Singletracks Mountain Bike Podcast

Calvin Jones is the Director of Education at Park Tool company, a position he’s held for more than 15 years. He’s the author of the Big Blue Book Bicycle Repair and his repair videos on YouTube have been viewed by millions. We ask Calvin: How did you learn how to work on bikes? What type of riding do you like to do? Do mountain bikes require more or less repair and maintenance than other types of bikes? Are today’s bikes easier to work on than the bikes 10 or 20 years ago? Do bike manufacturers do a good job considering maintenance and repair when they design new products? Are Torx bolts taking over hex bolts? Which repairs are your least favorite? Will future bike mechanics need electrical skills, or is diagnosing and repairing electronic components something manufacturers will want to control? What’s the effect of YouTube videos like yours that help folks make repairs themselves at home? Check out the Park Tool YouTube channel and parktool.com. Programming note: For 2023 the Singletracks podcast will be published on Tuesdays each week instead of Monday. ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation will be available at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

After a year of testing and covering the latest mountain bike releases, Matt and Jeff discuss their favorites and talk about trends for 2022 and beyond. Our favorite mountain bikes tested Bikes released and updated in 2022 2022 mountain bike trends Predictions for 2023 mountain bikes A full transcript is available for free at Singletracks.com. Cover photo Hannah Morvay. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

Tom Place is the co-owner and head of Product Development for Outbound Lighting (outboundlighting.com). He’s a former Cree LED manager and holds multiple LED chip design patents. In this episode, we ask Tom to fill us in on how bike lights work, and how we can get the most out of our setup for night riding. What is the ideal beam shape for trail riding? Are certain beam patterns better than others depending on where you ride (eg. wide open desert vs. thick forest)? How does light placement affect the beam shape? What’s the theory behind helmet vs. bar mounted lights? If you only have one light, is it better to be on the bars or the helmet? Can brightness make up for an inefficient or poor beam shape? Why shouldn’t buyers focus on lumen numbers? Which features can buyers look at to compare bike lights? How do you determine the optimal battery size for a bike light? Why do LED lights produce so much waste heat? Is there better tech on the horizon? What could cause a poorly designed or manufactured light to pose a safety risk? Do you have any tips for night riding? ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

Hannah Otto is a World Cup mountain bike racer, FKT record holder, and Leadville 100 winner who has been racing since the age of 9 years old. Last month she set the fastest known time for riding the Whole Enchilada from bottom to top, and top to bottom in a time of 5:50:38. You can watch a short film about her FKT attempt here (https://youtu.be/oErEWLGdPlI) and follow Hannah on Instagram @hannah_finchamp In this episode we ask: How did you first get into mountain bike racing? How do FKT attempts compare to races like the Leadville 100 or even a World Cup XC race? Is one more stressful than the other? Tell us about your Whole Enchilada FKT attempt. Why that route? Was this your first time riding this exact route? Had you ridden the Whole Enchilada descent before? According to Strava all the fastest times on the Whole Enchilada were posted by men. How did it feel to best all of them by nearly an hour? Which was more challenging: the climb or the descent? Was the weather a factor when you made your attempt? Did you do any training specific to this trail, and this FKT attempt? I assume all of your gear held up well. Any surprises out there? What have you learned by working with bike coaches over the years? Do you use caffeine before or during races? Why or why not? What does your rest and recovery routine look like? Which races or FKTs are you targeting for 2023? This episode of the Singletracks podcast is sponsored by Explore Brevard. Professional mountain biker Adam Craig says it’s one of the top three places in the universe he’s ever ridden. Where is this magical mountain biking nirvana? It’s none other than Brevard, North Carolina, home to Pisgah National Forest and DuPont Recreational Forest. The area boasts over 300 miles of peerless singletrack, not to mention hundreds of miles of gravel roads, creating a near endless array of routes, terrains, and challenges to explore. Four vibrant bike shops will get you sorted, whether you need gear, service, or a top notch rental. Top it off with an array of craft breweries, cafes and gathering spots that have earned Brevard the title as one of the best small towns in America in 2021. It all adds up to a premier mountain biking destination you’ll want to experience for yourself. Find out more at ExploreBrevard.com. ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

