Today, we’re kicking off a new series for Bikes and Big Ideas: we’re setting out to identify the best bikes of the 21st century from over 30 brands. We’ve done a similar series over on our Gear:30 podcast for skis, but that was easy compared to doing the same for bikes.

Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll be hearing about our choices. We’re also including a survey, as we want to hear from you. Additionally, we’ll be sending the same survey to some bike industry luminaries, too.

Once we've reviewed an array of brands, we’ll discuss how our selections align with your answers.

And for our grand finale of this series, we’re going to offer our choices for the Very Best Bikes of the Century. It may seem like an impossible task, but we’re hoping we can agree on a top 10, maybe even a top 3, and if the stars align, one single bike. Or, we may never speak to each other again, but we’re willing to take that risk.

Part 1 kicks off with Simon Stewart, David Golay, Dylan Wood, and Xan Marshland.

Note: We Want to Hear From You!

Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover or a guest you’d like us to have on Bikes and Big Ideas. Email us at info@blisterreview.com to weigh in.

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Best Bikes of the Century Survey

Blister Craft Collective

Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Yeti (1:58)

Klein (8:20)

GT (11:11)

Turner (13:57)

Titus (18:40)

Intense (22:05)

Ibis (23:41)

Rocky Mountain (28:05)

Kona (31:40)

Giant (36:14)

Santa Cruz (40:08)

Cannondale (49:48)

Specialized (54:28)

Gary Fisher (1:05:25)

Trek (1:08:36)

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The days are getting short and the weather is turning foul, but we’re still testing a ton of new bikes and gear. David Golay and Zack Henderson sat down to discuss a bunch of it, including the very burly Priority Vanth, the super lively Propain Hugene, a bunch of wet-weather apparel, and more.

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SennzaFinne

Blister Craft Collective

Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Wet weather gear (2:47)

Propain Hugene (18:00)

Priority Vanth (29:14)

FSA KFX i28 XC/Trail wheels (40:05)

MRP Lift V2 damper (46:31)

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Since its inception in 2001, Red Bull Rampage has demanded athletes walk a fine line between risk and reward, and the unfortunate injuries that go with that have been numerous. But with four riders heli-evac’d with serious injuries, this year’s Rampage was arguably the heaviest we’ve seen, and has left us with many questions about how, and if, the event should continue.

Shortly afterward, several of our reviewers weighed in with their thoughts in our “Debatable” series, which asked the question, “should Rampage be shut down?” Today, we continue that conversation with an open (and quite passionate) discussion on what we think needs to happen to make the event safer for the athletes, more transparent to the fans, and ideally better to watch, too.

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Debatable: Should Rampage Be Shut Down

Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Xan: The Venue (1:07)

Dylan: Let the Athletes Course Correct (11:04)

Simon: On-Site Medical Assessments (19:09)

Zack: Expand the Event (28:34)

David: Make it a Jam instead of a Comp (35:58)

Jonathan: Increase Transparency, Cover Athletes (46:27)

The Athlete's Decision (55:12)

Our Consensus: Changes for Next Year (1:01:29)

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Priority Cycles may be a new brand to the full-suspension MTB world, but they’ve got a ton of experience building belt-drive, gearbox bikes — and now they’ve launched the Vanth, a remarkably affordable high-pivot Pinion gearbox-equipped Enduro bike. So, why did Priority decide to enter the full-suspension bike market now, how did they come up with the wild-looking Vanth design, and what makes the Vanth so much more affordable than most other full-suspension gearbox bikes? We dive into all that and much more with Eddie Meek of Priority and Mike Schwartz, who served as an engineering consultant on the project.

RELATED LINKS:

Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways

BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered

TOPICS & TIMES:

Introducing Eddie (3:20)

The Priority brand (4:38)

Introducing Mike (6:34)

Why a high-pivot Enduro bike? (11:20)

Other prototypes (16:01)

Marketing the Vanth as a brand not known for MTBs (20:55)

Belt vs. chain drive for a gearbox (27:53)

The Vanth (38:10)

Kinematic goals (45:00)

Frame materials (51:43)

Pricing & availability (56:45)

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Madrone Cycles got its start making parts to repair a variety of SRAM mountain bike derailleurs, but now they’re taking on a much more ambitious project: building their own derailleur from the ground up. Third-party derailleurs had a brief run in the earlier days of mountain biking, but SRAM and Shimano have completely dominated the market for decades now. So why is Madrone taking on the big players now, and what sets their new Jab derailleur apart? We sat down with Madrone founder, Aaron Bland, to discuss all that and more.

