Bikes & Big Ideas

We’ve been testing a massive range of bikes, from the XC-oriented Kona Hei Hei to the long-travel, full-power Santa Cruz Bullit, so David, Simon, and Dylan sat down to talk about a whole bunch of them. We also dive into Shimano’s long-awaited XTR Di2 wireless drivetrain and the Deore and XT versions that just launched, the consistency of Shimano’s new brakes, and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Kona Hei Hei (1:46)Yeti MTe (10:46)Pivot SL/AM (22:36)Specialized Turbo Levo 4 (31:45)Santa Cruz Bullit (40:13)Salsa Blackthorn 145 (46:17)Esker Woodsy (52:48)Santa Cruz Hightower & Bronson (1:02:51)Shimano XTR Di2 & Deore / XT versions (1:17:48)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

Ultra-fast long-distance bike rides have garnered a lot of attention of late, headlined by Lael Wilcox’s record-setting circumnavigation of the planet. But as impressive as many of those efforts are, there’s something lost in moving so quickly. Seeing the world by bike is a great way to slow down, take it all in, and have an experience that other methods of transportation can’t replicate.Chris McCaffrey finished a seventeen-month ride around the world last fall, and we sat down to hear his whole story, from the trans-Atlantic rowing effort that sparked his interest in long-distance human-powered travel, to the incredible places he saw and people he met along the way, and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Why ride around the world? (2:29)Trans-Atlantic rowing attempt (6:23)Chris’s first big bikepacking trip (17:56)Lessons learned from that trip (24:03)Bike setup for the ride around the world (26:45)The route (32:10)Setting off (39:01)North America (43:22)Europe (49:12)Asia (51:03)Getting sick (1:04:44)Favorite places & next destinations (1:25:20)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

In the May edition of Reviewing the News, we start with some good news regarding the return of Revel Bikes and the acquisition of Rocky Mountain by four Canadian investors. World Cup DH racing kicked off with two exciting races with vastly different conditions, Christopher Blevins continued his XC winning streak in Nova Mesto, and the incredible Giro d’Italia was one we won’t soon forget, plus a whole lot more. RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Revel Returns (3:13)Rocky Mountain’s New Owners (13:01)Christopher Blevins’ Domination (16:22)Mathieu Van Der Poel Crashed and Burned (24:01)The Fantastic Giro d’Italia (34:23)Visma’s Stage 20 Tactical Masterpiece (53:00)Simon Yates’ Redemption (39:47)Terrible Conditions at the Bielsko-Biała DH World Cup (58:59)A Dry, Blown-Out Track in Loudenville (1:05:31)Jackson Goldstone’s Incredible Race Run (1:08:25)Gracey Helmstreet’s First Win For Canada (1:14:13)Recent favorite products (1:17:44)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

Esker Cycles came on the scene in 2018 with a couple of sleek carbon fiber mountain bikes featuring an unknown Dave Weagle suspension platform called Orion. Weagle’s design was originally conceived for motorcycles and was dependent on a single front sprocket layout, which, back when Orion was developed, didn’t include mountain bikes since multiple chainrings and front derailleurs were still the norm. Orion was shelved until Esker founder Tim Krueger approached Weagle looking for a suspension design, and the first Esker bikes started to take shape. Steel and Titanium hardtails followed as Esker expanded its product portfolio, and while Esker’s first suspension bikes were carbon fiber, Tim had aluminum in mind from the beginning, with the dream of offering high-quality, affordable mountain bikes. A lot has changed since the early days of Esker, so today we’re catching up with Tim Krueger  — and he doesn’t disappoint — essentially pulling back the curtain on what it’s been like to be a small bike brand during a volatile time in the bike industry. Tim also discusses their decision to abandon carbon fiber bikes in favor of aluminum, focusing on affordability, his take on geometry, their new metal bikes, and much more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredEsker CyclesTOPICS & TIMES:Tim’s First Bike Shop JobTeaching Was Not for TimGetting Hired as a Product Manager for SalsaAdventure by BikeTim’s Time Guiding Bike Packing ToursMeeting Dave WeagleBlowing the Dust off Orion SuspensionBootstrapping EskerScraping Together $250K Manufacturing in Taiwan vs ChinaAll in for MetalEsker’s New Aluminum BikesDirect and Bike Shop Sales StrategyBox of BikesEsker’s Conservative Approach to GrowthCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

