The MBUK Podcast

Cédric Gracia is one of the all-time legends of mountain biking. From his early days in BMX in the late ‘90s, with help from the likes of Max Commencal, he became one of the sport’s early rock-stars. The early 00’s were the golden years of mountain biking, with Cédric and his on-track foes battling out week in, week out. Off the track, Cédric had a reputation as a wild man, with some of the crazie...

Chris Akrigg is one of the world’s best known trials riders, whose YouTube videos have racked up millions of views.  He’s incredibly creative, both in his riding and his video edits. He’s a dab hand on any bike, from trials bikes to fixies, brakeless  bikes to enduro bikes and most recently ebikes.  In this episode, we discuss his career and the bikes he’s ridden, including the Whyte Kado as featu...

Charlie Aldridge’s growing resume of race results marks him out as the future of XC. He’s an Under-23 World Champion in XCO, is the 2025 British Champ at both XCO and XCC and has spent the past two seasons racking up some impressive results in both XCC and XCO on the World Cup circuit, having been signed to Cannondale Factory Racing in 2024. Thanks to Cannondale for sponsoring this episode of the...

Louise Ferguson became the first woman to ever complete a top-to-bottom, seeding and then race run at the infamous Red Bull Hardline Wales 2025 mountain bike race. The course was littered with incredibly technical features, huge drops and jumps as long as 90 feet. It was a moment in history, which has pushed women's mountain biking forward, paving the way for even more incredible feats. In this ep...

Ric McLaughlin is the current voice of World Cup DH and XC racing, as the lead commentator on Warner Brothers Discovery's coverage. He's also a former staff writer at MBUK, and a self-professed massive MTB geek. In this episode of the MBUK Podcast, we discuss the current state of world cup racing, and his experiences of being a commentator. We also discuss his new documentary series, Race Bikes, w...

Dave Hemming was the first Brit to claim a medal in downhill racing during the first Mountain Bike World Championships in Durango, USA. He went on to race for some of the coolest brands, including Klein, Kona, Fat Chance, Marin and of course, MBUK, to name a few. His racing career saw him competing full-time as a World Cup racer, travelling the globe and having countless adventures. It was during...

Emil Johannson (@johanssoemil) is one of the foremost slopestyle and freeriders on the planet! He’s a four-time Slopestyle World Champion, a 13 time Crankworx winner, and three-time triple crown winner too - which means he won all three events in the Crankworx tour in a year, three times. He’s got more slopestyle wins of anyone on the planet, and has also competed in Redbull Rampage, showing an in...

Step back to the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, when Alex Rankin's Sprung series brought DH racing directly to your VHS player, changing MTB filmmaking forever. These videos became cult classics, kickstarting his iconic career. His follow-up Earthed series cemented that legacy, showcasing the best of DH racing and the MTB scene. Rankin's signature style of fast-paced camera work and unforgettable music...

Ever wondered how a mountain bike goes from a spark of an idea to shredding the trails? Join us as we dive deep with Matt Cipes, the driving force behind Marin's incredible resurgence in the full-suspension and aggressive mountain bike scene. Matt takes us behind the scenes of Marin's transformation from a smaller brand to one stacked with high-performing bikes that won't break the bank. Discover...

Chris Porter is one of the most outspoken, and influential voices in mountain biking. Even if you’ve not heard his name, if you’re riding a modern mountain bike, it is likely his influence is found within the frame. Chris started his mountain bike industry journey as a journalist on mountain bike magazines, which led him, in a round-about way to working on MBi magazine, and others. He then moved i...

Matt Walker is one of the UK’s foremost downhill racers, having won the UCI World Cup overall in 2020, stood on the top step of a World Cup Podium in 2022, and having a Junior World Championship title in 2017. Having spent 11 years with Saracen, this year he has moved to Trek Factory Racing’s team, as their most senior rider. In this episode we talk about how the 2025 season is shaping up, and his...

Join us for an incredible journey through the history of mountain biking with the legendary photographer Steve Behr!  For nearly four decades, Steve has been capturing the heart and soul of the sport as a professional photographer, his iconic shots gracing the pages of MBUK Magazine since its very first issue 38 years ago.  In this episode of the MBUK Podcast, Steve shares stories from his epic tr...

