Mountain Cog

Send us Fan MailWhat is the Tour Divide, and what does it take to ride it? On Episode 139 of the MTNCOG Podcast, Tucson riders Craig Boydell and Curtis Dechant explain the route and the race. The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route is the world’s longest off-road touring route, first mapped by Adventure Cycling Association in the 1990s. The Tour Divide is the self-supported race that runs on it every June. Craig, Curtis and Peanut rode it northbound (aka backwards) from Antelope Wells, New Mexico, to Banff, Alberta, in 34 days, about half the time of the average tourer.They break it down state by state: the high country of New Mexico, the long middle section through Colorado and Wyoming, the empty Great Basin, and the grizzly country and brutal hike-a-bike of Montana and Canada. Along the way they cover their bikepacking setup, tire and sealant lessons, saddle and chamois choices, water filtration, resupply planning and the eat-anything nutrition plan. They also talk about trail angels and staying in a good headspace when you’re 10 days in and not even 1,000 miles along. If you’ve thought about riding the Tour Divide or the GDMBR, start here.-----------------------------------Enjoy this episode?  Here’s a few more of our top ones to check out…   128 - Are Chinese Brands Disrupting the Mountain Bike Industry?  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  125 - How Much Do Bike Companies Make? More shocking economics.  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  130 - 15 Bike Maintenance Skills All Riders Should Know  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  119 - How to Set Up Bike Suspension: Complete & Simple Guide   APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  134 - Bike Shop Secrets: 9 Problems, 9 Fixes: From Fork Feel To Hot Wax  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYERListen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]

Send us Fan MailTwo guys, 10 mountain bike myths, and one question: fact or BS? Josh and Dane sit down at Guru Bikes to settle the trail talk that’s been going around forever. Some myths get thrown out right away, like the idea that a cracked carbon frame belongs in the trash. Some turn out to be completely true, like what happens when you mix wax and non-wax chain lube. And a few start real arguments. Modern MTB geometry? Clipless pedals? Strava? Let’s just say there were no unanimous decisions.Along the way, you’ll hear about hydrogen embrittlement and Simple Green, why “get your butt back” is outdated advice for steep descents, chamois vs. no chamois, and what’s changing with SRAM T-Type chain wear. Josh also gives a quick report on Trestle Bike Park. Listen, laugh, then come tell us where we got it wrong.------------------------------------Enjoy this episode?  Here’s a few more of our top ones to check out…   128 - Are Chinese Brands Disrupting the Mountain Bike Industry?  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  125 - How Much Do Bike Companies Make? More shocking economics.  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  130 - 15 Bike Maintenance Skills All Riders Should Know  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  119 - How to Set Up Bike Suspension: Complete & Simple Guide   APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  134 - Bike Shop Secrets: 9 Problems, 9 Fixes: From Fork Feel To Hot Wax  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYERListen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]

Send us Fan MailNew gear, tested hard at Angel Fire Bike Park: SRAM Maven brakes, Shimano Saint pedals, Continental Kryptotal tires, RockShox Lyrik Ultimate Charger 3.2 and Wolf Tooth Locked In bar ends. Some impressed, some frustrated, and one pair of brakes almost ran Dane into another rider. Here's what worked, what didn't, and what you can tune to fix it.Dane brings the bike shop side of things: why a new Lyrik takes more tinkering to dial in, why tire pressure depends on the tire and not a magic number, and why his shop is still trying to figure out what's going on with Maven brakes. Josh brings the rider side, including arm pump, foot position and riding sweep at the back of the pack. There's also a look at enduro vs. downhill bikes at the park, a bolt-check PSA, and the case for riding chainless when your derailleur breaks.------------------------------------Enjoy this episode?  Here’s a few more of our top ones to check out…   128 - Are Chinese Brands Disrupting the Mountain Bike Industry?  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  125 - How Much Do Bike Companies Make? More shocking economics.  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  130 - 15 Bike Maintenance Skills All Riders Should Know  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  119 - How to Set Up Bike Suspension: Complete & Simple Guide   APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYER  134 - Bike Shop Secrets: 9 Problems, 9 Fixes: From Fork Feel To Hot Wax  APPLE      SPOTIFY      WEB PLAYERListen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]

Send us Fan MailHow do mountain bikers actually wipe out? Josh went digging and found a study that looked at 534 mountain bike crash videos. Just over half were over-the-bars crashes, about half happened on moderate descents, 64% came from poor jump landings, and three quarters were at speeds of 18.6 mph or faster. Josh, who admits he rides cautiously and never jumps, takes that as a green light to keep doing exactly what he's doing. Dane has a few opinions, and a parking lot crash story that doesn't help the "just go slower" theory.Episode 136, "Crash, Heal, Repeat: Mountain Biking After an Injury," goes from the numbers to the hard part, which is recovery. Dane and Josh talk about the difference between crashing and getting hurt, learning how to fall, pads and protective gear, and why the mental side of coming back from a crash can take longer than the physical side. Expect plenty of stories from Angel Fire, Whistler, and Tucson, plus a few ways to ride smarter without giving up the fun.Injury Mechanisms in MTN Biking: A Systematic Video Analysis of 534 CasesLink: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12177224/Listen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]

