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Bikes & Big Ideas

BLISTER

Bikes & Big Ideas is the weekly podcast from BLISTER that's dedicated to bringing you the most interesting conversations, news, and developments in the bike world.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  • 32 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 52 min
  • English

Episodes 32

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  • #336
    July 23 · 33 min

    Building Safer Bike Infrastructure: PeopleForBikes on their 2026 City Ratings

    PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings are more than just a list of which cities have the best bike paths; they are a comprehensive look at how a city manages bike infrastructure, and have become a tool cities use to identify areas needing improvement, and a valuable resource for for individuals interested in advocating for change in their own communities. City Ratings is a massive undertaking, so we sat down with PeopleForBikes’ Martina Haggerty and Grace Stonecipher to get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into producing them and how they’re reshaping the ways some cities approach bike infrastructure. Note: We Want to Hear From You! Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.com RELATED LINKS: Momentous: livemomentous.com use code: Blister OneSkin: oneskin.co/BLISTER Get Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide TOPICS & TIMES: Who Are PeopleForBikes and What They Do (0:38) Why & How City Ratings Got Started (2:20) How Many Cities are Included (3:41) City Ratings Methodology (4:10) Best Cities (11:12) Pushback? (13:03) How to get involved to help your city become more bike-friendly (18:04) Biggest Challenges (21:43) International Cities (24:35) Ebike considerations? (26:36) Next year’s ratings (28:28) What advice can you offer a city to help improve its score? (29:27) Other PFB Initiatives (30:25) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #335
    July 16 · 1 hr 8 min

    Cam McCaul on The Future of Rampage, His New Revel Partnership, Side Hits & More

    After 22 years, Cam McCaul and Trek parted ways, leading to a new partnership with Revel Bikes, so Simon caught up with his old friend Cam to get the inside story on how his new Partnership with Revel came to be. And it’s not all bike and sponsor talk. Fans of Red Bull Rampage have been listening to Cam’s commentary for years, and today he also talks about how hard it was being on the mic when Adolf Silva got injured, what he thinks about the future of Rampage, and much more. Note: We Want to Hear From You! Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.com RELATED LINKS: Episode Sponsor: oneskin.co/BLISTER Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered TOPICS & TIMES: Cam & Simon’s Elevator Show (3:27) Signing with Revel (6:09) Cam’s Take on MTB Design (16:46) Broadcasting (19:59) Kissing the Blarney Stone (21:21) Stunt Work (24:10) Adolf Silva’s Rampage Injury (36:34) The Future of Rampage (42:34) Worst Injury (47:42) What Gets Cam Fired About Bikes? (51:23) Cam’s Music Recs (1:00:10) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic GEAR:30 Blister Podcast CRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #334
    July 9 · 58 min

    All Things Wheels with James Stokoe of Hunt Bike Wheels

    Hunt Bike Wheels has been building durable, affordable wheels since 2015, so Simon caught up with their Brand Manager, James Stokoe, to talk about about their early days based in a garage, their first gravel wheels, moving into the MTB market, rider-focused engineering, why wheels make the most sense when upgrading a new bike, some highly entertaining stories from James, and 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: Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered Hunt Bike Wheels TOPICS & TIMES: Hunt’s History (3:41) First Gravel Wheels (8:36) The move into MTB Wheels (13:31) Rider-Focused Engineering Approach (15:40) Aluminum & Carbon Wheels (20:01) Hub Design (27:40) Why Durability is so Important (35:08) Hunt’s Customer Service (45:07) Upcoming events for Hunt (52:29) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #333
    July 2 · 55 min

    Reviewing the News w/ Mike Ferrentino & Simon Stewart (July, 2026)

    In the midst of some of the most dangerous fire conditions ever seen in the American West, Mike and Simon discuss wildfire prevention and what the different levels of fire restrictions mean. From the bike industry, there's the shocking news from Cannonale to shutter their factory racing program next year, SRAM’s plan to build a massive factory in Portugal, and Mike gives a heartfelt tribute to the late Charlie Cunningham. The World Cup DH and XC stop in Lenzerheide delivered exciting racing, giving Mike and Simon plenty to get fired up about, and with the La Thuile World Cup right around the corner, they offer up some predictions, too. 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 Mike’s The Grimy Handshake Substack TOPICS & TIMES: Monarch Crest Ride (1:24) Wildfire Prevention & Fire Restrictions (7:18) Tribute to Charlie Cunningham (19:30) Cannondale Shutting Down Factory Racing Program (23:00) New SRAM Factory in Portugal (28:00) Overlanding E-Bikes (30:31) Lenzerheide World Cup Recap (39:39) La Thuile World Cup Predictions (49:57) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #332
    June 25 · 49 min

    Chris Blandford on Resurrecting Paragon Machine Works, Founding Firsthand Framebuilding, & More

    It’s never been easy to make it as an independent framebuilder, and it’s only getting harder. Chris Blandford knows the struggle well, and might well be doing more than anyone else currently to support small US builders, from founding Firsthand Framebuilding to resurrecting Paragon Machine Works, and more. He’s here to tell us all about it. Note: We Want to Hear From You! Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.com RELATED LINKS: Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide BLISTER Digital Access Pass TOPICS & TIMES: Introducing Chris (2:40) The Portland, OR framebuilding scene (6:26) Chris’ introduction to framebuilding (10:22) Founding Firsthand & the Firsthand vision (13:20) Framebuilding classes (18:25) Acquiring Paragon Machine Works (31:18) What’s next? (44:59) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #331
    June 18 · 49 min

    Dillon Osleger on ‘Trail Work,’ Historic Maps, the Erosion of Public Land Access, & More

    We tend to think of maps as objective representations of the physical world around us, but they're subject to the biases, goals, and editorial choices of the folks making them — just like any other piece of writing, film, or method of communication. Dillon Osleger's excellent new book, Trail Work, lays out how the erasure of trails from historic maps erodes our collective access to public lands; how and why those maps have evolved over the decades; the biggest challenges facing public land advocates, especially in the American West; and a whole lot of other topics that are vitally important to anyone who likes spending time outside. He joins us to discuss all of it. Note: We Want to Hear From You! Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.com RELATED LINKS: Trail Work Dillon Osleger on Historic Trails, Changing Climates, & Evolving Communities (Ep.133) Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide BLISTER Digital Access Pass TOPICS & TIMES: Trail Work (2:14) Inspiration & goals for the book (6:52) The evolution of MTB trail access (9:09) Mixed-use trails & managing user interactions (13:10) The deliberate disappearance of trails (16:47) The trail degradation feedback loop (21:31) Maps as a language (29:06) The erasure of place names & their history (35:37) Stewardship & how we can do better (40:08) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #330
    June 11 · 58 min

    Ashley King of Significant Other Bikes on Full-Suspension Frame Development, Production vs. Custom Frames, & More

    <p>Like most small framebuilders, Ashley King launched Significant Other making custom rigid frames, but she turned that model on its head by launching the Ded Reckin full-suspension XC/Trail bike, and taking it to serial production. And if that’s not enough, she’s already built prototypes of two more full-suspension models, too. So we brought Ashley back on the show to tell the whole story, from deciding to build the original Ded Reckin show bike to offering it as a production model, material s

  • #329
    June 4 · 55 min

    Reviewing the News w/ Mike Ferrentino & Simon Stewart (June 2026)

    <p>Mike had to make a trip back to Mexico to help his 97-year-old Mom move, and amidst spider bites, broken windows, explosive dog diarrhea, and the usual technical issues (he needs his own full-time tech support department), he miraculously joined Simon to go over a very busy month — from racing to the courtroom, they have a lot to get through.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Paragon Machine Works' reopening is the best news, and looks poised to keep frame builders stocked with crucial parts. Niner Bikes has b

  • #328
    May 28 · 58 min

    Manitou on the New Mezzer & Mezzer LT

    <p>The long-travel single-crown fork landscape has shifted a ton since Manitou unveiled the original Mezzer in 2019, and the new second-generation version has seen a lot of changes to better match modern bikes — including splitting the lineup into the standard <a href="https://blisterreview.com/gear-reviews/manitou-mezzer-mezzer-lt-gen-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mezzer and the beefier Mezzer LT</a>. Both get a host of intriguing performance-oriented changes, too, so we brought

  • #327
    May 21 · 59 min

    Spot’s Ryan Palmer on their New Lightweight Trail Bike

    <p>Spot’s Ryan Palmer and Simon Stewart have been talking about bikes for years, so when Spot dropped their new Diggity 125 Trail bike, Simon quickly wound him up for a chat. Ryan shares details about their design decisions, why Spot’s Living Link suspension layout gives them more kinematic control throughout the travel, their interesting take on size-specific chainstay length, the lightweight Trail bike trend, and a whole lot more.</p><p><strong>Note: We Want to Hear From You!</strong></p><p>Pl

  • #326
    May 14 · 56 min

    Gravel Hall of Famer Yuri Hauswald on His Unbound Return & Racing for Charity

    <p>Gravel Hall of Famer Yuri Hauswald is coming out of retirement at age 55 to raise money for the <a href="https://www.ltfoundation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Life Time Foundation</a> by racing the Unbound Gravel 200, a race he won over a decade ago. Tune in to find out why he’s starting dead last, what’s changed in his training approach, his bike setup, and why he’s passionate about kids’ charities, plus some bonus gravel tips &amp; tricks for one of the most challenging g

  • #325
    May 7 · 1 hr 18 min

    Reviewing the News w/ Mike Ferrentino & Simon Stewart (May, 2026)

    <p>Mike and Simon unpack the first DH and XC World Cup of the season, and there’s a whole lot to talk about, including course drama, fast Frenchies, DH hardtails, belt drives, tons of flats, just as many crashes, and Vali Holl and Asa Vermette's insane winning runs, not to mention the XC race mudfest the day after. Plus, we sprinkle in a bit of industry news, and Mike lays out his plan to make poison oak pepper spray.</p><p><strong>Note: We Want to Hear From You!</strong></p><p>Please let us kno

Showing 21–32 of 32 episodes