The Inside Line Podcast - Vital MTB

In this episode, Jeff Brines and Charlie Sponsel explore the fascinating history and rapid rise of DJI, the Chinese tech giant known for drones and now e-bikes under the Avinox name. They analyze the cultural, geopolitical, and industrial factors that have shaped DJI's success and its implications for the cycling industry. Jeff and Charlie explore the rapid advancements in e-bike technology,...

Tag along for another decompression conversation, where we chat about the Mountain of Hell mass-start race, Cannondale’s Bad Habit that Jason’s been reviewing, how heavy is too heavy for a trail bike, the subjectiveness of bike setup and what components are ‘good,’ bar width, bar ends, and auto-shifting e-bike gearbox motors. Enjoy! 

Four rounds into the 2026 World Cup season, and three B Practice podcasts have been recorded. What’s new? This episode, we get into what Dak’s been messing with, the struggles he had in Leogang, and the strides he made in Lenzerheide. We also spent way too long disputing what should change to make World Cups more engaging and growing. How many times can we talk about the same things? We also cover...

Specialized’s new Demo 11 downhill bike is a certified rocket ship. You don’t need us to tell you that. Jordan Williams, Loic Bruni, and Finn Iles have proven the platform's abilities over the past three years of development and this year two World Cup DH wins have been nabbed aboard the production version. The problem may be that it's complex, heavy and priced much higher than other DH...

Loudenvielle came and went, and unfortunately our dude Dak didn't make it in the night show. That's racing. The good news is his setup is trending towards the bullseye. After a week off lapping in Schladming, it's time to get back on the horse and head to Leogang. We figured most people already got their fix of post-race highlights from Loudenvielle, so we focused most on Dak's...

Join us on an unscripted, unaffiliated podcast journey where we discuss various hot takes from the Loudenvielle DH World Cup, risk vs. reward in DH racing, the Hot Laps event in Washington, how to hit berms better, why Enduro World Cups are dying a slow death and why that doesn’t actually matter for the sport of enduro, and a bunch of other MTB-related nonsense. Enjoy!  Bikes' Unaffiliated fo...

See more 17 Questions videos - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLiDwPfY-lhwLORXY7C8mhKi-BtWbmxXO  Influencer, internet personality, FOX suspension guru, and Greg Minnaar’s #1 emotional support human, Jordie Cortes rips through a classic 17 Questions. (minus one)

This week, we had the pleasure of chatting with Ethan Eggert, the founder of Arid Cycles, to discuss how he’s managed to create his own mountain bike in only a few years without any financial help or a traditional background in bike development. It’s a really cool story that shows how no idea is too big with some ingenuity and persistence. What has transpired is the Spade model, a very intriguing...

Days late, dollars short. That’s how the B Practice Podcast rolls. After a rough first race of the year, followed by some horrendous travel, it took us an extra week to nail down our guy Dak to podcast. We chatted a good bit about his race weekend in South Korea and how he’s feeling about his program going into the next big block of racing. We also discussed how he rushed to race the Monster Pro D...

Dr. Jason Richardson joins the podcast to chat about his work as a sports psychologist in cycling and how the same tools that benefit professional athletes can benefit every rider, regardless of ability, on and off the bike. We loved this conversation and learned a lot ourselves. We hope you get something out of it, too!   Summary Professional BMX rider and sports psychologist Dr. Jason Richardson...

Virtual press conference recorded on April 21 to discuss the upcoming World Cup Downhill season with Loic Bruni, Jackson Goldstone, Luca Shaw, Vali Holl, Gracey Hemstreet and Tahnee Seagrave.

Schroeder, Spomer and Lars get back together to discuss big wheels and weird bikes taking over. 00:00 Reflections on Sea Otter 2026 09:59 The Future of Wheel Sizes 13:09 What's In and What's Out 34:52 Innovations in Mountain Bike Technology 42:09 Health Scares and Personal Stories 44:00 - Neko Mulally and his Sea Otter Winner 32" 59:15 Exploring the 32-Inch Wheel Debate 01:19:56 Wor...

Sponsel loses so you can win.

I's been a busy few months since the last podcast—Jason went to New Zealand and Italy, Tanner has been to nearly all 50 states working different shoots and projects, and Dakotah has bounced between Europe and Tennessee as he feverishly tests every setup under the sun.  We covered a lot of this show, including Dak's crash at the Tennessee National, getting outside of the box with setup, R...

