from the thera gun massage gun that really revolutionized recovery for gravel cyclists. But this week, we're here to talk to you about something completely next level. We're talking about their body's revolutionary new recovery air jet boots. If you're like me over the years, you've seen these pneumatic compression boots. Underneath pro cyclists after stages of the tour de france or big gravel events and i've always been curious what that experience would be like But every time I looked into them, they seemed not only expensive, but incredibly. Overbuilt, they're attached to sort of something that looked like a car battery. You had wires everywhere. It just seemed overly complicated. As you know, on the podcast, we've been talking about recovery quite a bit lately, and it's driven by my own personal need. I found as, as I get older as an athlete, I just can't recover as quickly. And I need to basically do everything I can to make sure my body's in tip top shape and able to get back out on the bike. So it was super curious when therapy body came out with the recovery air jet boots. It's quite a bit more affordable than the original pneumatic compression boots that were out on the market And in a form factor that can't be beat. Recovery, our jet boots of the world's most advanced pneumatic compression system ever created. For years runners and gravel, cyclists, and everyone who spends hours on their feet. Have had to suffer through leg pains and aches after a hard day. Clinically proven treatments like the compression boots per athletes have always been using, have always been out of reach. Recovery era is a groundbreaking pressure massage system for everybody. Anywhere. With their body's exclusive fast flush technology, recovery air flushes out metabolic waste more fully, and brings back fresh blood to your legs. Three times faster than the speed of competition. Faster cycles means faster recovery. So you don't have to wait for the legs to feel great. There are bodies. Recovery are jet boots are first of its kind. They're truly wireless for anywhere on the go recovery boosting circulation and radically reducing muscle soreness. And thanks to recovery are super intuitive, easy to use one touch controls. Recovering faster as .a breeze. I had a couple of recovery sessions with the jet boots already. And I'm trying to figure out what's the right way to describe it to the listener. You've got an individual boot on each leg that goes all the way up to your upper thigh. As the pneumatic air moves through each boot, you feel your leg kind of compressed tightly, like a nice massage. As it rolls through a process you can set through multiple time sessions, how long you want to be in the product, how long you have for recovery. But I got out of it after a 20 minute session and the legs felt good. So I'm looking forward to doing more punishing rides coming back and getting these jet boots on my body. To find out more, just visit thera body.com/the gravel ride. You can get thera body recovery air today starting at just $699. Or as low as $59 a month with a firm. Plus with recovery, our 60 day money back guarantee and free shipping. There's absolutely no risk to giving it a try at home. Again, that's their body.com/the gravel ride. Would that business out of the way, let's jump into this week's episode [00:03:46] Craig: Hey Randall, how you doing? [00:03:49] Randall: Well, a little bit under the weather here in Boston, but hopefully we'll be recovered before I head out your way in a couple of days. Are you? [00:03:57] Craig: to see you got to get over this cold. [00:03:59] Randall: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm actually hoping to see a lot of or at least a few of our listeners as well. We got Seattle coming up. [00:04:07] Craig: Yeah, that's a good place to start. Yeah, so we're, we're getting we're both of us are going to be at Seattle this year, which is exciting. I think we did sea Otter together two years ago. That's on, [00:04:16] Randall: Two or three years ago. Yeah. Whenever you know, and that, that, that innocent pre COVID era [00:04:23] Craig: That's [00:04:23] Randall: when I was still living in the bay area. [00:04:26] Craig: For the listener that may not be in the region or may not have heard of seawater. It's actually an event that's been going on in the Monterey bay peninsula area since 1991 mountain bike started out at because a mountain bike festival had added on road racing criteriums. They had a cyclocross race at one point observed trials. Like you name it. If it's done on two wheels, they've been doing it at the sea Otter classic for you. [00:04:53] Randall: it's also, become I believe the, the most important trade show in north America with the, you know, with the folding of the M oh, Interbike. Yeah. And in fact I've always felt that it was a much more enjoyable experience than Interbike because you have this kind of festival environment. So people are there. You have general audience general riders who were there to participate in the events and to, you know, meet up with each other and to walk around and see the booze and so much more you know, rider friendly and so on. So I'm excited to get out there. it's been a long time. [00:05:23] Craig: it's also really interesting to me to see the merging of all the different cycling cultures, because you've got a big downhill contingent and dual slalom contingent with their slam seats and 10 inch travel bikes and full face helmets. And then you've got like the Legion criterium squad rolling around doing the CRA you know, the circuit. [00:05:44] Randall: Yeah. and I, I'm not sure. I would imagine the, the UCI cross-country race is still going on there. That was the only time I ever lied up at a, at a UCI level race, which was a cool experience. So you get to see some of the international level pros. [00:05:58] Craig: Yep. Yeah. And it's it's right at the Laguna Saker Raceway. So it, some of the, I think a lot of the courses finish on the car racing, motorcycle racing track, which is kind of a cool. [00:06:09] Randall: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [00:06:10] Craig: Yeah. And this year they've added this is the kickoff of the lifetime grand Prix, which is a six or eight race series with a $250,000 prize. So I know a lot of professional athletes are sort of jazzed and keying in on this, and it's a, don't need to get into the series and I'll get someone from lifetime on to talk about it. If you haven't heard about it already. But what's interesting to me is they're doing mountain bike racing and gravel racing as part of the same series. So it's really, I, in my mind, ideally pushing athletes to have capabilities in both domains. [00:06:45] Randall: I mean, there does seem to be a very natural kind of merging of these two disciplines in that gravel bikes have gotten evermore capable. And cross-country bikes have actually gotten radically more capable to we've transitioned to down country. Cross country courses have gotten more technical. And so, you know, everything is kind of shifting a little bit. I certainly love the, the Mo the underbite mountain bike experience on the gravel bike. [00:07:07] Craig: they haven't made this rule, but I would kind of love it if they force the athletes to race one bike. So pick your poison, gravel bike on the CrossCountry courses, cross country bike on the gravel courses. You got to decide at the beginning of the season. [00:07:22] Randall: I mean, honestly, I remember I've done seawater twice and I remember one year they had the long course and on the long course, it was only one section that I recall. Even really requiring suspension. And so if I had had a gravel bike at the time, I probably would have crushed it. Everyone was riding flat bar, you know, suspended mountain bikes. And there was this one kind of breaking bump challengers section that I recall. And then the other year they had it such that it went through Laguna Saika like five or six times. They were trying to make it very spectator friendly. And in that case even more so, cause there's just, you know, you're spending so much time on the road that whatever time you lose on that, Slightly Chandra resection. You're more than making up for. [00:08:04] Craig: Yeah, that might've been my jam as well. Cause my Achilles heel was always climbing. I could never climb with the best of them. I'm a decent descender. So yeah, the gravel bike probably would have helped me stay closer to the front of those races. [00:08:16] Randall: so, and you're going to be doing the, the NV sponsored gravel ride on Saturday, right? [00:08:21] Craig: Yeah on Saturday. Yeah. So there's a couple for anybody in attendance. There's a few gravel like casual gravel rides, and there's also a gravel event on Sunday. So definitely bring your bike and enjoy some of that gravel. [00:08:36] Randall: So let's talk about the event that we're getting together. [00:08:39] Craig: Yeah. So we're excited. Yeah. We're going to get together the ridership community and the gravel ride podcast community and the thesis by community, along with our friends over at scratch. So scratch has got a booth and we'll get we'll. We're meeting up over there at 3:00 PM on Saturday, April 9th. [00:08:57] Randall: We'll probably be hanging out there for awhile. So if you can't get there right at three definitely stop by later the day, but we'll have some, some beverages, some music we'll have some special guests, a few athletes. The famed rice cake maker Allen Lim he was on the podcast before, [00:09:11] Craig: That's right. Dr. Alan Lamb, one of his threads of fame is rice cake cooker. [00:09:16] Randall: I think he also has been involved in training some, some elite athletes and he might've started scratch as well, but definitely rice cake makers probably is his biggest claim to fame there. And then we'll have a raffle and an exciting product line. Which I'll just leave it at that. At this point. Anyone who's in the ridership will probably know what I'm talking about here. Cause I've dropped a few hints there. But it'll be really excited to get the, do the first pre-launch reveal of this new line that we've been working on for some time. [00:09:42] Craig: Yeah, I'm excited for you to talk about that publicly as someone who's sort of been in the background, just hearing whispers of what you're doing, and then starting to hear more specifics from you directly. It's super exciting. And like, I appreciate how much you put into the space and how. I thought you put into these products that you bring to the world. [00:10:01] Randall: Thanks bud. Yeah. and I definitely feel grateful to have kind of the one, like the supportive a community. They provided an immense amount of very useful feedback in, in the development and validation process. And then also just really great team and business partners. And so on that we've been co-developing this with so more on this in future episodes. We'll do a one-on-one episode where we nerd out about how things are developed. But Yeah. come visit us at three o'clock on Saturday at the scratch labs with [00:10:29] Craig: Super excited to run into any listeners and ridership members out there really like it's I feel like it's been a long time coming for us to do a little get together and hopefully if trends continue, we can start doing some of the ridership group rides around the world. [00:10:44] Randall: Exactly. Yeah I'll be starting some in the new England area and I'm looking forward to flying out again to the bay area, to do a big event with you. Maybe sometime. [00:10:53] Craig: Yeah, that [00:10:53] Randall: Right around Mount mountain, where we used to ride together so much. [00:10:56] Craig: A hundred percent. So the last episode in the dirt, we were talking very specifically about a new custom bike project that I've been working on for the listener. Just to bring you up to speed. I got to fit in January and it's just started to highlight some of the things. Some of the challenges I've been having with my boss. In riding the bike, and this is not something new I've I sort of experienced this early on in my cycling career. And at one point I had a custom Brent Steelman road bike made for me. He's a pretty storied Northern California builder, probably best known for his cyclocross work. But anyway, I had the custom bike experience, but it was, it was kind of. At that time, the one thing that nagged me and I realize now that this is sort of not the right way to even be thinking about this particular problem, but every road bike I ever got in front of what's a 56, 56. So 56 CT of 56, top two. And the one thing that felt to me like it didn't fit well. Was that 56 top tube. So I said, Do whatever you want. I just want a 55 centimeter talked to, and it did solve the problem to a degree, but it wasn't really the solution to the problem, but it did feel amazing to get on that bike for the first time. [00:12:12] Randall: When you also kind of hearkening back to the days when, when we talked about, you know, seat tubes and top tubes as a primary you know, driver of, of frame fit, because they were always coming in at roughly the same angles versus nowadays they're coming in at all different sorts of angles with compact geos and so on. So, but the gist of like your bike was too long, you're, you're a pretty leggy guy. [00:12:34] Craig: So that's, that's really interesting. You say that. So was it not, not the fact that I'm a lucky guy and thanks for noticing that, but more about the sort of, are you saying the story of that geometry back in that era or where the tubes were coming in there just wasn't a lot of variability. So the concepts of stack and reach weren't necessarily in bike design for an Acular. [00:12:56] Randall: Correct. Yeah. Yeah. So you'd generally the top tube would be, you know, relatively. And then, you know, at some point you started seeing more compact geos where that top tube is sloped and that had various various benefits in terms of stand over height and you know, potentially, you know, frame stiffness and so on. But it also meant that, you know, your seat tube and your top tube were not really particularly good proxies for how the bike would fit. And so we need a new proxy and that's where stacking reach came into play. [00:13:22] Craig: Okay. Yeah. And I mean, you can imagine like, obviously like with mountain bikes, having super slipping top tubes and all kinds of things like that, but stacking reach, like you had to come up with some sort of measurement that people could hang their hat on. [00:13:35] Randall: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So with the bike that, where we've designed for you now, I mean, you have, remind me you're just 5, 9, 5, 10. [00:13:44] Craig: Yeah. Just five, nine and a half. [00:13:46] Randall: Five nine and a half, and I'm five 11 and you and I run the same satellite and I run a pretty high and forward satellite too. And so you were on the medium our, our medium, I ride our, our large OB one. And one of the things that you, that, you know, I always noticed with you is you always had your, your stem. As high as possible and flipped upward and so on. And so this new build is going to really address, you know, first and foremost is stack issues. You've won a higher bar for some time. [00:14:13] Craig: Yeah, exactly. I mean, that, that was the most sort of visceral. The thing I had after this fit. And it's something that was very, it was known to me and my body. Like I've, I've lost flexibility. I never had a ton of flexibility. And the fitter said, well, you've, you know, the position of your saddle height versus your bar height is that of a pro tour road cyclist. And I had this like, The eight millimeter drop or something, and he's like, we really want to get you more around four. So it was, it was interesting. And I encourage people to go back to episode 28, if you're interested. And I don't purport to believe that you care about my personal fit, but I'm trying to eat this out with Randall and both these two episodes, just to give the listener something to think about as they go forward in their cycling career, because there's, there's tons of things you can do around your existing bike to modify them. I came to some limitations because I'd already configured my thesis. I'd already cut the steer to buy the fork. I couldn't bring the bars up any further unless I had an obnoxious, jacked up stem. So I came to the conclusion. Hey, given this opportunity, why don't we, why don't I look at fabricating a bike specific to my needs? So we had episode 28, which is the last in the dirt episode, and we talked a little bit about bike geo calculator, and it was pretty easy. Like it's a great tool. And I saw lines where the new frame would be an and I looked at that, that stack height and the higher head tube, and I was like, great, this is going to fit. But then as we worked with the building, And got into CAD. There was all these things that have just taken a lot of time to muddle through. And part of it is fabricating with metal versus carbon. Part of it is like things that, all things aren't equal. You really have to think about what, what is your north star in the fit and work around that versus what is any particular tube length or dimension? [00:16:12] Randall: And then you have parts availability, right? So you want to achieve something, but the, you can't find a part that allows you to achieve it, even though it exists, it doesn't exist in the timeframe that you need it. [00:16:22] Craig: Yeah, yeah. A hundred percent. So I mean, a couple of the areas we've been keying in on, I mentioned, I think in the last episode, like I had this desire to be able to accommodate as big attire as possible. But then when, when you talk about the practicality of welding, the rear end, all of a sudden, a bunch of things come into play because you can have a really long stay to accommodate that. But I didn't really want a really long stay. I've been pretty darn comfortable on my last two bikes with a 420 20 millimeter seat stay. And like the idea of going out to 4 45 or something like that, just didn't sit well with me. [00:17:01] Randall: Yeah. For 20 chains day and yeah, and it just makes it so that the, the front end doesn't want to come up as much. It, you know, it slows the handling. It's a longer wheel base. But you know, it's appropriate to go. It can be appropriate to go longer for more of a dirt focus machine versus a, a, a one bike that is also being asked to be a spirited road bike. That's kind of the direction that we went with this thing. [00:17:23] Craig: Yeah, I think that's a great point. Like there comes a decision point in any gravel cyclist's life when you're purchasing a new book. To just think about like, where do you fall on that spectrum? And when I look at the writing, when I look at what I was conceiving of with my thesis, it's like, I want something that's Zippy on the road and super capable off-road, but can kind of slot that ground between. But the reality is, you know, my writing is 95% off road. [00:17:52] Randall: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you already have a thesis that you're you've. So this isn't adding to your stable. [00:17:59] Craig: Exactly the thesis isn't going anywhere. So while this bike may, the new bike may rarely get road tires on it. The thesis will have both road. And I still think that thesis is an amazing, like race, bike, and it's been so good for me. It's so capable. I'm excited to have, I mean, it's just an absolute luxury to be able to have two bikes and like in the garage, [00:18:19] Randall: Yeah. but the, the added capability of this new machine is, is definitely going to be you know, meaningful like that extra tire clearance. So maybe we start there. So this tire clearance for like full tire clearance. So at least six millimeters all around for 60, 50 by two points. Front and rear, and you could probably squeeze something a little bit bigger upfront. We were fortunate in that we were able to find a fork that had the offset that we wanted specifically. We reached out to dry broom and over it open cycle and he had some U-turn forks kicking around. So that's a 50 mil offset and also a 3 95 axle, the crown. So just throwing numbers out there. What does this mean, Zack? So the CR offset is. Basically the distance from the axle from the, the line that goes through the steer tube. So it's going to be offset, you know, the axle is offset forward from that, and more offset is going to make the steering more responsive, but it's also going to increase your, your front center, the bottom bracket to the front axle to reduce risk of total. And that was, that was a concern, given that your you're wanting a shorter bike, that's fitting bigger 700 seat tires. [00:19:32] Craig: Yeah. Yeah. And it also, so that does wheelbase come into play with those dimensions as well? The overall wheel base. [00:19:38] Randall: Absolutely. Yeah. So, you know, the, the well, so with the offset, so we had the increased offset which. With the same head angle, as you increase offset, it's going to decrease trail and you know, the, the less trail you have, the snappier, the handling is that in turn allowed us to slack it out the head angle a little bit without radically slowing down the handling. So we went from a 72 degree head angle on your thesis, which is more of a, like an endurance road in a more kind of racy. Gravel front-end to a 71.2, which is still actually on the sportier side especially for this new class of gravel bikes that have seemingly gone towards, you know, even slacker even longer. And overall we got the, the front center up, you know, 18 millimeters. And so those. Taller 700 C tires that you might run are not going to be an, an issue for you in terms of tow overlap. You're also going with 2.5 millimeter shorter cranks, which helps as well. And that, that opened up another opportunity with the bottom bracket height. [00:20:42] Craig: Yeah. So before we get into BB height, you know, it was interesting. Really digging into the forks situation. Again, a lot of times you're bike. Well, all the time your bike comes with a fork and you don't really think about all these things, but once we were looking at, Hey, what fork partner can we bring into the mix? All of a sudden, a lot of variables came into play in terms of like the rake of the bike or the rank of the fork, like all of these different things. We started having to consider. And what was the effect on tau overlap? What was the effect on like what ties size tire are they designed on accommodating? So is it really like, I don't know, a sink of like a week to figure out a, what do we want? And B who actually manufacturers a fork that has those correct dementia. [00:21:29] Randall: And that we can get in a reasonable timeframe. [00:21:31] Craig: yeah. And then to, to further that, you know, everybody knows I'm suspension curious, I've got one bike in the garage right now with the front suspension fork on it, from my friends at RockShox. And I do imagine playing around with that, on this bike, but as we've spoken about previously, probably in an, in the dirt episode, and certainly when I dug into it with our friends at rock shock and Schramm, you know, if you put one of these suspension forks on the bike, it's going to bring the entire bike up because that 30 to 40 millimeters of travel has got to come from somewhere. So we had to think through, okay, if we have a 3 95 axle, the crown length of the rigid. What happens when that's four 20. [00:22:14] Randall: Yeah. Or 4 25 in the case of the RockShox fork. And then they have two different offsets. And what we came to is, well, You know, that 30 millimeter of difference means that your front end is going to come up. Right. And so to get the same exact position, you'd have to, you know, shift your saddle forward and you would have to, you know, adjust your stem height and so on. Or you could just make it so that you know, your, your position. In with the rigid fork is a little bit more aggressive. And then you're just, you know, allowing that, that slightly more you know, lean back position, slightly more upright position when you have the fork and in terms of the handling characteristics and so on, they actually change the position. Characteristics change in a way that is appropriate for a bike, with the added capability of a short travel suspension fork. And so it's, it's kind of, you know, not really a problem. And we ha we don't have a, an adjustable suspension, sorry. We don't have an adjustable geometry with that rigid fork, which is something I'm a big fan of, but we're getting adjustable geo with the swapping of the forks in your case. And we designed accordingly. [00:23:20] Craig: Yeah, it's super interesting. And going back to my conversation with Chris Mandel from SRE. He said the same thing. Like it was, it was really early on. They had literally just launched that FOC that fork. And I was able to spend some time on it before the launch. And he said, you know, I put this on a bike that wasn't specifically geo corrected, but I felt like it was okay. He's like I've spent months and months and months on this thing. And it just modified the geometry in a way that made sense for the new way that I was going to be riding the bike with a suspension for. [00:23:52] Randall: Yeah. And you know, you, it is useful if you're considering adding a suspension fork to your existing bike, to say, throw it, throw it in a tool like bike geo calc. So take your current geometry for your bike and put it into that, that tool and then set the settings so that the frame rotates when you change the axle, the crown and it'll tell you how the other parameters change and that can also inf not only inform you in terms of how. How the geo would change, but then also how the handling might change, which would help you decide, say what fork offset you want, because you know, RockShox offers two different offsets on those forks. [00:24:27] Craig: Yep. Yeah. And I'll have plenty of room on the steer tube, as well as the ability to flip my stem, to make adjustments accommodating that, to get the position. Right. And again, just make, make that, that Delta between 3 95 and 4 25. Feel the slider than it actually is. [00:24:48] Randall: Well, and it's, it's small enough where I do think that it's quite likely that you can get a slightly more aggressive, but still upright position with a rigid fork and then a slightly less aggressive, more upright position with the suspension fork that, you know, feels good in both of those different applications and feels appropriate for those. So I don't suspect that you're going it's. I don't think it's highly likely that you're going to need to move around much. And this actually gets into a conversation I'm looking forward to having with Lee McCormick at some point when we bring them on the podcast, which is, you know, talking about how, you know, we've talked about stack and reach and how these are really important measurements for determining fit. But it in turn in as a rider, like the big thing that matters is like the distance from your crank spindle to where your hand. And then you have an, you know, an anchor, so that high pot news between, you know, the, the stack figure to the grips and the reach figure to the grips, the high pot news is actually the, the, the pure number. And then the angle associated with that that high pot news. But that, that the length of that hypotony is actually shouldn't change from bike to bike. So whether it's a road bike or a mountain biker, so on, it should be consistent. And then it's the angle of that that. From bike to bike. And so if you think about, you know, the front end coming up well, that, that, that distance is staying the same. It's just the angle. That's increasing a little bit. [00:26:08] Craig: Right. Yep. Yeah. A hundred percent. You know, I love, I love most of my bikes are set up identically, so that basically, if I have my eyes closed, I know exactly where to fall and hit the bar. And it's so great that my like mountain bike and rode by can feel like that same position. [00:26:25] Randall: Yeah. Yeah. And even better, if you can get, say the same crank lengths on the bikes, the same, you know, pedal positioning, you know, stance in the, like on the bikes. [00:26:35] Craig: Yeah. I'm sure I'm a little bit a field from that, but this is the most bike geekery by the way that I've ever gone through. And it's, I mean, part of it's been driving me mad cause I really want to consummate this Ram and say the design's done. And I do think like if, if we're not at the finish line today, we're in the, we're in the final sprint, we've seen the and where we're coming to the finish line. Thank God. But a couple of other things I wanted to just quiz you on before we get to that point. So there was also the question about BB drop and it was another one that was like BB drop. I've never thought about that. Just allowed the frame of the production frame, builder to think about that. But now that we have to consider it and we could do whatever we wanted, let's talk about the movement on that. And what's the rationale and just, what's the takeaway for the listener at Ron BB drop. [00:27:28] Randall: Yeah. So Bebe, you can think of BB drop as you have the, the vertical distance between the height of the axles and the height of the bottom bracket. The center of the bottom bracket spindle. So the bottom bracket spindle is going to be below the two axles, right? And the greater the more below the two axles it is you know, ceteris paribus, the more stable the bike is going to be the more sitting into the bike. You're going to be. [00:27:54] Craig: to sort of visualize that if I'm, if I'm sort of the listener and I'm thinking about my bike, I've got my two axles on my wheels. And I'm thinking about how far below that axle line, the bottom bracket sits. [00:28:06] Randall: Exactly. Exactly. And So, with like old schools, cyclocross geometries, the bottom, the BB drop tended to be pretty high, you know, 65 versus a, you know, your thesis will be one to 73. And your OB one only accommodates up to a 700 by 40 tire, but it's really optimized around 700 by 30 and 60 50 by 47, which is like a 700 by 28. And so, you know, it's, there's, it's you get more stability, but there's greater risk of pedal strikes as you drop the baby. Now with your new bike, you know, we started with your, your thesis as like a starting point. Cause he really liked that geometry and we saw, well, you're going to be optimizing this bike for running with bigger and thus taller tires, a bigger radius from the center of the, the axle to the outside of the tire. And so you can you can drop the BB further and get that added stability without increasing risk of pedal strikes. And in fact we also went with a 2.5 millimeters shorter crank. And so you're actually going to have more clearance above the ground with those bigger tires, even though we dropped the BB down to improve stability. So you know, that that was kind of a very natural thing. And you see this trend in general on this newer slate of gravel bikes that are being optimized for higher volume 700 tires versus the more one bike type bikes like the thesis or the the Sabelo Sparrow. That are designed to be used effectively with road, you know, seven up to 700 by 30, which is, you know, a smaller radius [00:29:37] Craig: So, does it feel like you're sort of sitting more in the bike when you have more BB drop? [00:29:42] Randall: exactly. Versus on top of it. [00:29:44] Craig: Yeah. Yeah. And I, you were saying about cyclocross bikes having a 65 millimeter drop, presumably that's because they're doing a lot of things that require clearance, bunny hopping barriers and things like that. [00:29:57] Randall: Yeah. Concerns about, you know, pedal strikes, essentially as they're going over different obstacles though, even those bikes with the advent of gravel, you've seen those bottom brackets come down because there's no reason. I mean, I would argue there's no reason to have a dedicated cyclocross bike, unless you're, I mean, even if you're an elite cyclocross athlete, you can still ride on take this specialized crux as an example, that bike fits six 50 by 40. Right. So it's not constrained to the 700 by what, 33, that the UCI maxes out cyclocross tires for. So even that bike is, is, is really a gravel bike that, that people are, are using in that discipline. So it doesn't need a dedicated bike anymore. So those are the days of high bottom brackets is have thankfully gone away [00:30:45] Craig: Yeah, I think that makes sense. Yep. Certainly no reason for the average athlete to own a dedicated cyclocross bike. If you've got a gravel bike in the closet, [00:30:53] Randall: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. [00:30:55] Craig: the other thing we had to consider was just cable routing as well. And again, this is like, Maybe on a carbon bike, you make a couple ports and you know how to seal them pretty easily. And if you use them, you use them. If you don't, you don't. But when you're talking about a metal bike, all of a sudden you you've got okay, either I'm going to externally route everything, which I don't like the look of, and that seems old school, or I'm going to actually have to drill and sort of weld holes into various parts of the frame. And that was again, Another consideration. Well, what, what am I going to do? Am I going to commit to wireless? Which is like a very viable option these days? Or am I going to get, you know, have four different ports drilled into this frame? And I opted to go the wireless route. [00:31:44] Randall: Yeah. And I think that that was a smart way to go. The, you know, especially if you're already going the, you already kind of, unless you're going to do external cabling, internal cabling on say like a steel or titanium bike. Is going to be such that, like, you're going to have some sharp angles going through the frame, especially, you know, where that down tube is meeting the bottom bracket shell, you know, you don't have these big, these big tubes and these big open spaces, like you can mold into a carbon frame. And so there's going to be sharp angles. There's going to be sharp surfaces that need to be machined. It's just harder to do. It's really hard to do good, clean mechanical routing internally through a metal frame, unless it's say something like a specialized, smart weld aluminum frame where they're hydro-forming those, those tubes to get a more carbon shape. [00:32:35] Craig: Yep. Yeah. Yeah. And when you consider adding in, which was a necessity for me, a dropper post yet another whole, yet more routing. So yeah, I'm committing to going full wireless, including the dropper. On this bike. So I'll, I'll just have the rear brake cable routed through the frame and that's it. [00:32:54] Randall: Yeah. I think too, that's going to, I mean, given that this is your adventure bike it's just that much less to deal with as well when you're taking the bike apart to throw in your case to bring on a plane. So I think that wireless can make sense. Just bring an extra battery. [00:33:09] Craig: Yeah, a hundred percent. My my contact at SRAM, I went riding with him on Tam gosh, probably four or five months ago at this point. And his battery ran out, but he keeps a spare in his seat bag. [00:33:23] Randall: Yeah. And if you're going with a one by set up too, like you have those two coin cells, which are very lightweight and the leavers. So if one of them dies, he still got the other one. You could swap it over. [00:33:32] Craig: Yeah. Yeah. The cool thing about their RockShox C posts is that you can steal the battery pack from there and use it in your derailer if you need to, because they're all, they're all changeable not to, not to have [00:33:44] Randall: they have to make, well, then you have to make the difficult decision of like, do I care about gearing or the dropper post more? I guess it depends on the terrain. There are some cases where I would, I would sacrifice the derail, your battery to keep the dropper post going. [00:33:57] Craig: Yeah. who knows if I was at the top of Tam, you know, if I was riding up, switch the battery to have gears on the way up and then switch it to the dropper on the way to. [00:34:06] Randall: Yeah. [00:34:09] Craig: I love it. You just made me think about, I literally just packed my thesis in my post carry bag for an air flight tomorrow. And there's always a little bit of Jenga with the cables to kind of move everything around and get it in their bag. So well-designed and fortunately with my these medium thesis, I can just slam the seat. I don't even have to take the seed out and get it all in that bag. Hopefully continue to allude all airline fee. [00:34:36] Randall: Excellent. I'm [00:34:38] Craig: you for walking me. Yeah, no, I think we've covered a good deal about the frame between this episode and the last episode. And again, I hope this conversation gives you a little bit of inside baseball about how frames are designed. If. Looking to get accustomed frame done. It's important to have a builder who's willing to work with you. And in my case, just being someone who's just not in the weeds on all these minute dimensions and angles, just someone who's patient and will walk you through what needs to be done. I'm lucky to have both the builder and Randall to help me out. [00:35:13] Randall: Yeah, it's it definitely you know, the value of working with a good bow builder in, in significant part comes on the front end and really trying to dial exactly what you want and, And you know, having that output down the other end. So. [00:35:28] Craig: as I, as I think about your journey with thesis and the idea of designing, was it five frame sizes? [00:35:35] Randall: Well, so in our case, we went with we went with an open, we went with an open mold frame and then made modifications from there. So we use the existing tooling. So we were fortunate to be able to find a frame with, you know, the vast majority of the features we wanted and the exact geometry we wanted. And then we added the features and reinforcements from there. So with the next gen frame beginning development of this is this is a ways out that'll be a full ground up exercise. [00:36:03] Craig: Yeah. it's just, I imagine it's so challenging to sort of figure out the sizes. Obviously you're matching what the market trends are in terms of how the bikes are performing and what they're intended for, but just like the basics around stack and reach to try to find those sweet spots, to make sure with the limited amount of customability customizability, I E you know, you're stem lab. The your stack above the head tube making that fit as many people as possible. It's just seems to be a challenge. [00:36:35] Randall: Yeah, And it's, it's even more so with a material like carbon where you're, you know, essentially you're, you're creating these molds that are quite expensive. And then that's set in stone. If you want to evolve your metal, a tube to tube constructed frames, geometry over time. You know that that's it. You just change the jig and you change the mitering specifications and you're good to go. Carbon it's a whole new tool, so you better get it right out the gate. [00:37:01] Craig: so true. Well, thanks for all the time, my friend, this coming weekend, hopefully I know I'll be seeing you and hopefully we'll be seeing a bunch of listeners over there at at [00:37:11] Randall: sea Otter three o'clock on Saturday at the scratch labs booth. [00:37:15] Craig: Yeah, we'll see you there. [00:37:17] Randall: All right. Hope to see some folks there. [00:37:19] Craig Dalton: That's going to do it for this week's edition of in the dirt, from the gravel ride podcast. Thank you for spending a little bit of your week with us. If you're going to be at CR definitely come find us at the scratch labs booth at 3:00 PM on Saturday. Huge. Thanks to thera body for sponsoring this episode, please visit thera body.com/the gravel ride for that special offer around the recovery air.Jet boots. If you have any feedback for Randall or myself, feel free to visit us at the ridership. That's www.theridership.com. And if you're interested in supporting the podcast, please head over to buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride. Until next time here's to finding some dirt onto your wheels

