Singletracks Mountain Bike News

Hannah Otto recently became the fastest known woman to ride the 137-mile-long Kokopelli's trail from Moab, Utah to Loma, Colorado, besting the previous fastest known time by over an hour. In addition to racing gravel and mountain bikes, she's also a certified athletic trainer.  How do you feel now that you can finally talk about your accomplishment? Were you worried someone else would make an FKT attempt between then and now? In October you made your first attempt, but it didn't work out. What happened. What did you do differently the second time around? What was your bike setup? What did you eat? How do you pace yourself for a ride like this? Do you think this FKT rules that should be updated or clarified to allow film crews as long as they don't offer any assistance? How much of a role does luck play in mountain bike racing, versus skill and fitness? Do individual time trials also make you a faster racer in more traditional events, or is this a specialized skill set? What

Chuck Teixeira is a Senior Advanced Concept Engineer at Specialized where he's been involved in countless projects from mountain to road, and from bikes to components. Prior to joining Specialized in 2011, Chuck spent 28 years at Easton-Bell where he was the director of R&D. How did you end up in the bike industry? How does the Smartweld tech used on the new Specialized Chisel mountain bike frame work, and what makes it different from traditional aluminum frame welding? Why haven't we seen this on more Specialized mountain bikes?  Are mountain bikers still overlooking aluminum in favor of carbon frames? How did you and the Roval team come upon the anti pinch flat bead-wall design? When it comes to mountain bike rims, is there a clear winner when it comes to material choice, carbon vs. aluminum? What are some of your favorite mountain bike products or designs that you've been involved with over the years? How have you recovered from the Santa Cruz wildfire that claimed your house i

Colin Ryan is a Senior Development Engineer at Norco and was involved in the design of the latest Norco Optic trail bike which features a high-pivot design. Prior to joining Norco he worked at General Kinetics testing and developing shock absorbers for military and construction equipment.  At a basic level, what problem does a high pivot design solve? Is there a certain type of riding that benefits from having a high pivot? What are the drawbacks to the design? Does a high pivot design improve longevity for certain components? With less chain wrap on the crank, are dropped chains an issue with a high pivot setup? How does the placement of the idler pulley affect performance? What about the number of teeth on the idler cog? Did moving from a traditional setup to high-pivot change the ride feel of the Norco Optic significantly? The decision to use a high pivot on a short, 125mm travel bike is a controversial one. Why do you think that is? The latest Optic is said to be lighter than the previous v

Sara Hunter is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in the state of North Carolina and a PMBIA Level 1 Mountain Bike Instructor. Her practice includes individual and couples counseling services plus mountain bike therapy and counseling for athletes and outdoor instructors. She's also a Specialized USA Ambassador. What led you to get into counseling? Does everyone benefit from spending time outdoors, or do you think some of us are just wired that way?  What is Adventure Therapy? What is the idea behind it? Is there such a thing as spending too much time outdoors? As someone who works to address conflicts between individuals, do you have any ideas about how people can share the trail? Sometimes I get frustrated on group rides when the rider in front of me gets in my way. Is there a way to re-frame this? Unsolicited advice — about how to ride, or fix a bike — generally comes from a good place of wanting to help, but is there a better approach?   What are some ways I can be more support

Alex Larson is a registered dietitian and multi-sport athlete who helps endurance athletes optimize nutrition and performance. She's written multiple nutrition guides and offers customized nutrition coaching services to athletes around the world. Do athleticism and nutrition go hand in hand? Are athletes generally healthy eaters by nature? What is a "flexible eating style"? Are restrictive diets sometimes harmful? How does pre-race fueling work?  Is nutrition drastically different for training vs. racing? Is it more challenging for athletes to maintain a healthy gut than non-athletes? What types of things can cause gut issues for athletes during a workout?  Are there signs that nutrition is holding us back from fitness gains? What have you learned about nutrition from your own training? With summer approaching, should athletes adjust their diet based on the season?  Does an individual's nutrition plan look different for different sports? Do you recommend an app for track

Amanda Carey is the President of NICA, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, a non-profit that develops mountain biking programs for student athletes across the United States. Prior to joining NICA, Amanda served as the executive director of Mountain Bike the Tetons and as a mountain bike coach. What drew you to mountain biking initially? What's kept you so engaged over the years?  What do you think has kept mountain biking from growing more than it has over the past couple of decades? How is NICA impacting mountain bike participation?  How can NICA teams attract new student athletes who don't have a family cycling background? Why choose mountain biking over another sport? How would you characterize the level of competition at NICA races? What is NICA doing to encourage trail building and maintenance? Is there a demand for a more gravity-oriented youth riding program?  What advice do you have for parents of NICA athletes? What are the biggest opportunities for NICA over

Sara Bresnick is a former professional mountain biker, cycling coach and founder of Pedal Power Training Solutions which offers customized training plans plus advice on nutrition, race strategy, and technique.   What are some fitness goals your clients have beyond racing? For example, does it make sense for a rider to work with a coach before a big weeklong mountain bike trip?  Do older athletes need more time to recover between intense workouts? What happens if you miss a day, or two, in a training schedule? How quickly do fitness gains disappear? How does an "off season" work for bike athletes? Should you still be biking some, or is it possible to do other activities instead?   Let's say I wanted to ride the Tour Divide in 2025, and my goal was to finish the ride in 45 days. Given a good level of base fitness, what's a realistic timeframe for training? In general, what would a training plan involve? What's the biggest challenge most people face when it comes to improving the

Claudio Caluori is a seven-time Swiss National Champion and founder of Velosolutions, "a global network of professionals with profound knowledge in cycling, action sports, tourism and urban development." He's also a popular YouTube personality, delivering entertaining course previews and ride-alongs with top athletes. In addition to building pump tracks around the world, Velosolutions recently helped with construction of the XC race course for the 2024 Paris Olympics and is working on an ultra accurate timing app for pump track competition. How did you get into downhill mountain bike racing? How are you able to talk while riding fast in your Red Bull course preview and Bla Bla Run videos? Does talking mess you up sometimes? How is designing and building a race trail different from building a trail for the public? What's so great about pump tracks? Why do adult riders tend to avoid them? Tell us about Pump Tracks for Peace. Some riders seem to be against asphalt tracks. What'

In this episode of the Singletracks podcast, Matt and Jeff discuss the current trends around mountain bike weights. Are bikes too heavy, or are they where they should be given how durable and capable they are today? This discussion covers: Examples of specific bikes and their weights Why bike weights might be increasing The benefits to lightweight -- and heavy -- mountain bikes Areas where mountain bikes might be able to cut weight This is Matt's last episode with the Singletracks podcast so to start the show we talk about some of his most memorable stories from the past 6 years. We'll miss you Matt! Where else can you choose from over 300 miles of epic singletrack against a backdrop of soaring mountains and cascading waterfalls? Where else can you explore 100,000 acres of public lands laced with hundreds of miles of backcountry gravel roads? Your best mountain biking adventure ever begins in Brevard, North Carolina, home to Pisgah National Forest and DuPont State Recreational Forest. Four p

Will Hart is Product Marketing Manager at Cane Creek, a western North Carolina based maker of suspension and bike components. Besides looking cool, what are some advantages of a coil shock? Are certain styles of riding better suited to a coil shock than others? What makes some FS mountain bikes coil compatible, and others not? How does compression damping work on a coil shock? Is there any air involved? Tell us about the Cane Creek Tigon. What's the idea behind combining a coil with an air spring? How are progressive and linear coil springs different? How do you set sag on a coil shock? What about other settings? Are coil shocks as tunable as air shocks? What does tightening the pre-load on a coil shock do? How does bottom-out work on a coil shock? Is it difficult for lighter riders to find an appropriate spring? How does the weight of a coil shock compare to an air shock? Will a coil feel different over time as the metal fatigues?  Are coil shocks lower maintenance than air shocks?

