Vital MTB's The Inside Line 3yh4s

The second round of the 2025 World Cup from Loudenvielle, , produced some of the fastest racing we've seen in recent memory and was (somehow) filled with more funny drama than the first round in Poland. But it turns out a dry, straight track makes for iconic Hail Mary race runs, and the UCI/Warner Bros/Discovery not knowing how to enforce their own rules makes for good podcasting banter. We had fun this week chatting about the ongoing #polegate disputes, Dak's panic after watching racing from the sideline and rushed last-minute prep before Leogang, the Henry Keifer situation, the Stan Nisbet situation, Ronan showing why we ride with tires on our rims, track safety and the need for more turns, and most importantly, the tightness of riding pants.  We have been treated to some iconic racing thus far this season, and Leogang this weekend will surely be exciting. Now let's just hope our co-host-extrodinare can make it past Q2!  0:13 - The Dak Update 3:10 - Dak's panic from watching people ride in Loudenvielle 6:05 - UCI trying to copy our post-race show 9:05 - More insight into Dak's prep before Leogang 14:13 - Has the field gotten faster this year? 16:30 - #polegate again 17:50 - Henry Keifer's start hut pit stop 19:39 - Stan Nisbet stopped from racing 24:15 - Ronan doesn't need tires. Or does he?? 27:45 - Track talk and how much they straightened it 29:52 - Why is everyone's gear so tight right now 33:50 - Complaining about the broadcast again 36:00 - XC did 5 people podiums 36:28 - Complaining about rider payout again  37:03 - How many people even watch the racing these days? 41:08 - Brembo brakes 49:17 - Maxxis Make or Brake Section 52:36 - Jackson and Gracey sending it at the bottom 55:40 - Jackson's bike setup is wild 59:13 - Junior Women's Race Recap 1:03:15 - Junior Men's Race Recap 1:09:43 - Elite Women's Race Recap 1:13:43 - Elite Men's Race Recap 1:22:00 - radial tire gossip  1:24:37 - Dak's tire choice for Loudenvielle 1:27:07 - Gwinny is back  1:30:52 - Burgtec Labour of Love 1:33:10 - Reece Wilson saying tracks are too straight, fast, not technical enough 1:35:49 - Jackson's average speed in his race run 1:41:12 - Thoughts on Leogang track 1:43:34 - Who's gonna be fast in Leogang

Days late and always a few dollars short, but we are back with the first post-race B Practice Podcast of the season. It was a spicy weekend in Poland. The track was soaked and haggard, the course was haphazardly marked, and everyone was rocking rotor guards and white pants. A truly grand kick-off to a season that is bound to provide exceptional racing with the current crop of racers filling each category. In this episode, the crew covers all the hot tea from the race, but most importantly, gets an update on Dak's highly anticipated return to racing. Spoiler: it's Leogang.  We hope you enjoy this episode, and we will see everyone next week for a post-Loudenvielle podcast!  0:00 - Intro / Crew Updates 5:32 - Dak Injury Update 13:37 - Dak's return to racing?? 16:30 - Post-injury fears getting back to racing? 19:13 - Transparency while recovering 22:14 - Bike setup post-injury  25:34 - Is there too much coverage per race weekend?  30:27 - #polegate #bringbacktape  36:05 - Ryan Gilcrest going around the start wand at Crankworx  40:29 - Course marking inconsistencies  42:40 - Q1 and Q2 thoughts and strategy  47:27 - Pit boards in qualifying 50:16 - 3 person podiums: yay or nay? 53:54 - Rotor guards: so hot right now 55:23 - Fenders vs. mudguards  58:07 - Lit Kit & Worst Kit in Poland 1:01:41 - Maxxis Make or Brake Section 1:04:01 - Riders looking tired mid-run  1:04:42 - Tire choice for the weekend 1:05:45 - Is Poland too one-lined? 1:11:31 - Goggle setup thoughts for the mud 1:20:08 - Junior Women's Race Recap  1:21:15 - Junior Men's Race Recap 1:24:40 - Tanner's hot take on Junior racing 1:29:40 - Elite Women's Race Recap 1:32:12 - Jason's first ride impressions of the new Orbea Rallon DH bike 1:37:23 - Elite Men's Race Recap 1:43:53 - Thoughts on the vibe around Poland/this World Cup season  1:52:46 - Who has the most podiums now that we only do top 3 1:53:25 - Burgtec Labour of Love Award

