The Inside Line Podcast - Vital MTB

If there is one thing we can almost guarantee, it's that Leogang will provide some incredibly tight racing. This year was exceptionally snug. Dry conditions and a similar track layout as years before meant little time was spent sorting out line choices or using the brakes. The recipe was simple: rally the main line with confidence and tuck-to-win on the motorway. And what transpired was some...

The second round of the 2025 World Cup from Loudenvielle, France, 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...

In this episode, the crew covers all the hot tea from the first World Cup in Poland, but most importantly, gets an update on Dak's highly anticipated return to racing.  We hope you enjoy the show, 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...

Ahead of the Tennessee National taking place this week, we sat down with Sea 'Griz' McClendon to run through some USDH names to watch on the national circuit this year. Of course, we had to get the Griz update and hear how he ended up spittin' heat on the mic at Downhill Southeast races and in the booth with the Gravity Coop doing post-race shows. We also touched on all the American...

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. En...

Thanks to Maxxis Tires | FOX | Jenson USA for supporting 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 pre...

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...

Thanks to Maxxis Tires | FOX | Jenson USA for supporting 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...

Thanks to Maxxis Tires | FOX | Jenson USA for supporting The Inside Line Today we're joined 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 wit...

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, an...

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 stok...

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 support 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 every...

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. See photos from the event - https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/why-ride-downhill-u-s-open-mountain-biking Thanks to FOX , Maxxis Tires and Jenson USA for supporting The Inside Line It was the season ender to the Pro Downhill Series and with the final World Cup DH in Mont...

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, Tahnée Seagrave. And oh boy, did it get spicy as...

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 France. Contents 0:00 - Disclaimer and Benoit Coulanges 1:54 - Myriam Nicole 4:01 - Loic Bruni 6:47 - Reece Wilson 9:12 - Phoebe G...

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...

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:...

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 Chas...

Thanks to  Maxxis Tires , FOX and Jenson USA   for supporting 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 R...

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...

An all-time day of World Cup Downhill racing in Les Gets, France, ends with post-race interviews from winners and podium finishers by Jack Rice. Interviews 0:00 - Amaury Pierron 1:59 - Eleonora Farina 3:28 - Mille Johnset 6:47 - Andreas Kolb 9:12 - Greg Minnaar 16:21 - Tahnee Seagrave 18:01 - Remi Thirion 21:01 - Myriam Nicole

What could have been! After a long stint in the hot seat with a time that bested the season's biggest names, the last man down the hill squashed our tall bar savior's dreams of winning his first World Cup. We were filled with mixed emotions as reality set in that we'd have to wait a little longer to see Dak take that elusive first win, but what a treat to watch Amaury Pierron piece...

Visit Jenson USA  - FREE BONUS CARD valued at up to $1000 with the purchase of eligible Santa Cruz bikes & frames! Passionate interviews from the Val di Sole World Cup Downhill today as Amaury Pierron and Tahnee Seagrave return to the top of the podium! Interviews 0:32 - Tahnee Seagrave 1:26 - Amaury Pierron 6:21 - Dakotah Norton 8:24 - Marine Cabirou 8:58 - Cory Rimmer (Dak's trackside c...

After years of success, RockShox has updated its trail and gravity suspension lineup with some new internals for model year '25. The latest Charger 3.1 damper is now found across all fork models, while rear shocks gain an XL air can option and a high-flow main piston for Super Deluxe models. They have also re-introduced the Vivid Coil shock with some technology derived from the Vivid Air rele...