Sean Leader is the founder of Windrock Bike Park and Southern Gravity, a Tennessee-based company that builds ramps and shuttle vehicles for bike parks. Not only that, Southern Gravity recently released a prototype steel DH mountain bike that's being tested by top elite and junior DH riders. You've worn many hats in the mountain bike world. When was the moment you realized you could make a living in the sport? How did Windrock Bike Park get started?  What were some of the challenges you faced as a bike park operator? Why build your own DH bike? What are the advantages of a steel DH bike frame compared to other materials? Did the expiration of the DW-Link patent figure into your design plans? Tell us about the Southern Gravity Racing team. Who are the athletes on the team, and which races are you targeting? How would you describe the southern DH mountain bike scene today? How has it evolved? What do you say to folks who think the southeast doesn't have quality trails or challenging

Joel Smith is the Brand Leader for Reserve, a Santa Cruz, CA brand that designs and markets wheels for everything from downhill to road biking. Steel Wisdom-Wilhelmsson is engineering lab technician responsible for lab-conditions wheel testing.  In this episode we ask: How are MTB wheels assembled? For high-end wheels, is most of it done by hand? How does rim construction contribute to ride feel? Is a shallower rim better than a deep rim for ride feel? What are the advantages of a high engagement freehub? Is there a number that most riders will find meets their needs or is more always better? Are wheel sizes and standards continuing to evolve? What about rim widths?  Are today's carbon rims stronger and more durable than aluminum? How do the weights compare? What other advantages does carbon have over aluminum rims? How much stronger does a DH wheel need to be compared to a lightweight XC wheel? Front vs. rear?  What is the most common mode of failure when it comes to mountain bike wheels? What

Carol Baldwin is the founder of Flownetic MTB Skills and is a PMBIA Level 3  certified mountain bike skills instructor. She's also a Singletracks contributor and product tester.  In this podcast we ask Carol: Have you alway mountain biked with flat pedals? Was it difficult to switch from clipless to flat pedals? Why? What are the advantages of flat pedals compared to clipless? What are the disadvantages of flats compared to clipless pedals? Are bigger and/or wider pedal platforms better? What's the right number of pins per side? What is your favorite shoe, or type of shoe for mountain biking? What is your favorite flat pedal? Are aluminum pedals better than composite? Are there certain types of rides that are better or worse for flat pedals? For people who have only used flats, is it worth giving clipless a try? Is riding on flats more fun? Learn more and connect with Carol at flowneticmtb.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @

Tom Prochazka is a co-founder and director at Gravity Logic, a bike park design and development company based in Whistler, British Columbia. He served as the manager of the Whistler Bike Park from 2001 to 2007 and designed the iconic Top of the World Trail which opened in 2011. Since then he's worked on bike parks all over the world from the western US to Europe and South America. In this podcast interview we ask Tom: How did you get involved in mountain bike trail building? What do you think makes Whistler such a special place? What drove the huge increase in Whistler visits between 2001 and 2007? How did Gravity Logic get its start? Tell us how the Top of the World Trail came together. How is it different from the other trails in the bike park? What's your definition for the term "bike park"? Are for-profit park operators able to get a decent return on investment on a bike-only, ground-up build? How much work is involved in keeping bike trails running during the season? 

Rhett Jones is a high school mountain biker living in the Austin, Texas area. He's the founder of Station Bike Park, a new private park he developed on 150 acres of former ranchland northwest of Austin. Singletracks first shared Jones' story in a November feature article on our website; this interview adds more detail and dives into the economic and operational aspects of running a for-profit, private mountain bike park. How long have you been riding mountain bikes?  Tell us about the free bike, public bike park you built in 2022. How did that get started?   Are there many places to mountain bike in and around Austin, TX? What is the mountain bike scene like in the area? In the state? How much money did you raise, and how did you raise it? Were you able to stay on budget? Are bike parks good businesses? Were you able to use any successful bike parks as an example? How do most bike parks actually make money: tickets, rentals, repairs, or sales?  Was getting insurance a challenge?  Is t

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