USDH Insights & Tennessee National Pre-Show With Sean' Griz' McClendon

With most team rumors debunked or made public, we wanted to discuss which changes are most exciting and who's posed to go fast in 2025. Of course, like any good B Practice Pod, we floated between topics, mixing in chit-chat about Supercross, racers racing longer nowadays, Gates' $100k belt drive bounty, the cause and effect of setup changes, and why Dak should never read the comments. Enjoy! 0:00 Rambling intro 9:00 - Supercross bench racing 16:22 - Developing a race bike first, then going to production  25:20 - chasing small gains in bike performance mid-season 30:45 - cause and effect of testing and changing setup 36:08 - comparing setups with other pro DH racers 37:48 - final team change news for 2025 46:08 - what happens to the few names stuck in the middle 52:28 - Biggest team change of 2025?? 1:03:08 - Most excited to see at the races in 2025?? 1:14:22 - Will we see more racers racing into their 30s in the future? 1:20:55 - Dak injury update 1:25:02 - Thoughts on Gates $100k belt drive competition 1:37:52 - Dak's comeback plans 1:53:08 - Dak shouldn't read the comments

Thanks to Maxxis Tires | FOX | Jenson USA for ing The Inside Line Max Beaupre is a ball of energy on and off the bike. Taking a moto heritage to mountain bikes, Max grew into a national enduro powerhouse before making the move to e-enduro. But don't pigenhole him as a single discipline specialist. He rides everything and rides everything well. On top of that, he's a becoming a premier trail builder and is pushing his moto talent by opening up an e-moto future, too. Thanks to Jack Rice for the interview! Interview contents 0:00 - Some history 10:08 - Hitting Highland, Meeting Kyle Strait,  National Champs 16:44 - Always enduro 22:00 - Racing with a broken leg 24:12 - Dropping out of school 33:07 - Getting into a machine for the first time 37:18 - Getting on Cannondale, U.S. EWS races 51:20 - Sponsors and bike setup 57:08 - Racing e-bikes, work ethic, faith in God 1:01:18 - Wrist injury, riding for Surron, riding in Monster Jam 1:31:30 - Back to Europe for E-EDR and World Champs 1:45:54 - 2025 plans, getting on Ari 2:01:18 - Digging trails and Working with Sean Leader at Wildside 2:07:58 - Questions from friends and e-Moto talk 2:19:42 - Future of WC Downhill

The past few months have flown by. And somehow, we haven't recorded a B Practice Podcast since the last World Cup back in October. We were overdue for a catchup to discuss the many series and team changes and, of course, our main man Dak's gnarly off-season injury. We get into all the details of what happened, his recovery, and why he's in a better place than before to handle such a setback. We then get into all the team rumor gossip, Continental series gossip, career numbers, and finish things off with a debate on what is the ultimate dream sponsor. Enjoy! Show Notes 0:00 - Intro 3:10 - Dak injury details, update, recovery 14:45 - Thoughts on the risk of riding moto during the offseason 18:17 - Dak's headspace during his injury 21:39 - How Dak's program has changed to avoid fatigue, over-training, and stress 26:26 - Where Dak started to find solutions to his health problems 31:12 - Finding confidence and happiness in your life 41:10 - Dak getting hurt at his house 43:19 - Dak's new video with GoPro' In Their Element' 45:11 - Mondraker doing a fill-in for Dak? 47:20 - Confirmed team changes for 2025 1:02:08 - Rumored team changes for 2025 1:19:28 - New team rules pushing out smaller teams and screwing 'bubble' riders 1:22:35 - Continental Series chit-chat and what it takes to make it to World Cups now 1:27:41 - Chit-chat about U.S. Series carrying weight against World Cups 1:39:01 - What career number would Dak pick? 1:40:37 - More team rumor talk 1:46:15 - Why Dak doesn’t wear gloves + what grips he runs 1:52:59 - Dream sponsor?