Jonathan Hagerman and his wife Alexandra co-founded The Dirt Therapy Project, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to helping military veterans heal through riding. Jonathan served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2009-2013 and deployed to Afghanistan as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom. With Veterans Day just around the corner, Matt and Jeff, also both veterans, speak with Jonathan about his experience serving and learn how The Dirt Therapy Project is connecting veterans with mountain biking. Learn more about The Dirt Therapy Project and find out how you can get involved at tdtp.org. ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

Tony Boone has been building mountain bike trails for more than 30 years, and literally helped write the book on the subject, contributing to IMBA’s Guides to Building Sweet Singletrack and Providing Great Riding. He established the first bike patrol in Colorado in 1989 and has been an active member of the Professional Trail Builders Association since 1995. In this episode we ask: What was it like working as a Boulder open space employee? How do the early trails compare to the ones you’re involved in creating today? How do you learn and establish best practices for trail building? What are some of the most common mistakes new trail builders make? How did you get involved working with IMBA, and building trails overseas? What was it like seeing the development of mountain biking in places like China? What are some of the trail projects you’re most proud of? What led you to create a community college trail building course? How do trail builders benefit from a more formal education? What is life like as a full time trail builder? How do concepts like sustainability and stewardship fit into recreational trail building? What does the Jim Angel quote, “People don’t need trails, the land does,” mean to you? Connect with Tony and learn more at tonyboonetrails.com. This episode of the Singletracks podcast is sponsored by Explore Brevard. Professional mountain biker Adam Craig says it’s one of the top three places in the universe he’s ever ridden. Where is this magical mountain biking nirvana? It’s none other than Brevard, North Carolina, home to Pisgah National Forest and DuPont Recreational Forest. The area boasts over 300 miles of peerless singletrack, not to mention hundreds of miles of gravel roads, creating a near endless array of routes, terrains, and challenges to explore. Four vibrant bike shops will get you sorted, whether you need gear, service, or a top notch rental. Top it off with an array of craft breweries, cafes and gathering spots that have earned Brevard the title as one of the best small towns in America in 2021. It all adds up to a premier mountain biking destination you’ll want to experience for yourself. Find out more at ExploreBrevard.com. ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

Joe McEwan is a career aerospace engineer and carbon composites expert who founded Starling Cycles in 2014. The brand’s bikes are developed, engineered and handmade for the demands of UK trails, and the bikes have been well received among both the media and athletes. In this episode we ask: What first piqued your interest in building steel bikes? Have you tried building bikes with other materials? Is it true that that steel absorbs road and trail vibration better than other materials, and if so, can the average rider feel a difference? Do fat tires and suspension have more of an affect on ride feel than frame material? How do you go about making a steel tube stiffer in one direction than the other? Are there any design considerations that are unique to steel full-suspension frames? Why are most steel frames single-pivot? Why do some bikes like the Murmur Trail need a brace between the top tube and seat tube? Some Starling products are made in the UK, while others are welded in Taiwan. How do you decide which bikes to build in house, and which ones to outsource? Are there advantages to a gearbox over an external drivetrain that go beyond broken derailleurs? What are your thoughts on the rising popularity of mixed-wheel bikes? What’s next for Starling Cycles? Are there any steel ebikes in the future? Check out the full suspension steel mountain bikes at starlingcycles.com. This episode of the Singletracks podcast is sponsored by Explore Brevard. Professional mountain biker Adam Craig says it’s one of the top three places in the universe he’s ever ridden. Where is this magical mountain biking nirvana? It’s none other than Brevard, North Carolina, home to Pisgah National Forest and DuPont Recreational Forest. The area boasts over 300 miles of peerless singletrack, not to mention hundreds of miles of gravel roads, creating a near endless array of routes, terrains, and challenges to explore. Four vibrant bike shops will get you sorted, whether you need gear, service, or a top notch rental. Top it off with an array of craft breweries, cafes and gathering spots that have earned Brevard the title as one of the best small towns in America in 2021. It all adds up to a premier mountain biking destination you’ll want to experience for yourself. Find out more at ExploreBrevard.com. ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

