Episodes

  • Reviewing The News w/ Cam McCaul (September 2026)

    Reviewing The News w/ Cam McCaul (September 2026)
    Oct 6 2026
    The first-ever Whistler DH World Cup did not disappoint, including crazy weather, wild racing action, some heroic performances, and tons of crashes — Cam and Simon couldn’t wait to talk about it. Cam had a gnarly crash himself and shares that story along with his behind-the-scenes preview of this week’s Red Bull Rampage. Of course, we sprinkle in some industry news and introduce a couple of recurring segments as well. 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: FactorMeals.com - code: BLISTERBIKE50OFF Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered TOPICS & TIMES: Cam’s Crash (1:01) Number One Thing You Don’t Want To Be This Month (12:05) First Whistler DH Recap (18:32) Asa’s Mind-Blowing Win (25:03) Women’s Results (32:39) Juniors & Who to Watch Next Year (36:02) What is MTB X ( 2:13) Beyond Gravity (54:45) Air Rage (56:59) Fart Blasters? (59:44) Marketplace Ad of the Month (1:03:16) Industry News (1:05:50) X-Lab (1:13:10) What We’re Reading & Watching (1:19:42) Cam’s Rampage Preview (1:21:05) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: The Blister Vault Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast
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    1 hr and 27 mins
  • Casey Brown on Getting Women into Rampage

    Casey Brown on Getting Women into Rampage
    Oct 3 2026
    This year marks the 25th anniversary of Red Bull Rampage, and the third year of Rampage including a women’s category. The fight to make that happen was a long one, and for this selection from The Vault, we’re revisiting a conversation we had with Casey Brown on Bikes & Big Ideas back in 2023 about the importance of having a women’s competition, the year before it finally came to be. Note: We Want to Hear From You! We’d love for you to share with us the stories or topics you’d like us to cover next month on Reviewing the News; ask your most pressing mountain town advice questions, or offer your hot takes for us to rate. Email us at: info@blisterreview.com RELATED LINKS: Get Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ Order our 26/27 Winter Buyer’s Guide Enter Our Free Weekly Gear Giveaways For the Full Episode: Casey Brown, Vaea Verbeeck, and Hannah Bergemann on Women at Rampage (Ep.191) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Podcast Blister Cinematic CRAFTED Bikes & Big Ideas GEAR:30
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    8 mins
  • Maxxis on the Minion DHX & New DH Casing

    Maxxis on the Minion DHX & New DH Casing
    Sep 29 2026
    Maxxis has a new member of the Minion family, the Minion DHX, and a new DH casing to go with it. We’re joined by Sean Day, who led the development of both, to go deep on their designs, the thinking behind them, and how they fit into Maxxis’ expansive lineup. 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 Guide Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered TOPICS & TIMES: Development of the Minion DHX (2:49) Design concepts & goals (9:49) Tread Pattern & Knob Design (11:34) Athlete testing (14:39) Front vs. rear tire design (18:55) Choosing widths for a given tire (22:30) The new DH casing (24:14) Casing thread count & tradeoffs (28:48) Choosing between tires (38:18) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: The Blister Vault Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast
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    44 mins
  • Making Innovative Bikepacking Gear & Rebuilding After Hurricane Helene with Rockgeist’ s Greg Hardy

    Making Innovative Bikepacking Gear & Rebuilding After Hurricane Helene with Rockgeist’ s Greg Hardy
    Sep 22 2026
    Greg Hardy started sewing his own bikepacking bags while getting his PhD in materials science, which led him to put his career on hold, move to Asheville, NC, and found Rockgeist — which became one of the top bag makers in the bikepacking world. But things came crashing down when Hurricane Helene left their workshop under six feet of water. Greg joins us today to tell that story and how they rebuilt Rockgeist afterward. 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: Momentous: livemomentous.com code: Blister Factor: http://factormeals.com/BLISTERBIKES50OFF Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered BLISTER Access Pass Rockgeist TOPICS & TIMES: Sewing bags and Getting a PHD (1:21) Founding Rockgeist (4:34) Why Asheville, NC? (6:20) Greg’s First Bag (10:25) Custom Framebag Challenges (11:38) Welding Versus Sewing (18:31) Hurricane Helene Devastation (22:17) Rebuilding Rockgeist (25:05) New Products (31:50) Greg’s Bikepacking Plans (38:39) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: The Blister Vault Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast
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    44 mins
  • Special Race Edition, Soldier Hollow XC World Cup: 32’’ Wheels Galore & Rising Star Bjorn Riley