Today we talk with Matt Thompson and Steve Wentz who just returned from Masters World Champs downhill in Chile. Matt took the rainbow stripes in the 50-55 Master C2 class and Steve landed a Top 10 in a stacked field of “younger” talent, most importantly beating Ben Deakin in the process. We dive into what Masters World Champs is, learn about their experiences with the event over the years and dig...

RockShox Zeb fork is all-new for model year 2027. They’ve taken what they learned developing the latest Boxxer, and have applied many of the same technologies and tuning ideologies to their single-crown, gravity fork. Vital editor, Jason Schroeder, has spent the past few months testing the fork and runs you through everything that’s new, and how it’s performed so far. More info -  https://www.vita...

Elite race day at the first event of the 2026  @prodownhillseries was a heater at Ride Rock Creek bike park in North Carolina as downhill mountain bikers put it all on the line for victory. Listen to the post-race interviews with Luca Cometti. Interviews 0:00 - Lucas Dedora 1:11 - Final Elite Men Finishes 2:07 - Luca Shaw, Elite Men's Winner 3:07 - Ryder Lawrence 3:43 - Aletha Ostgaard, Elite...

Luca Cometti heads to round 1 of the 2026 Pro Downhill Series at Ride Rock Creek, North Carolina. Track walk took place today, and Luca grabbed the pros to find out how they'll approach the weekend following the Tennessee National. Interviews 0:00 - Intro 0:27 - Dillon Lemarr 2:14 - Gracey Hemstreet 3:06 - Bode Kuhn 4:10 - SR Suntour Holeshot 4:27 - Tayte Proulx Royds 5:24 - Ryan Pinkerton 6:...

Watch the interviews What a crazy day of #USDH action at the 2026 Tennessee National at Windrock Bike Park. Austin Dooley took the Pro Men's win by just .004 seconds over Cole Suetos. If they crossed the line at 20mph, that's just 1.4 inches! Aletha Ostgaard stomped on the women with a win by over 6 seconds. Gwin slid out, Ronan Dunne and Luca Shaw flatted, Dak was coughing up blood afte...

You can watch these interviews on YouTube The first major U.S. downhill mountain bike race of 2026 is underway at Windrock Bike Park. #USDH shredder, Luca Cometti, grills the pros during track walk to see what they're up to and how their feeling for this weekend's race. Riders like Ronan Dunne, Dakotah Norton, Aaron Gwin, Dante Silva, Kailey Skelton, Frida Ronning and more DH pros speak...

You chimed in and the name of our podcast, Bikes: Unaffiliated will remain. In this episode, Jason Schroeder, Shawn Spomer and Lars Sternberg tackle an assortment of random bike and non-bike subjects like why was our tech forum picking on Dario from Pinkbike, why didn't Spomer answer Lopes' phone call, should we test a 32-inch-wheeled hardtail, what is Epicly Later'd, the DHR II suc...

Would you rather be riding epic bike parks in Queenstown, downhill trails in Laguna or sitting in the ER because you can't pee? Jason Schroeder, Lars Sternberg and Shawn Spomer reflect on their last couple of weeks in this episode of Bikes Unaff....... The 9th Street Documentary on YouTube 0:00 - Intro 1:52 - Help Us Change the Podcast Name 3:34 - Jason's What's In What's Out,...

One of downhilling's finest, Loic Bruni, ain't scared of the dreaded 17! You can watch this interview on Vital MTB Questions asked 0:00 - Who would win in a fight between you, Amaury Pierron and Jackson Goldstone? 0:50 - Do you ever go to World Cup after parties? If yes, tell us your favorite post-race story. If no, why don't you like to have fun? 1:54 - Does your mechanic Jack get...

Downhill destroyer,  Aaron Gwin, takes another stab at the dreaded 17 during a Frameworks test camp in Southern California. Hard to believe the first 17 Qs we did with Aaron was 15 years ago! Question asked 1. You wake up late and are in rush to get your day going. You stop by a Starbucks to get your caffeine fix. What drink are you ordering? 2. How do you pass time on long flights? Movies, readin...

Can Neko handled the dreaded 17? Watch on YouTube, too.