Thanks to Maxxis Tires | FOX | Jenson USA for ing The Inside Line #USDH ripper, Lucas Dedora, shares his story of going from a diehard XC grom to his first year racing World Cup Downhill. In the middle of the season, Lucas graduated high school and managed to hit 19 different races around the globe. Jack Rice was there all summer with Lucas as photographer for Transition Factory Racing and they talk about the highs and the lows of it all. Podcast contents 0:00 - "I wanted to be Nino Schurter" 4:44 - School and finding enduro 11:54 - Racing his first National Champs with a torn ACL 24:32 - Early DH career 32:20 - Aiming for the World Cup with Pro Builds Team 39:57 - Being friends with and racing against Asa Vermette 42:33 - Dealing with injuries and P.T. 50:24 - First European World Cup season and the Ft Bill Crash 59:15 - Poland and his last physical day of school 1:05:56 - Val di Sole struggles and Valentina Roa Sanchez 1:11:30 - Graduating high school mid-season 1:19:00 - Junior World Cup Les Gets race day canceled 1:25:04 - Getting on Transition Factory Racing 1:30:25 - National Champs, Rest in Peace Scott Huntley 1:36:17 - Competing in 19 races, Joakim and World Champs 1:44:33 - Loudenvielle and weather issues, Recovery, US Open, MSA 1:57:50 - 2025, no contract and the USDH scene and World Cup challenges

Thanks to Maxxis Tires | FOX | Jenson USA for ing The Inside Line Today we're ed by Jeff Brines, a long-time mountain biker, Litter Mag and Vital MTB fan. He's also educated and versed in finance. He kicked off a forum thread on Vital MTB that asked "Will more companies be shutting down in the next 12-24 months?" At a year old, the thread has over 100,000 views with nearly 800 replies as news about our industry has broken. We discuss the past and current state of the bicycle industry through his analysis and tools and see if we can figure out where we're headed. Thank you Vital listeners! THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE. Podcast Contents 0:00 - Intro, who is Jeff and what are we discussing? 6:11 - Why start a Vital MTB forum post about bike companies shutting down? 11:07 - Why did the *money people* think MTB would make them rich during Covid? 17:30 - Is it just greed and ego? 19:55 - Why did bikes stop selling? 23:49 - Why don't brands save money for slow times? 27:54 - Most of the bike industry is privately held 32:52 - Companies that went under, does the investment money just disappear? 38:05 - Original owners buying a company back, Family Office and Private Equity 46:25 - Private equity and how it works 51:54 - Is going bankrupt expected with venture capital investors? 53:51 - The lunacy of VanMoof being worth $500 million 1:04:23 - What does the bike industry future look like? 1:12:41 - Is there any incentive to get into the bike industry now? 1:15:41 - Is there an ideal company size? 1:17:48 - Will the business world repeat the same mistakes 10 years from now? 1:21:31 - Tools to learn about the bike industry 1:26:10 - Vital audience survey Check out Jeff's slideshow presentation here (Google Slides) Vital MTB Audience Surveys (scroll to bottom of page) https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

The 2024 World Cup season is over. And what a whirlwind the past five months have been, with all-time racing across the board. It's a shame things have to come to an end, but the hype is already building for next year. Mont-Sainte-Anne was very par the course for how the 2024 season has gone, with wet conditions on race day. Luckily, the classic Canadian course holds moisture like a champ, and besides some slick rocks and fresh sections, it was game on. Our dude Dak was having another promising weekend, and the odds were looking good that he could close out the year with another podium. That was until a damn track pole had other plans. #polegate2024 Enjoy listening to the crew discuss all kinds of nonsense, from arm pump surgeries to e-bike training for DH, Greg Minnaar's retirement, the odds of needing a work Visa to race World Cups next year, rule changes for next year, and, of course, race highlights from the weekend and overall standings.  A massive thank you to everyone who listened to us banter all season—we love bringing you these conversations, and we appreciate the ! 

