Unexpected Elements

We're re-sharing one of our favorite episodes from 2022, so be sure to listen in case you missed it! Check back next week for more another fresh episode. Dr. Matt Miller is the inventor and founder of Brake Ace, a sensor that collects data about your braking and an app that makes braking recommendations to help you ride smarter.  He’s also a former elite-level mountain bike racer and has coached riders at all levels of the sport. In this episode we ask: How did you make your way up to the elite level of mountain bike competition? Why did you decide to look at braking performance as a part of your PhD program? What does the Brake Ace sensor look like, and how does it work? How difficult is the hardware side in terms of development? What’s different about your approach to studying braking performance? How did you figure out which metrics to focus on? Let’s talk about some common braking questions.Does the front brake generally offer more stopping power than the rear? Is locking up a wheel and skidding bad in terms of speed and/or performance, or is it desirable in certain situations? Should mountain bikers brake before a turn? How soon? Should we brake at all once we’re in the turn? What are some common braking skills riders need to work, or bad habits they need to break?How do the pros compare to weekend warriors in terms of braking skills? Do some of us brake too often? Could working on things like cornering and overall confidence allow us to simply brake less? Mountain bikers seem to be split between preferring brakes that modulate power, and those that have a quick bite. Is one better than the other in terms of performance? If bigger rotors offer better stopping power, why not max them out? Is it just because of weight, or is there another consideration? Tell us a bit about the MTB scene in Rotorua. How has it grown and changed over the past few years? Learn more at brakeace.com and sign up for their email list to be notified about availability. Cover photo by Tyler Perrin. 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.

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 rims? With so many different polymer choices and layups available, could a particular blend of FusionFiber make sense for handlebars or even bike frames?  What is Forge+Bond's connection to CSS Composites, the company that produces FusionFiber rims for brands like Evil and Revel? With such a new material and technology, what sort of product testing has Forge+Bond done? How do you handle product warranty claims? What's next for Forge+Bond? 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.

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 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.

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 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.

We're re-sharing one of our favorite episodes from 2022, so be sure to listen in case you missed it! Check back next week for more another fresh episode. In 2006 Goat and two friends set out to ride mountain bikes from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of South America, and after three and a half years of travel, the trio completed the mother of all bikepacking trips. Riding the Spine is just one of many adventures Goat has experienced over the years, including living in a tree house and building and working on countless bikes. In this episode we ask: How did you upbringing influence your adventure-based lifestyle? How did you get into cycling, and particularly long-distance riding? What was it like living in a treehouse for 4 years during college? How did the idea of Riding the Spine come about? Who was in the group? What was your bike setup at the start, and how did it evolve during the ride? Why did you and the crew get arrested in Arizona? Which sections were your favorites to ride? Have you been on any bike adventures since the trip? Do you have any planned for the future? Get more stories from Riding the Spine at ridingthespine.com and keep up Goat's latest adventures at wandergoat.com. Cover photo by Melinda Thompson. 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.

We're re-sharing one of our favorite episodes from 2022, so be sure to listen in case you missed it! Check back soon for more fresh episodes. Wende Cragg has been a part of mountain biking since the beginning of the sport in California in the 1970s, racing and photographing the early Repack races down Mt. Tam. She was inducted into the mountain bike hall of fame in 1989 and curates the Rolling Dinosaur Archive which chronicles the birth of mountain biking. Tell us a bit about your introduction to mountain biking. Was it love at first ride? Which aspects of riding a bicycle off road were most appealing to you? How would you describe the feeling of those first rides? What was your motivation for taking photographs in the early days of mountain biking? What was it like connecting with riders in Crested Butte who were sorta discovering mountain biking in parallel with you and your friends in the Bay Area?How was their idea of mountain biking different from the one being developed in California? Were you surprised to see mountain bikers banned from riding on Mt. Tam in the early 80s? How did you react? Did you get frustrated with the early bikes? Do you think today’s mountain bikes make the sport more appealing or accessible? How do electric mountain bikes fit in? What do you hope people get out of seeing and experiencing the Rolling Dinosaur Archive? With so many styles of riding within mountain biking today, which interpretation do you think gets closest to that original ethos? Photo: Rolling Dinosaur Archive 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. Search the Singletracks podcast archive for interviews with more mountain bike pioneers including Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly, and Tom Ritchey.

We're re-sharing one of our favorite episodes from 2022, so be sure to listen in case you missed it! Check back soon for more fresh episodes. Seth Gebel is a mountain biker and trail builder living in Missouri. His popular YouTube channel, Backyard Trail Builds, shows how he builds beautiful trail features like ramps, skinnies, and bridges using natural materials. We ask Seth: Tell us how you got into mountain biking, and trail building. You’ve been building at Howler Bike Park this year. What were you working on there? How much of your time do you spend building on your own land versus paid projects for others? Where did you learn your carpentry skills? Is there a science to building features that are fun to ride, or is it guess-and-check? Have you had to progress your bike skills to keep up with your builds? You use a lot of natural wood as opposed to cut lumber, which seems to be pretty time consuming. Why make the effort? Is longevity a concern when building features out of wood? Are there things you can do to ensure features remain safe and durable for many seasons? Do you enjoy riding skinnies? What makes a good mountain bike skinny? Were you looking to start a YouTube channel initially? Your most popular YT video (so far) is about building a set of indoor rollers out of logs. What was the reaction to that video?Are you still using the rollers? Which builds are you most proud of? What’s next for your builds and your channel? Check out the Backyard Trail Builds YouTube channel, and visit the Backyard Trail Builds website for more. 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.

Learn from Sam Anderson about the intricacies of MTB suspension, including sag, rebound, and common setup mistakes. Discover the differences between coil and air shocks, and the importance of minimizing stiction for a smoother ride. Explore the latest innovations in suspension design and how to optimize your bike's performance for an enhanced riding experience.

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 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.

Eddie 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 the Eastern Divide compare to the Great Divide? What was the final mileage that you covered? Does completing a big ride change you as a person? Connect with Eddie at cycletechniques.com and @eddieodea. 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.