RELATED LINKS:

Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways

BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered

TOPICS & TIMES:

Founding Madrone & starting with SRAM derailleur rebuilds (1:57)

Electronic shifting & the resurgence of third-party mechanical derailleurs (4:02)

The hardest details to get right (12:57)

Evolution of the Jab design (17:25)

Serviceability & Madrone’s rebuild service (22:58)

Clutch & pivot designs (27:43)

Modularity (32:26)

Jab options (41:34)

What’s next from Madrone? (47:37)

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Rocket Ramps built a progressive bike park in the sovereign nation of Picuris Pueblo in northern New Mexico that has grabbed headlines and the attention of slopestyle athletes. We caught up with Rocket Ramps founder Henry Lanman to get the story behind the project and to find out what else they’re up to. Henry talks about their mission to grow the action sports scene in New Mexico, the science of ramp building, and why building a rad mountain bike trail is like cooking an amazing dinner for your friends (that lasts a lot longer).

RELATED LINKS:

Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways

BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered

TOPICS & TIMES:

How Rocket Ramps got Started (2:33)

The Most Important Part of a Good Ramp (14:20)

The First Flat Packed Ramp Kits (18:09)

Dirt vs Wood (22:13)

Building Action Sports Infrastructure (26:18)

The Crazy Big Lines of the Picuris Pueblo Bike Park (29:54)

Funding Trail Development in New Mexico (39:04)

What's Next for Rocket Ramps? (43:55)

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Paladin Bikes was founded by a group of robotics engineers who love bikes and wanted to build their own — and do it in the US. The AM1 is the result, and while it’s a relatively conventional All-Mountain bike when it comes to its geometry and specs, there’s a ton about it that stands out, from its machined construction to its suspension layout, and in a lot of the smaller details.

So we sat down with Paladin co-founder and General Manager, Stefan Klein, to get the rundown on Paladin and the AM1, from the decision to found the company in the first place, to opting for machined construction, the challenges of founding a bike company in 2025, and a whole lot more.

RELATED LINKS:

Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Introducing Stefan (1:49)

Founding Paladin (4:18)

Why machine a frame? (6:22)

The AM1 & forgoing clamshell construction (9:25)

Tradeoffs in manufacturing techniques (12:49)

AM1 design details (22:11)

Next steps & refinements (28:00)

Flex testing (32:19)

FEA vs. physical strength tests (33:57)

Bringing the AM1 to market (34:40)

Future plans & models (36:50)

Entering the bike industry in 2025 (40:05)

Standing out in the market without being too out there (42:08)

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September delivered some incredible bike racing, featuring the Mountain Bike and Road Bike World Championships, the Lenzerheide World Cup DH and XC, and the US Open Downhill, providing us with plenty to discuss. News on the bike industry side was a familiar affair, with YT going through a rough patch and retail sales being slow. There was also some rather shocking news about Giant regarding alleged labor law violations in Taiwan. Dylan and Simon go over all that, plus some cool new products we’re testing, and we give our thoughts on the potential new mountain bike wheel size that looks to be gaining traction. All this and more in this month’s Reviewing the News episode.

RELATED LINKS:

Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide

Get Our Free Newsletter & Gear Giveaways

BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered

TOPICS & TIMES:

Are 32” Wheels Coming? (2:01)

Markus Flossman Buying Back YT (8:07)

Giant’s Alleged Labor Law Violations (14:33)

MTB World Championships Recap (18:01)

XC World Championships Recap (22:25)

Road World Championships Recap (30:21)

US Open in Killington (33:35)

Has Dakota Norton Found His Form? (33:58)

New Products (37:03)

Off-Grid eMTB Battery Charging (52:53)

Handlebar width? (58:18)

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