The APEX: Trailer

colorado colorado springs apex mtb rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2022 0:47

Welcome to The APEX, the official podcast for the 4-day MTB challenge. Join us every other Tuesday as we meet riders and hear their stories and experiences at The Pikes Peak APEX presented by RockShox in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I'm your host, John Croom, and I'll introduce you to a new rider each episode and maybe even offer up an inside tip on courses or how to prepare for your ride. https://www.pikespeakapex.com/

RockShox's New Flight Attendant Electronic Suspension

buyers electronic suspension bikes big ideas flight attendants rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2022 41:56

RockShox announced their new Flight Attendant electronically-controlled suspension system a few months ago, so we brought Chris Mandell back on Bikes & Big Ideas to tell us all about what the system is and how it works; who it will benefit the most; what the tradeoffs are; and Chris wraps it all up with a really important Big Idea.TOPICS & TIMES:What is Flight Attendant? (1:58)How does Flight Attendant work? (4:40)What forks, shocks, & bikes is it available on? (23:35)Why no aftermarket sales? (25:09)What are the tradeoffs? (32:49)Who's the target customer? (37:43)Chris' Big Idea (39:02)RELATED LINKS:Introducing: Blister LabsGetting Here: Gunnison & Crested ButteThis Week's Gear GiveawayGear Giveaway / Newsletter SignupBecome a Blister Member / Get our new Buyer's GuideRegister for the 2022 Blister SummitBlister Mountain Bike Buyer's Guide See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A Bike Designed By The Racer, Top Products Of 2021, Fork Offset & Trailside Dumps... Episode 90

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2022 69:18

The first MTB Podcast episode of the year is here! We first discuss how we will be supporting our friend Neko Mulally with his new World Cup racing program, followed by a quick recap of our Top Products of 2021 video. We then get into an impressive array of listener questions ranging from fork offset to the differences in varying RockShox fork models, why Jared chopped his wig, our favorite MTB tools and more! Tune in! 0:00 Intro 1:25 Neko Mulally & His DH Bike Project 14:33 Our Recent Rides & Jeff's Wild Adventure 25:14 Top Products of 2021 Recap 30:47 Listener Questions Our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCxZoC1sIG-vVtLsJDSbeYyw Best MTB Products of 2021 Video: https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/blogs/worldwide-cyclery-blog/best-of-2021-mtb-parts-accessories-video More about Neko Mulally and his project: worldwidecyclery.com/neko Submit any and all questions to podcast@worldwidecyclery.com

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In the Dirt 27 - Goodbye 2021!

