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. Hosted o...
Ministry Cycles on Testing, Production Challenges, & the Psalm 150 V3
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 for testing, it was a good time to check back in with Chris to hear all about what’s happened over the last two years to get here; what goes into lab testing & why it’s important; what he’d do differently with the benefit of hindsight; and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:Ministry Cycles on Suspension Design, Machining Frames, & Launching a Bike Company (Ep.157)BLISTER+ Get Yourself CoveredJoin Us! Blister Summit 2025TOPICS & TIMES:The Psalm 150 (2:56)Lab testing the earlier prototypes (4:51)What goes into lab testing? (8:42)The limitations of computer modeling & importance of physical testing (11:49)Refinements of the V3 frame (18:42)The pros and cons of various construction methods (26:13)Bike industry struggles going into 2025 (35:34)20/20 hindsight & the path to the V3 frame (43:18)Welded front triangle versions (49:29)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister PodcastOff The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Gear of the Year, 2024
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 a bike to stand out, but it can also make for a bike that doesn’t truly excel in any specific area. So we got a bunch of our bike reviewers together to talk about — and argue over — the bikes and other gear we were most impressed with from 2024, and talk about what makes them stand out.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ MembershipThis Week’s Gear GiveawayTOPICS & TIMES:Cannondale Moterra SL (2:41)Santa Cruz Vala (4:26)Kavenz VHP16 V7 (9:06)Deviate Highlander II (13:58)Privateer 161 V2 (16:23)Spot Mayhem 140 (21:42)Specialized Stumpjumper 15 (25:20)Specialized Epic Evo (28:54)Trek Top Fuel (32:19)Yeti ASR (34:15)Chromag Lowdown (39:42)Schwalbe Radial Tires (43:45)Michelin Wild Enduro MS & DH22 (51:15)Michelin DH16 (56:12)Manitou Mara Pro PB (58:38)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister PodcastOff The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Vorsprung on the Telum, Rapid Revalve, Shock Tuning & More
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 the shock take only a few minutes) works. And Steve shares a lot of good info on the Telum more broadly, his approach to suspension tuning, and a whole lot more.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ MembershipThis Week’s Gear GiveawayTOPICS & TIMES:Re-introducing the TelumDamper design (2:10)The Rapid Revalve system (7:19)How Rapid Revalve differs from standard adjusters (14:01)The Tuning Hub (23:24)Damping curves & what Rapid Revalve can (and can’t) do (31:50)“Placebo dials” & Steve’s tuning philosophy (35:54)Hydraulic bottom-out & changing shock stroke (41:00)Spherical bearings (44:59)CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister PodcastOff The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Reviewing the News w/ Dylan Wood (December 2024)
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 recent news from December, discussed their picks for best racing moments, and reminisced about their best rides of the year.RELATED LINKS:BLISTER+ MembershipBLISTER+ Real World TestimonialsBlister LabsThis Week’s Gear GiveawayBlister Mountain Bike Buyer’s GuideTOPICS & TIMES:Norco’s 2025 DH Team (3:31)GT Bikes to Pause Operations (7:09)Rocky Mountain Restructuring (10:22)Explore Act Passes Senate (15:38)Lithium-ion Batteries Still Unregulated (18:29)2024 Industry News Recap (22:28)2024 Racing Highlights (34:02)Favorite Riding Moments of ‘24 (41:13)OUR OTHER PODCASTSBlister CinematicOff The CouchGEAR:30Blister PodcastCRAFTED Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Braydon Bringhurst on the Concept, Format, and Goals of the Hard MTB League
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 is Hard MTB? (1:16)Where did the idea come from, and why start it? (2:57)The courses & varying disciplines (13:48)October’s testing event (17:27)The response from riders (19:28)Timing & other details (24:55)Who’s likely to excel? (28:12)Plans for 2025 and beyond (31:25)OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister CinematicCRAFTEDGEAR:30Blister PodcastOff The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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