#80 - Ed Masters and 2026 predictions

Always a fan favourite, Ed Masters joins the OTB Podcast this week to discuss the upcoming World Cup Downhill season, team changes, the rise of the insanely fast juniors who are moving into elite for 2026, Ed’s beer league ice hockey career and even a mystery voice mail from a man known as @ucigary!Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlSquirt CyclingYour bike care sorted! Top quality chain lubes, wax, bike cleaner and tyre sealant!https://squirtcycling.nz/Fox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Unfiltered, uncut and full of the usual yarns - The OTB Podcast is back after a bit of a hiatus and we come in hot with no plan except for an episode loosely based on mountain bike chat!

If you follow World Cup DH racing then Sven Martin shouldn't need any introduction, a former professional skateboarder who has ended up becoming one of the most recognisable photographers on the World Cup circuit. Sven was even a regular qualifier at World Cups through the mid 2000's with top 30s to his name!We dive into his back story, his racing, his predictions for 2026, who stays up the latest editing photos and we finally find out the truth of if he was behind the infamous @teamrumours account!Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlSquirt CyclingYour bike care sorted! Top quality chain lubes, wax, bike cleaner and tyre sealant!https://squirtcycling.nz/Fox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

What a line up and what an epic weekend at the Wellington MTB Festival! Brook MacDonald joins us for a very candid chat about what he's been up to since wrapping his career on the World Cup circuit, his highs and lows from racing and then Paddy Gower pops in for a surprise guest appearance!Paddy has found mountain biking in recent years and is a massive advocate for the benefits of getting out on a bike from fitness to mental health and whole new community it has opened up!We also have one of the freeride GOAT's, Brett Rheeder stop by for a very interesting chat to talk about what he has been up to along with diving into some deep topics and why he no longer drinks coffee!Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlSquirt CyclingYour bike care sorted! Top quality chain lubes, wax, bike cleaner and tyre sealant!https://squirtcycling.nz/Fox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Your favourite band of podcast misfits are back!Join KB, Red Dog and Chris as we break down whats new in the world of mountain biking and beyond, highlights include Chris looping out his 20" at the BMX track, KB racing downhill still at 38 years old, Red Dog's love of bike packing, Gwin's move to Frameworks and a very important topic of when was the biggest technological jump in DH racing?Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlSquirt CyclingYour bike care sorted! Top quality chain lubes, wax, bike cleaner and tyre sealant!https://squirtcycling.nz/Fox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Its 2026 and we're back! Kicking things off this year, I sat down with the newest member of Mondraker Factory Racing, Oli Clark!I first met Oli when he was a grom at a local Nelson race, riding a Liv trail bike so its very cool to sit down with him now as a factory supported elite downhill racer and talk about his path to get here.Special thanks to our supporters at Maxxis Tyres for the excellent studio set up for this episode too!Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlSquirt CyclingYour bike care sorted! Top quality chain lubes, wax, bike cleaner and tyre sealant!https://squirtcycling.nz/Fox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

Sam Shaw joins us this week to discuss his incredible ride from Auckland to Wellington on Monday where he shattered the fastest known time record by over an hour! Its a deep dive into why, how, who and what went into making this a reality, plus an extra deep dive into the technique of not having to get off your bike for a toilet stop.We also finally get around to delivering the OTB listener awards for 2026, as voted by you guys!Thats us for 2026 and what a year its been, thanks to everyone who has given it a listen, we'll be back for more in 2026!Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlSquirt CyclingYour bike care sorted! Top quality chain lubes, wax, bike cleaner and tyre sealant!https://squirtcycling.nz/Fox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

It was supposed to be the final episode of the year, but would you believe we got far too side tracked and now we need to do another one next week? We promised the OTB listener awards and look we'll be honest, we just didn't get there...Lester and Red Dog rode an ungodly amount of KM's and slept in ditches, KB and Chris did a trail run, its a vaguely bike related episode, one guarantee is that you'll have some laughs!Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlSquirt CyclingYour bike care sorted! Top quality chain lubes, wax, bike cleaner and tyre sealant!https://squirtcycling.nz/Fox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

This week we are joined by Matt Whitaker, the founder of Wide Open Distributors here in New Zealand. A low key legend of the scene who not only wrenched for John Kirkcaldie and Nathan Rankin back in the Foes Racing days, but has also supported so many of New Zealand's top racers over the years, names like Brook MacDonald, Sam Blenkinson, Wyn Masters, Connor MacFarlane, Robin Goomes and so many more...Matt shares some awesome stories from his days on the road wrenching and how Wideopen started and grew to where it is today.Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlSquirt CyclingYour bike care sorted! Top quality chain lubes, wax, bike cleaner and tyre sealant!https://squirtcycling.nz/Fox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast

The Whaka100 is done and dusted and boy is that a brutal race. Join us to relive the pain and suffering we went through just to provide you more entertaining content!Spoiler alert, no DNF's this year though.Brought to you by:Maxxis Tyres - New Zealand's tyre of choice!To see the full line up from Maxxis, check out www.marleen.co.nz/brands/maxxis.htmlSquirt CyclingYour bike care sorted! Top quality chain lubes, wax, bike cleaner and tyre sealant!https://squirtcycling.nz/Fox Suspensionhttps://ridefox.com/pages/bikeIf you enjoy the OTB Podcast and would like to support, please consider joining us on Patreon and help keep the podcast alive. This isn't even close to a job for us and is done for your enjoyment! https://www.patreon.com/TheOTBPodcast