Pokal oder Spital - der Mountainbike-Podcast von MTB-News.de

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 29, 2021 42:01

Co-hosts, Randall and Craig put a bow tie on 2021 with a look back at a few of their favorite bikes and gravel riding experiences. Episode Sponsor: Competitive Cyclist (Promo Code: TheGravelRide) Support the podcast Join The Ridership Episode transcription, please excuse the typos: In the Dirt 27 [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello and welcome to in the dirt from the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host Craig Dalton. I'm going to be joined shortly by my cohost Randall Jacobs. This is going to be our final in the dirt episode for the year. And we take a look back. At 2021 and a look forward to 2022. Before we jump in, I needed to thank this week. Sponsor a competitive cyclist. [00:00:23] Competitive cyclist is the online retailer of road. Gravel and mountain bikes, components, apparel, and accessories. [00:00:30] Perhaps you've got a holiday gift card, burning a hole in your pocket at this point. Competitive cyclist features cycling standout brands like pock Castelli, Pearl Izumi and five 10, and an unrivaled in-house bike assembly operation. They bring personal attention of your local bike shop with the selection and convenience only possible by shopping online. [00:00:52] I can't talk about competitive cyclists without talking about the gearheads they're equal part customer service and cycling fanatic. Gear heads or former pro athletes. Olympians and seasoned cyclists with years of experience, all available by phone, email, or chat for product recommendations. And hard won advice. [00:01:12] I know, after my conversation with my personal gearhead, Maggie, I came away with a few ideas on how to fill my personal Christmas basket. Those hard to think of items that I knew I couldn't get family or friends to purchase for me, but I needed in the garage. As I mentioned before, I got a full setup of SRAM replacement, brake pads that I couldn't find elsewhere. [00:01:35] I found them at competitive cyclist. And now I'm ready for all those dissents here in mill valley. Competitive cyclist has a hundred percent. Return guarantee. So anything you can get, if it doesn't look like what you needed, feel free to send it back to them. And they'll take care of you. I know I appreciate that. As I've often ended up purchasing the wrong item for my bike, something that didn't fit or was too hard to figure out how to install. [00:02:01] And being able to send it back is a great benefit. [00:02:05] So go now to competitive cyclist.com/the gravel ride and enter promo code the gravel ride to get 15% off your first full priced order. Plus free shipping on orders of $50 or more some exclusions apply. [00:02:20] Go right now and grab that 15% off and free shipping@competitivecyclists.com slash the gravel ride. And remember once again, that promo code is the gravel ride. [00:02:31] The sponsors of this broadcast are very much appreciated. So be sure to go check them out. Would that business out of the way let's dive right in to my episode of in the dirt with randall jacobs Hey Randall, how you doing? [00:02:43] Randall Jacobs: I am well, Craig happy holidays [00:02:46] Craig Dalton: Yeah, same to you. It's good to see you. It's hard to believe. This is our last episode of the [00:02:51] Randall Jacobs: last episode of the year, indeed. So we have a lot of fun topics for today. How would you like to dive in? [00:02:57] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think first off, I'd just like to put out a little public apology. I feel like we've had some audio issues on the podcast recently. Both on the editing side and more recently just voice levels. So I just want to shout out one, I acknowledge that those things have happened. and two, just to note of appreciation to the listeners who reached out with a lot of kindness to just say, Hey, Do you need any help? [00:03:24] Do you have any, can I offer any suggestions? Cause it's, it's well received and noted. And in fact, we're trying a different platform today, which comes super well-regarded. I know it's used by NPR and a bunch of other broadcast podcasts. Um, so hopefully the audio turns out great. And it's definitely a goal of mine in 2022 to just make sure that the audio levels don't distract from the conversation. [00:03:47] Obviously to the listener. I never do any fancy editing. I don't do a lot of stuff around that, given our, my personal capabilities, but we do want the conversation to be enjoyable, to listen to. And just for you to be able to get to know the guests or hear the conversation without anything getting in the way [00:04:06] Randall Jacobs: Yeah, and I certainly want to own my part in being a little bit overzealous with the editing capabilities of the last software platform we were using. We were using, there's a certain perfectionist tendency that I've been working through in public as a consequence of being a, you know, a part of this podcast. [00:04:24] Uh, so the other feedback that we received and the ridership was super helpful and. I will be, well, this platform doesn't allow so much, but then also just recognizing that it doesn't have to be perfect to be really good. [00:04:36] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think, I think, you know, part of the feedback and I had gotten this early on and it was intentional on my part to just people speak the way they speak. Right. And it's not up to me or us to edit out too much of the conversation, obviously. dog barking or fire alarm. I want to address that. But if someone says like, or as are needs of a couple of minutes or repeats a word, I don't want to feel overly compelled to edit that out because at the end of the day, the gravel ride podcast is just talking about connecting with humans and talking about the subject to gravel cycling. [00:05:10] So I think there's just some good notes for, us to take for 2020. [00:05:15] Randall Jacobs: Yeah, well, you know, um, like, uh, I guess that's okay. Sounds good to me. [00:05:22] Craig Dalton: um, maybe. [00:05:25] Randall Jacobs: Yeah, [00:05:27] Craig Dalton: But otherwise, you [00:05:27] Randall Jacobs: keep that in there. [00:05:28] Craig Dalton: it's been a fun year. I mean, I'm, I'm personally proud that we've published episodes every single week of the year. It was a lot of effort to get to that point. I think certainly a lot of listeners have acknowledged that And I, I would be remiss in not thanking those who have become members of buy me a coffee.com or supported the podcast in any other ways, because it, it has taken a lot of effort to achieve this goal. [00:05:54] A couple of years back, I was just doing two episodes a month. So this seems like a pretty big momentous year that we should celebrate [00:06:02] Randall Jacobs: yeah. And just looking every so often, I'll go and buy me a coffee and read the comments. Uh, just when I need to pick me up and just the, the, you know, the appreciation there really makes the effort worth it. So thank you for that as well. [00:06:13] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I mean, obviously like this isn't a money-making venture, so it's really the kind of kudos and kindness that, uh, you know, really propelled me forward. [00:06:22] Randall Jacobs: You're not the Joe Rogan of the gravel cycling world. [00:06:26] Craig Dalton: Yeah. You know, I don't think Spotify is going to be coming, knocking on the door to purchase the gravel ride, but, uh, I'm proud of the community we have and what we do every week. [00:06:34] Randall Jacobs: Yeah, absolutely. [00:06:36] Craig Dalton: Yeah. A couple of ones I just wanted, you know, we've had so many great episodes this year and fun ones for me. Like this has always been a journey of discovery and just these conversations I'm following my personal interests and, And hope. [00:06:50] That aligns with what the listeners are looking for. But a couple of my favorites I really did enjoy having Patrick carry on doing gravel bike skills, 1 0 1, I think that was a super useful episode. And he did a great job. Just sort of breaking down some fundamentals that newer riders may not be aware of or need to work on. [00:07:10] So that was a lot of fun. And then a couple product ones really enjoyed John Freeman from Rafa talking about shooting. Just getting into kind of the ins and outs of the construction of the shoe was an area that as, as you know, a hardware guy hadn't really explored that much. So it was pretty fascinating. [00:07:26] And then have to give a shout out to my buddy Whitman for cab helmets, just doing 3d printed helmets, I think is really interesting. And I do think is one of those trends that it's going to continue to be present in cycling gear, going for. [00:07:42] Randall Jacobs: And I particularly like the, kind of the more foundational episodes that we've done. Uh, another example, being the conversation I also had with Patrick on bike fit 1 0 1. Uh, it's great to be able to point people to a resource that was very carefully structured. But, uh, it's also digestible, uh, to help people understand an important topic that affects how we ride. [00:08:05] Craig Dalton: Yeah, a hundred percent. I wanna, I wanna, um, kind of partition those off because I do think over the course of the last three years, there's been a handful of just critical episodes that I think if you're only going to listen to five episodes of the gravel ride podcast, you should be hitting bike fit 1 0 1. [00:08:22] You should revisit our gravel bike 1 0 1 episodes. If you're thinking about purchasing a bike, the gravel bike skills episode, and there'll be a few more that I'll kind of package in there and I'll find a way in 20, 22 to point people to that to say, Hey, if you're looking to have a starting point, grab these episodes first and then. [00:08:40] get into the flow and go through the, you know, over a hundred episodes in the backcountry. [00:08:46] Randall Jacobs: Yeah. And you know, that brings us into kind of the next phase and being part of this experience, which is community. Um, another episode I want to call out is the one I recently did with Ryan. Uh, Russ Roca over at pathless pedals. Uh, his content is very much about, uh, you know, the non-competitive aspects of cycling and makes the sport much more accessible. [00:09:09] Uh, and that's a value that you and I hold very dear and is a big value of the ridership. And, uh, you know, was the primary motivation for getting the ridership off the ground, you know, uh, uh, community of riders helping. [00:09:22] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think that's been a theme that we've brought up in the end of dirt episodes And constantly encouraging and reminding people to join the ridership. it's something that, you know, we've depended a little bit of energy, but not as much as we would want, would have wanted to in 2021. [00:09:38] I think some of our desires were hamstrung by the ongoing pan down. The idea of getting people together and using the ridership to facilitate, you know, regional ride events and things like that. But the kernel is there and the interactions of, you know, continue to be positive and improve. [00:09:56] Randall Jacobs: Yeah. And it's at a point where. It has a certain degree of validation that allows us to access resources that might not be, uh, accessible early on in terms of partnerships with technology partners or adding new functionality and things like this. And these are conversations that we have been deeply involved in behind the scenes and hope to start seeing, uh, implementation in 2022. [00:10:19] It'll be a significant focus for me, uh, now that, uh, you know, I'm in a very good shape, uh, with, with my primary business. [00:10:27] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think community is such an interesting topic and it's so, you know, I've always, in retrospect, always looked back at communities I've joined and discovered how much more value you get when you put in. And I think that's sort of the core of the ridership, right? The expectation it's not. Uh, Randall and correct conversation by any means. [00:10:47] In fact, there's weeks at a time that I'm just lurking and watching conversations happen. And, you know, I just encourage people to get in there. And whether it's the ridership or other communities in your life, it's just important to put yourself out there. Because you get so much more in return when you find out that, I mean, maybe it's selfish and you get a question answered that you need answered. [00:11:09] But if you can answer a question for someone else or point them in the right direction, I don't know about you, but I just get such extreme satisfaction out of that. That are really just fills me up. [00:11:19] Randall Jacobs: Yeah, it think if we're doing this right. Um, increasingly people don't know who we are when they sign up and it's, it's, it's its own thing and the ownership and the governance is decentralized and so on, and that's kind of the vision going forward, but we can learn about that a little bit later. [00:11:36] Craig Dalton: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think you sign up and you bring your friends in and it becomes, it becomes something that you can use to connect with your local riders, your friends that you ride with every week. But then, you know, the goal has always been to just have this, this forum where people can communicate. [00:11:52] Any question they have. So obviously bike related questions, tire related questions. These can all happen at a super high level, but these regional questions and those group rides you're arranging every month will happen at an interpersonal. [00:12:05] Randall Jacobs: Yeah, who do I ride with? Also, another thing that's been really heartening to see is, uh, we have a channel in there that's just for, you know, buy, sell, gift, seek whatever. Um, and yeah, people just putting stuff up saying, I have these things that I'm not using. If anyone wants them come pick them up or pay for shipping. [00:12:22] And that like really just speaks to the ethos. Um, and, and is, is, is something that, um, I wouldn't say I'm proud of. It's something I feel grateful to be a part of and that's happening. [00:12:33] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:12:33] a hundred percent, a hundred percent. And it's only gonna get better as it grows. I think this community has self-selected towards kindness and generosity, which is really, really great to see and something that I know it's important for both of us, that, that those values continue to get fostered going forward. [00:12:51] Randall Jacobs: Hmm. Yes, yes. Yes. [00:12:53] So bikes of the. [00:12:56] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I mean, seeing that we're at the end of the year, I just thought it, it would be cool to kind of, um, talk about bikes that caught our eye, just the bike each to kind of set the stage for maybe what we hope to see the. [00:13:09] industry doing next year. [00:13:11] Randall Jacobs: Yeah, and I know we have very different perspectives on this, so why don't you go ahead with yours for. [00:13:16] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I mean, I still have my vision for what the perfect bike is and I don't think anything out there necessarily matches that just yet. I think there are a lot of trends. By companies are capitalizing on and they may grab one trend, I think is on point, but not another. So I'm still holding my breath for. [00:13:34] that. [00:13:35] Perfect Nash. Next gen model that'll come out. But one that I did want to highlight is the BMC ERs, L T um, I think it's unrestricted, something or other I'm kind of forgetting what the acronym was, but it was a [00:13:51] Randall Jacobs: something that looks about right. [00:13:52] Craig Dalton: yeah, exactly. I had the S right. So it's, uh, the BMC ERs has been around for actually a couple of years and, and, uh, Tom boss over at, uh, Marine county bike coalition has one, and he's always raved about it as did, um, a contact of mine over at SRAM and RockShox, and it's a bike that has built in some suppleness into the rear. [00:14:17] I have experience with BMCs on the mountain bike side, as I was riding a 29 or hard tail for quite some time, and all is found that did a really great job of matching suppleness with performance. So it was quite interesting when this year they came out with the LT model, the LT is actually adding a micro suspension fork on the front end. [00:14:41] It's from a company called high ride over in Europe. It's only 20 millimeters of track. But I think they've matched that delicately with the amount of travel on the rear end. The suspension is right in the steer column, so it's not telescoping. So my imagination suggests that it's a fairly rigid front end, and I know they do have a lockout on it as well, but more and more, and it could be a sign of my age. [00:15:05] I'm just appreciating. Anything or any bike that can add a little suppleness to the ride. As You know, from riding out here in Marin, I'm riding the rough stuff all the time. So as we've talked about on previous episodes, there's sort of a bunch of different ways, including your body that creates suspension parts. [00:15:27] You can add the frame and it's just been interesting to me to look at the. This manifestation of those ideas in the BMC ERs LT. Uh, and I think it would be a really great bike to ride around. One thing I don't like about it, which we rant about on the show all the time is it's got a proprietary seat, post shape. [00:15:47] They did have the force forethought of this DC D shaped seed posts to add a, a shim mechanism. So you can easily go to a standard 27 2, but if you're a bike manufacturer out there and listening to me, just give me around 27 to that's fine. I need to put a dropper post in it. I don't need a fancy arrow shape and my seat posts. [00:16:09] Thank you very much. [00:16:11] Randall Jacobs: Yeah. And the arrow shape doesn't really do anything though. D just, um, the D shaped seat post is not about arrow. It's generally about compliance. So you get a little bit more flex in the, after the post, but if you're running a 27 2 posts, that is, you know, with a decent carbon layup, that's designed for some compliance, you can achieve the same thing. [00:16:30] Uh, so it's kind of separate fluid. Um, but at least they had the forethought yeah. To, to do the, the adapter. Uh, so I don't have a huge problem with that being, being a, an avid, uh, advocate for round posts. [00:16:43] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I remember talking to you, gosh, you know, a year And a half, two years ago, just about your experience working for a bigger manufacturer. And there's so many constraints along the way that, um, get, get hoisted into the conversation. It's it's often not necessarily about is this the thing that ultimate thing that I can make. Is this thing hitting the right product life cycle, the component availability, blah, blah, blah, that that often kind of shaped the design. [00:17:12] Randall Jacobs: Yeah. And there's also, can we tell a story around this? And I've seen a number of examples. Um, one is a candy called certs. That was, there was a technology that I think rhymed with that, that ultimately was just a bolt on Alaska. Um, literally was compromising the structure of the bike and adding weight in order to give a cosmetic thing that told an untrue story about compliance. [00:17:38] Uh, so, you know, you see these things less and less, uh, fortunately, but there's still some of them D shape posts. I definitely include in there. [00:17:46] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. How about you? I know you struggle. Whenever I ask you to tell me about your favorite bikes out on the market, other than thesis, obviously, you know, what do you think, what was short of your bike of the year? [00:18:00] Randall Jacobs: Honestly, so my bike of the year. So, so my philosophy is I want a one bike. I don't want suspension. Um, that is compromising the road experience. Uh, I want a bicycle that can do all the things really well. And the bike, you know, I looked at the allied echo and I thought that there were some really cool things happening there. [00:18:20] It's got flipped chips, front and rear. You can get a true performance road geo with a 73 head angle on the larger sizes. Um, but the first off, I don't think it's necessary to have a flip chip in the rear go with four 20 mils. Jane stays that'll work fine for an endurance road G. And if I was to do a flip chip, but just do it in the fork and have it be one that uses two different rotor sizes. [00:18:43] So you get more braking and off-road in the more upright position and I'm a smaller one 60 rotor for on-road with a more aggressive position. Um, my bike of the year is actually a bike that's been around for a long time and is still in my opinion, um, though it's expensive, uh, the category leader and that's, that's the open up, uh, [00:19:03] Craig Dalton: And would you, would you call out the up or the, uh, or the, um, the one with the dual drops stay stays. [00:19:10] Randall Jacobs: Um, not the upper, because I think the upper is a great bike for people who want a dedicated dirt only. And who are okay with a, you know, a less spirited on-road experience, but the, the head angle is pretty slack. You don't have enough weight over the front axle with that amount of, you know, with the head angle. [00:19:27] That's that slack, um, it's not built around the, the road wheel size. Really? You, you run 700 by 35. [00:19:34] Uh, [00:19:35] the open [00:19:35] Craig Dalton: that's actually the wide, sorry, sorry to throw you off. That was The wide, that [00:19:39] Randall Jacobs: Oh, correct? Correct. Yeah. the [00:19:40] wide, right? Yeah. [00:19:41] Craig Dalton: lighter weight [00:19:42] Randall Jacobs: the lighter weight one. Yeah. Yeah. Lighter paints, maybe nominally lighter layup. [00:19:48] Um, I, yeah, I like that bike because of the geometry. [00:19:51] It's a proper endurance road, geometry generous tire clearance. I think it's 2.1 at least. Uh, I think the tire volume on wide rims run tubeless is the best way to do suspension if you want. Um, I have a design for like a, a handlebar with a little bit of suspension built into it. I like suspension stems, if you want even more. [00:20:11] And then you don't compromise the on-road experience and add all that weights and slop. Uh, so yeah, an external cable. That's easier to set up, easier to service, easier to adjust. If you need to ship your bike or pack it up for a flight, uh, it's going to be much less of a hassle. I find internal routing the way that it's done by most companies to be. [00:20:35] A very expensive weight, adding complexity, adding experience, ruining technology to make it look, um, look a certain way. And to be able to tell a story about saving half a watt or a watt of power, I find it quite silly, uh, the way it's done. So, yeah, that's my, that's my bike of the year, uh, is the open up. I do a few things differently and I will do a few things differently in a, in a future generation, but that's a great starting point. [00:21:01] It really. Uh, drug room and did it right initially. [00:21:05] Craig Dalton: Yeah. it's so funny. I mean, that was my, my second gravel bike. The one that I decided I was going to sell my road. It was going to go all in on gravel, sold the original Niner that I had, that just kind of wasn't fitting, fitting the bill for me and people ask me why I sold that. Like, you know, I loved it. I think it's great. [00:21:25] I think it ticks all those boxes that you, that you've described. You know, I, I didn't, and I've told this, I probably said this publicly and I've certainly said it privately. I didn't find, I found going to the thesis was very similar to writing. [00:21:39] Randall Jacobs: exactly. [00:21:40] Craig Dalton: You're not paying me to say this, but it's my personal opinion. [00:21:44] Randall Jacobs: Yep. [00:21:44] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:21:45] I mean, it sort of slightly different intention on the bike from a design perspective, not maybe as lightweight as the, the open was or is, but very comparable in kind of performance. And, and for me, what was critically important was the fit. I am concerned about some of the trends around geometry and two blunts that. [00:22:05] Becoming popularized in the gravel bike market right now. And I'm concerned. And I had the same concern when this happened on mountain bikes. That it's actually not favoring me like where we are today from a certainly too blunt that I'm talking about the trend towards going longer, top tube slacker, head tube, short stem, and longer top tubes just never, never worked for me. [00:22:29] I've sort of in. You know, on my thesis, on the open, I would tend to ride a little bit shorter stem. [00:22:34] than maybe was customary. Um, given my height, just cause of my torso and now not to get into this trend too much. Cause I'm sure we'll cover it in 2022, but I'm a little bit concerned about getting my fit right on some of these newer. [00:22:48] Randall Jacobs: Mm. Yeah. And where is this significant? There, there are benefits on the mountain side and really no downside, assuming you can fit to the bike properly because a mountain bike is generally. You know, the range of applications that you use a given mountain bike for is generally narrower than say, you know what I'm describing as a one bike where you'd have, you know, performance road experience all the way to a borderline cross country mountain bike experience, to a bike packing experience. [00:23:13] Um, I find that the, you know, the argument for going with a longer top tube, shorter stem is so you can fit bigger 700 C type. Um, I find it kind of silly because you could go higher volume six 50 B. You could still fit big enough, 700 C for certain applications and not compromise the on-road experience with a front end that doesn't have enough weight kids to leave it over, over the front axle for control and cornering and descending and so on. [00:23:40] I think it has as much to do with trying to differentiate. Gravel bikes enough from road bikes to justify people owning both. Uh, I think it has as much to do with that as it does to do with any sort of ostensible benefits, um, to a very, you know, increasingly narrow set of applications that such a bike is useful for. [00:24:01] Craig Dalton: yeah. I mean, you would think for me being like an entirely off-road rider for. [00:24:04] the most. This new trend would be helpful. And I am curious, try kind of these bikes. I've, I've got a couple in the garage of the haven't been a good fit. Um, I am looking to get one with a better fit just to sort of see if it, if it fits the bill for me, but I think you're right. [00:24:19] I think it is creating a greater amount of separation between the road and the gravel bikes. And to me, I don't necessarily strive for that since I don't have a road bike in the garage. Right. [00:24:31] Randall Jacobs: Difference without distinction. It's I see it as all down. Um, that, that that's obviously I have, I have a horse in this, in this race, but, uh, that's, that's my perspective in anything I do in the future will not use that geometry philosophy. [00:24:44] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Okay. Well, that's interesting to hear Rondo, you got an a on that, on that front. I was gifted for my wife, a bike fit this this year, and it was something that I obviously put on my Christmas list. Um, I'm increasingly concerned and, you know, should I go down the route of getting a custom bike or should I have a demo bike be offered to me in 2022? [00:25:06] I just sort of want to understand my personal parameters a little bit more and with a little bit more confidence. I know. And I appreciate you being a friend and ally on my journey. Trying to explore fit and understanding of frame geometries. Um, I'm much better equipped today at the end of 2021 than I was earlier in the year. [00:25:26] And I do think going through this fit exercise is just going to be another step forward in my understanding of, of my personal body and how it's changing over time with the. [00:25:36] Randall Jacobs: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Well, um, I refer you to the bike fit episode and, uh, you know, my phone number. [00:25:43] Craig Dalton: yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. So I've got it. I'll go through it locally and you know, I've listened to that episode again, just to get some more thoughts in my mind. And, uh, yeah, I know you're always there when I need to riff on bike stuff. [00:25:56] Randall Jacobs: So when we got coming up next, [00:25:58] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I mean, I think it'd be cool to just highlight maybe your favorite ride of the year. [00:26:03] Randall Jacobs: Sure. Uh, so this is a ride that my, my dear friend Marcus Gosling invited me on. It was a group of us, I think, uh, uh, three men, two women, uh, rode from top of skyline in the Santa Cruz mountains above San Mateo, south of San Francisco. Um, where I was actually living with Marcus for a few months during the pandemic, amongst the redwoods, uh, up on the Ridge there, it was a great place to be. [00:26:29] When it wasn't, you know, when, when everyone was staying in and we went through, let's see, we went down to the coast and to Aptos, and then up through 19 marks, uh, along summit coming back north, uh, was near Mount Nominum. And so on 130 kilometers, a lot of climbing, some fun stops along the way, really wonderful conversation, uh, with people that, uh, Uh, a couple of people I hadn't met before, and then one woman I had met, but not really, uh, connected with in that sort of way. [00:27:02] And when you have that many miles, you can really get into it. And, uh, that's one of my favorite things about the ride experience. The train was fantastic too, and very varied. Uh, but it's, it was the people that really made that. So that was my ride of the year. [00:27:14] It was called, it was called the business meeting by the way. [00:27:17] Cause, cause I think it was a weekday, I think I took the day off. So, uh, yeah, when you work in the industry that that can, that can qualify. [00:27:24] Craig Dalton: A hundred percent. Yeah, [00:27:25] I might have to coerce you into sharing that link with me, or maybe even putting it in our ride with GPS club for the ridership. Cause that sounds like a neat loop. [00:27:34] Randall Jacobs: sure. Yeah. Happy to. [00:27:35] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I have to say like, um, I guess it's a factor of me being limited for time, but I typically don't ever get in my car to drive and there's so much interesting stuff that I've seen in the ridership, um, in that neck of the woods and out in Pacifica that I really. [00:27:51] Get down there because it doesn't, you know, they don't have to get on an airplane to go do something interesting. [00:27:57] Randall Jacobs: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So how about yourself? What was your ride of the year? [00:28:00] Craig Dalton: Well, speaking of airplanes, it was the one solitary time I got on an airplane with my bike this year? [00:28:07] Do you remember in the June July timeframe when it felt like we were getting a hold of the pandemic, we were on top of things, boosters or, you know, shots were getting rolled out vaccination shots and it felt like things might be getting back to that. [00:28:21] Randall Jacobs: um, it felt like things were normal for a period. I always expected it to just be a low so, but yes, I do remember that time. [00:28:29] Craig Dalton: so I was leaning into that moment in time and our friends at envy composites out in Utah, we're putting. Uh, together an event called the , which was a ride combined with their builders, Roundup, which they bring, I forget how many, like 20 different frame builders out to Ogden, Utah, and kind of display their bicycles throughout Envy's facility. [00:28:54] So it was, I, it was too much to her exist, um, going on. [00:28:59] Randall Jacobs: um, with NABS not happening this year. [00:29:01] Craig Dalton: Yeah, exactly. Which was so fun when we went to NABS a few years ago, just to, I mean, to stand next to someone with their creation, their hard work is just something special. Like if you, as a listener, if you ever get a chance to go to a bike show, do it, like, it's just, I mean, for the eye candy alone, it's worth walking the Isles [00:29:20] Randall Jacobs: well I'm for reference north American hand-built bicycle show is what NABS is. And a lot of what you see from the big brands, a lot of ideas and concepts, uh, emerge from small builders, doing cool things in basements and garages, uh, which is one of the great aspects of those shows. [00:29:38] Craig Dalton: yeah, exactly. When you get a, a fabricator with a torch and some tubes, they can, they can just try different things. And it's really, what does help propel the industry for? [00:29:48] Randall Jacobs: Very much, so very [00:29:49] Craig Dalton: so. [00:29:49] I saw some great bikes out there. It's, you know, as far as the builder Roundup goes and I've published a bunch of episodes and, and, uh, and a summary episode that kind of has some quick hits from a number of the people I talked to, but that ride, since we're talking about favorite rides of the year, Every year, I tend to sign up for an event that probably pushes my personal fitness capabilities. [00:30:10] And I love to do that just to kind of keep me honest and keep me getting out there and finding the time to ride the bikes. And I definitely wasn't feeling prepared for a 92 mile ride and 8 8300 feet of climb. At some elevation above sea level already out there in Ogden, Utah. But I set out on the course, pretty small event, maybe 200 people, um, got to the first aid station and there was talk amongst some of the builders of flipping it around right there. [00:30:38] But when I got there, I learned that I was just going to be a straight out and back if I did that and I just couldn't resist it. If you haven't written in Utah, it's beautiful in the Wasatch mountains out there. Uh, so I kept going and like every great gravel event that I've ever participated in. You end up linking up with riders, um, out there on the course that you just share the pace with. [00:31:02] And I met a guy from contender cycles out in Utah, which was actually where I bought my open from originally. So that was cool. We chatted for many, many miles. Yeah. Very late in the day, I managed to connect with Dave from gravel stoke. And I can't remember whether he caught him. He caught me or I caught him, but we ended up together and we'd separate on the climbs. [00:31:23] And we both look at each other miserably tired at times, but we, we crusted the final climb and hit the aid station together And um, rode maybe the last. 20 miles or so together, we were staying in the same hotel room. So it was like, it was just like a great experience to have, to, you know, to connect with a friend and be able to ride. [00:31:45] And it just happened serendipitously because I don't think, you know, when you're signing up for a 90 mile ride or a hundred mile ride, it's foolish to think that you're going to ride with your friend the entire time. Like you just need to take care of your own needs. And that, for me, it's all about. I've got a ride, the climbs, my own pace. [00:32:03] I want to descend at my own pace. So it's really got to happen naturally. And when it does to me, man, it's just magic. [00:32:10] Randall Jacobs: Yeah. And Dave, uh, for anyone in Soquel, uh, gravel. Puts on some of the best rides I've been a part of as well, a really great routes, really good people. Um, you know, a lot of, a lot of social interaction and so on and just a really great ethos. Uh, so if you're in the SoCal area, check out the gravel stoke and by the way, this is, um, you know, gravel. [00:32:30] Those, a lot of those folks are in the ridership too. So if you want to connect with Dave or others, that's a great place to do it. [00:32:35] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So hopefully more of this for 2022, speaking of which, what are you, what are your hopes for 2022? I mean, I don't think we need to go into a laundry list, but what are a couple of things that are, you know, [00:32:49] Randall Jacobs: So with regards to what we do here. Uh, so I moved to new England and living outside of Boston with, uh, with family. And I want to build out this region. I, we hosted a couple of group rides, uh, before the, the season changed to ski season. Uh, and as. The spring approaches. I want to build out this region and I want to facilitate more in-person connection and an experience like this, what the ridership is about and have that be, um, you know, something that, uh, extends to other regions as well, where there's a critical mass where people can actually meet people in person and have real in the flesh experiences and maybe. [00:33:28] Craig Dalton: I'm really excited for you to do that. I know when I spent my sort of formative years as a mountain biker in the mid Atlantic, I always looked to new England and it was a place that I would go up and race every once in a while when I can make a trip. And it. At that time, there were so many great new England bike builders. [00:33:47] And I know like Boston has just an incredible cycling community and history behind it. And that whole region up through Vermont, like I'm super excited to hopefully get out there at some point this year and ride. [00:34:00] Randall Jacobs: You can have come, come by. You can have my apartment. [00:34:04] Craig Dalton: I can, I can see a couch behind you where I could be sleeping. Right. [00:34:07] Randall Jacobs: Now I'll set you up properly and I'll, I'll stay. I'll stay in a different part of the place. [00:34:14] Craig Dalton: Nice. Speaking of travel. I mean, for me, like I've been longing to ride my bike internationally. I've been fortunate that I've, I've raised my mountain bike overseas. I've also done some road touring over in France on a couple occasions and a little bit in Italy, but I really got my eye on riding gravel and specifically out in general. [00:34:35] I've been talking about a trip in March, uh, that I'm going to certainly extend to the ridership community to join me on. So if I can work out the details on that in January and obviously pandemic willing, um, I'd love to pull that off because there's just something about putting your bike on international territory that, that makes any riding fields. [00:34:57] Randall Jacobs: yeah, Jarana keeps coming up in my conversations with these bay area folks who are of a certain means and, um, certain level of obsession with writing. Uh, you know, I have friends who've, uh, we're looking to move there and things like that. Uh, so definitely on the agenda for me as well, keeping in the loop. [00:35:15] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:35:15] I feel like if it's a, if you're a cyclist, it's just one of those destinations in your life that you need to get to, to find out why the pros are living there. And I did do an episode with our friends at Trek, travel about their trip to Jarana, which is the one I'm kind of eyeing. And you, you, you hear about all the great road riding there, but then to talk to the team over there. [00:35:36] How much dirt there is available and how special it can be. I'm just super stoked and excited to explore that possibility. [00:35:44] Randall Jacobs: Very cool. Very [00:35:45] cool. Yeah. And it's I want to do, I think that speaks to a theme generally of more, more group rides with the community in, in a general sense, wherever [00:35:54] Craig Dalton: yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like you, I mean, in 2021, early in the year, I like, I definitely had high hopes. Getting our bay area, ridership community together more and getting some routine and having it, frankly not involve me as much. Like I'm happy to facilitate rides, but I also want others to feel compelled, to raise their hand and say, Hey, just, you know, meet me in Fairfax, California. [00:36:16] And we're going to do this route or meet me in mill valley, whatever it is. [00:36:20] Randall Jacobs: Wait, which brings us to our shared goals for the year. [00:36:24] Craig Dalton: Yeah, exactly. Like as we talked about earlier, I think we've got a lot of big goals for the ride. [00:36:31] Randall Jacobs: Yeah, I think, uh, building a critical mass in the region so that you can have those in-person interactions, um, you know, talking about having other people, being able to facilitate group rides and so on. Well, there's, we, we need certain features. We need, uh, we need to update our technology stack, potentially migrate away from slack to something more powerful. [00:36:51] Uh, we have a technology partner that we're talking about. Some tools that if realized, could be very helpful in coordinating rides and having, you know, being able to verify vaccination status or have a waiver or, you know, other things that are essential to, uh, making this a good tool, not just for impromptu. [00:37:10] Group rides amongst people, but also like your shop ride and things like this. They need certain tools for these, these events as well. Uh, amongst other features. [00:37:18] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:37:18] Yeah. exactly. I mean, it's, it's tough to even consider leaving the platform around on today just because. Everybody's comfortable there, but I do think the only reason we would leave is to add more features And add more things that I think can be beneficial to the rider community. Cause it's going to be a bit of a pain in the ass. [00:37:38] Let's call it like it is. If we ask people to move and there's going to be a little bit of effort and undoubtedly, we're going to lose a few people, but I am optimistic that if, and when we make that decision, that the types of things we're able to offer. Are going to be so next level, whether it's, you know, group conversations or tea times we can have with people or different sort of more high tech features that you were just discussing. [00:38:02] I think that can be a meaningful step forward and really something that we can lean into. [00:38:07] Randall Jacobs: Yeah. And marketplace features having a wallet that facilitates exchange between people, um, and having a different way of establishing trust on the. Like being able to look not at, not just somebody's, you know, score on eBay, how many stars they have, but look like how does this person contribute to the community? [00:38:27] Um, how have I seen them engage? Uh, and having that be part of what provides safety and say like, you know, buying a bike and having it shipped across the country, [00:38:37] you [00:38:37] know, this sort of thing. [00:38:38] Craig Dalton: I think there's a lot of interesting things there. And then on the podcast, you know, I think, you know, I just want to continue the journey I'm on. I would, I would stop if I didn't feel like as a, as an individual, I was not learning every time I have these conversations. And, um, I'm looking forward to talking with more event organizers, because I think as hopefully 20, 22 kicks up and we can have more and more events again, I can highlight them because I think events are a way of highlighting regions. [00:39:07] And their events happened in a moment in time, but the, the legacy of the course creation carries on and people can go out there and commune and ride together on those type of things. So I think there's a lot there. Obviously we're going to continue to see new products come to market, and I also want to continue talking to interesting athletes alone. [00:39:29] Randall Jacobs: Yeah. [00:39:30] And for me, I think my, you know, my next few episodes, uh, I'm quite excited about, I won't say share who they are yet. Uh, but one is a woman who started a community that I admire. Uh, both her story and her ethos and what she's doing and the scale that she's achieved with it. Uh, and then another, who's one of the key innovators in our industry, like in the early days of carbon fiber and has, has, uh, uh, created a lot of things that have seen diffuse use throughout the year. [00:39:57] And then diving more into kind of the psycho-spiritual aspects of cycling, um, with, with guests who can speak to that more deeply, I've done, uh, you know, you and I have had a couple of conversations that have delved into that a bit. And I did one episode with, uh, Ted klong, a sports psychologist early on. [00:40:14] So exploring those seems a lot more, uh, things that I'm quite excited about in 2022. [00:40:20] Craig Dalton: Yeah, well, it's going to be an exciting year. It's a lot of work doing what we do. We wouldn't do it. If we didn't get great feedback and support from the listener community. So as always keep that feedback coming, keep out there, riding and. I appreciate the time as always Randall and look forward to doing more of these in the dirt episodes and 2022. [00:40:39] Randall Jacobs: appreciate you much, my friend, and to everyone listening. Thank you for being a part of this with us. [00:40:44] Craig Dalton: Jaris. [00:40:46] So that's going to do it. My friends for this week's edition of in the dirt from the gravel ride podcast. It's our final edition of the year, 2021. I very much appreciate you joining us each week for this journey. As we explore gravel cycling and how it fits into our lives. Big, thanks to competitive cyclist. [00:41:06] For supporting the podcast. I remember competitive cyclists.com/the gravel ride and promo code. The gravel ride. We'll get you 15% off your order. If you're looking for information about our global cycling community called the ridership, simply visit www.theridership.com. And if you're interested in able to support the podcast financially, please visit buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride. I love seeing the comments and your support for the podcast over the years. [00:41:39] Is greatly appreciated. Until next time here's to finding some dirt onto your wheels

