Singletracks Mountain Bike News

Jeff and Matt look back at some of the best bikes and mountain bike gear tested in 2023, and talk about some of the most interesting new releases this year. Along the way we'll also hit on some of the trends we're following and highlight some of the reviews you might have missed. Listen to our conversation as a podcast, or read a tightly edited transcript and find photos at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/singletracks/support

John Calendrille has spent decades designing and patenting everything from derailleurs and shifters to dropper posts and brake levers. He's consulted for industry brands including TRP and Box, and now he’s got his own company, Vivo, that sells a customizable 12-speed shifter, the Vivo F3. How did you first get into designing bike components? What are some of the limitations of existing mechanic mountain biker shifters? What makes the Vivo F3 an improvement? Have you found that many riders struggle with the ergonomics of off-the-shelf mechanical shifters? One of the patents you hold is for a combination brake/shifter lever, a design that's pretty much standard for gravel and road bikes today. Where did this idea come from? Are bike cockpits becoming cluttered again with all the controls riders need for dropper posts, motors, etc.?  With electronic drivetrains becoming more common, a lot of riders are wondering if mechanical systems will eventually go away. What's your take? Is there st

Kurt Refsnider is a cycling coach and the founder of Bikepacking Roots, an organization that advocates for bikepacking and the environment. He's the only person to have won all three events in the Triple Crown of Bikepacking, and he recently became one of only a few people to have biked the entire Continental Divide Trail (CDT), a 3,300-mile route stretching from Canada to Mexico.   Are you glad to be off the trail after three months of riding? How is the Continental Divide Route different than the 2700-mile Great Divide Route that runs from Banff, Alberta to Antelope Wells, New Mexico? How is the CDT currently managed and administered? Are there groups working to connect the dots? What does it mean to be a responsible bikepacker?  How did you approach sections of the route that go through Wilderness areas where bikes aren't allowed?  Are there communities along the route that benefit from the CDT running through town? Is there much overlap with towns along the Great Divide Route? Which s

Matt Harvey is the co-founder of Enduro Bearings, a company dedicated to producing premium, high quality bearings for the bicycle industry. He's been working in bike shops starting as a teenager and later for industry brands like Gary Fisher and Bianchi. What was your 'aha' moment for forming Enduro Bearings? What makes bicycle bearings different from bearings used for other purposes? What are the challenges involved in designing high performance bicycle bearings? Which parts of a mountain bike will benefit the most from high quality bearings?  How do you know when your bearings are worn out, or need maintenance? Are bearings generally serviceable, or are home mechanics better off replacing them? What kind of grease should you use for bearings? What's the advantage of ceramic bearing balls? Where are most bearings products produced? Why do you think Pressfit bottom brackets have such a bad reputation? Aside from bottom brackets, it seems like the bearings in pedals tend to

The patent for the acclaimed DW-Link suspension design recently expired, and we wanted to know: What does its expiration mean for the mountain bike industry? Matt and Jeff interviewed several industry experts, including those involved in licensing the DW-Link patent, to make sense of it all. Originally published online as an article, this audio version includes snippets from select conversations that were featured as quotes in the written version. Words by Jeff Barber and Matt Miller. Photo by Matt Miller. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/singletracks/support

Ben Plenge is a professional mountain bike coach and founder of The Strength Factory. He's trained pro riders and also hundreds of amateurs over the years both in person and online.  Why did you choose to focus on strength and fitness training for mountain bikers specifically? According to your website your most popular workout program is Bodyweight Strength. Is there a limit to the effectiveness of these simple exercises? What are some ways to improve riding fitness that don't take time away from "just for fun" rides? What's different about how pro athletes train versus amateurs? Are some riders born faster than others? What's different about MTB strength training in your 40s versus your 20s? Why do riders tend to experience more pain as we age? Does becoming a better climber make you a faster descender? (enduro, personal experience) Is there a certain body type that works best for certain types of riding? What's the #1 misconception mountain bikers have about strength

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

Angi Weston is the founder of Radical Roots MTB, a group that provides "fun, safe, mountain bike skills progression" through various lessons, programs, events, and group rides. In addition to working with riders, Angi also trains MTB skills coaches and is based in Bellingham, WA. What led you to launch Radical Roots in 2018? What can riders learn from riding flats that they can't learn riding clipless pedals? Do you think it's better to learn skills on a hardtail than a FS bike? Are the junior riders you work with looking to develop different skills from the adults that attend your other camps?  How much does having a good mountain bike contribute to rider confidence, and perhaps even skill? How do you know if you need to upgrade your skills vs. your bike? What are the skills your students are most interested in learning? Is there a fundamental skill or skills everyone should learn first? What are the skills you're working on personally? Are there things you wish you could d

