Singletracks Mountain Bike News

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 manufacture

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

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 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/singletracks/support

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

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 ridingthes

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

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 smartphone

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? W

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

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 b

This week we’re re-sharing one of our favorite podcast episodes, and we’ll be back next week with an all-new show. Sean Madsen is WTB’s Saddle Category Manager and is an expert in cycling biomechanics with more than 24 years of experience. Over his career he’s studied and taught bike fitting to thousands worldwide, and he’s helped create many innovative saddle concepts while working with top athletes. In this episode, we ask Sean common questions about bike saddles including: How are bike saddles constructed? What are some of the different materials that are used for padding? Are there advantages to using materials like gel? What is the purpose of titanium or carbon saddle rails? How does bike saddle sizing work? Are more expensive saddles more comfortable? What’s the idea behind saddle cutouts? Why do you think the Volt is one of WTB’s best selling saddles? Do men and women need different bike saddles? Are saddles generally designed under the assumption that riders will be wearing a chamois?

Emmy Andrews is the Executive Director of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance, also known as COTA. The group's mission is to "develop, protect, and enhance the Central Oregon mountain bike experience through trail stewardship, advocacy, collaboration, and education." Tell us a bit about COTA. What’s the organization’s mission and how large is your membership? When and why did COTA get its start? How long have you been with COTA, and how did you get involved? How is COTA organized? How many miles of singletrack does your group support? What are some of the most popular trails COTA helps support? Is there currently a good mix of trails in Bend for riders of all skill levels? Who are the land management agencies COTA works with? Do you see a lot of riders coming from out of town to ride in Bend, and some of the other areas COTA supports? What’s the best time of year to ride in Central Oregon? Tell us about the mountain bike community in Bend. Are there standing group rides, or businesses that are

This week we’re re-sharing one of our favorite podcast episodes, and we’ll be back next week with an all-new show. Last year Christopher Blevins became the first American man to win a World Cup race since 1994, taking first in the final XCO race of the season at Snowshoe, West Virginia. He’s also the 2021 short track world champion, and has notched numerous podium finishes at national and international mountain, cyclocross, and road races. This past weekend Blevins crashed during the short track race (XCC) at Les Gets but still managed a top-20 finish. In the cross country race on Sunday he was not feeling well due to injuries suffered in the XCC race and pulled out of the competition. In this interview we ask: How did the Durango DEVO community-based cycling program shape who you are as a rider? What is it about Durango that produces so many talented riders? Is it the elevation, or the terrain, or something else? How does being a playful rider translate on the race course? How did you get interested in

In this episode Chris, Jeff, and Matt talk about the 12 best mountain bike destinations in the United States that was recently shared on Singletracks. We'll go over the criteria we consider when choosing our favorite mountain bike destinations and go through the list and share more about the best spots to visit. Moab, Utah Sedona, Arizona Bentonville, Arkansas Grand Valley, Colorado (Fruita / Grand Junction / Palisade) Crested Butte, Colorado and the Gunnison Valley Park City, Utah Pisgah, North Carolina (Brevard / Asheville / Old Fort) Lake Tahoe Copper Harbor, Michigan Kingdom Trails, Vermont Durango, Colorado Bellingham, Washington Cover photo: Matt Miller ✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available to Singletracks Pro supporters: singletracks.com/support --Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/singletracks/support

This week we’re re-sharing one of our favorite podcast episodes, and we’ll be back next week with an all-new show. Pat White is a longtime product manager for Kona Bicycles and Doug Lafavor aka Dr. Dew has been designing bikes at Kona for decades. In this episode we ask: Which factors make a hardtail ‘hardcore’ or more aggressive compared to say an XC or entry-level hardtail? What are aggressive hardtails good for in terms of riding style or trails? What are the limits? How important is frame material when it comes to designing a hardtail? Is there one material that’s generally superior to the others? Are there higher costs involved in building hardtails from steel than aluminum? Where does the compliance in a hardtail frame come from? Do you look at component selection differently for a hardtail vs. a full suspension bike? If so, what are the key areas where the builds differ? Is there any lingering debate about wheel size when it comes to hardtails? Are sliding dropouts an important selling poi

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. In this episode we ask: 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 moun

Mike Giese is an industrial designer based in Salt Lake City who has designed products for bike brands like Revel, Trust, and most recently, Evil Bikes. Evil just announced their first electric mountain bike, and we’re curious to learn about some of the design challenges that were involved. In this episode we ask: How do industrial designers and engineers work together? Does one usually take the lead on starting a new bike project, or are you working in parallel from the beginning? Is it beneficial, or even possible, to simply take an existing mountain bike design and electrify it? Or is it better to start from scratch? Why? Evil is using a Shimano e-drive system in the new Epocalypse. Is choosing the drive system one of the first steps? Why choose Shimano for this bike? What are the challenges involved in designing a frame to accommodate a motor and battery? Are there any unique challenges with wiring, or is it pretty similar to internal cable and hose routing? How do build kit considerations differ f

This week we’re re-sharing one of our favorite podcast episodes, and we’ll be back next week with an all-new show. Dee Tidwell is a professional coach and the founder of Train to Ride which provides cycling-specific training programs and plans for mountain biking, road, gravel, and moto riding. He’s also a two time Big Mountain Enduro Master’s Champ and has worked with countless professional athletes including members of the Yeti/Fox Factory professional EWS race team. We ask Dee: What is the Performance Pyramid, and how does it work? Walk us through each level. Is it OK to skip some of the lower levels and jump right to the top? How electric mountain bike riding and racing this differ from more traditional mountain bike training? Do you find that people really hate cardio so much that they avoid training altogether? Is equipment cost an excuse people use for not working on getting stronger? Is soft tissue therapy something folks can work on at home with foam rollers and massage guns, or is this one are

Gary Moore is the executive director of the Colorado Mountain Bike Association, COMBA. The group is dedicated to the interests of the Front Range mountain biking community in and around Denver. In this episode we ask: What is the Colorado Mountain Bike Association's mission and how large is your membership? How many miles of singletrack does COMBA help support? When and why did COMBA get its start? How long have you been with COMBA, and how did you get involved? Did the recent boom in mountain bike participation translate into COMBA membership growth? What is the biggest misconception the community tends to have about their local advocacy groups? What are some of the most popular trails your group helps support? Are some Front Range trails particularly popular with MTB tourists? Are there many opportunities for new trail builds on the Front Range? Can trail growth keep up with demand from new residents, and new riders? How do you decide which trails projects to pursue? Is unauthorized trail b

This week we’re re-sharing one of our favorite podcast episodes, and we’ll be back next week with an all-new show. Dr. Adam Phaneuf is a Doctor of Chiropractic with a degree in Exercise Science based in Bellingham, WA. He’s also a bike fitter and has studied bicycle biomechanics. In this interview we ask Adam: Is it true that cycling is lower impact than other activities like jogging? Do you think mountain biking is higher impact than road cycling? What are some of the most common ride-related issues folks tend to have? Are certain muscles, or body parts, more prone to injury or pain for mountain bikers? Do oval chain rings work for reducing pain? Are there any biomechanical advantages to them that riders can benefit from? How can riders know if it’s their form that needs to be changed, or if it’s something about the bike fit that’s wrong? What is arm pump, and what causes it? Can vibration on the bike lead to any health or pain issues? Can things like suspension stems or seat posts be helpful