Der Mountainbike-Podcast von MTB-News.de: Dill ist schon ein extrem geiles Kräuter

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2021 101:02

Es ist Zeit für ein Podcast-Spezial! Oder zumindest mal wieder für einen Gast in der Sendung. Wir haben heute – wie versprochen – Gregor eingeladen, welcher uns mit tiefen Einblicken in das Flight Attendant-System von RockShox belohnt. Und wo er schon mal da ist, werfen wir gleich zusammen einen Blick auf den kürzlich erschienenen Downhill-Vergleichstest. Ton ab!

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Der Mountainbike-Podcast von MTB-News.de: Alman-Endlevel fresh aus dem Berghain

Pokal oder Spital - der Mountainbike-Podcast von MTB-News.de

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2021 105:04

Unendlich lange vier Wochen haben wir euch warten lassen – aber die Langeweile hat endlich ein Ende! Wir steigen ein mit einem Rückblick auf die diesjährige Ausgabe der Red Bull Rampage, das neue elektronische Fahrwerk von RockShox und den unmittelbar bevorstehenden Winterpokal.

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S1E14 - Joe Schoolcraft

SUPA – Stand Up Pedal Action

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2021 68:02

We go for a deep dive down the bike tech nerd rabbit hole with SRAM's very own Joe Schoolcraft, one of the team that brought the new Flight Attendant suspension system to life. We talk through how the system works, how it came to be, and find out how Joe got into cycling and into the middle of one of biggest innovations in MTB suspension today. Check out this hot new tech from SRAM and RockShox here. And you check out SUPA at Stand Up Pedal Action.

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NEW tech round-up | Specialized Crux gravel bike, Conti's tubeless tyre, Roubaix tech highlights & more

bike continental tyre flight attendants conti gravel specialized new tech crux roubaix paris roubaix rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2021 31:44

Simon and Jack sit down to discuss the latest hot tech news for road, gravel and mountain bikes. Simon quizzes Jack on his first ride impressions of the new Specialized Crux, then it's tech takeaways from Paris-Roubaix. On top of that, there's news of Continental's GP500 S TR tubeless tyres, the Orbea Ocra Aero and RockShox's Flight Attendant wireless suspension system. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#14 Lasten-E-Bike für Hund und Kind, Fahrrad-Kurvenlicht und Schnee-E-Bike

eBikeNews - der Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2021 35:59

In der 14. Folge quatschen wir über den Test vom E-Lastenrad Dog E von Babboe, ein Pilotprojekt in Hamburg und innovative E-Bike Komponenten wie Kurvenlicht oder das erste automatische Federsystem von RockShox. Außerdem nehmen wir zwei außergewöhnliche Fahrrad-Variationen unter die Lupe: ein Schnee-E-Bike und ein Fahrrad mit integriertem Zelt. Babboe Dog E Test: Babboe Dog-E […] Der Beitrag #14 Lasten-E-Bike für Hund und Kind, Fahrrad-Kurvenlicht und Schnee-E-Bike erschien zuerst auf ebike-news.de.

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Episode 84 - Explaining RockShox's Computer Controlled Suspension

The Pinkbike Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2021 66:47

Rather than you reaching down to flip the pedal-assist switch, Flight Attendant manages the fork and shock's compression in real-time, constantly adding or subtracting damping as required and, importantly, to varying degrees depending on how you want your bike to behave and the terrain you're on. If all that sounds complicated, that's because it is. There's a lot to unpack, which is what today's episode is all about; Mike Kazimer, Sarah Moore, Henry Quinney, and I talk about what Flight Attendant is like on the trail, what the heck Bias Adjust does, how the fork now adjusts the shock's low-speed compression (seriously), and whether ten batteries is enough or if Kazimer should use two GoPros.

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Tech Talk - How RockShox Flight Attendant Came to Be

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2021 46:35

Last month, Vital MTB had the opportunity to head to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to meet with the crew from RockShox and get a first-hand look at their all-new automatic suspension system, Flight Attendant. We sat down with RockShox Brand Manager, Jon Cancellier and Rockshox Software Engineer, Joe Schoolcraft, to discuss what it took to develop Flight Attendant. We talked about why RockShox originally set out to create an automatic suspension system, how the mechanics of each Flight Attendant component functions, what factors were considered when developing the Flight Attendant algorithm, and we finally touched on where RockShox sees this new technology going in the future. Our time in Colorado was filled with some awesome riding and provided the perfect opportunity to gain insight into what RockShox's goals were when developing Flight Attendant. We also experienced the trails and terrain that the system was tested on. Ultimately, we left with a great initial impression of how Flight Attendant can transform the pedaling efficiency of our mountain bikes.

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RAW Interviews - WORLD CHAMPS RACE

race world champs rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2021 64:01

Enjoy the photos from Sven Martin, @maddogboris and Dan Hearn on Vital MTB. A big thank you to RockShox for supporting Vital MTB's World Champs coverage. Order of the interviews are as followsJackson GoldstoneMyriam NicoleBenoit CoulangesJordan WilliamsCamille BalancheTroy BrosnanLoris VergierVali HollAmaury PierronLoic BruniCecile Ravanel on behalf of Antoine VidalThibaut DaprelaCam Cole and Wyn Masters,Ben CathroTahnee SeagraveArthur, the engineer from CommencalGreg Minnaar (the same post-race interview you listened to in his standalone podcast)

Episode 132: SRAM XPLR Gravel Group

Mid-Atlantic Gravel, Travel & Dirt

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2021 56:57

Come along and spend the next hour with us talking about gravel bikes, adventure biking, bikepacking, bike camping, or just playing bikes. SRAM XPLR gravel group debuts Rockshox fork, dropper, wide gearing & MOTO wheels https://bikerumor.com/2021/08/10/sram-xplr-gravel-group-debuts-rockshox-fork-dropper-wide-gearing-moto-wheels/ Road ID OR an index card stuffed in your sock (discount code jess_s for 25% off ROADid and free shipping)

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Chris Mandell - SRAM / Zipp / RockShox and the new XPLR gravel line up

europe switzerland champ mtb mountain biking zeb dan roberts pinkbike rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2021 61:00