Scott Morris is a self-described “lifelong mountain biker, trail mapper and programmer.” He’s the creator of Track Leaders, a live tracking website for bikepacking races, and TopoFusion mapping software. In this episode we ask: How did first make the connection between mountain biking and computer programming? Why did you and your brother decide to create TopoFusion? Have there been growing pains as bikepacking races like the Arizona Trail Race become more popular? Will some of the unofficial races need to become more official and organized as they get larger? Are you able to keep the list of ultra endurance records for races like the Tour Divide and Huracan 300 up to date? Do you think there’s a value in keeping official records for races like this, and for FKTs? What are the challenges involved in maintaining an official list like this? What led you to create Track Leaders, and how does it work? Are SPOT devices still the best way to track outdoor races? Do you see other devices like smartphones becoming viable for this anytime soon? As a programmer, how do you account for GPS data accuracy when tracking races? Is it easy for someone to cheat? Why is elevation data so notoriously difficult to track accurately with a GPS? When did you fully commit to the digital nomad lifestyle? How’d you finally make the jump? Do you have any tips for going full nomad? When you go for a ride in a new place, do you rely on GPS entirely or do you also pack a paper map? What are you planning for your next adventure? Find out more at trackleaders.com and topofusion.com. This episode of the Singletracks podcast is sponsored by Explore Brevard. Professional mountain biker Adam Craig says it’s one of the top three places in the universe he’s ever ridden. Where is this magical mountain biking nirvana? It’s none other than Brevard, North Carolina, home to Pisgah National Forest and DuPont Recreational Forest. The area boasts over 300 miles of peerless singletrack, not to mention hundreds of miles of gravel roads, creating a near endless array of routes, terrains, and challenges to explore. Four vibrant bike shops will get you sorted, whether you need gear, service, or a top notch rental. Top it off with an array of craft breweries, cafes and gathering spots that have earned Brevard the title as one of the best small towns in America in 2021. It all adds up to a premier mountain biking destination you’ll want to experience for yourself. Find out more at ExploreBrevard.com. ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

Dr. Kate Leeming is an explorer and adventurer who has biked tens of thousands of miles around the world, including 15,000 miles around the Australian continent in 2004 and 2005 and 22,000km across Africa from Sengal to Somalia. In 2019 she became the first person to cycle 1600km through the sands of the Namibian coast and is working toward the first-ever Antarctic bicycle crossing via the South Pole for her educational outreach organization, Breaking the Cycle. In May of this year Leeming completed her latest expedition, The Andes, the Altiplano & the Atacama. The 4,400km adventure began just as Covid-19 hit, forcing her to end her trip after 1,100km of riding. She returned earlier this year to successfully complete the trip. In this episode, we ask: What is your first memory of going on an adventure? Were you a good student in school? Did you enjoy learning? Have you always considered yourself an explorer? How does Breaking the Cycle: Education connect with your expeditions? What is the goal? What got you interested in the traversing the Skeleton Coast in Namibia by bike? Tell us about the all-wheel-drive fat bike you used. Was this a custom set up, or something you were able to find off the shelf? How did the bike perform? Were there any surprises along the way? How do you prepare for such massive expeditions, especially ones that no one else has completed before? How much of the preparation involves physical training versus research and logistics? How do you prepare yourself mentally? What are the challenges that women continue to face in the world of adventuring and exploring today? Are there ways we can be “explorers” in our day-to-day lives? What is the value of staying curious? Learn more and connect with Kate at KateLeeming.com and BreakingTheCycle.Education. ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks

Ned Overend is a mountain bike Hall of Famer and highly accomplished racer, winning the first ever UCI mountain bike World championship in 1990, the XTERRA world champion in 1998 and 1999, and the UCI Masters World Cyclocross Champion in 2012. Today he’s the Specialized XC mountain bike Team Captain and lives in Durango, Colorado. In this episode we ask: How did you end up settling in tiny, out-of-the-way Durango? When did you first hear the term “mountain biking”? What was your initial impression of the sport? How do you train for bicycle hill climb races? What are the keys to building endurance in general? Do genetics help? Does fat bike racing require a specialized skill set, or is it pretty similar to XC racing? Tell us a bit about the local cycling community in Durango. How has it grown and changed over the years?  What was it like last year seeing hometown rider Christopher Blevins become the first American to win a WC mountain bike race since 1994? What are some of your fondest mountain bike racing memories? Tell us about the Test Track in Durango, an area that’s now known as Overend Mountain Park. Did you help build the original trails there? What were some of the innovations tested on the trails? You appeared in one of the first mountain bike videos ever, in 1988. Do you think it’s even possible for a video to fully express what it’s like to ride? What’s been the biggest innovation in mountain bike equipment over the years? Do you have a favorite trail in Durango? Find out more about Durango's Spoketober festival at durango.org/spoketober. ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available at singletracks.com. --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks