With their athletes taking wins at the Tour de France and Red Bull Hardline, Enve has been having a hell of a summer. So today we’re talking with Enve’s Jake Pantone about what they’ve been up to, the increasingly blurry lines between bike categories, how wide Gravel tires should be, and why you might want to put a suspension fork on your drop bar bike. And Jake also shares exciting news about their plans to make Mountain Bikes.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Winning the Tour de France & Red Bull Hardline (1:31)

Having the GOAT as an Enve Athlete (2:47)

Blurry Lines Between Bike Categories (7:57)

How Wide Should Gravel Tires Be? (16:40)

Bigger Tires vs Suspension Forks (21:40)

Gravel Bikes as a One Bike Quiver (24:47)

Going From Wheels to Road & Gravel Frames (33:02)

Enve to Make Mountain Bikes? (40:13)

What’s Next for Enve (41:39)

Investing in R&D (43:54)

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The list of world-class cyclists that have come out of the Durango Devo junior cycling program is astounding. Christopher Blevins is on a tear and is currently leading the UCI XCO overall. Riley Amos crushed the XC U23s last year. Sepp Kuss made a name for himself shepherding Jonas Vingegaard through the mountains and then went on to win a Grand Tour himself, and Quinn Simmons’ aggressive attacks made headlines during this year's Tour de France. So today, we catch up with Durango Devo co-founder Chad Cheeney to find out what the secret is to consistently turning out some of the best bike riders in the world.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Culture & Passion (1:43)

Paying Attention to Kids (3:15)

OG Durango XC History (3:35)

Athletes Having Kids (5:50)

What is Durango Devo? (9:30)

Finding Coachable Moments (12:05)

Raising Money as a Non Profit (13:34)

Super Athletes of Durango Devo (15:52)

Little & Scrawny Christopher Blevins (17:41)

Sepp Kuss’s La Vuelta España Win (21:44)

Life as a Fort Lewis Cycling Coach (36:40)

Up and Coming Talent (38:56)

What bike are you riding? (44:08)

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For this month's Reviewing the News Episode, Mike and I start with a topic that hits close to home: we both know extremely fit people who have passed away recently while riding their bikes. So, today we talk about how it's common for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease to go undiagnosed, especially in athletes, and what you can do, and should do, to protect yourself. Plus, we just had a fantastic, wet, and muddy weekend of racing in Les Gets, France, which gives us plenty to go on about, like the amazing Alran brothers, Gracy Hemstreet looking unbeatable, Ronan Dunne’s comeback, and road superstar Mathieu van der Poel getting back on the mountain bike for another crack at World Cup XCO, and more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Mike’s Grimy Handshake (3:26)

Heart Disease in Athletes (13:52)

Les Gets Mud Bath (26:29)

You Need Skills to Win (33:54)

The Amazing Alran Brothers (39:24)

Can Durango Kid Asa Veremette Ride in Mud (41:15)

Ronan Dunne Didn’t Leave in a Helicopter (43:57)

Specialized’s Most Expensive Bike Ever (49:42)

What We’re Reading & Watching (56:43)

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For today’s Gear Therapy episode, the team gets together to try to solve Jonathan’s pedal dilemma. Like many riders out there, Jonathan is questioning his current pedal choice, and not surprisingly, he’s considering ditching his clipless pedals and replacing them with flats. Sascha and Zack bring a valuable mountain bike coaching perspective to the conversation, and together with Simon’s years of experience in the industry and bike shops, they look at the advantages and disadvantages of both styles of pedals and do our best to guide Jonathan’s decision. They know he’s not alone, and anyone in a similar pedal conundrum will benefit from tuning in.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Pedal Horror Stories (1:24)

Why the Hell are They Called “Clipless”? (13:29)

Jonathan’s Pedal Issues (18:49)

Clips are Jonathan’s Security Blankie (24:39)

Pros & cons of flats (27:25)

Clipless Pedals Promoting & Masking Bad Habits (35:50)

Cornering Technique & Flat Pedals (36:40)

Sascha Calls Simon Out (40:15)

New Flat Pedal and Shoe Design (42:18)

Jonathan’s Pedal Prescription (47:21)

Uphill Technical & Pedal Strikes (1:02:36)

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Last year, we sat down with Casey Brown right after the first iteration of Red Bull Rampage to feature a women’s category to chat about what it meant to finally break that particular glass ceiling, what it took to do it, and how the event went.

Casey is, once again, among a stacked roster of women who will be dropping in for this year’s competition, but she’s been up to a whole lot more than just preparing for Rampage — from bringing back Dark Horse, now on her own property; working with D3O to develop better women’s protective gear; and putting together a bunch of other projects in between. So we brought her back on the podcast to talk about all of it, the state of women’s freeride & the generation of riders following in her footsteps, and a whole lot more.

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Casey Brown on the Inaugural Women’s Red Bull Rampage (Ep.246)

TOPICS & TIMES:

The return of Dark Horse (2:51)

The new venue(7:12)

What’s next for Dark Horse? (14:50)

Louise Ferguson at Hardline (16:11)

The state of women’s freeride & Casey’s role in shaping it (18:32)

Planning for Rampage (21:38)

Opportunities to help women’s freeride grow (30:41)

Working with D3O & making better women’s protective gear (36:47)

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Why didn’t Jackson Goldstone race Red Bull Hardline in Wales and give us the highly anticipated showdown between him and Asa Vermette? Dylan and I dive right into our opinions on that, and then break down the rest of July’s incredible racing results, including a quick recap of one of Simon’s favorites — the Tour de France. And itt wouldn’t be a Reviewing the News episode without some tariff chaos, and unfortunately, also some bike companies in trouble. Still, thankfully, there’s a bit of good news in here, too, since Chris King is apparently going to make internal headset cable routing better (we’re doing our best to be open-minded), and we have a new tire valve standard to get excited about (we’re actually not kidding).

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Dylan’s Beer League Race

Why Strava Might be the Best Social Media Platform

Redbull Hardline

Where Was Jackson Goldstone?

World Cup DH racing in July

Tom Pidcock’s Impressive Cross-country Win

Tour de France Recap

Tariffs Again

Chris King is Taking a Crack at Headset Cable Routing

YT Restructuring

New Products

What we’re Reading and Watching

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Our new Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide is live, and while it takes some cues from our Winter Buyer’s Guide — the eleventh edition of which is in the works right now — it’s very much its own beast. So we sat down to talk about what’s in the Guide, how it’s structured, and why; how the mountain bike market has evolved; the return of ‘All-Mountain’ as a class of bikes; and a whole lot more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

The new MTB Buyer’s Guide & how it’s structured (1:48)

What makes our Buyer’s Guide different (5:35)

Reviewing bikes now vs. a decade ago (9:06)

Zack’s worst bike purchase (15:23)

Direct-to-consumer models & the evolution of bike sales (16:32)

Classifying bikes & the return of ‘All-Mountain’ as a category (23:26)

Which All-Mountain bike would we each buy? (34:19)

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