Exclusive interview with SRAM's Chris Mandell discussing the new XPLR line of product for gravel. We dig into the SRAM XPLR components, the RockShox REVERB AXS wireless dropper post and finally RockShox's new gravel suspension fork, Rudy. Support the podcast Join The Ridership Full automated transcript (please excuse the typos): SRAM - Chris Mandell [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Craig Dalton. Hello and welcome to the gravel ride podcast. I'm your host, Craig Dalton. [00:00:08] We've got a big show for you this week. So I'm going to keep the intro short. I'm welcoming Chris Mandel from SRAM [00:00:14] To the show to talk about the new explore series just launched today, August. [00:00:19] This is really three shows in one, as we talk about grupos dropper posts. And suspension forks. [00:00:25] I'm super excited to dive into this conversation. I've been testing the products a few weeks down here in Topanga, California. And really excited to bounce my ideas off of Chris. [00:00:36] And get his insights about the new XPLR line. [00:00:39] So with that, let's dive right in. [00:00:41] Chris, welcome to the show. [00:00:43] Chris Mandell: Thanks for having me. I'm real excited to be here. [00:00:45] Craig Dalton: This is a conversation that I feel is eight or nine months in the works. [00:00:49] Chris Mandell: Yeah, for sure. That's that's generally how these things go, your word developing and working on products for quite a long time before they actually make it out into the world. [00:00:59] Craig Dalton: So yeah, I'm really excited for this discussion and I'm super stoked that this is on the day of the big launch. So if you're listening on August 10th, which is when this podcast is first released, SRAM has got some things to talk about today. But before we get into that, I always like to get a little bit of information about you as a rider where you're living and how'd you get into the sport. [00:01:22] Chris Mandell: Yeah. Thanks for that. I've been a passionate cyclist for a really long time, my dad did a bit of road racing back in the day and we always had bikes around. Yeah. But I got distracted with American football in high school, and then ended up going to college to play American football and found really quickly in college that I did not want to keep playing at that level. [00:01:44] And so I stopped that and was really lucky in that the town that I lived in McMinnville, Oregon had a small but strong mountain bike scene. And the people there took me under their wing and I started mountain biking with them. And then eventually started working at the local bike shop Tony's and just fully embraced it and was obsessed with it. [00:02:02] And then after I graduated from college, I got a job working full speed ahead, which took me up to Seattle which was great. Cause there was ton of really good cross country riding outside of Seattle, but there was also. A lot of like free side and downhill riding. So at that point I branched and was, writing a commuter to, and from work riding and racing cross country, race bikes, and then also going up to the Whistler bike park and riding that as much as possible kind of fast-forward became a product manager at Kona bikes and developed full suspension bikes at cone bikes for a long time. [00:02:38] And then eventually made the jump to become the rear shock product manager at RockShox. Which had me moved from Bellingham where I was working for Kona, Bellingham, Washington to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and had a great four and a half years living in Colorado Springs, Colorado being really detailed, focused on full suspension, mountain bikes and what it takes to. [00:03:02] Tune shocks and developed shocks for OEM customers like specialized or Santa Cruz. And then at a certain point, unfortunately, due to some family reasons my wife and I needed to move back to Bellingham to be closer to her family. And so we, when we made that shift I switched over from working in product development, to working on the PR side of things, which is what has me on the phone with you. [00:03:25] But in this, in a similar timeframe, we also, I, had a child and I was getting a little bit older and I'd always like commuted and like dabbled in, in rode bikes a little bit, but I'd never really rode bikes. Never really grabbed a hold of me, but gravel bikes started to grab a hold of me. [00:03:42] And it was about that time about when I had, when we had our child that I got a gravel bike and really started riding one pretty consistently. Fell in love with a lot of what, the early days of cross country riding, where for me, which was exploring your local area and like finding the different nooks and crannies and gravel roads and going to the places that you hadn't been to before. [00:04:07] But also really being able to like physically push myself, on, on a mountain bike on one hour mountain bike ride, you go up and then you come down, but on a one-hour gravel ride, you're basically peddling your brains off the entire time. So like the fitness side of that was really helpful for me. [00:04:22] In addition to connecting with the original spirit of what caught me in the cross country, mountain biking back in the day. So yeah, and so now living in Bellingham and I started that gravel journey in Colorado. Which is a really excellent place for gravel riding, but now living in Bellingham, Washington, which we're obviously very well known for our mountain bike trails and the mountain bike trail network is super expansive between, Galbreath mountain, which is the hill with a lot of mountain bike specific built trails, right in town. [00:04:52] And then the Chuck nuts, which is a little bit south of town, which is more hiking trails with some bikes specific trails, but a much bigger, longer area. But there's actually quite a bit of graveling to do here. This area I'm actually mountain bike got started here in, in logging terrain. [00:05:07] It's all working for us in this part of the country. And in order to have a working forest you have to have fire roads. And so there's just fireworks roads running in every possible direction. And then a lot of those thyroids have single track connections to them. So you can really get out and go quite far on your gravel bike from your door and have some pretty, pretty amazing adventures and get to be able to see some pretty big mountains. [00:05:31] Craig Dalton: Amazing. What do the climbs look like in your neck of the woods? Are they long hour long climbs? Are they short and punchy stuff? [00:05:39] Chris Mandell: Yeah, it really depends what really depends what you want. There's definitely like hours long, slow grinding climbs, and then much to my friends. [00:05:48] Dislike. One of my favorite climbs around here is this climate called pine the theater. And it's basically just straight up the hill for about 25 minutes. And you're pretty much searching for traction on your gravel bike the whole time. Cause it's the climb. So Steve, so yeah, it's all of that. [00:06:03] It's long slow slogging fire roads, and then there's also just straight up the hill hiking or single track climbs. [00:06:10] Craig Dalton: Nice. It sounds like a great place for gravel riding. Cause it sounds like you can pick and choose whether you want just a logging road that doesn't have a lot of technical requirements, but you can also push your limits on the single track and mountain bike style trails. [00:06:23] Chris Mandell: Yep. Yeah, that's exactly. I think that's exactly the case, like from my house is about 12 minutes to Galbreath on a rails to trails, an old railroad grade that they've converted to an inner urban trail. So I can take that over to golf. Which is crisscrossed with fire roads and then single track. [00:06:42] And so I'll generally climb up single track and then descend down the fire road on my gravel bike, because, my perspective is a lot of the times like it's capable as a gravel bike is do do having my mountain bike on the single track a lot of the time, but it's like a great in terms of options and my friend. [00:06:58] And I'll always joke. Cause we can, you could look down at the dirt here cause we get quite a bit of moisture in a normal time and you can see how many people are starting to gravel bike on the hill because you can tell the gravel bike tires. [00:07:11] Craig Dalton: That's amazing. Yeah. I love that. I If you're in the fortunate position of having both the gravel and a mountain bike and live in a place where you can take all these different, make all these different choices, it's so much fun. [00:07:22] Cause you just pick and choose your own adventure. I could go on and on talking and learning about Bellingham, because it's an area that I've heard a great things about, but we've got so much ground to cover with Schram's announcement today about the Explorer series. And I'd love to get into it. [00:07:38] I think we'd look at the componentry first and the wheels, and then we get into the hotly debated stuff that we'll talk about later. [00:07:46] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally. Yeah. I I think the round out the gravel side of things, the last thing I'd add there is I think the other thing that's nice about having a gravel bike and a mountain bike is you can get so much more out of your mountain bike if you spend time on your gravel bike, because your fitness just goes through the roof. [00:08:02] And that's one of the things that's been, I've been loving about having a gravel bike alongside the mountain bike. [00:08:07] Craig Dalton: Yeah. And I also imagined, from, if I go back to my origin story and mountain biking, riding orig rigid bike, there's a certain skill level you acquire by learning how to pick your lines when you're riding a rigid. [00:08:19] Or a lightly suspended bike as it were versus when you jump on a full suspension bike, you can start off being pretty sloppy. [00:08:27] Chris Mandell: Yep. For sure. [00:08:28] Craig Dalton: Yeah. So let's talk about explore. [00:08:32] Chris Mandell: Yeah. So this is pretty exciting moment for us. It's really three, three of our big brands coming together. [00:08:40] In a way that we think is really going to allow the gravel rider to have more complete experiences on their bikes. So from the Zipp side we're bringing a gravel specific wheelset from the SRAM road side of things. We're bringing a gravel specific drive train, and then most new to the market would be on the RockShox side of thing. [00:09:06] We're going to bring a fork and a seat post that are gravel specific into the market. And I think it's really cool that these three brands were able to come together and make this specific explore products collection. But I do think it's also important to note that we still think our entire product line is totally relevant in the gravel sphere. [00:09:29] So we have this specific collection of products that we designed for gravel use, but we have a ton of other products that will end up on gravel bikes. And we don't think that those parts shouldn't end up on gravel bikes. It's just, these are the ones that we've specifically designed for. [00:09:45] gravel [00:09:47] Craig Dalton: Interesting. [00:09:48] I'm sure there's someone who immediately heard the word suspension on gravel bike and is already hitting the internet to start a debate. We won't get into that listener. Don't worry. I'm super excited. I've been riding the fork and I have my opinions on, it's a super excited to talk to Chris further about it, but Chris, why don't we start off with that? [00:10:06] We'll set. [00:10:08] Chris Mandell: Yeah. This has been in the gravel market for quite some time with the product line that we offer today, specifically the 303 S and the 303 Firecrest both of which are excellent products for gravel riders to use like their light. The internal width are appropriate for a larger size tire. [00:10:30] And they provide a good balance of aerodynamics. However, we recognize that there's like a full spectrum. Travel experiences out there. And there are people who are going to push the limit a little bit more on the aggressive riding side of things. And for those riders, they're looking for a different setup in terms of, like balancing comfort and control on the trail with aerodynamics. [00:10:58] And so that really pointed us to what we're already doing with zip on the mountain bike side of things, where we have the zero three Moto rim, which is a single wall, not Mike Ram that was designed to allow the rim to have what we call ankle compliance. So the rim is able to work with the tire to provide the rider with more control and conform to the ground better. [00:11:26] As we have that have had that wheel in the mountain bike side of things for a long time, we have a lot of customers and a lot of interest in like bringing something like that over into the gravel side of things. And so that's what we're doing with with the 1 0 1 wheel set and really what it gives the rider is the ability to have a wheel set. [00:11:44] That's going to decrease their fatigue when they're out riding because the rim is gonna work the terrain with the tire in a way that allows the rider to keep the bike going in the direction they're going to want and isolate the rider from a lot of the vibrations and other like hits to the rider that are to the overall bike system that would create fatigue. [00:12:06] Craig Dalton: So is there some sort of suppleness built into the rim? Is that what you're saying? [00:12:11] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally. So the way that the rim system is able to work is that the spokes are run through the center of the room. And because it's not a box section, then it's a single wall run. The rim is able to use what we call ankle compliance. [00:12:27] So when it sees a hit say on the left side of the rim is able to move up and out of the way a little bit and allow the front axle and the whole bike to continue to carry forward, but give a little bit in a way that provides more comfort and more control and becomes less fatiguing to the right. [00:12:46] Craig Dalton: Gotcha. And that 27 millimeter wide internal profile is that wider than the 3 0 3. [00:12:54] Chris Mandell: Yeah. We've actually got like really nice steps from the 300, three S all the way up to the one-on-one. So the 303 is 23 millimeter. The 303 Firecrest is 25 and then the one-on-one is 27 inner. And really that's just optimizing for those different sizes of tires that you're going to have on there. [00:13:15] You're able to use quite a small tire on the one-on-one. But it's also going to give you a lot of good stability on the larger side tire. [00:13:23] Craig Dalton: Yeah. We've had a discussion about that on the podcast before, and it seems like this trend towards that 27 millimeter is really beneficial for the gravel rider in terms of the contact patch of the tire and just how the overall rim performs. [00:13:38] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally. And I I think it's, it's preference in tires and it's there's so many factors that go into what tire pressure you run with tires you run and all that stuff. And I think, having options is good in that space. And we really look at like the one-on-one. [00:13:53] If you're looking to take on more challenging terrain, if you're going to be spending long, long periods of time in the saddle over, not so great conditioned paved roads or rough gravel roads that extended period of time, but one-on-one is really going to bring a lot to you because it's going to save a lot of energy and it's going to, it's going to stop the vibrations and all the things that fatigue you on a gravel ride from getting up to you. [00:14:21] Craig Dalton: Nice. And for the listener, I'll just note that it's available in 700 C and six 50 B. [00:14:27] Chris Mandell: Yep. Yeah. [00:14:29] Craig Dalton: Did you want to talk about the G 40 exploratory? [00:14:33] Chris Mandell: Yeah. Yeah, we can mention that one real quick. So the G 40 is a tire that we've offered for a while now, but we are rebranding it explored to fit into the rest of the collection. [00:14:45] And it's a pretty sweet tire. It's sitting right there in the middle at 40, which is I think a very common tire size for people to be using. It's got a nice center line rolling tread, which is really great for efficiency, but then it's got good, not too aggressive, but just aggressive enough cornering logs. [00:15:04] So you've got the grip in terms or when the ground gets soft, you're still able to dig into those cornering lugs and hold align really well. And then the thing that as a mountain biker I really appreciate it is it does have a robust sidewall, so you're not looking at getting getting flat tires that often. [00:15:21] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Nice. Let's move on to the driver. [00:15:26] Chris Mandell: Yeah. [00:15:28] Craig Dalton: So tell us about that. XPLR, drivetrain, and how it fits in you gave a little bit in your opening about it, but just contextualize it a little bit further and talk some of the details about what you guys are providing. [00:15:40] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally. I think if we look at where we're at with drive trains today, we offer a 10 36 1 by drive train, and we offer and through the access ecosystem, we're able to take our road hoods and connect them to a 10 50 mountain bike drive, train to provide, two pretty good experiences for the gravel rider. [00:16:05] The one by gravel rider looking to have either, very lightweight set up with the 10 36 and tight gearing stuff. Or with the 10 50, bigger gear steps, but a huge range which is greatly beneficial when you're like waiting the bike down or living in a place where there's really steep climbs. [00:16:22] And you're looking to just go straight up the hill, but for sure, we recognize that there's space in the middle of it. And for us, the one by experience is really what makes it makes the most sense on a gravel bike, where you're just looking to keep things clean and simple and straightforward. [00:16:40] Maybe he's got a dropper posts on your bag too. That's a whole lot of thing, different systems that you're managing on the bike and for the gravel rider, the one bike is a really good solution a week, but we saw that gap in between the 10 36 and the 10 15. We knew that there were writers who spend time in the mountains and need range, but also spent a lot of time on the tarmac and the tight gear steps. [00:17:04] And that's what brought us to this. 10 44 cassette and as well as a derailer that goes along with it and allows you to have a one by specific trailer, which will shift that 10 44. And we're offering that trailer hat red force as well as rival. So you can get in all three of those access price points and really be able to complete your experience from pavement to growl. [00:17:31] Craig Dalton: Gotcha. So these ones with the explore moniker on it are exclusively one by correct. They [00:17:38] Chris Mandell: are exclusively one by, and a good way to think about that is when you're developing a derailer, you've got to optimize it for the cassette that it's running across. And then like how much chain it needs to take up. [00:17:50] So when you have a front derailleur system, you've got to think about the chainring moving between two pretty big sizes. So we changed the way we developed the cage and where we placed the pulleys. So it helps us provide a better shifting product and a lighter weight product. If we are able to divide those up a little bit. [00:18:08] So for this derailleur, we did end up making it one by specific, and we specifically built it to work with a 10 44 cassette, but it does also shift a 10 36 [00:18:18] Craig Dalton: cassettes. Gotcha. And for clarity, you mentioned this before SRAM's other group PO's are mix and match compatible. So for my friends like Jason at the Gravel Cyclist who rides to buy all the time, you've got a two by setup. [00:18:35] That's totally suitable for the gravel market. [00:18:38] Chris Mandell: Yep, exactly. Yeah. And if that rider wanted to switch to one by specific setup or maybe like dabble in it. Yeah. You could take those same controllers and you could add one by rear derailleur to them and they would work just fine. It would just be a matter of repairing it to the new derailleur. [00:18:58] Craig Dalton: Yeah. It's been interesting. The demo bike that you provided to me, which is a canyon Grizl, we've set up with a mullet setup. And while I've been on SRAM on my personal bike for many years, this was the first access bike that I've had for a prolonged period of time. So it was fascinating to play around with the app pair, the different things that were on the bike in the app, and just understand that system a little bit more. [00:19:24] Chris Mandell: Yeah. And it seemed like it was pretty straight forward and working pretty easily for you. And that's really what we're going for with this, like we want to make this as user-friendly and. It just things like the shift log logic, like it's very easy for you to understand in your brain. [00:19:39] Oh, I pushed the left shifter to get the chain to move left forward on the cassette. And I pushed the right shifter to get it to move right on that cassette and all those little details and all that little, like ease of use stuff adds up to a better experience for everyone in the channel, from the person who's ending up riding the bike to the bike shop and setting it up. [00:19:59] Craig Dalton: Yeah, for sure. And the fact that, and we'll get into the dropper post later, but the fact that the dropper post and the rear derailleur are using the same battery just gives you that comfort. Should you ever get caught out of pocket? You can swap the battery around and give power to the rear derailleur and take it away from your dropper posts, for example. [00:20:17] Chris Mandell: Yep. Yeah. And that's a perfect example. I actually, probably because I was driving around with my bike on my car the other day I had to do that exact thing and it was totally fine. Took two seconds and I was back out on my bike and riding again. And to, like the batteries are real small. [00:20:33] And so you can actually just get an extra one and throw it in your pocket. [00:20:36] Craig Dalton: The other fun thing you told me, that was a mixed sense, but I didn't realize it right off the bat was that there's a mini accelerometer in all the componentry, so that it wakes up essentially when it's, when you're moving and goes to sleep if it's in your garage. [00:20:54] Chris Mandell: Yeah, exactly. So the way all the access systems work is they add little, as you mentioned, little accelerometer in them and to save power they go to sleep, but they're like checking in and. When you grab your bike and, move it out of the stand or wherever you have it set, those components are able to wake up and immediately respond to whatever you're trying to get them to do. [00:21:15] And that allows us to save a lot of battery life so that you're not wasting battery when the bike is just sitting in the garage, but also allows us to immediately respond to your needs as a rider. [00:21:24] Craig Dalton: Yeah. And the additional pro tip you shared with me is if you've got it on the back or top of your car, take the battery out, put the little safe plastic piece in there. [00:21:33] So it doesn't think it's awake for your six hour drive to a ride. [00:21:37] Chris Mandell: Yep. Yeah, definitely take that step. [00:21:41] Craig Dalton: You mentioned. The sort of mixed compatibility of explore group a with everything else. And I definitely appreciate it as running the mullet setups and having some components from the mountain bike side of your lineup, everything visually works together. [00:21:56] There's no standing out of the explore versus the mountain bike side of things. [00:22:02] Chris Mandell: Yeah. So we definitely feel like the full suite of products that we offer should all be able to come together and work cross-functionally as much as they can. And one thing you'll notice on all of the explore products is the explore. [00:22:18] Call-out is pretty small and pretty subtle. And I think your bike is a good example of that is a gravel bike. It doesn't feature the 10 44 cassette. For you attend 50 was a better solution, but you could actually have a 10 44 set up for that bike and very easily just remove the cassette and the derailer and the chain, and then add a 10 44 set up to it with the trailer and the chain and the cassette, and then repair your shifters and go out and ride that 10 44 setup. [00:22:51] Craig Dalton: What's the difference between the chains in those two setups? [00:22:56] Chris Mandell: So the Explorer 10 44 drive trains use the flat top chain that we have on the roadside. And then the mullet drive train that you're using the 10 50 and the Eagle rear derailer use a standard 12 speed. [00:23:10] Craig Dalton: Gotcha. And not to get too much in the weeds, but I was curious about this the way SRAM's, what are referred to as a magic link works to put the chain together. [00:23:19] Is it true that you can pretty easily pop those off and take the chain out? [00:23:25] Chris Mandell: Yeah. So you can pop those off and take the chain out. The one thing to keep in mind with that is we don't recommend that you reuse that quickly. And the reason we don't is if it's a press fit and that's what holds it together. [00:23:36] And when you break that link, you will, you do wear that pressed it up a little bit. So we don't recommend that you reuse that quick link, but it is like a really easy way to be able to take your drive, train apart without making your change shorter or anything like that. And in fact, park tool and a few other tool manufacturers actually make a tool that's specifically designed to, install the quick link, but also on installed the quick. [00:24:01] Craig Dalton: Ooh, I might have to take a look at those I, one of the things that tripped me out, I was on a trip with some of the guys from VeloNews and saw that one of them was riding access and in his bike bag, he had taken the chain off and just remove the derailer. And it was just, he, in fact, he traveled with the derailer in a separate bag, which was just a trip to me when he pulled it out of the box and was putting back all together. [00:24:24] And it's just such a handy, protective way of transporting the bike. [00:24:30] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally. I do the exact same thing when I travel, just because, even with a mountain bike, flying with a mountain bike that derailleurs like in a vulnerable place and those bike bags, and it's not supported by the rest of the system. [00:24:42] And I actually do the same thing and take it off the ticket off the bike. And, I'm able to put it in inside of a bag somewhere else inside of my bike bag, which is a great way to. [00:24:53] Craig Dalton: Yeah let's get let's shift gears and let's start boiling some of the listeners blood by talking about dropper posts and suspension. [00:25:01] Let's start with the dropper posts. [00:25:04] Chris Mandell: One, one not to jump ahead to our not to pull us back. But one thing I do want to mention really quickly is we will we, in addition to the 10 44 cassette and the 10 44 specific red forest and rivalry trailers that we'll offer for, with XPLR we will also offer a one by specific cranks. [00:25:26] So same crank arms at the red enforce and rival level, but it has a new lighter weight single ring, and it's available on 38 through 46 sizes. So yeah, just quick touch that [00:25:37] Craig Dalton: way, jumping in the suspension. Yeah. So let's talk about the access reverb dropper seat. [00:25:47] Yeah, so draw, look, this is no surprise to anybody who listens to this podcast. I am pro dropper all the time for almost every situation. [00:25:59] Chris Mandell: And what do you feel the dropper gives you when you're out riding your bike [00:26:07] Craig Dalton: when I'm descending and this descending is not just oh, I know I'm going to be bombing downhill for 25 minutes. [00:26:13] It's basically anytime I'm going downhill, being able to lower the saddle ever so slightly and create a greater area of space in my, underneath my undercarriage between my undercarriage and the saddle enables me to corner with greater confidence. Pretty much do everything with greater confidence. [00:26:35] Chris Mandell: Yeah. [00:26:36] Yeah. And that's the same. That we would, when we would speak to what you get out of a dropper post on the mountain bike side of things it's the same situation because you're able to move wherever you need to move from the front of the bike, to the back of the bike without being obstructed by your seat post or your saddle rather lends a huge amount of control to you because you can waste the front tire as you need to, you can weight the rear tire as you need to without worrying about catching yourself on the satellite as you're making those motions. [00:27:08] Craig Dalton: Yeah. And I like, go ahead, Chris, [00:27:14] Chris Mandell: you got it. [00:27:15] Craig Dalton: When when I talk about using the dropper post, I'm talking about it in not the extreme mountain biking style stuff exclusively. I use it all the time. So descending on the road, like I think the advantages are there. When you do get into the hectic stuff and a local rider here in Southern California tipped me off to this trail called horse drop, which I finally hit the other day. [00:27:39] And as the name would dictate, there was a bunch of drop-offs. It was truly a hectic trail for a gravel bike, but a ton of fun. And there's no way, I shouldn't say there's no way it would be super challenging to do those drops with your saddle fully extended and even using the 50 millimeter drop AXS. [00:27:59] REVERB I had, it was plenty of space to get the bike underneath me and allow it to come up to me as I was handling those drop-offs. [00:28:10] Chris Mandell: Yeah, that makes total sense to me. And I think circling back to even in less extreme terrain, it still makes a huge difference. Like you imagine hitting the apex of a road corner. [00:28:23] You're going to want to be in a different position on your bike versus the way you entered the corner. You have to move your center of gravity and your body weight around to get the bike, to track well through a corner. And like any flat corner on a gravel bike where you're trying to use a little bit of subtle body English to move the bike through the turn. [00:28:45] If you have to, all of a sudden, move from the front of the bike, to the back of the bike and then raise your center of gravity up to move your body up and over your saddle, that's going to disrupt your grip on the ground. And I think it's one of the advantages of having a dropper [00:29:00] Craig Dalton: posts. [00:29:01] Yeah, a hundred percent. I think in my mind, it's the number one upgrade in terms of how it will affect your performance on the bike that anybody can do. So this post, obviously rock shock has been making. Dropper posts for the mountain bike sizes for a long time and has a full range there. This REVERB AXS XPLR is in the 27 2 millimeter diameter. [00:29:24] It comes in 400 millimeter lens as well as three 50, the three 50 has a 50 millimeter drop. And I think the 400 has a 75 millimeter drop that. All correct, Chris? [00:29:35] Chris Mandell: Yeah. The 400 is actually available also in the 50 millimeter drop. So you can get the 400 either in 75 or 15. [00:29:43] Craig Dalton: Gotcha. And how did you guys decide on those length drops as being what you want it to be? [00:29:49] Chris Mandell: Yeah, that, that really came from riding these types of bikes around and thinking about how much they needed and then listening to rider feedback on how much they thought they needed. So it really was those two sides of us doing our own work internally. And then listening to rider feedback on it. [00:30:12] And I think too, before we already get too close to the tech side of things and, I think we just had a really great conversation on the advantage of a C post. I can go from top out to bottom out. When we were looking at the gravel market and thinking about what we needed to bring to the table, we did not think it was enough just to make a post that dropped, like for sure that was going to be an advantage for the gravel rider. [00:30:37] But we recognized that it was a different use case and we needed to bring more to the table to get a gravel rider, to understand the benefit of having a dropper post and want them to take that leap. And so one of the things that we did with is we actually Came up with a new internal design which allows us to have what we call active ride for anywhere from top out to when the seat post achieves full travel. [00:31:06] So that means like if you move the seat post and a millimeter, the seat post is giving you what we call active ride, which is a bit of compliance in the post so that the rider is able to stay seated through rough terrain and continue paddling without having to stand up and get their butt off the saddle. [00:31:26] So at full top out the post is rock solid, but anywhere after full top out the C post features active ride. And that is one of the things that we see as a huge advantage to a gravel rider. Who's going to spend a ton of time paddling across rough terrain, needing to stay on the gas and needing their butts to stay on. [00:31:49] Yeah, [00:31:49] Craig Dalton: that's super thoughtful element of the design. If you think about riding across stutter bumps or anything where you're going to be needing to peddle being on the saddle, just being able to take it down a millimeter, which is likely what you'd like. Anyway, you get some advantage out of having a little bit more space there to have that sort of suppleness built in is gotta pay dividends over longer rides. [00:32:14] Chris Mandell: Totally. Yeah. One of the, one of the initial test riders for this post actually set his, see post height a little bit too high, and then he would just move the CBOs into the travel so that he was always riding in the active ride position, which is a great way to do it for me personally. I do having the, from top out and we think a lot of writers are going to want that. [00:32:34] So we actually, like just with the CBOs, you get to have your cake and eat it too. [00:32:38] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. I think that for me, my setup's always been, I'm probably like that rider and yeah. My I set my droppers up slightly higher, maybe ever so slightly. So it feels comfortable early on in the day, but oftentimes I find myself running it a little bit lower as a more fatigued or just cruising home at the end of the day. [00:32:58] Chris Mandell: Yeah. I totally sad for me. One of the other things that I've really enjoyed about having a dropper post on a bike too, is a gravel bike is just like ease of getting on and off the bike because you do end up having to get off your gravel bike in difficult terrain sometimes. And it's helpful to be able to like, get the seat down before you finally step off the bike. [00:33:20] Craig Dalton: Totally agree with you there. And for clarity for the listener, this is an access product, which means that it has a wireless activation to it. [00:33:29] Chris Mandell: Yep. Yeah. So this lives in our active ecosystem. So again, it uses the same battery as the drive trains. We were just talking about. And uses the same communication protocol. [00:33:40] One of the things that's huge advantage of that is that it's, we leave it open to the end user in terms of how they want to activate the system. So you can use a standard reverb access shifter on a flat bar setup to activate this seat post on a drop bar setup, you can use double click on the sh on the road shifters to do that. [00:34:05] And then if you have force or red shifters, you can get one of our blips or multiplex and plug that into your shifter and then use that to control your dropper posts. And then lastly, you can also get a blood box and plug a multi-client or a blip into that, and then use the blip blocks to flip the box, to control the seat post. [00:34:28] So there's a ton of options in terms of how you interact with a post. Craig, I think you have double tap on your bike right now. Correct? [00:34:40] Craig Dalton: Yup. Yeah. And it's, it's interesting. I was laughing with you the other day that I found that I actually do have scenarios where I'm activating the dropper post with one hand, which seemed crazy. [00:34:50] Wow. We were talking about it, but I was out on the bike again yesterday. And it's oftentimes where I am. I'd be grabbing a sip of water while, beginning to start a downhill, not a, on a fire road or something. And then I found myself historically with my other SRAM bike where it's cable activated, I would swing the left lever and drop my post in anticipation for putting the bottle down and hitting it on the descent. [00:35:15] So it's funny to get used to that. So I am interested in trying the blip set up and I do think it's interesting that the blip box exists. So if you're a writer that maybe not be, is not on an access group oh. Today on your bike, but is looking forward. I think. Investing in this product and just getting the blip box so you can control it on any bike that does not have electronic shifting is a good future proof system and investment because when you do upgrade to the access shifters, you can easily repair it and remove the blip box from the scenario. [00:35:51] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally super good solution. And it's the flexibility that we're given through access. [00:35:58] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Any more comments on the dropper posts that you wanted to relay to the listener? [00:36:04] Chris Mandell: Yeah. Yeah. I think the last thing I would touch on there is obviously, we hit on it's available in 50 and 75 millimeters of travel. [00:36:12] And then three 50 and 400 millimeter lengths. One of the other things too, to keep in mind with that C post is that the rail clamps are compatible. I don't know a meter or standard rounds or oval seven by nine. And then there is a separate clamp available for seven by 10. So we have all of the rail configurations covered in that oral as well. [00:36:34] Gotcha. Pretty excited for the CBOs to get out there and people will be trying it. [00:36:38] Craig Dalton: Yeah, for sure. You ready to make people really mad? [00:36:43] Chris Mandell: Yeah. [00:36:45] Craig Dalton: So RockShox is introducing their Rudy explore suspension fork for gravel bikes today. [00:36:51] Chris Mandell: And I think, it's interesting making people mad cause I think it's also good. I think this is going to expire a lot of people too, if we go back to the origins of mountain biking, there was some hesitation and even moving to suspension in the first place on a mountain bike and. [00:37:05] We kinda know exactly how that ended up not suspension is the name of the game on a mountain bike these days. And I think, from RockShox perspective and from where we're coming to it, we look at any time a bike is getting off-road or even on a rough road as an opportunity for suspension to play a role and to really allow for more comfort and control and traction, which at the end of the day can equate to more speed or can equate to more fun. [00:37:37] And I think, we're all really riding our bikes at the end of the day to have more fun. However, you slice it's on me winning a race. That's what it means, but it means you need to go faster. So from the RockShox perspective, we looked at that and that was really what drove us to develop this part. [00:37:54] Craig Dalton: Yeah, it's clearly a natural place for part of the market to go. And I think you and I would be the first people to state that it's just part of the market, just as we've seen a trend towards bigger and bigger tires, wider handlebars, all these different configurations that riders around the world are discovering to customize these gravel bikes for their local terrain. [00:38:18] No one will sit here and say that bigger tires, wider handlebars suspension forks are for everybody. There's certainly vast parts of the country and world that riding without a suspension fork. And in fact, riding a glorified road bike is totally suitable for the gravel in your backyard, but as someone who rides mostly in Marine county or here in Southern California in the Santa Monica mountains, like I'm really embracing this product and seeing some huge advantages, just five or six rides into. [00:38:54] Chris Mandell: Yeah. From our side, we don't think there's a wrong way to gravel every time someone's getting on their bike and taking it from tarmac to gravel, to single track, and then back onto the tarmac, like that's their experience. And as a components manufacturer, what we're really looking to provide users with is the ability to tune their experience. [00:39:22] So the best that fits what they're trying to do and what's fit their needs. I think one of the things that's really interesting is with, and it's it's not totally unique to grab the gravel space, but it is like an interesting thing that's like pretty pure in the gravel side of things is you almost really build your bike. [00:39:39] You can build your bike really to you. Where you're lacking. So if you do you, aren't a good defender, but you're a great climber, that current for today, like that would point you to putting much bigger tires on your bike and trying to get more traction and get more control and a dissent just by, by putting bigger tires on your bike. [00:40:00] After today, that rider is able to go back to a smaller tire and use suspension and use a dropper post to get a lot more control in those situations where they feel anxious, because they don't necessarily have the confidence to, to be taking their bike down, down horse drops or whatever it is but using suspension and using a dropper post is another way to get that control back into the writer's hand and regain calm. [00:40:30] Yeah, [00:40:30] Craig Dalton: exactly. I feel like I, the more and more that I advise people on how to get, how to purchase a bike and how to think about what gravel bike makes sense to them. There's all these levers that you're pulling. And it comes down to where you're riding, as you said, what your comfort level is and descents. [00:40:46] I can't tell you how many people I see out there who just are exceptional going uphill, but the moment they go downhill, they start to get terrified and really tense up and, white knuckle, the handlebar, and really have a bad experience on the bike. Whereas adding some elements of suspension, whether it be this fork or larger tires or suspension stem, like all of these things help alleviate some of those challenges, if that's where you're deficient as a cyclist. [00:41:14] Chris Mandell: Absolutely. And the Rudy. So the fork we're bringing is part of the Explorer product line is called the Rudy. And it really is. Bill with the gravel cyclist in mind in terms of providing more grip, getting more control into the rider's hands and allowing the rider to save their body for later in the ride and for pedaling and providing much more control and steering confidence in Russ stuff. [00:41:46] But honestly, even just bombing the regular tarmac road in America, you're going to get a better connected front tire to the ground and you're going to be able to carry more speed through that. [00:41:58] Craig Dalton: Yeah. One thing I can say, and this is probably the least controversial thing I'll say all day is unequivocally with this fork on your bike, you can go down a hill faster. [00:42:07] So if you think of yourself as a six out of 10, in terms of descending skills, I think you've automatically bumped yourself up to a 7.5. [00:42:17] Chris Mandell: Yeah, that's great. I love him. [00:42:19] Craig Dalton: Yeah. And then I would say that, I did play around a lot with the lockout. Totally bombed, totally locked in. So if I was out on the road with this fork it's pretty easy to reach down. [00:42:29] I think just because of the geometry of gravel bikes, it was actually easier to reach down and reach the lockout lever than it was on the mountain bikes that I've written recently. And very easy, obviously to swing it back the other way I tended to climb off-road with it open because I've found that having the tire just be able to roll over the things that were coming in front of me was advantageous even on the climbing. [00:42:52] And I, I did not feel like I was losing a lot to set the stage for the listener. We're talking about 30 or 40 millimeter trout as the travel options in terms of what this fork provides today and tire clearance up to a 700 by 50. [00:43:10] Chris Mandell: Yeah. So that's a good jumping off point to talk through some of the spec details on this fork. [00:43:16] So as you mentioned, 30 or 40 millimeters of travel is an air spring. And as an air spring that was specifically developed for the Rudy. And our vision with this air spring was to keep this air spring really supple and sensitive off the top so that the writer's hands felt good on the bars. And they were able to have good traction. [00:43:36] We also knew that we didn't want to have it bottoming out harshly at any point during the ride experience. So there's a big bottom out bumper in this fork, which catches it in the second half of the travel and really provides a lot of control as you're going towards Baltimore. The other, another feature that's really specific to this gravel and I think shows how much attention we were paying to the needs of the gravel road. [00:44:04] And we've got two different levels of vendor compatibility. So we have a short fender that we make and sell that bolt-on with three bolts to the arch of the lower leg. And then the fork features threaded holes at the bottom of the lower leg, which allow for standard full coverage vendors to Mount onto this fork as well. [00:44:28] And so no fender, a short fender or for the winter riders, full coverage fenders. We really tuned that in for the gravel experience. [00:44:38] Craig Dalton: Gotcha. And from a visual design perspective, I found the fork to be as subtle as it could be. Obviously it's got telescoping legs and it's, it is what it is. [00:44:49] But I do find as you're glancing over the bike, it's not sticking out like a sore thumb in any way in my life. [00:44:57] Chris Mandell: Yeah, that's great to hear. I think we spent a lot of time and effort in the work on this fork, refining it and making it as light and free moving as we possibly could so that it had the best suspension performance and the lightest weight package that we could get on it. [00:45:15] But we did pay attention to the fact that it was going to end up on mostly carbon fiber gravel frames, and it needed to have a clean aesthetic to it. And so we did spend a good deal of time looking at the existing carbon forks were out there on the market today, knowing that we wanted to build this fork in a traditional magnesium, lower leg, aluminum, upper tubes and aluminum crown fashion, because that provided us with the most opportunities for re refining the overall performance with four, in terms of weight and sensitivity. [00:45:49] And so we really spent a lot of time on that. So it's really great to hear that from you. [00:45:53] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Awesome. And you've also got some OEM partners that are you're working with on this today, and I'm sure more will be dropping in the coming months. [00:46:02] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally. So we definitely have had a lot of OEM interest in uptake on this product, the canyon is one of those partners and they will have models dropping with this fork on it. [00:46:14] And we're pretty excited that they're working with us on that front. There will be numerous other OEMs who are out there also dropping dropping bikes featuring this product and the full product line. Yeah. I [00:46:25] Craig Dalton: think it's going to be important that riders are able to test and take a look at these products and getting them out there on more bikes and hopefully bikes that might be out there and demo fleets in the future will be great because I think it's it's counterintuitive. [00:46:39] Bike performs with this fork on it. You think, you might think certainly if you have a mountain bike background that certain things are going to happen, you're going to experience certain things in a certain way, but it's clear that you guys had a ground up mentality to make this fork fit. [00:46:54] Gravel bikes. [00:46:55] Chris Mandell: Yeah. Yeah, no, totally. I think that's an important thing here. That the RockShox is invested in improving the rider's experience on the trail or on the road. And we know and understand that like when we build a cross country fork, that means that we need to be laser focused on the needs of the cross country riders. [00:47:18] And then when we build a downhill race fork, we need to be laser focused on the needs of a downhill racer. And we brought that same approach when it came to developing the Rudy and developing the Rudy as a hyper-focused. Gravel product. It doesn't mean that we didn't pull from our experience on the cross-country and Enduro side of things. [00:47:42] We definitely pulled from that heritage space, the damper. So the thing that provides control on compression and control on rebound in this fork is a scaled down gravel specific version of our race day damper, which you find in our Sid and sit FL cross-country race corks. And that was really, and we developed that damper. [00:48:08] It was really a revolutionary, super lightweight, but very high performance in terms of the control it provided in open and then the way the lockout function. And we took that damper and we scaled it down. And tuned it to the needs of the gravel rider. Both in terms of the functionality for rebound and compression performance, but also just made that thing even lighter than it was before. [00:48:32] And that's the hard work and the nitty gritty details that we put into the forklift, into the Rudy to make it specific for gravel. [00:48:41] Craig Dalton: Nice. I want to revisit something you commented on earlier. Cause I do think it's important. It's going to be interesting to see over time. Just the idea of suspension forks, helping with overall rider fatigue, obviously as you're going down super technical stuff, like it's immediately apparent what that looks like, but I also think it's going to be interesting over time that as we see these forks on beneath riders who are tackling 200 mile gravel events, et cetera, To see how they're walking away from those rides in terms of how their upper body feels and how that equates to their overall time and experience on these long courses. [00:49:23] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally. I remember a conversation that I had with Meg Fisher he's an ambassador for us. And it was right when she found out that we were making this product and she was ecstatic on the phone. Cause she was telling me about how, in some of the longer gravel races she does, she ends up with blisters on her hand from the amount of like bumping and just like carnage. [00:49:46] That's getting transmitted from the road up through the entire system, to, to our hands on the bike. And she was really excited about trying to Rudy because she felt like that this is a way that she can isolate our hands and the rest of her body from those rough vibrations. Even on just a gravel road, race scenario. [00:50:09] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. Now it's going to be interesting. Right. And I, I'm always encouraging event organizers to add more sort of off-road technicality to their courses. Cause I just think it becomes more interesting when you see writers of different disciplines excelling in the events. I'm always a fan of the mountain bike background guys and girls doing well in these gravel races because of their technical skills, because I think they should be rewarded and course designers should continue to push those limits. [00:50:39] So I do think it's going to be super fascinating to see when we start seeing these Rudy forks underneath riders and who they are, are they elite athletes trying to gain a competitive advantage on a particular course? Or are they the rank and file athlete who is just looking to have a more pleasurable experience and less fatiguing experience over these long runs? [00:51:03] Chris Mandell: Yeah. I think without a doubt, you're going to see all of that. This, what this means for a rider is less body fatigue because you have less energy coming up from the road into the rider and you have more control as a rider. Your tire is going to be stuck to the ground more often. And that increase in control will give the rider more confidence and enable them to have more fun on their ride and allow them to push harder, allow them to go faster. [00:51:31] If they want to go faster or have more fun that the speed that they're going. And then the other thing, and I touched on this a little bit in the last one, but like more traction means that it's going to the bike is going to predict or is going to handle it in a more predictable fashion. And you are going to know more often than not where the front tire is. [00:51:54] You're going to be able to get it to where you're going. And you actually touched on earlier. Like obviously that plays a role in the sense, but even on, challenging climbs being able to keep your front wheel exactly where you want it to be is pretty important. And this fork allows for that, even on the Quan, [00:52:12] Craig Dalton: the final area I wanted to explore with you is just the use and sale of this fork in the aftermarket. [00:52:20] So you've mentioned a number of companies are building kind of ground up designs around this fork, but what about the many listeners who have a bike that was designed prior to this date and time, and prior to the knowledge of the Rudy fork existing, how should they think about the changes in geometry they might experience when running one of these forks? [00:52:42] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally. Just re I'll run through a couple they, aftermarket detailed side of things. So as you mentioned, it will be available in 30 or 40 millimeter. The Rudy fork will be available in 30 or 40 millimeters of travel. It will come in 45 offset. The come in two different colorways that will come in like a gloss black or what we call quicksand, which is which is a tan colored product that fits with our overall explore product line. [00:53:10] So what do you want to consider as you're looking to upgrade your existing bike with this fork is in most cases, it probably will resolve and that increase in the axle, the crown. [00:53:24] That is something we want to watch out for, but it's something, the thing that we think is actually a benefit. Gravel bikes today are built around the idea that you're going to be changing your tires around. You're going to be, maybe trying six 50 and then, or using 700. [00:53:40] So there's a whole lot of flexibility inside of the existing gravel frame. And there may be a result in an increase in actual crown versus the rigid fork that you have on your bike today. But in our testing so far, what we've seen is people appreciate that and the handling of the bike because of the added suspension element improved versus a rigid fork on the bike. [00:54:04] You do want to check with your manufacturer to make sure that their warranty covers having a suspension product to the frame. That's a good first step to do, but really at the end of the day, It's a matter of you decided that suspension is a good path for you. Riding out on an existing demo bike or taking the plunge and adding it to your friend it's available in and 1.5, our inch and a taper to 1.5. [00:54:29] So you're looking at needing to have that head tube on your [00:54:32] Craig Dalton: bike as well. One of the things that we had discussed offline was, in my particular case, I tend to run, I couldn't say off the top of my head, but a fair number of spacers underneath my headset. And as this fork will naturally lift my head to about higher. [00:54:48] The very on-point suggestion you made was if you take those spacers out and slam the stem lower down in that stack, all of a sudden you mitigate some of the rise in handlebar position. [00:55:03] Chris Mandell: Yeah, totally. And that's a really easy one to do, you just take it. The actual, the crown of your existing for today and subtract the actual, the crown of this fork. [00:55:12] And that's how many space or, whatever that number is. It's 10 millimeters. You just, move 10 millimeters of spacer from underneath your stem to above your stone. [00:55:21] Craig Dalton: Yeah. That I think on my personal ride that would effectively be completely possible. And I think that's interesting. [00:55:30] And I think the point around, the changes in handling being pretty subtle, it's worth noting, but it also is worth noting that, your riders have not really commented much on the changes in geometry, on the bike. [00:55:44] Chris Mandell: Totally. And I think, another important aspect of that is keep in mind, like these gravel bikes are built with a lot of this in mind. [00:55:51] We, I run 37 C tires all the way up to 45 C I have run all the way up to 45 C tires. The same gravel bike, so a lot of these bikes you're switching from like pretty big changes entire sizes. And that's what the bikes were built to accommodate. And it's it's no different on the fork side of things. [00:56:11] Yeah. Yeah. [00:56:12] Craig Dalton: And anything else on the fork that you wanted to share, Chris? [00:56:16] Chris Mandell: I think that covers it pretty well. You made the point about 700 by 50 being the tire clearance. And I think we've touched a lot of the points. I'm really excited for the Rudy. And I think it's going to be a, I think it's going to Herald the new age in the gravel experience. [00:56:30] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I share that enthusiasm. I think it's good for the market. I think there's going to be a lot of debate online about the existence of this product and what it means, but I guarantee that over time, People are going to see the advantages of a product like this. And we're going to see more and more bikes come straight out of the factory with suspension built into them because the advantages are super high for a lot of different types of riders in the gravel market. [00:57:00] Chris Mandell: Absolutely. And even with this product out there, like not every bike is going to end up with a Rudy on it, but the bikes that do end up with a Rudy on it is going to open a bunch of doors to a rider that would have been shot previously. So I think, there's no wrong way to gravel. And if this is something that makes sense to you as a rider, because you have the defense is a place that you struggle or on longer rides your stand start to hurt, or you just want to be able to. [00:57:29] Keep up with your friends a little bit better or drop your friends in certain instances, this is a great great way to have a little bit of fun on your, a little more fun on your gravel bike and add a little bit of capability. And, we didn't, I touched on this a little bit, but this is one of those things that can allow you to run a smaller, lighter tire because you don't need to rely on the tire as much as you were previously and what other doors can moving and trying suspension unlocked for you. [00:57:54] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I had that in the back of my head, cause we had talked about that earlier and I hesitated to open yet another can of worms around tire sizes, but point well taken like all these advances in technology. Whether it's the fork that dropper posts, et cetera, they're all changing things slightly and changing the considerations for any individual rider says, you said what might have driven me to a 50 millimeter tire previously, I may be able to draw back on that because I don't need the suspension elements of the fork, all sorry of the tire. [00:58:27] All of a sudden I'm getting that in the fork. So it's yet another thing as we've talked about time and time again, there's this long spectrum. And I think it can, it's even getting even longer today between a road pro plus style of gravel bike and something that's very, off-road, iSTYLE gravel bike. [00:58:44] There's not a definitive solution. That is the best for everybody across the world. But to your point, very early on in this conversation, SRAM RockShox zips. You're trying to be there for all those riders and give them a wealth of compatible componentry to build the rigs that are going to make them stoked to ride. [00:59:09] Chris Mandell: Exactly. Yeah. I, we are cyclists at strand and we are having the same writing experiences and want to have the same range of experiences. And you can just see that easily from our locations. The team in Chicago has thoughts. The team in Colorado Springs has thoughts. The team in San Luis Obispo has thought the team in Vancouver, British Columbia has thoughts. [00:59:30] The team in Taiwan has thoughts the team in Germany, out of Sox and all those come together and really push us to make products that allow writers to have full breadth of experience. [00:59:42] Craig Dalton: Chris, thank you so much for all the time. Congrats on the explore launch. Super excited to get this out. [00:59:48] Chris Mandell: Thank you so much for the time. [00:59:49] And I'm really excited to hear more about your rad experience on that bike. [00:59:54] Craig Dalton: Big, thanks for Chris for that long detailed conversation about the new XPLR series from SRAM, super excited about what they're bringing to the table. [01:00:03] Natural. I'm particularly excited about the suspension fork. [01:00:07] To be an exceptional product for some. for everyone, but I think it's going. [01:00:14] And I'm confident it's going to continue pushing the gravel industry forward. [01:00:18] As always thank you for your support of the podcast. Dot or even become a member. ride to make a one-time contribution. www.buymeacoffee.com/thegravelride www.theridership.com. I t's a free global cycling community for adventure and gravel cyclists. Deals. Until next time here's to finding some dirt under your wheels [01:00:52]