Jack Rice wraps up the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup with interviews from racers, mechanics and MTB filmers and photographers to see how their season went, to find out what the future looks like and to continue the question, "why downhill?" Thanks to Jack, John Lawlor and Rick Schubert for all the hustle this year at the World Cups. And thank you listeners for helping us keep the stoke for DH alive. Interviews 0:00 - Intro 1:11 - Greg Minnaar 4:44 - Marine Cabirou 6:06 - Sven Martin 11:59 - Tahnee Seagrave 13:17 - Vali Holl 16:11 - Aaron Gwin 18:41 - Finn Iles 22:31 - Abigail Hogie 29:52 - Brad Blackwell 33:21 - Alex Presant 37:41 - Swen Heil 39:32 - Tyler Ervin 40:47 - Kale Cushman 43:06 - Nick Robertson 49:11 - Ross Bell 55:59 - Roman Tunbridge 59:55 - Tommy Krause 1:03:44 - Andy Vathis 1:11:20 - Carson Fletcher 1:13:31 - Jack Tennyson 1:14:54 - Jorge Gomes 1:17:23 - Rachel Pageau 1:21:25 - Steve Estabrook 1:22:56 - Zack Harper

Did you believe the hype? Coming into the 2024 World Cup season, Asa Vermette was an obvious favorite in the Junior Men's category. He'd been fast domestically for a few years, and with the of Frameworks and guidance from Neko Mulally and Angel Suarez, he seemed poised to have a successful debut on the international stage. Then, at the first round in Fort William, Asa waxed everyone by 6 seconds. You tack on the fact that he won after sitting on the couch for weeks prior healing a broken hip, and the hype became simple facts. The next generation is always faster than the last, and Asa is leading the latest charge.  Fast forward to now, and we've been lucky to watch Asa and Max Alran exchange blows all year. Each has three wins, and Mont Sainte Anne was teeing up to be an epic final round between the two. Unfortunately, Asa's crash in Loudenvielle left him more battered and bruised than initially suspected, putting an end to his first World Cup season. A bittersweet conclusion to an otherwise successful year, we wanted to know how Asa felt about his season—the highs, the lows, the lessons learned, and the goals for 2025. We talked about a whole lot more, so enjoy getting to know more about the calm kid from Durango who's damn fast on a bike. 0:00 - Intro 1:37 - Why Asa isn't racing MSA 4:24 - Injuries collected throughout the season 5:19 - The balance of pushing and crashing 8:06 - Did he feel the pressure going into the season? 12:00 - Key takeaways from his first World Cup season  13:38 - Why keeping racing fun is key 14:51 - Asa's pump-up music of choice  15:51 - Advice from Neko and Angel 17:05 - How Asa gets up to speed and breaks down tracks 21:10 - Favorite country he visited this year  22:50 - Favorite track of the year 23:33 - Getting used to riding in the mud 25:32 - Injury updates going into the offseason 28:05 - How Asa es the time when he's hurt  29:46 - Favorite Elite racer 30:55 - Asa explains his nasty whips 31:56 - Doing a flip in a race run?? 36:17 - Who's got the best whips? 38:29 - Things to improve on this offseason 40:22 - Training program chit-chat   42:21 - What Asa rides day-to-day 42:04 - Asa's perfect riding day 43:36 - Freestyle Asa 44:52 - Winter riding plans 45:48 - 2025 Goals 46:49 - 5 Years from now, where will Asa be… 