Join Tom and Rob as they dive deep with mountain bike legend Bernard Kerr! From tearing up World Cup downhill tracks to managing Pivot Factory Racing, Bernard shares the unfiltered truth about balancing pro racing with team leadership. This podcast was made in partnership with Pivot bikes. Make sure you check out  @bernard_kerr  on YouTube.   In this episode, we explore; Bernard Kerr's Racing Secr...

Whyte has just released its brand new eMTB, the Kado – a 150/160mm all-mountain machine equipped with the latest Bosch motor. Whyte’s head of mountain bike design, Sam Shucksmith, talks to the MBUK Podcast team about how and why the bike was developed. Having raced World Cup DH, as well as EWS Enduro and latterly E-EDR, and as the British e-enduro champion, Sam has a wealth of experience on-track...

Nick Craig is probably the most established mountain biker in the UK, having competed at the highest levels of the sport since the 80’s.   His career may have started in Cyclocross, but it wasn’t long until MTB caught his attention, as a burgeoning sport.    Nick has competed at the highest levels, ranging from the first ever MTB world championships through to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.   In this e...

There's no doubt Ethan Craik is a talented bike rider. At just age eight, he raced his first BMX world championship before securing a place on the Olympic Development squad as he entered his teenage years. Fast forward too many laps on BMX tracks to count and his passion for the sport began to dwindle. Ethan swapped the little wheels for much bigger ones, and got stuck into mountain bikes instead,...

This episode is sponsored by Giant Bicycles.   Rob Warner made a name for himself with his rowdy riding between the tapes and party antics once the clock had stopped.    After retiring from racing, he stepped into the world of commentary, covering action sports for the likes of Channel 4, Freecaster and Red Bull, with a voice synonymous with World Cup downhill racing.   We catch up with Rob to dis...

This episode is sponsored by Specialized. Georgia Leslie has had a swift rise through the MTB industry, starting off as a teenager helping out at her local shop to becoming European Marketing Lead for MTB, for Specialized Bikes, all in a relatively short period of time. We chat to Georgia about how she’s developed her career in mountain biking, as well as the state of play in the industry at the m...

Andrew ‘Doddy’ Dodd has been a familiar face to pretty much anyone who has read, watched or listened to mountain bike content.    Following a work experience placement at MBUK as a teenager, he was a staple part of the team for well over a decade, writing features, attending launches and going on some legendary trips.   When he left the mag for Factory Jackson, fate took him into TV and eventually...

Olly Wilkins and Davi Birks from the excellent The Ride Companion Podcast pop into the studio to discuss the inner workings of mountain bike podcasting and their journey to creating a successful show. Olly has been a huge presence in the UK MTB scene for years, and we discuss his career, from MBUK magazine covers to becoming a product designer and podcaster, as well as his current role at Focus Bi...

In her long racing career, Tracy Moseley has just about done it all. She competed through the boom years at the end of the 90s, experienced the rapid progression of bikes and tech and made the most of the any technological advantage she could to secure the biggest titles in downhill and enduro.   Tracy talks us through some of her hard-fought victories as well as some of the bigger races that didn...

Hattie Harnden has competed, and usually won at a world class level in more disciplines than any rider we can think of. She topped the 2024 EDR World Cup overall, raced for GB at the 2024 DH World Champs at Fort William, is the current British DH and Enduro champ - and has numerous international titles in cyclocross and XC. She’s accrued 17 national championship titles, too! How has this 23-year-o...

Brendan Fairclough is one of the UK’s most stylish and famous mountain bikers, and we’ve dragged him into the MBUK podcast studio for a natter, with the help of this episode’s sponsor, DMR.   From his days racing Downhill World Cups – for big factory teams such as G-Cross Honda, Monster Energy-Specialized and Scott – through to his numerous appearances at the world’s most gnarly MTB event, Red Bul...

From Junior world downhill champ to Elite World Cup series winner, Josh Bryceland has had an incredible racing career so far. We speak to Josh about his time between the tape, what he’s been up to since stepping away from the World Cup circuit, how life for him as a pro has changed and what he’s been working on with his sponsors Cannondale and Formula. Josh also speaks about what the future holds...

We’ve spent many episodes looking back through the years and discussing how mountain biking got to where it is today, but what about looking forwards into the future?   John Oldale from Marin Bikes chats to hosts Rob Weaver and Tom Marvin about where they think mountain biking tech is going. Is the arrival of automatic suspension adjustment and shifting a sign of things to come, and will we see th...