Vital MTB

Latest Episodes:

TECH TALK: Giant Factory Off-Road's Dave Garland and His Data Acquisition System Jun 22, 2017

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Dave Garland is a bike wizard. The Giant Factory Off-Road mechanic uses his latest piece of tech to help refine his World Cup DH racers' set-ups and bring to light feel versus reality on course. Bike nerds rejoice!

Specialized Director of Bike, Brandon Sloan Jun 20, 2017

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Brandon Sloan is a long-time Specialized employee who has worked his way up through the ranks, landing as the director in charge of all things bike. While he avoids disclosing an official title and says he's never had a "real job," Brandon is responsible for the development of some influential products over the years like the Big Hit with 24-inch rear wheel, the Demo, the Enduro, including the Enduro 29, and plenty more. We discuss a fondness for Dr. Pepper, working with Sam Hill and Aaron Gwin on the Demo's development, Specialized's product testing procedures, direct-to-consumer sales and what the future may look like for mountain biking. I had a great time learning about this legend of modern mountain bike development and I hope you do to.

Off the Cuff - Brendan Fairclough Jun 19, 2017

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We put Brendog on the spot to talk about movies, racing, and where you should travel to ride your bike next. Uncut and straight off the cuff!

SRAM Product Manager for MTB Drivetrain, Chris Hilton Jun 06, 2017

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Chris Hilton, a long-time mountain bike industry figure, left his Alabama home in the 90's to pursue mountain bike racing. When he realized he wasn't cut out for competitive XC racing, he found his way into the business side of our sport, eventually landing at SRAM some 10 years ago. Getting his feet wet with SRAM XX 2x10 drivetrain development, he's a big reason why 1x drivetrains are so successful today. Chris would dig through the boxes of random products that SRAM engineers had collected over the years, questioning if these unused technologies could be used on mountain bikes. Chris and his team pushed the development of wide-range 1x drivetrains into production as riders and racers were already running cobbled-together 1x drivetrains on their own. From XX1 through Eagle (which he originally didn't embrace), Chris has been there for some MTB's most important drivetrain refinements. Enjoy the past, the present and the future of drivetrains and bike development with a passionate rider who's inspired to make bike riding better.

Pivot Cycles Founder and Owner, Chris Cocalis May 23, 2017

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Chris Cocalis has a deeply rooted history in the sport of mountain biking. Coming from a BMX background, he combined his love of riding bikes and improving on broken parts into a lifelong career in MTB. From days as a racer and shop employee, he learned how to weld and started making bikes at an early age out of pure passion. That passion led Chris to create Titus cycles in the 90's and ultimately lead him on the journey to start Pivot Cycles ten years ago. Enjoy his inspiring story as we talk about his past as well as the present and future of Pivot Cycles and our sport in general.

Elayna Caldwell, SRAM Brand Director of MTB May 09, 2017

Show notes

I am honored to share an interview with The Inside Line's first female guest, Elayna Caldwell. Elayna is Brand Director of Mountain Biking at SRAM. She has a long history in our sport, starting out as a hobbyist racer and eventually finding her way into the industry by way of a an entry-level marketing position at RockShox back when it was based in Northern California. We discuss some of her journey in the sport, how she arrived at the top of the SRAM food chain, women's racing and the women's market in mountain biking, as well as, triumphs and challenges of her career. Elayna is a candid woman who won't hesitate to share her opinion, and her genuine passion for mountain biking shines through. I hope you learn something, laugh and enjoy the interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it. -spomer

The Inside line - Brendan Fairclough & Clay Porter on Deathgrip and the Lourdes World Cup Apr 25, 2017

Show notes

One is a master on the bike, the other is a master behind the camera. I had the pleasure of sitting down with two friends and superstars of the mountain bike world this week at the Sea Otter Classic; Brendan Fairclough and Clay Porter. I set up a mobile, outdoor podcaststudio at Vital's Sea Otter campsite and we conducted the interview under an oak tree near the venue.Brendan and Clay have partneredup to create Deathgrip, a movie that showcases the riding talent of Brendan and select athletes like Brandon Semenuk, Josh Bryceland, Andreu Lacondeguy,Sam Reynolds, Ryan Howard, Nico Vink, Andrew Neethling, Kyle Jameson and Olly Wilkins. We discuss the vision for the full-length movie, the strugglesand the achievements made while filming. Discussions turn to the Lourdes World Cup that is just hours away and Brendan's approach to the 2017 raceseason, 29-inch wheels in downhill and his future in mountain biking.I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.Learn more about the movie at www.deathgripmovie.tv and stay tuned to www.vitalmtb.com for all the best action from the UCI World Cup Downhill inLourdes, France this weekend.

Trek Bicycles Director of Suspension Development, Jose Gonzalez Apr 18, 2017

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Jose Gonzalez has been involved with mountain bikes and mountain bike suspension almost as long as the products have existed. Coming from an extensive motocross background with Kawasaki, Jose found a love for mountain biking and suspension development in the early years of Manitou. He and his team developed some of the most important suspension products of the era, which helped turned mountain biking and world-class MTB competition into a true performance sport. Since 2006, Jose has worked with Trek Bicycles as Director of Suspension Development at his small-but-efficient laboratory in Valencia, California. There and his team work with the Trek bike designers in Waterloo, Wisconsin, to engineer high-performing full-suspension mountain bikes like the Remedy and the Slash. Jose has a knowledge of suspension and passion for mountain biking that runs deep. We discuss past product development, working with riders like John Tomac, and the future of mountain biking with topics like 29-inch wheels in downhill applications. Get ready to geek out with one of the innovators of our sport.

KHS Factory Racing Team Director, Quinton Spaulding Apr 04, 2017

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Quinton Spaulding is a man dedicated to downhill racing. The South African native moved to Las Vegas, Nevada with his family and first rode a mountain bike in 1998. Shortly thereafter, he answered a magazine ad about a grassroots sponsorship with KHS Bicycles and has been with the brand ever since. "Q" as he's often called is 49, still races Pro downhill and runs the KHS Factory Racing downhill team. In this interview, we discuss his loyalty to downhilling, KHS as a brand, the future of American downhill racing and where he sees his team in the future. Q's dedication to our sport is contagious. Enjoy the interview. Learn more about KHS Factory racing at www.khsfactoryracing.com

AARON GWIN, Professional Downhill Racer Mar 21, 2017

Show notes

Aaron Gwin needs no introduction. He's one of the greatest downhill mountain bike racers of all time and he's in the prime of his career. I sat down with Aaron at his home in Murrieta, California, and we discussed things from diet and training, his shelf-life as a downhill racer, his desire to motivate and inspire kids and even a love he has for singing. I hope you enjoy this episode with a truly world-class athlete. If you like our podcasts, don't forget to rate us on iTunes and spread the word about them to your fellow mountain bikers.

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