Bikes & Big Ideas

A lot of recently updated bikes have felt like relatively subtle refinements of their predecessors, but there are also a bunch of brands still taking big swings. The new Yeti LT, Orbea Rallon, and Devinci Spartan are all very, very different from the bikes they replaced, and we’ve been testing all of them.So David Golay sat down with Xan Marshland to offer up some thoughts on this new crop of long-travel bruisers, discuss some of the shorter-travel rigs they’ve been testing — across a vast range of price points — and get into some bigger picture discussions about the direction of the bike industry and mountain bike design along the way.Note: We Want to Hear From You!Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.comRELATED LINKS:Momentous: livemomentous.com use code: BlisterOneSkin: oneskin.co/BLISTERGet Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideTOPICS & TIMES:Ibis Ripley AF (1:18)Specialized Epic 9 (11:57)Revel Ranger V3 (18:06)Yeti LT (24:16)Orbea Rallon (36:16)Devinci Spartan (47:13)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings are more than just a list of which cities have the best bike paths; they are a comprehensive look at how a city manages bike infrastructure, and have become a tool cities use to identify areas needing improvement, and a valuable resource for for individuals interested in advocating for change in their own communities.  City Ratings is a massive undertaking, so we sat down with PeopleForBikes’ Martina Haggerty and Grace Stonecipher to get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into producing them and how they’re reshaping the ways some cities approach bike infrastructure.Note: We Want to Hear From You!Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.comRELATED LINKS:Momentous: livemomentous.com use code: BlisterOneSkin: oneskin.co/BLISTERGet Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideTOPICS & TIMES:Who Are PeopleForBikes and What They Do (0:38)Why & How City Ratings Got Started (2:20)How Many Cities are Included (3:41)City Ratings Methodology (4:10)Best Cities (11:12)Pushback? (13:03)How to get involved to help your city become more bike-friendly (18:04)Biggest Challenges (21:43)International Cities (24:35)Ebike considerations? (26:36)Next year’s ratings (28:28)What advice can you offer a city to help improve its score? (29:27)Other PFB Initiatives (30:25)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

After 22 years, Cam McCaul and Trek parted ways, leading to a new partnership with Revel Bikes, so Simon caught up with his old friend Cam to get the inside story on how his new Partnership with Revel came to be. And it’s not all bike and sponsor talk. Fans of Red Bull Rampage have been listening to Cam’s commentary for years, and today he also talks about how hard it was being on the mic when Adolf Silva got injured, what he thinks about the future of Rampage, and much more.Note: We Want to Hear From You!Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.comRELATED LINKS:Episode Sponsor: oneskin.co/BLISTERBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Cam & Simon’s Elevator Show (3:27)Signing with Revel (6:09)Cam’s Take on MTB Design (16:46)Broadcasting (19:59)Kissing the Blarney Stone (21:21)Stunt Work (24:10)Adolf Silva’s Rampage Injury (36:34)The Future of Rampage (42:34)Worst Injury (47:42)What Gets Cam Fired About Bikes? (51:23)Cam’s Music Recs (1:00:10)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED

Hunt Bike Wheels has been building durable, affordable wheels since 2015, so Simon caught up with their Brand Manager, James Stokoe, to talk about about their early days based in a garage, their first gravel wheels, moving into the MTB market, rider-focused engineering, why wheels make the most sense when upgrading a new bike, some highly entertaining stories from James, and more. Note: We Want to Hear From You!Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover or a guest you’d like us to have on Bikes and Big Ideas. Email us at info@blisterreview.com to weigh in.RELATED LINKS:Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredHunt Bike WheelsTOPICS & TIMES:Hunt’s History (3:41)First Gravel Wheels (8:36)The move into MTB Wheels (13:31)Rider-Focused Engineering Approach (15:40)Aluminum & Carbon Wheels (20:01)Hub Design (27:40)Why Durability is so Important (35:08)Hunt’s Customer Service (45:07)Upcoming events for Hunt (52:29)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

In the midst of some of the most dangerous fire conditions ever seen in the American West, Mike and Simon discuss wildfire prevention and what the different levels of fire restrictions mean. From the bike industry, there's the shocking news from Cannonale to shutter their factory racing program next year, SRAM’s plan to build a massive factory in Portugal, and Mike gives a heartfelt tribute to the late Charlie Cunningham.The World Cup DH and XC stop in Lenzerheide delivered exciting racing, giving Mike and Simon plenty to get fired up about, and with the La Thuile World Cup right around the corner, they offer up some predictions, too.Note: We Want to Hear From You!Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover or a guest you’d like us to have on Bikes and Big Ideas. Email us at info@blisterreview.com to weigh in.RELATED LINKS:Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideGet Our Free Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredMike’s The Grimy Handshake SubstackTOPICS & TIMES:Monarch Crest Ride (1:24)Wildfire Prevention & Fire Restrictions (7:18)Tribute to Charlie Cunningham (19:30)Cannondale Shutting Down Factory Racing Program (23:00)New SRAM Factory in Portugal (28:00)Overlanding E-Bikes (30:31)Lenzerheide World Cup Recap (39:39)La Thuile World Cup Predictions (49:57)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

It’s never been easy to make it as an independent framebuilder, and it’s only getting harder. Chris Blandford knows the struggle well, and might well be doing more than anyone else currently to support small US builders, from founding Firsthand Framebuilding to resurrecting Paragon Machine Works, and more. He’s here to tell us all about it.Note: We Want to Hear From You!Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.comRELATED LINKS:Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideBLISTER Digital Access PassTOPICS & TIMES:Introducing Chris (2:40)The Portland, OR framebuilding scene (6:26)Chris’ introduction to framebuilding (10:22)Founding Firsthand & the Firsthand vision (13:20)Framebuilding classes (18:25)Acquiring Paragon Machine Works (31:18)What’s next? (44:59)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast