Bikes & Big Ideas

We caught up with Cam McCaul to run down the 2026 Red Bull Rampage that left fans in awe at the women’s event and frustrated after the cancellation of the men’s competition. Cam shares his on-location perspective of the insane amount of work done by the build teams, the Robin Goomes vs. Hannah Bergemann showdown, as well as his thoughts on the men’s cancellation and whether it should have been postponed. 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 [email protected] to weigh in. RELATED LINKS: Momentous: livemomentous.com code: Blister Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered TOPICS & TIMES: Did the venue take a lot of effort on by the dig teams (2:28) Women’s and Men’s Dig Team Collabs (4:27) Bergemann vs. Goomes Showdown (5:40) Men’s Event Cancellation (13:42) Rampage Rookies Setting a High Bar  (16:51) Highlights (19:20) Jaxson Riddle  (21:30) Szymon Godziek (25:58) Carson Storch Crash (27:57) Why cancel? Why not postpone? (33:31) Why Didn’t They Move it to Friday? (39:57) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: The Blister Vault Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast

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: [email protected] 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

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 [email protected] 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

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 [email protected] 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

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 [email protected] 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.

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: [email protected] 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.

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 selection and opting for a mix of steel and titanium, developing the Doom Scroll Prophecy prototypes, and a whole lot more. And for a lot more on Ashley’s background, the founding of Significant Other, and her path into frame building, check out Ep.253 of Bikes & Big Ideas. 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: [email protected] RELATED LINKS: Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered TOPICS & TIMES: Moving from custom rigid frames to production full-suspension bikes (3:00) The Ded Reckin show bike (10:37) Design brief & details (17:30) Looking like a Significant Other (21:43) Production readiness & refining the details (25:05) 3D printed parts & mixing construction techniques (31:27) The preorder model (35:41) The Doom Scroll Prophecy (38:27) Naming the bikes (52:19) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Mezzer and the beefier Mezzer LT. Both get a host of intriguing performance-oriented changes, too, so we brought Manitou Product Manager Phil Ott back on the show to discuss them, and tell the development story of the new forks. 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: [email protected] RELATED LINKS: Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered TOPICS & TIMES: Goals for the Updated Mezzer (2:29) Versions & Splitting the Lineup (4:39) Chassis Stiffness & Friction (8:50) Dropouts & Alignment (21:41) Spring Design (28:14) Damper (35:42) Adding High-Speed Rebound Adjuster (42:20) Compression Damping (47:35) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.