This is a special episode of The Inside Line as we had Jack Rice at the 2024 U.S. Open of Mountain Biking in Killington, Vermont. Thanks to FOX, Maxxis Tires and Jenson USA for ing The Inside Line It was the season ender to the Pro Downhill Series and with the final World Cup DH in Mont-Sainte-Anne next week, the field was stacked with Elite level pros from around the globe. Instead of the usual questions with only the top riders, we had commissioned Jack to search the pits and ask amateur riders a simple question - Why Downhill? While plenty of answers resonate with the excitement and action of what DH is, an overwhelming response praised the community as a reason for coming back to ride. It's the people that make our sport so great and it's our hope that the comradery of the #USDH community continues to grow. Interview contents 0:00 - Intro 1:09 - Meredith Burnette 2:25 - Jamie Tate 3:18 - "Dusty" 4:10 - Kerry Marshall 5:02 - "Scott and the fam" 6:33 - Jacob Dyke 8:57 - Bailey Gunter 11:04 - Cole Bernier 13:40 - Jack Burnette 21:54 - Tyson Henrie 23:55 - Tobias Spencer 24:59 - Lachie Stevens-Mcnab (Race Winner) 25:47 - Nina Hoffmann (Race Winner) 29:23 - Max Beaupre and Why NOT Downhill 31:51 - Tegan Heap 33:00 - Dylan Conte 36:20 - Lucas Dedora 36:57 - Anna Newkirk 38:37 - Chris Grice 39:50 - Clay Harper

Would it even be a World Cup without a natural event playing a major role in the outcome? Loudenvielle, the sixth World Cup of the season, was the third race to be heavily affected by rain on race day. We saw ideal conditions for the Juniors and 98% of the Elite Women's field before Deja vu struck and the skies opened up for fastest qualifier, Tahnee Seagrave. And oh boy, did it get spicy as the rain continued to fall throughout the Elite Men's final. Gnarly conditions always foster spectacular moments of bike handling, and some races put on a clinic this weekend. We also got to witness Vali and Bruni each wrap up another Elite title, a bunch of young Kiwis filling the podiums in the junior fields, and a ton of feel-good results, like Benoit taking the win after crashing here last year, Reece Wilson landing on the podium after so many setbacks, Aaron Gwin back racing after two years, and Myriam Nicole taking her first win after missing all of last season to a concussion. We chat about all of this, plus get the inside scoop on why our dude Dak was off the pace this weekend, points battles leading into MSA, RockShox Kashima knock-off, Asa Vermette's bike size, mass dampers (obviously), and a bunch of other nonsense. Enjoy!

The unpredictable Loudenvielle World Cup Downhill venue proved to keep everyone on their toes again in 2024. As conditions changed on an hourly basis, it was a crapshoot for some riders and a calcuated risk for others. Jack Rice gets some perspective from the racers in . Contents 0:00 - Disclaimer and Benoit Coulanges 1:54 - Myriam Nicole 4:01 - Loic Bruni 6:47 - Reece Wilson 9:12 - Phoebe Gale 10:07 - Amaury Pierron 11:36 - Andreas Kolb 12:40 - Aaron Gwin 17:41 - Dakotah Norton 20:28 - Finn Iles 28:39 - Luca Shaw 31:53 - Ronan Dunne 33:34 - Valentina Roa Sanchez 35:17 - Wyn Masters

What could have been…our grassroots podcast almost came home with a World title in Andorra. We won't say we are disappointed in our co-host superstar Stack-Attack-Dak for throwing it away in the second to last turn, but dang, did that one sting. This week, Jason Schroeder chats with Dak about his week in Andorra, what happened in his race run, the tuned mass dampers strapped to his bike, and how he's dealing with the highs and lows of almost winning World Champs. Then, Tanner Stephens and John Hall jump on to discuss what stands out from Worlds, and who's looking poised to have a strong result this weekend in Loudenveille. Enjoy! Play Vital Downhill Fantasy - https://www.vitalmtb.com/fantasy More mountain bike news and reviews - vitalmtb.com

Jack Rice checks in from Andorra and the 2024 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Championships with interviews from the podium riders and Greg Minnaar, who continues to troll us about possible retirement. 0:00 - Loris Vergier 2:33 - Vali Holl 3:15 - Greg Minnaar 7:55 - Myriam Nicole 9:09 - Finn Iles 12:48 - Tahnee Seagrave 13:41 - Benoit Coulanges