Episode 46 - RockShox Zeb VS Fox 38

The Pinkbike Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2021 56:04

Fox's new 38 and RockShox's also-new Zeb are both burly single-crown forks that employ 38mm diameter upper tubes, high-end dampers, and a lot of travel to be ready for the rowdiest of riding. Our own Dan Roberts has spent more than the last six months riding both, including countless back-to-back laps on the local steeps of Champéry, Switzerland, and all over Europe. We sat down with Dan and did a deep dive on each fork.

Reviewer Reports: Shoulder Season MTB Gear + Forks Roundup

Alles ist fahrbar - der MOUNTAINBIKE Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2020 27:59

For many of us, it’s shoulder season, where the riding conditions are either wet, muddy, cold — or all of the above. And some of us live in places where we just regularly encounter wet, muddy, or cold conditions.So today we’re talking about why some of the gear that’s intended for wet/muddy riding sucks; which products have worked the best for us; and we then turn to a conversation about forks from Fox, RockShox, and Manitou.TOPICS & TIMES:Wet-weather MTB Gloves (0:49)Why are MTB jackets often bad? (3:10)Fox Flexair NeoShell (5:48)7Mesh Skypilot (10:23)Endura MT500 II (12:21)Long-travel single-crown forks (15:41) 2021 Fox 40 (20:15)RELATED LINKS:Biking 101: Mountain Bike Fork OffsetGEAR:30 podcast on “Waterproofness” & Comfort See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

reports gear shoulder forks mtb reviewer manitou rockshox

02. Framgaffel: Rockshox ZEB

Cykelbygget MTB

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2020 11:14

Denna vecka är det den nya framgaffeln Rockshox ZEB som står i rampljuset för en snabb genomgång. Och så lite Rockshox-historia förstås!

rockshox

Die größten Anfängerfehler

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2020 64:00

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.)

bike fehler leidenschaft jeder popcorn momente besten wald die gr manche missverst hagen mtb wuppertal tageslicht shimano redakteure sram mountainbiken rockshox hardtail

MTB Suspension Talk & Big Rides - The Inside Line with SRAM's Chris Mandell

land fighting indigenous wilderness native bike substance discussed din indigenous peoples erasure navajo nation decolonization mountain biking native women hutchens rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2020 63:56

Welcome mountain bikers! Thanks for tuning in to Vital MTB’s The Inside Line podcast. We have a great show today with guest, Chris Mandell of SRAM. He has a long history in the mountain biking industry. We get into all kinds of suspension discussion thanks to his experience at RockShox, and we learn about his penchant for big, suffering rides.We hope you're getting on the trails and staying safe out there!Thank you - Maxxis TiresMaxxis TiresA big shout out goes to Maxxis tires. Make sure your bike has the right shoes for springtime shredding! Maxxis has supported The Inside Line since day one and they continue to make our bikes grips, rip and roll.Thank you - Jenson USAJenson USAUse code INSIDELINE and get 10% off select itemsAt jensonusa.com, you can save big with their summer MTB apparel sale. Jerseys, shorts, outwear, helmets and even shoes are available at big discounts right now as summer comes to a close. Get dialed at Jenson USA!Thank you - Santa Cruz BicyclesSanta Cruz Bicycles offers free pivot bearing replacement for life on any of their full-suspension frames. If your riding has slowed down with a bit of lockdown, now’s a great time to get your local shop for some bike maintenance. hit up santacruzbicycles.com/dealers to find a great shop near you.

cycling rides suspension fork jerseys downhill totem mtb mountain biking enduro mandell sram maxxis rockshox

Episode 26: Renee Hutchens on mountain biking as decolonization & fighting the erasure of indigenous peoples

Social Sport

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2020 61:32

Renee Hutchens is from the Diné (Navajo) Tribe and is an advocate for Native lands, public health and environmental issues, land conservation, and social justice for Indigenous peoples. She advocates for these issues by combining her culture's rich oral tradition of storytelling with photography, film, writing, social media, and mixed media artwork. At the heart of her storytelling is her relationship with the land because it is inseparable from the Diné way of life, their culture, and traditions. This is why mountain biking is more than a sport she's passionate about, it is one of the ways she maintains this necessary connection. Discussed in this episode: Navajo Nation and the Diné people The power of oral tradition and storytelling Colonization/Decolonization Mountain biking as decolonization "We Are Still Here--Creating Space for Indigenous Riders," Renee's article in Bike mag: https://www.bikemag.com/features/opinion/we-are-still-here/ Substance abuse prevention in native youth Native Women's Wilderness: https://www.nativewomenswilderness.org Vida MTB: https://www.vidamtb.com Erasure of Indigenous people #NotYourTribe petition: https://www.change.org/p/yeti-cycles-notyourtribe-yeti-cyles?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=e65a06a0-bf2b-11ea-ad39-955ec862628c Renee's words on recent actions of Rockshox: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDMLzlnH5ee/ Winona LaDuke: http://www.honorearth.org/speaking_engagements Land acknowledgements Follow Renee: Instagram: @renay.h Follow Social Sport: Instagram: @socialsportpod Facebook: @socialsportpod Twitter: @emmamzimm --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/socialsport/support

What is suspension tuning and who is it for?

apologies tuning suspension sprung alternatively seb rockshox

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2020 40:13

Seb dives deep into how, why and where suspension tuning works with Jake Ireland of Sprung Suspension.Suspension tuning can seems like a dark art. But what exactly can a tuning company do to improve your (already very sophisticated) mountain bike suspension? And if what they do is so good, why don't the shocks and forks they work on come with these modifications from the factory? Do Fox and RockShox not know what they're doing? Of course, there's a lot more to it than that.We sit down with Jake from Sprung suspension, a local tuning workshop, who candidly dives into what they do and why.Apologies for the background noise - we recorded this podcast in a busy workshop. You can subscribe to the BikeRadar Podcast via a range of podcast services, just click ‘Subscribe' to avoid missing an episode, or hit one of the buttons below! Alternatively, keep an eye on our BikeRadar Podcast page for the latest episode.Here are the links you need:https://sprungsuspension.com/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IiefpAgQ4ohttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads3/linear+shock+valving1096554254.jpghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhnKTZu2AKs&thttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV6d1LX0SkU& See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Caroline Washam: The World Cup Wonder Woman From Western North Carolina

Mountain Bike Movement Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2020 53:57

In this awesome episode, Caroline Washam recounts her origin story as a racer in BMX and the journey to World Cup tracks all over the world. Once you listen in, you will really like Caroline because she's so generous sharing her love of the sport and of people! Plus...I can tell you after riding with her on local trails she's an absolute ripper with amazing bike control. When you listen to this episode, you will uncover... - How to send a 40 foot gap...safely! - Which experience a racer is actually most proud of... and it's not always a podium! - What is it like conquering fears and "accidentally" racing world cups... - Why BMX is a great way to get into cycling...and how it translates quickly into Downhill riding... - What you DON'T learn from BMX... - How she met her husband through riding :) ... - Her current projects as a coach and the awesome community with Liv Racing! Caroline is a certified PMBIA Mountain Bike Coach, Elite Pro World Cup Downhill racer, and has represented the USA in the World Championships. Caroline is sponsored by: SRAM, Liv Cycling, RockShox, Industry 9, Schwalbe Tires, Flat Tire Defend, Joes No Flats Her coaching company is @Spokedllc You can follow her on Instagram @caroline.washam and her ultra cute puppy @thisdogchuppy See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The New RockShox ZEB with Chris Mandell

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2020 45:28

David Golay and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss the backstory of the new ZEB fork and why RockShox built it; who it’s for; its available configurations and compatibility; the ZEB vs. the Lyrik and more, with RockShox’s Chris Mandell.TOPICS & TIMESChris’ background (3:39)ZEB backstory (12:40)Different ZEB models (21:57)ZEB vs RockShox Lyrik (26:49)ZEB compatibility (37:31)Drivetrains vs Brakes vs Suspension (38:51) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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New RockShox ZEB Fork - MTB Tech Talk with Jon Cancellier

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Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2020 36:46

In this Tech Talk episode, Vital MTB's Brandon Turman calls up RockShox Product Manager, Jon Cancellier, to discuss one of the biggest, burliest forks in years – the just introduced RockShox ZEB. Featuring 38mm stanchions and travel lengths up to 190mm, you know this one is ready for business. The two cover everything from stiffness considerations to Pro rider feedback, where it shines on the trail, and who it was designed for. Visit Vital MTB to learn more about the new RockShox Zeb fork

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S03E12 - Reggisella telescopico wirless su bici gravel

Viva la Fuga

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2020 2:12

Rockshox ha realizzato un reggisella telescopico wireless, non è una novità assoluta la cosa è nota da un anno e mezzo, quasi due, ma su una bici gravel l'accorgimento tecnico non è così frequente.Gravel Cyclist già un anno fa ci aveva deliziato con delle immagini precise.-----Segui VIVA LA FUGA YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/vivalafugaINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/wlfuga/TELEGRAM: https://t.me/wlafugaTWITCH: https://www.twitch.tv/stenbycicle

Cape Epic, CBC, UCI, Coronavírus e Lançamento RockShox - Noticias da semana

Radio Ciclo Sul

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2020 11:13

No Bike Reverb de hoje, falamos sobre o cancelamento do Cape Epic e as decisões da CBC e UCI. Falamos também sobre o lançamento das novas suspensões RockShox

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4 Special Feature: The Pikes Peak APEX

Pedal The Springs

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2020 52:49

It’s the biggest mountain biking event to come to the Front Range of Colorado, a four-stage challenge race offering a bucket list opportunity for amateurs and the top cyclists in the world to race alongside the majestic mountains of the Pikes Peak Region. The prize purse is set at $50,000 to be equally split among men and women. It's the 2nd biggest prize purse in North America. In this special edition of Pedal the Springs - we’re talking with the people in the know from The Pikes Peak APEX Challenge including the race director Mica Rice, presenting sponsor RockShox and a local trail building advocacy organization who all say this is really big deal for Colorado Springs that will put the city on the map as a world class mountain biking destination. Find out all the details about the stages, locations, how to get involved, where to watch and how this non-profit event produced by the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance will help make a difference for our trails and community for years to come. Host: Torie Giffin, owner of the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort Guests: Sarah Rawley, Brand Content Specialist at RockShox presenting sponsor of the The Pikes Peak APEX Race Micah Rice, Executive Director of the The Pikes Peak APEX Race, Vice President of Strategy and Operations for Sports Strategies. Cory Sutela, Director of Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates, the mountain biking trail building and advocacy organization in the Pikes Peak Region. Links to show topics: The Pikes Peak APEX Pikes Peak outdoor Recreation Alliance RockShox ASSOS Circa Real Estate Group Heuberger Subaru USA Cycling Air Force Academy Austin Bluffs Bear Creek Regional Park Blodgett Captain Jacks Cheyenne Canyon City of Colorado Springs Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC Sports Economic Team Colorado Springs Regional Parks and Open Spaces Colorado Tourism Office Downtown Colorado Springs Falcon Trail Frosty Park Garden of the Gods Garden of the Gods Trading Post Gold Camp Road & Tunnels High Drive Jones Park Kate Courtney #sparklewatts Keegan Swenson Lake Moraine Trail LART Lodging and Rental Tax Fund Leadville 100 Mtb Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates Mountain Bike Pikes Peak N. Cheyenne Canyon Palmer Park Pikes Peak Pipeline Trail Rampart Range Road Rampart Reservoir Trail Red Leg Brewing Company Red Rock Canyon Open Space Ring the Peak Ring the Peak Trail project RockShox Rocky Mountain Field Institute Russell Finsterwald Santa Fe Trail Sports Corp SRAM Stratton Open Space Todd Wells TOPS Trails, Open Space & Parks Tax Trails and Open Space Coalition Ute Valley Park Visit COS Pedal the Springs is produced and presented by the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort, the only bicycle-themed lodging and must-stay for cyclists coming to Colorado. Check us out at bicycleresort.com for more information. Racers will get 50% off newly-renovated signature bicycle-themed and friendly suites with proof of race registration. 30% discount on standard rooms. Call 719-634-2851 or Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort

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Scott Hart, co-founder of decline Magazine - The Inside Line Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2019 239:10

Scott Hart, fanatic mountain biker, fierce competitor and one to always follow his instincts, shares how he went from humble Indiana roots to becoming one of the premier editorial voices of American mountain biking. While many of you may not know who Scott is, he and Ralf Hauser created decline Magazine in the early 2000's. I had the privilege of working as a staffer at decline with Scott, Ralf and Mark Jordan after freelancing for them. decline has since come and gone, but the impact that magazine had on our community, specifically the gravity side of our family, is still evident today and that's largely because of Scott's voice and vision. His upbringing and experience as a struggling professional downhill and slalom racer, including highlights like competing in the first Red Bull Rampage, gave Scott the foundation and desire to make mountain biking look as appealing and rad to the masses as it really is. In addition to his racing history, we discuss the beginnings of Flow Magazine which eventually turned into decline under their newly-found publishing house. The ups, downs and ultimate end of Hart's run with decline is explored in addition to the founding and demise of the U.S. downhill initiative, Team America. We end up discussing his role at RockShox for a few years after leaving decline and where he thinks the future of mountain bike media is headed.This is a re-issue of both parts 1 and 2 combined from July 2018. Scott asked that it be removed due to personal reasons, but we're stoked to have his permission to re-launch the interview. I hope this episode will inspire you to work hard, enjoy riding bikes and persevere in the face of risk. -gordo