    Special Race Edition, Soldier Hollow XC World Cup: 32’’ Wheels Galore & Rising Star Bjorn Riley
    Sep 22 2026
    Was the Soldier Hollow World Cup XC race the first true test for 32” wheels? Blister Reviewer Xan Marshland had boots on the ground at the race, and joined Simon for a recap of the racing action, thoughts on the big wheels, course design, and Bjorn Riley’s crazy popularity. 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: Momentous: livemomentous.com code: Blister Factor: http://factormeals.com/BLISTERBIKES50OFF Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered BLISTER Access Pass TOPICS & TIMES: On-location at Soldier Hollow(1:27) Big Wheels Everywhere (4:16) Course Design & NICA Racing (5:19) Results & Highlights (8:59) Final Take(22:00) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: The Blister Vault Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast
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    24 mins
  • Pivot Founder Chris Cocalis on Their New Insanely Powerful Shuttle AMP’d, XC Race Bike Design, 32” Wheels, & More

    Pivot Founder Chris Cocalis on Their New Insanely Powerful Shuttle AMP’d, XC Race Bike Design, 32” Wheels, & More
    Sep 18 2026
    Pivot just launched their new Avinox M2S powered Shuttle AMP’d, so today Pivot founder Chris Cocalis talks us through the development process, the decision to spec the controversial high-powered Avinox drive system, early prototypes, and the challenges of implementing a motor with that much power. He also gets into why he loves XC bikes, his thoughts on 32” wheels, and who he thinks is going to win the Supercross title, Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Hunter Lawrence, or? 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 Guide BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered TOPICS & TIMES: New Shuttle AMP’d (1:58) Why Avinox? (2:13) Motor Swaps & Early Prototyping (5:52) Adding Some Beef to the Chassis (8:57) New Shuttle LT (28:59) New Mach 4 SL (32:45) Chris’ Take on 32” Wheels (42:11) Who’s Going to Win Supercross (48:42) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic GEAR:30 Blister Podcast CRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    58 mins
  • Simons.Lab on Dampers, Tuning, & the New Zeta

    Simons.Lab on Dampers, Tuning, & the New Zeta
    Sep 15 2026
    Simon Reiberg’s journey into fork damper design began with him modifying a RockShox Yari to feature a shimmed rebound circuit, and after stints at Trickstuff and Intend, he just launched Simons.Lab and the Zeta aftermarket fork damper. So we sat down with Simon to talk about his take on damper design and what sets the Zeta apart; how he learned about damper design in the first place; what the biggest challenges were in bringing the Zeta to market; and a whole lot more. And we’ve got a Zeta on the way for review, so stay tuned for a rundown on its design and performance, coming very soon on the site. 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: DraftKings.com - code: Blister Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered BLISTER Access Pass TOPICS & TIMES: Simon’s background (1:40) Modifying stock dampers (3:21) Testing & analysis (6:34) Value (and limitations) of suspension dynos (15:44) High-speed adjusters & the Zeta concept (24:16) Packaging challenges (19:43) Hydraulic bottom-out (31:00) Adjustment ranges & tradeoffs in tunability (35:01) Launching Simons.Lab (40:24) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: The Blister Vault Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast
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    45 mins
  • Yeti on the LT & MT, Six-Bar Suspension, & More

    Yeti on the LT & MT, Six-Bar Suspension, & More
    Sep 8 2026
    Yeti has a long history of unconventional suspension layouts, and they’ve just given their lineup a big shakeup with the new LT & MT, both of which use the Sixfinity six-bar layout from Yeti’s eMTBs rather than the Switch Infinity design from their last several generations of MTBs. So, we sat down with Yeti Engineer Peter Zawistowski to get the story of developing the Sixfinity layout; what they were able to achieve with it that wasn’t possible with four-bar designs; the differences in suspension kinematic requirements for different sorts of bikes; the LT’s radically overhauled geometry; and a whole lot 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: DraftKings.com - code: Blister Factor: http://factormeals.com/BLISTERBIKES50OFFBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered TOPICS & TIMES: Yeti’s history of suspension layouts (2:05) Development of the Sixfinity platform (9:57) Antisquat & the advantages of six bar layouts (15:55) Suspension kinematics for different use cases (23:57) Geometry adjustments & offering more vs. keeping thing simple (32:59) Rear center lengths & geometry changes for the LT (39:14) Athlete feedback in bike development (54:37) Racers versus freeriders (57:47) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: The Blister Vault Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast
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    1 hr and 1 min