Nichole Dandrea-Russert is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and the author of The Vegan Athlete's Nutrition Handbook. Her website Purely Planted offers tips for adding more plants to our diets, and she's based right here in Atlanta. How did you get interested in nutrition? Have you always been an athlete? For the vegan athletes you work with, is improving performance a primary reason for adopting a plant-based diet, or are other considerations that tend to come first? How does a plant-based diet help athletes with recovery and reducing inflammation? How does eating less saturated fats and cholesterol improve athletic performance? Is it helpful for endurance sports like cycling? How do you know if you are not getting enough fat? What are some good plant-based sources of protein? What are some other advantages of a plant-based diet for cyclists? Do you have any tips for keeping to a healthy diet while traveling? How big of a factor is diet in athletic performance?   Can mountain bike

In this episode, Matt and Jeff talk about the latest mountain bike drivetrain developments from electronic shifting to Eagle Transmission. What are the advantages of electronic shifting? What are the disadvantages? How does the new SRAM Eagle Transmission wireless electronic drivetrain compare to AXS? What's the deal with dropouts? Is UDH going to be the standard? How have consumers and readers responded to the Eagle Transmission news? How do you think Shimano will respond? We'll also recap some of the latest mountain bike trail and gear news at the top of the show. Let us know what you think! 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 co

Yvonne Kraus is the executive director of Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, a mountain bike organization dedicated to creating, maintaining, and protecting sustainable mountain biking opportunities in Washington. Evergreen, if you don't know,  is one of the largest, if not the largest, statewide mountain bike association in the US with 8 regional chapters and thousands of members. How did Evergreen get its start? How does Evergreen divide responsibilities between its chapters and the top-level organization? How have the challenges facing mountain bikers in Washington changed since the group was first formed? What are some of the most popular trail systems in the state? What does e-bike trail access look like in the state of Washington currently?  Do you have any new MTB trails in the planning stage, or currently under construction? Is there much of a push for mountain bike tourism in Washington? What are the primary funding sources for Evergreen? What’s the biggest constraint that Evergreen

Nate Zukas is a bike frame builder living in Augusta, GA. He's been building bikes since 2011 and works in steel, titanium, and aluminum. How'd you get started as a frame builder?  Is it unusual for a frame builder to work in both steel and aluminum? What's different about working with the two materials? As a frame builder, how much are you able to affect a bike's ride feel and performance? How do you do it? What do you look for in a project or a client? How much of a frame build is your vision versus the client's? In terms of what you bring to the build, how much of it is artistry versus practicality and experience? What trends are you seeing in terms of the types of frames buyers want? Which projects are you most proud of? Have you ever had a project that was a disaster, or one that surprised you in another way? Is Augusta a good place to be a frame builder? What's the riding community like there? What's your vision for the future of Zukas Cycles? Is expansio

Lachlan Morton is a professional cyclist and mountain biker from Australia, currently riding for  UCI WorldTeam EF Education–EasyPost. He's notched podium finishes at the Leadville 100, rode the Fastest Known Time for Kokopelli's Trail in 2020,  and set the Everesting cycling world record in 2020. He also completed the Alt Tour in 2021, cycling the entire Tour de France route unsupported, beating the peloton by five days. In this interview we ask: Congrats on your podium finish at Unbound earlier this month. Were you thinking there might be such a close finish from the beginning of the race? How did you get into cycling competition initially? Has your motivation for racing changed? What did you learn while riding and filming Thereabouts in 2014?  We've heard that you're hoping to make a run at the record for circumnavigating the world by bike. Is an attempt still on your radar? Have you mapped out a potential route? How long do you think it would take? Is it risky to publicize an FK