After almost a two-month break since the last World Cup, elite downhill racing returns to the Pyrenees Mountains of Andorra for World Champs this week. Rejoice! Tag along with Jason Schroeder, Tanner Stephens, and John Hall as they refresh your memory of who’s been fast this year, what happened during the long summer break, and discuss who will be in contention for the elusive rainbow stripes.  0:00 - The crew catches up 3:30 - Monster Energy Downhill - Snow Summit / US National DH scene 8:30 - The growth of national series in the coming years 11:19 - Why no Aaron Gwin on the US Worlds team? + Aaron’s return to racing 18:09 - Richie Rude the DH racer 19:20 - Do racers share more info with each other at World Champs amongst fellow countrymen? 21:24 - How country federations play a part in World Champs 27:16 - 2024 season thus far… 37:40 - Races that happened during the summer break 50:24 - Fantasy info for World Champs 54:36 - Andorra track notes 1:02:35 - Fantasy Picks - Junior Women  1:04:55 - Fantasy Picks - Junior Men 1:09:45 - Fantasy Picks - Elite Women 1:12:55 - Fantasy Picks - Elite Women

There's a new national-level downhill mountain bike race series in the U.S. — Clay Harper has ushered in the Monster Energy Pro Downhill and is in its inaugural year, landing in Big Bear this weekend. Clay, our guest on The Inside Line this week, is no stranger to downhill finding his love for the sport back in 1996 with the likes of Kyle Ebbett, Lars Tribus, Todd Bosch, Ken Avery, Aaron Chase and more. The farm-raised New Jersey native is also responsible for creating one of America's most legendary bike parks by building the first trails at Mountain Creek. He was behind the founding of the U.S. Open of Mountain Biking and continues to run the event today. Let's not forget he even puts on the X Games Real MTB contest. If it involves downhill in the USA, there aren't many things Clayton hasn't done and his push to grow the sport in our country through the Pro Downhill Series is a testament to his dedication to the community. Enjoy this interview with an instrumental figure in #USDH...it's just the tip of the iceberg. Learn more about Clay, the Pro Downhill Series and the U.S. Open @clayharper1 @prodownhillseries @usopenmtb

Thanks to  Maxxis Tires, FOX and Jenson USA  for ing The Inside Line MTB podcast! While visiting Mountain Creek Bike Park in New Jersey, for a Vital Enduro Fork Test Session project, I caught up with local legend, George Ryan. I met George in person about 20 years ago, but knew of him before that because of his online persona in old-timey forums and his presence in videos like the Chain Reaction series. Over the years we'd see each other at events or on photo shoots, so it was a massive pleasure to sit down with him and hear his full story. To my surprise, he's a big-time MTB keepsake collector and he showed up with old jerseys, DVDs, magazines and even a Shaun Palmer baseball card. We discuss his journey into mountain biking, turning pro and eventually becoming the main man in charge of trails at Mountain Creek. Enjoy the episode and hit up Vital MTB to soak up some of his old relics he has stashed away. I've put some of my photos from 2005 decline work down below too. Thanks so much, Muffin! (If you want to see epic late 90s early 2000s downhill race TV broadcasts that he recorded as a kid, hassle him on Instagram so he'll get them ed : )

If Val di Sole delivered an exciting and memorable race, then Les Gets bumped things up a notch. Our guy stack-attack Dak was having a perfect weekend until the weather had a different plan, and some miscalculated race prep led to an underwhelming finish. It was still a solid weekend for the world's fastest podcast co-host, but the limelight was stolen (again) by Amaury Pierron, who executed a legendary race run on home soil (again).   With our crew spread out across the world this week, it was just Dakotah and I who linked up to chat about the weekend. We chatted about what happened with his visor and goggle setup in the rain, how Amaury did what he did, where Dak went wrong with his race prep, why mud races are the best, escaping the finish corral, and where overalls sit going into the last two rounds of the season. Enjoy!