TLP091: What Leaders Need to Pack

The Leadership Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2018 38:27

Layne Rigney, the President of Osprey, speaks about his focus on alignment and core values within the company and his passion for working with transitioning veterans. As a global company, Layne notes the shift he’s seeing in consumer trends and brand loyalty. Listen in to learn from Layne’s decisions in the present day, and when he was the President of CamelBak. Key Takeaways [2:23] In his new role at Osprey, the first thing Layne did was focus on bringing back alignment within the company. He did this by getting clear with his team on the values and vision. [5:02] When Layne came on to the team he led workshops at the facilities located in Utah, Vietnam and Colorado. They turned the business inside out and figured out how to tap into people’s efforts to bring their vision to life. [7:17] Layne touches upon why he finds working with veterans so satisfying. He feels they are an underutilized talent pool, and during his time at CamelBak, he saw the many gifts this group had to offer. Now Osprey sponsors programs that help veterans transition into the workforce. The Skip Yowell Future Leadership Academy and the River Leaders Trip are both examples of a commitment to this community. [12:49] Layne cites the challenges of operating a multi-channel distribution in a global market less about the company and more about technology changing at a rapid pace. [14:57] Leaders have to take the best interest of their team and run with it in that direction rather than only abiding by industry trends and what the masses are doing. [18:46] People are now seeking a relationship with their brands, and base a lot of their purchases on what the company culture is like, where they spend their discretionary funds and the company’s creed. [19:35] Layne about recruiting and hiring people smarter than the leader. It was a journey for both the business and himself and was an exercise in letting go and relaxing into his own empowerment. [24:38] Layne likes to set a safe and open environment within Osprey where his employees can feel comfortable to share their own ideas about what has also worked in the past, and what may work in the future. [33:46] The identification, acquisition and nurturing of talent is a challenge Layne takes very seriously. [36:42] Layne is committed to spending more time understanding finance and how it changes businesses. He also is looking forward to engaging with the outdoors and the users of the product. Website: osprey.com Instagram: @ospreypacks Twitter: @OspreyPacks Facebook: Ospreypacks Quotable Quotes “You join a business like this because you believe in the product.” Veterans are a talent reservoir You have to forge your own path more than ever before. “Figuring out how to be patriotic within a global brand can be a challenge.” It takes courage to hire smart people Build the collective IQ and distribute it! “Your job as a leader is to basically get people to run through a wall for you.” “People can smell a fake.” “Don’t ask a question to make a point.” Bio Layne M. Rigney is an effective and strategic executive leader with proven experience in global product, sales and business growth as demonstrated by his success leading teams for world class consumer products brands like Osprey, CamelBak, PowerBar/Nestlé USA, and RockShox Inc. Prior to joining Osprey Packs in 2016, Rigney served as President of CamelBak the $180M global hydration brand. Rigney led the executive team responsible for Sales, Marketing, Product Development, Finance, Operations, and Human Resources. Under his leadership, the sales team successfully increased distribution in highly disparate distribution channels including specialty, online, mass and military outlets. He was instrumental in guiding product and marketing teams to develop differentiated product offerings and marketing strategies to increase revenue world wide. He is a firm believer in organizational alignment and accountability. Before joining CamelBak in 2005, Rigney led Franklin Resource Group as Vice President and General Manager of the retail training, merchandising, and execution consulting firm. During his tenure, he led the restructuring and rebranding of the company, acquired new national accounts and grew average revenue per client over 15%. Recognized for his experience in sales restructuring and growth, Rigney was hired by the founder of PowerBar to reorganize its underperforming Sporting Goods Division. In his first year, Rigney reversed a three-year decline and increased revenues by 22%. Rigney began his career with RockShox in 1992, where he held various positions of increasing responsibility with the creator of modern suspension sys tems for bicycles. An industry thought-leader, Rigney serves on the board of Camber Outdoors and the Outdoor Industry Association. Books Mentioned in this Episode Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

MTB Podcast – Episode 42 – Bike Rack Deep Dive

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Play Episode Listen Later Jan 21, 2018 75:33

Bike racks and transporting your bike is a topic that suffers from wrongfully assumed understanding. It seems straightforward, and it is, but small nuances of how and where you rack your bike can make your life easier, save your vehicle and save your bike. Topics Covered In This Episode: • Hope is refunding their bike customers: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/hope-error-in-your-favor-collect-2000.html • Cam Zink is off Rockshox: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/cam-zink-off-sram-rockshox.html • Vida MTB Series 2018: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/vida-mtb-series-2018-schedule-womens-skills-clinics.html • Stans Pivot Pro Team: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/stans-pivot-pro-team-updates-roster-pivot-cycles-commits-through-tokyo-2020.html • Knolly embraces 157 SuperBoost: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/knolly-moves-entire-lineup-to-157mm-spacing-157trail.html • SRAM's new crankset standard: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/srams-new-dub-cranks-and-bottom-brackets-first-look.html • EWS Introduces Continental Series: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/ews-launches-new-continental-enduro-series-2018.html • Things to look for when going to 27.5 from 29 inch wheels • How to diagnose creaking in your bike • Fork offset and how it will affect your handling • Ideal training setup for a mountain biker • How to discover if a tire has low rolling resistance • What type of bike is best for Texas? • Suspension settings when setting sag • Comprehensive guide to bike racks • Polygiene Ant-Microbial Treatment: http://www.yeticycles.com/gear/ride/enduro-jersey?color=1 • Maxxis Maxx Grip Compound: http://www.maxxis.com/other-bicycle-information/bicycle-technology/compounds

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Interview: Michael Klasmeier in Studio- Suspension Guru, Bike Shop Owner, Shredder

AngryMountainBiker Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2018 97:22

In today's show, Micheal Klasmeier, owner of Trailwerks Cyclery in Annapolis MD, joins me in studio for a wide ranging discussion. Michael talks about his time with Rockshox, getting Bacon Ridge trail built, what makes a hub good, and what to expect at his downhill coaching camps with Harlan Price in Snowshoe, West Virginia this summer. Trailwerks Cyclery Donate to MORE! Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Google Play

The Path Podcast - “Anka Martin, Sarah Leishman & Kelli Emmett” (Jan 7, 2018 #952)

Mountain Bike Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2018 68:42

January 7, 2018 The Path Podcast Show Page ABOUT THIS EPISODE Nathan, Tani, and Auk are still on location for the Santa Cruz holiday party and are joined by the riders of the Juliana-SRAM Pro Team of Anka Martin, Sarah Leishan, and Kelli Emmett, They cover many topics, including life after retirement, women in the industry and more. The Path guys welcome all of your questions and encourage you to send them an email with the subject “Podcast Question” to podcast@thepathbikeshop.com. ------------ ABOUT ANKA MARTIN HEIGHT: 5’3″ DATE OF BIRTH: JANUARY 28, 1977 Bike Size: Small Bike Setup Highlights: I don’t have any crazy bike set ups really, I do like a specific tune on my rear shock, and two tokens in my Rockshox Lyrik fork, but for the most part I just throw some lube on the chain, and get out there on the trails. From the Blog: “This is my absolute favourite thing in the world to do (exploring new cool places with my bike), so I thought that starting an adventure trip just for women and teaming up with some of the best guiding outfitters around the globe could bring about a change. These trips could act as a platform for adventurous women to take the plunge and to go on a riding trip of their own—and then someday we’ll see groups of women out shredding with the token male tagging along. :-)” Excerpt, Soul Trails ABOUT SARAH LEISHMAN HEIGHT: 5’3″ DATE OF BIRTH: APRIL 7 Bike Size: Small Bike Setup Highlights: Reverb set right up against my grip so I can reach. Levers close to the bars for my freakishly small hands. SRAM Quarq power meter 32 ring when I train—I take it off to race. Prototype Juliana saddle. From the Blog: “As far as the 2017 riding season; it’s already full of change. I plan to shift my focus away from the intensity of racing and battling on the Enduro World Series, and instead focus on bringing energy back into local events, media projects that are meaningful to me, and living my days like Chuck does.” Excerpt, The Year of Chuck ABOUT KELLI EMMETT HEIGHT: 5’5″ DATE OF BIRTH: APRIL 7, 1977 Bike Size: Medium Bike Setup Highlights: I’m riding a new Reverb from Rockshox that I love! It has 6 inches of travel, which gives me plenty of room to get back on steep descents. Braking power helps my confidence a ton, so I take the extra weight and use 200 mm rotors in the front and rear. My Pike fork is set up soft at 45 psi with 2 tokens. From the Blog: “Don’t be intimidated. Take advantage of riding with the local pros in your community. Every time I hit the trails with female companions who are better riders than me, my riding progresses. I’m inspired to hit jumps and ride technical sections that I never thought were possible. Watching other women shred gives me the confidence that I can do the same.” Excerpt, 10 Things I Wish I’d Known More: When it comes to racing and training, it’s fair to say Kelli knows a thing or two, and thankfully she’s not afraid to share it! Her blog pieces on strength and interval training are favorites around the office and around the internet. In fact, Kelli pushes a little too hard sometimes and found herself nursing a triple-fractured collarbone after a training ride last September! ----------- RELATED SHOW LINKS Shop via our Amazon Affiliate Link Shop the Mountain Bike Radio Store Get on The Path Newsletter Email List Juliana SRAM Pro Team: https://www.julianabicycles.com/en/us/juliana-sram-pro-team About Anka Martin: https://www.julianabicycles.com/en/us/rider/anka-martin About Sarah Leishman: https://www.julianabicycles.com/en/us/rider/sarah-leishman About Kelli Emmett: https://www.julianabicycles.com/en/us/rider/kelli-emmett #ThePathPodcast Follow Auk on Instagram The Path Bike Shop Website The Path Bike Shop Facebook Page The Path Bike Shop on Instagram The Path Bike Shop on Twitter The Path Bike Shop on Google+ The Path Bike Shop on Pinterest The Path Bike Shop on Vimeo Like what you are getting from Mountain Bike Radio? Support it and get something in exchange.

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MTB Podcast – Episode 34 – Interbike, World Champs, concussions, rotational weight + more!

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2017 96:20

Jonathan and Steven cover some big retirement news, a new 7,000' descent in Downieville, a deep dive on drivetrains and hacks and cover your questions! Topics covered in this episode: • Todd Wells has retired :( • Sho-Air pulls out of the US Cup • Downieville's new 7,000' descent: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/downieville-downhill-now-boasts-7000-vertical-feet-of-descending.html • John Tomac: American Mountain Bike Legend - Video: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/john-tomac-american-mountain-bike-legend-video.html • Can Fox remotes be used on Rockshox suspension, and vice versa? • Is MTB mechanics a viable career? • Should clydesdales avoid carbon? • What tire width should most people have? • What is a good budget kids MTB? • Affordable road bikes for training • The one reason a Reverb is better than other dropper posts • Is it bad to train with clipless pedals and ride in flats? • What power meters are best for MTB? • How to know when your head tube height is correct • The ultimate guide to drivetrains

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TECH TALK: Air Versus Coil Shocks, What's Better?

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2017 15:19

All of your questions answered! We discuss one of the hottest tech topics in mountain biking with the guys making rear shocks for a living. See the full story at http://www.vitalmtb.com/features/TECH-TALK-Air-Shocks-Versus-Coil-Shocks-Whats-Better,2065

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Off the Cuff - Josh Carlson, Enduro Racer

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Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2017 20:50

Josh Carlson popped onto the world enduro scene unknown, but he left his mark early on. Always ready to go for it, Josh had some big tumbles and serious injuries before figuring out how to channel his inner sender and develop the kind of consistency required to feature on page one of the results sheet. We had the opportunity to meet Josh at the recent launch of the new Giant Reign, and we sat down with the affable Aussie for an informal but very informative chat about all things enduro. Hit play and join the party!

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The Path Podcast - "Committing to Corner" (July 7, 2017 #885)

Mountain Bike Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2017 66:01

July 7, 2017 The Path Podcast Show Page ABOUT THIS EPISODE: For this episode of The Path the guys have some JRA style remote recording audio woes, a little shop talk of new Rockshox forks, and why you should always do a lowers service to your fork straight out of the box. Also new big travel 29ers coming to the shop, and a ton of great bikes in stock and on sale until July 9th - act fast. The crew dives into SBG by Transition and discusses the new Nomad. The Path guys welcome all of your questions and encourage you to send them an email with the subject "Podcast Question" to podcast@thepathbikeshop.com. ------------ RELATED SHOW LINKS Shop via our Amazon Affiliate Link Shop the Mountain Bike Radio Store Santa Cruz Bicycles Rockshox Lyrik Rockshox Pike 2018 Giant Anthem 29 Intense Carbine 29 Norco Range 29 Transition SBG Geo Video Get on The Path Newsletter Email List #ThePathPodcast Follow Auk on Instagram The Path Bike Shop Website The Path Bike Shop Facebook Page The Path Bike Shop on Instagram The Path Bike Shop on Twitter The Path Bike Shop on Google+ The Path Bike Shop on Pinterest The Path Bike Shop on Vimeo Like what you are getting from Mountain Bike Radio? Support it and get something in exchange.

004 Simon Lawton, founder of Fluidride

The Mtb Jumper Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2017 89:15

Simon Lawton interview show notes Fluidride Home Page and on Facebook 1:15 Simon Lawton's Motocross roots 4:17 Training to be a pro Motocross rider 5:45 Discovers Mtbs 6:28 Beginnings of racing career 7:15 Mount Hood Mtb Race mention 7:45 Mammoth Kamikaze race mention 9:20 End of DH career 9:28 Career injuries suffered by Simon Lawton 13:11 Origins of Fluidride 13:28 Simon's involvement in Leftside Industries, prosthetic leg project 16:06 Larz Sternberg mention 17:25 Simon Lawton's first coaching client 18:08 Tiger Mountain Mtb trails mention 19:30 Closing his bike shops and starting Fluidride coaching full time 20:16 Big Tree Bikes mention 21:31 Satisfaction that comes from teaching 22:51 Dealing with fear as a Mountain Biker 26:03 Overcoming Mtb'ing fears as a metaphor for like 27:21 Advice for parents with kids who want to be Mountain Bikers 28:29 Do something that scares you everyday; the Mtb'ers version 29:49 Lee McCormack mention and discussion re anxiety about hitting jumps 30:56 Importance of upper body relaxation in Mtb Jumping 32:53 Jordie Lunn mention 33:06 Footwork for better Mtb turns 34:11 Mtb racing foot placement history and development 34:27 Sam Hill mention and “level feet” Mountain Bike turns 37:21 How to snap turns, and why you should learn it 38:40 Why the bicycle is the fastest vehicle down a hill 42:15 How the best Mtb'ers work hard to build basic, foundational skills 44:27 How to pass most people in right handed turns 45:09 Phil Kmetz mention 45:47 Fluidride Mtb Training classes, videos and more 46:29 Diamondback Bicycles mention 47:07 How Simon Lawton's teaching evolves and improves 49:35 How to incorporate articulation and body movement into straight jumps, vs hips 56:14 The scarriest thing for a pro Mountain Biker to do off a jump 57:18 No take off/lip is perfect, and what to do about it 58:40 Relationship between speed and distance in Mountain Bike jumping 01:01 Fluidride Whistler Camps 01:02 How to boost Mtb dirt jumps 01:05 Why you land back wheel first, or front wheel first 01:07 What to do if you're coming off the peddles in the air 01:10 Fluidride Alps Tours 01:12 Fluidride Andes Tours are coming 01:17 Group vs Private instruction 01:20 Fluidride Instruct Training details 01:24 Norman's experience with Fluidride instruction 01:25 Rockshox and Sram mentions

Just Riding Along - "Ants" (June 6, 2017 #874)

Mountain Bike Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2017 81:07

June 6, 2017 The Just Riding Along Show Page ABOUT THIS EPISODE The crew is hitting their stride with the remote recording setup. Tune in to hear about Kenny's chainsaw fun, Andrea's continued Colorado SS streak, and Matt's new helmet. Oh, and ants. ---------- SHOW DONATIONS -Michael from Ohio gave $25 A huge thanks to all the past show supporters! If you like JRA and want it to continue, consider supporting the show, CLICK HERE. We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for the next episode, contact us at jra@mountainbikeradio.com. If you have a question, please include the following details: what do you weigh, do you jump stuff, what is your budget, what is your goal? This will help us, help you, keep Just Riding Along. ------------ LISTENER QUESTIONS Questions answered by the crew in this episode: – Matt from Vancouver wants to know about Rockshox 0w30 – Dan from Connecticut sends over the record bass caught on nuggets - link below – Michael from the East Coast lets us know he cracked a Neo hub, also. – Adam from Massachusetts wants to know which bike to put a power meter on. – Paul from Oregon has some numbness issues in his hands. Help! If you have any comments or questions for the Just Riding Along show, email to jra@mountainbikeradio.com ------------ RELATED SHOW LINKS Shop via our Amazon Affiliate Link Go to the Mountain Bike Radio Store Listener submitted song credit: Tangible G Utah Gravity Series Problem Solvers Star Nut Work Around Riverbrook Bike and Ski Quarq Do Yoga with Me Record bass caught on nuggets Bontrager Rally Mips Become a Mountain Bike Radio member Just Riding Along on Twitter Brickhouse Racing Website Brickhouse Racing Facebook Page Brickhouse Racing Instagram Mountain Bike Radio Facebook Page Andrea’s Twitter Matt’s Twitter Kenny’s Twitter

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MTB Podcast – Episode 20 – EWS Madeira, XC Marathon Champs and more questions!

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Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2017 80:29

Steven and Jonathan cover the latest racing news from EWS Madeira, XC Marathon National Championships, Jonathan's disastrous race at the Tech Dev Pro XCT in Utah, and take all of your questions. Topics covered in this episode: • Which suspension design is the least difficult to maintain? • What causes cramps and how to avoid them? • The benefits of coil shocks for aggressive riders • Understanding low speed and high speed compression and rebound • How to set up your Rockshox suspension • Is standover height actually important? • What type of chamois is the best for MTB? • Specialized Camber vs. Yeti ASR • Should you hand wash your kits? • The e*Thirteen TRS Dropper Post • What to do if your shock becomes locked • Tasco MTB gloves: https://www.tasco-mtb.com • SRAM Level Ultimate Brakes

Elayna Caldwell, SRAM Brand Director of MTB

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Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2017 59:41

I am honored to share an interview with The Inside Line's first female guest, Elayna Caldwell. Elayna is Brand Director of Mountain Biking at SRAM. She has a long history in our sport, starting out as a hobbyist racer and eventually finding her way into the industry by way of a an entry-level marketing position at RockShox back when it was based in Northern California. We discuss some of her journey in the sport, how she arrived at the top of the SRAM food chain, women's racing and the women's market in mountain biking, as well as, triumphs and challenges of her career. Elayna is a candid woman who won't hesitate to share her opinion, and her genuine passion for mountain biking shines through. I hope you learn something, laugh and enjoy the interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it. -spomer

Duncan Riffle, SRAM PR Coordinator and Former World Cup Downhiller

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2017 81:55

Welcome mountain bikers to Vital MTB's The Inside Line Podcast Back in early December of 2016, I met with Duncan Riffle. I've known Duncan for years and had shot photos with him when he was a pro downhill racer, competing on the World Cup circuit in the early and mid 2000's. Since then he's become a staple of SRAM's marketing department. What's funny is that I think of him as duncan riffle the american downhiller...the guy who won a Mt. Snow Vermont NORBA National in the rain. But he explained to me that most of his interaction today is with people who only know him as a SRAM guy. We go into his storied downhill career and how he successfully transitioned into an industry position - a transition that most ex-racers don't seem to make very well. if you've seen his Instagram posts, you know he has a TON of ink and he posts some heavy pieces of writing. We get into that a bit too. Duncan is a focused, driven personality of our sport and I hope you enjoy learning about his dedication to racing and riding bikes as much as I did.

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MTB Podcast – Episode 11 – MTB Rear Suspension Explained