Travis Tomczak is the Global Marketing Director at Forge + Bond. The company manufactures bike wheels and accessories using a lightweight material known as FusionFiber. How does carbon fiber rim manufacturing generally work?  What are some of the challenges associated with carbon fiber manufacturing? Are there limitations in terms of how the material can be used, or how it performs? How is FusionFiber different from carbon fiber in terms of the materials used and the manufacturing process? How are sheets of FusionFiber manufactured? How is a sheet of FusionFiber shaped into a product at Forge+Bond, for example a rim? Are there any performance advantages of FusionFiber over traditional carbon fiber? Is it more expensive to manufacture rims from FusionFiber than carbon fiber?  Is FusionFiber infinitely recyclable, or does the material degrade each time it's recycled? Can the scraps or recycled rims, for example, be used to create new rims? Where can consumers recycle their FusionFiber rim

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 pod

Ernie Rodriguez is the president of MORE, the Mid Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts. MORE has been around since 1992 and the group maintains and advocates for trails in Maryland, Virginia, and the Washington, DC area. Why and how did MORE get its start? Did it start as more of a social club, or were there advocacy concerns in the early 1990s? How is MORE organized? How did you become the president of MORE?  How is MORE funded?  What is the relationship between MORE and IMBA? What are some of the more popular trails your group supports? Which trail projects are you the most proud to have helped support? Is there any opposition to mountain bike trail access in the region? What does the current discussion around e-bike trail access look like for MORE? What’s the biggest constraint MORE faces in carrying out and growing the mission? What’s next for MORE in 2023 and beyond? Connect with MORE at more-mtb.org. The Singletracks podcast is brought to you by TPC -- The Pro’s Closet. Spring is the perf

Sam Anderson is the Brand Manager for Cane Creek Cycling Components based in Fletcher, NC just outside Pisgah National Forest. Cane Creek designs and markets their own line of shocks and suspension forks and assembles many items by hand at their factory in Western North Carolina. What is suspension compression? What is rebound? What do you see people typically getting wrong when it comes to suspension setup? What is meant by a linear or progressive suspension curve as it relates to full suspension mountain bikes? What are the differences between a coil and air shock? Is it possible to perfectly tune suspension to ignore pedal inputs while remaining responsive to the trail? What is stiction, and how important is minimizing it? How do you know when your fork/shock needs a rebuild or service? What are some of the latest innovations in suspension design? Will tomorrow's shocks and forks look like the ones we have today? Check out suspension products from canecreek.com. The Singletracks podc

The Downcountry category has been around for a few years now, and by this point most mountain bike brands have a bike in their lineup that fits the description. Not only that, there are downcountry tires and shoes available now. But what does downcountry even mean? In this episode, Matt and Jeff take a stab at defining downcountry, taking into account geometry, suspension travel, weight, and components. Other questions addressed include: How do downcountry bikes differ from cross-country and trail bikes? What were some of the earliest downcountry bikes? Which popular mountain bikes today can be considered downcountry? Are certain trail types or race disciplines well suited to downcountry bikes? What are your impressions of the downcountry bikes you have tested over the past few years? Where does the downcountry category go from here into the future? 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 selectio

ddie O'Dea is an ultra endurance athlete and member of the board at the Georgia Cycling Association. Last summer he became the first person to complete the 5,900-mile Eastern Divide bikepacking route over the course of 78 days and 10 hours. Why did you decide to attempt ride the full Eastern Divide Route? Tell us about the start of the ride. It seems like you ran into some snags even before you go rolling. Which sections were your favorites? Did you get to hang out in any interesting towns along the way? Are there any changes you would make to the Eastern Divide Route? As a member of the Georgia Cycling Association board, what do the high school athletes think about your achievement? How did your bike and equipment hold up? Was there any point where you wanted to give up? How did you keep going?  How long before you think someone else completes the route in one go? Will there ever be enough demand for a Grand Depart? How did it feel to finish the ride? Would you do it again? How does th

Nick Bennette is the Executive Director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, a position he's held for a little over two years. The group recently put together a 5-year Strategic Plan to "ensure the sustainability of mountain biking in Vermont and thoughtfully promote exceptional riding experiences for all through advocacy, education, and community-driven stewardship." How did your experience as a consultant help you craft the VMBA 5-year Strategic Plan?   Vermont was an early adopter of a state advocacy model apart from IMBA. How has the VMBA Chapter model evolved since it was first launched? How does Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion fit with trail advocacy? Aside from being the right thing to do, how does it benefit the MTB community? Is e-bike access a hot topic in Vermont? Do you think it's been framed properly in the past? How did VMBA get to 10,000 dues paying members? Is advocating for trails easier today than it has been in the past? Are there additional considerati