The Inside Line Podcast - Vital MTB

On the eve of this Independence Day in America, we're stoked to bring you a discussion about downhill racing in the USA. A random crew of downhill racers and event hosts gathered at the NW Cup / Pro GRT in Tamarack, Idaho a couple weeks ago to talk big bikes. Thanks to Casey Northern and Scott Tucker of the NW Cup for helping make it happen and for all the work they do with their series, We get to hear their story in the episode along with racer view points on how things are these days.
We'd also like to give credit to #USDH leaders who weren't in attendance, like clay harper who handles the U.S. open and other rad DH events, George Ulmer and his crew at the Eastern States Cup, Donnie Jackson of Southridge USA, Downhill Mike and his Bootleg races among others, and all the downhill race organizers keeping our sport fun and accessible. Thank you!
The Inside Line is brought to you to Maxxis Tires. We saw plenty of Assegais, Minions and High Rollers drifting through turns and smashing the rocks at Tamarack.
Jenson USA - if you're racing or riding hard this summer, you're going through parts and gear, so use coupon code Insideline at checkout and receive 10% off qualifying items
The Gravity Cartel - your source for Spank components like wheels, pedals, bars and stems as well as iXS protection and apparel.
If you haven't watched yet, hit up vitalmtb.com for the Snowshoe, West Virginia World Cup downhill track preview with Neko Mulally and Dakotah Norton...it's a doozy! And stay tuned to Vital MTB this weekend for Andorra World Cup DH coverage as well...the steeps are here!
Last but not least, a big thanks and audio hug to all you Inside Line listeners. We hope you're getting out on the trails and having a blast on your bike this summer. Without you, what's the point?

What a start to the 2024 World Cup downhill season we've had! Fort William properly kicked things off with a gnarly track and insane racing, followed by a new venue in Poland that produced one of the best tracks and tightest races we've seen in years. Now, after a brief two-week pause, racing resumes this weekend in Leogang, Austria. A classic track that always delivers dramatic racing, there are exciting stories shaping up in each category that will be fun to watch play out over the weekend.
Join Vital's own Jason Schroeder, ex-World Cup mechanic John Hall, and podcast co-host and contributing editor Tanner Stephens as they discuss who will contend for the win this weekend in each category, what makes the historic Leogang track so tricky, and highlight some potential dark horses who could mix things up come race day.
0:00 - Intro
2:04 - Southwest Downhill Series this weekend
8:43 - Leogang venue & track analysis
13:33 - Is Leogang a bike park track?
17:48 - Why Leogang is so difficult in the wet
20:17 - Breaking down the motorway section
22:05 - John discusses Aaron Gwin's chainless win at Leogang in 2015
33:11 - A fan trying to sell John Aaron's broken chain for $3,000
38:25 - Weather report
39:03 - Injured reserve list for this weekend
44:33 - Fantasy strategy
49:10 - Junior Women race predictions
57:28 - Junior Men race predictions
1:04:15 - Elite Women predictions
1:18:30 - Elite Men predictions
Play Vital Downhill Fantasy - https://www.vitalmtb.com/fantasy
More mountain bike news and reviews - https://www.vitalmtb.com

In this episode we chat with Kevin Menard, co-owner of Transition Bikes. We talk about working at a recumbent factory when he was younger, the moment he and his partner Kyle decided to go for it over a ping pong match some 18 years ago, quitting the corporate life, the brand's by riders / for riders culture, their thoroughly entertaining videos, the incredible riding community of Bellingham, Washington, memories throughout the years, product development, zigging when others zag, and much more. Enjoy the show! -Brandon Turman Keep up with Kevin's latest adventures and projects on Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/transitionkevin @transitionkevin and visit http://www.transitionbikes.com to check out the full line of party-worthy rides.

Welcome mountain bikers. Thanks for tuning in to The Inside Line and thanks for your patience this week. We had some technical difficulties with the recording of Ian Hylands that you’ll hear today, but I’m stoked to report the interview was recovered after some painstakingly repetitive work, and the stories and history await through this special talk with one of our sport’s most influential and inspiring photographers.

Ian and I talked for almost 3 hours and I’ve broken it up into 2 parts. Today we’ll learn about his journey into mountain biking and photography, his incredible depth in the mountain bike scene with one of the first north shore photos to ever run in BIKE mag in the early 90s...his journeys as Darren Berrecloth launched his career in the mountain bike world, road trips with Voreis, Lenosky and chase and so much more and so much impact on what mountain biking is today, whether directly or indirectly through his imagery. we don’t even touch on half of what he’s done for our sport, but it’s an honor to have this one on the record. thank you Ian. Thank you the listeners, enjoy the show.

I just want to thank you all again for your responses to our question about flow trails and trail design in the last episode. The passion and diversity of opinions about how we ride make our sport great. thank you. On the topic of trails, have you heard of The PayDirt Fund? They’re pledging a million bucks over the next three years towards trail projects, local organizations, events...anything geared towards creating and strengthening opportunities for people to get out on the trails.

The Inside Line Listener Response Questions

Since our guest this week is a world-class photographer who’s made a living creating mountain bike pictures for magazines, riders and brands over the years, I figured we’d open the social media can worms for discussion this week. As Ian and I talked, we both recalled individual images that defined moments in our lives, images that crusty older mountain bikers like me would all probably remember because there were only a few places to look at mountain bike photos back then. Now I don’t remember photos or videos I saw last week because of the flood of content out there. And Vital is to blame for that flood, no doubt. My goal here is not to just shit on social media like a “back in my day” complaint. I think there are incredible benefits and positives to the accessibility of info we all have through our phones and places like Instagram. I want to know what benefits you get out of social media. What are you losing because of it? Do you make buying choices for or against something because of what you see on social media? Let’s open it up, let me hear your thoughts, pros and cons of social media, specifically related to mountain biking.

Ideally, I’d LOVE to get an audio message about this from you, so it can play on our Listener Response episodes of The Inside Line. Use your phone's voice recorder and email your audio file to [email protected]. You can send me a written response to that email too, and I may read it on the show. As a carrot, you should know that if you send an audio file, you could be in the running for something special. I'll run the episode with your responses sometime next week and we’ll continue with part 2 of Ian’s interview on February 12th.

Thank you - Maxxis Tires

Thank you - Jenson USA