Bikes & Big Ideas

Feb 06 2025 261 ep. 53 mins 201
Bikes & Big Ideas Podcast artwork

Bikes & Big Ideas is the weekly podcast from BLISTER that's dedicated to the most interesting conversations and ideas from the bike world — and beyond.
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Reviewing the News w/ Mike Ferrentino (January 2025)

Feb 06 2025 66 mins  
Trump’s tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico are high on Mike and Simon’s lists of topics to talk about —  and it looks like there will be some uncertain times ahead for the bike industry. Speaking of Mexico, we’re hearing some good things are going on down there in regard to trail building, and since Mike is spending the winter in Baja, it’s the perfect opportunity

Reviewer Reports: Bikes, Shocks, Wheels, & More

Jan 30 2025 50 mins  
The Kona Process 153 and Transition Sentinel V3 have about the same suspension travel, not super different geometry, and were both developed by companies based in the same part of the world. They also ride very, very differently. So we sat down to talk about both of them and why they differ, some other new components we’re testing, including the Vorsprung Telum and OneUp Clip Ped

Ministry Cycles on Testing, Production Challenges, & the Psalm 150 V3

Jan 23 2025 61 mins  
When we last spoke with Chris Currie — the man behind Ministry Cycles and the striking Psalm 150 frame — he had just sent a prototype frame off for lab testing, hoping to move into production if all went to plan. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way, but Chris made some design changes and is still working toward offering frames for sale.With the latest V3 frame off

Gear of the Year, 2024

Jan 16 2025 64 mins  
Mountain bikes are, in many ways, better than ever, but we’re also seeing fewer and fewer bikes that feel like truly specialized tools for a specific job. And for many folks, that’s great — many big Enduro bikes climb pretty well, plenty of more versatile Trail bikes still hold their own in burly terrain quite effectively, and so on.Being well-rounded is certainly one way for

Vorsprung on the Telum, Rapid Revalve, Shock Tuning & More

Jan 09 2025 49 mins  
When we last sat down with Steve Mathews from Vorsprung, he shared a lot of the high-level details of their then-unreleased Telum shock. But he needed to keep some of the most interesting details under wraps — until now. So we sat back down with Steve to get the full rundown — first and foremost, how the Telum’s novel Rapid Revalve system (which is meant to make re-valving th

Reviewing the News w/ Dylan Wood (December 2024)

Jan 03 2025 57 mins  
2024 was an interesting, strange year for the bike industry, with the challenging retail landscape dominating a lot of the news. Thankfully, there has been plenty of good news to discuss, too. Dylan and Simon sat down on New Year's Eve to wrap up the last Reviewing the News for 2024, and they recapped some of the memorable stories from across the whole year, sprinkled in a bit of r

Braydon Bringhurst on the Concept, Format, and Goals of the Hard MTB League

Dec 26 2024 35 mins  
The last time we spoke to Braydon Bringhurst, he’d just wrapped up his hugely ambitious ‘8600FT’ project and put out an excellent film on the effort. He’s now taking on another huge project of a very different sort, so we sat down with him to hear all about his newly founded Hard MTB League.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ MembershipThis Week’s Gear GiveawayTOPICS & TIMES:What

Ashley King of Significant Other Bikes on Custom Frames, Finding a Home in the Bike Industry, & More

Dec 19 2024 60 mins  
Sometimes a chance encounter can wildly reshape someone’s life, and the series of events that led Ashley King to frame building, and later founding Significant Other Bikes, is a wild one. So we sat down with Ashley to hear her story and get her take on frame building, running a business, and a whole lot more. We also discuss the importance of bringing in outside perspectives and

Gearing up for Winter Riding

Dec 12 2024 53 mins  
Mountain biking when it’s cold and rainy out might not sound very appealing, but our Pacific Northwest-based bike reviewers have a lot of experience on that front — and having a good time doing it. So we sat down to chat about how to make the most of the less appealing part of the riding season, from layering strategies to glove selection, tire choices and bike setup, and more.

Reviewing the News w/ Mike Ferrentino (November 2024)

Dec 05 2024 58 mins  
Bike news slowed down a bit in November, allowing Mike and Simon to get into some fun topics, like the history of multitools, and Mike’s fifty-year-old truck project/money pit. But there was still plenty of bike industry conversation, too, thanks to the seemingly limitless discounts that continue to disrupt the retail landscape. They also discuss the not-so-fun topic of bike thef