There is big news in the bike world today: Revel Bikes is back. And Revel’s founder, Adam Miller, is now once again the owner of Revel. It was almost exactly five years ago that I was sitting down with Adam in Blister HQ talking about Revel’s meteoric rise. A lot has transpired since then, including the company announcing that it was shutting down just a few weeks ago. But today, Revel is back, Adam Miller is back, and I sat down with Adam to get the whole story.RELATED LINKSGet Yourself Covered: BLISTER+Jonathan’s talk w/ Adam from 2020David Golay’s talk w/ Adam in 2022TOPICS & TIMES:Shout Out: New BLISTER+ Members (1:23)The News: Revel is Back (2:35)Refresher: Adam’s Background (6:26)Why Did You Sell in 2021? (12:12)What Caused Revel’s Meteoric Rise?  (22:43)How Was Retirement? (41:57)Getting the News that Revel was Done (48:15)The Decision to Try to Buy Revel Back (50:29)What’s the Current State of Revel? (57:59)What’s Different Going Forward? (1:02:19)Inventory, Logistics, & Tariffs (1:05:19)Customer Confidence? (1:10:00)Biggest Lessons You’ve Learned? (1:12:46)What Happens Now? (1:21:15)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

Fox has launched a ton of new suspension over the last month or so, and we’ve been testing just about all of it. So David and Zack sat down to chat about how that’s going so far, and how the new forks and shocks stack up against their predecessors; chat about our respective experiments with long-shocking and dual-crown-equipping our personal Enduro bikes; check in on Pivot’s new Trailcat SL & LT, and a bunch more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Fox 36 & 36 SL (2:08)Fox Float X2 and DHX2 (11:03)Pivot Trailcat SL & LT (14:19)Trickstuff Maxima (28:47)Kavenz VHP 18 & Geometron G1 DH mode (38:33)OneUp Wave Pedals & Clip Pedal Update (56:56)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

In April of 2024, Kona Bikes set up their tent at Sea Otter, then promptly tore it back down when Kent Outdoors, who owned Kona at the time, pulled the rug right out from under them and declared that Kona was no longer in business. A year later, we sit down with Kona founder Jacob Heilbron about why he and other Kona founder Dan Gerhard sold Kona to Kent Outdoors; what happened at Sea Otter; how things have been going since buying Kona back; rebuilding the brand image; what their future plans look like; and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredKona BikesTOPICS & TIMES:A Quick Kona HistoryThe Decision to Sell KonaKent Buys KonaFrom Record Sales to No SalesKent Blows it with Direct-to-Consumer StrategyKent Blows it Again with BOGO SaleThe Kona Sea Otter Debacle Jake and Dan buy Kona BackWhat Motivated Dan and Jake to Buy it BackKona’s FutureTariffs’ Affect on KonaWhat Jake is RidingNew Bikes on the WayCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

There’s no doubt that Spring is a busy time in the bike world, with lots of news, early-season racing, new products being launched, and the consistently shaky state of the bike industry, giving Mike and Simon no shortage of things to talk about. It seems like every month there’s a sad story of hard times for a bike brand, and April’s bummer news is Revel Bikes closing its doors. Thankfully, bike racing gives the lads something positive to chat about since the season is off to a fantastic start for mountain bike World Cup XC racing, not to mention we’re witnessing true road racing greatness as Tadej Pogačar rips through the Spring Classics in a way not seen since the likes of Eddie Merkcx, Fausto Coppi, and Sean Kelly. All of this and more in the April edition of Reviewing the News.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Revel Bikes Closes Its Doors (3:00)Specialized’s Turbo Levo’s High Speed Limit (19:32)What’s Happening with GT (33:28)OuterBike Down to One Event (34:48)Tariff Updates (37:38)Canyon Reduces US Workforce (38:59)RIP Arni Nashbar (44:30)First Two UCI World Cup XC Races of the Year (48:00)Road Racing Spring Classics (54:56)Mike’s Starling Murmur (1:02:56)Santa Cruz Bullit (1:11:57)New Bosch Race Motor (1:14:06)What We’re Reading and Watching (1:21:57)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast

There’s a fine line to walk in developing a new product, especially as a new brand without an existing track record. Make something plain and in line with existing options, and you risk getting lost in the noise; go too weird and unconventional, and it can be hard to find willing early adopters.Outlier MTB took a chance with their wild-looking Void and Pendulum pedals, but they’re not just different for the sake of being different — there’s sound thinking behind the designs. So we sat down with Outlier founder Cam Belisle-O’Donnell to chat about where the concept came from in the first place; what their prototyping and development process looked like; the initial public reception & coming to market with something that looks so novel; some other projects they have in the works; and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredTOPICS & TIMES:Founding Outlier & the pedals’ notable features (4:36)“The Lefty of MTB pedals” (12:42)The first prototypes & early testing (19:50)Pendulum vs. Void & the tradeoffs (24:24)Manufacturing challenges & running a small company (44:54)Future Outlier products? (50:17)Ramping up production (52:33)Lab testing (56:25)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister Podcast