Send us Fan MailCan you buy speed? It's the question every mountain biker asks themselves while staring at a $10k build in the shop window, and it's the one Josh and Dane finally sit down to debate. They break the argument into pieces — weight, suspension, drivetrain efficiency, tires, frame stiffness, brakes — and figure out which of those upgrades are real and which ones are just good marketing. Turns out, the honest answer is somewhere in the middle, and it depends a lot less on the price tag than you'd think.Dane brings shop-floor stories about what actually gets people faster (hint: it's usually not what they think), and Josh lays out the numbers on price-per-pound and where the smart money stops making sense. They also cover depreciation, the emotional cost of crashing an expensive bike, and why your tires deserve way more attention than they're probably getting. And because it's MTNCOG, there's a detour into Josh's worst ride of the year that has nothing to do with bike specs and everything to do with bad timing.Listen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]

Send us Fan MailDane and Josh dig into nine grease-under-the-fingernails topics this week, kicking things off with a question that's been bugging Josh for weeks: why can two identical forks feel completely different? Turns out it's a mix of manufacturing tolerances, bushing wear, and oil that's gone stale — and the guys walk through how altitude changes your air spring feel too (plus the weird lawsuit history behind why some forks have bleeder buttons and others don't). From there it's straight into hub end caps falling off, why your spokes might be pinging after a truing, and the right way to torque your pedals without stripping a crank.The back half gets into chain wax gone wrong — including a lube-mixing mistake that turned Josh's chain into a gunky mess — plus a real debate over which shop tools are actually worth the money versus the ones collecting dust on the wall. They close out with a cautionary tale about e-bike internal cable routing that'll make you think twice before DIY-ing a dropper post install. If you wrench on your own bike even occasionally, this is one to bookmark.Listen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]

Send us Fan MailJosh and Dane spend this episode digging through the mountain bike industry to find out which brands are actually building their stuff in the USA — and the answer isn't always what you'd expect. From titanium frame builders like Moots, Lightspeed, Sage, Chumba, Sklar, and Bingham to newer players like Stinner and Neuhaus, they break down who's hand-welding frames stateside and who's just slapping an American flag on the marketing. They also dig into legacy brands like Foes, Ventana, and Intense, arguing over which ones still deserve the "Made in USA" label.From there, the guys move through suspension (Push, MRP, Risse), wheels and hubs (Enve, Industry Nine, Chris King, White Industries, Onyx), and drivetrain and cockpit components (Thompson, Wolf Tooth, RevGrips, Paul, 5Dev) to map out a full picture of what's really built in America versus overseas. Along the way they talk tariffs, why domestic manufacturing doesn't automatically mean better quality, and a few surprises — including some companies you'd swear were American that aren't. If you care about where your bike parts actually come from, this one's for you.Here are the websites to all of the brands discussed in this episode.Bikes/Frameshttps://moots.com/https://litespeed.com/https://sagetitanium.com/https://chumbausa.com/https://sklarbikes.com/https://binghambuiltbikes.com/https://www.stinnerframeworks.com/https://neuhausmetalworks.com/https://www.foesracing.com/https://ventanausa.com/https://intensecycles.com/https://reebcycles.com/Suspensionhttps://www.pushindustries.com/https://mrpbike.com/https://www.risseracing.com/Wheels/Hubs/Rimshttps://enve.com/https://industrynine.com/https://chrisking.com/https://www.whiteind.com/https://onyxrp.com/Componentshttps://bikethomson.com/https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/https://www.paulcomp.com/https://ride5dev.com/https://revgrips.com/Also… in this episode we refer to this past MCP episode with local frame builder / frame building school run by Bohemian Bicycles...https://www.buzzsprout.com/2052531/episodes/12986027-043-design-fabricate-your-own-frame-dave-bohm-bohemian-bikes-framebuildingschool-comhttps://www.bohemianbicycles.com/Listen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail"Mythical" is the word Josh uses for Whistler before Dane even opens his mouth — and by the end of this episode, you'll understand why every mountain biker treats this place like a pilgrimage.  Dane, fresh off his latest Whistler trip, breaks down exactly what it takes to get there and what it costs once you do. Direct flights, the shuttle from Vancouver, lift tickets, lodging, food — the guys go category by category so you know what to actually budget for your own trip.But the real value here is everything past the spreadsheet: how Whistler's 100 trails split between flow and technical terrain, why the double blacks are a different animal than what most U.S. riders are used to.  Add in trail ratings, lift line strategy, and the amenities/adventures available for non-riding family members, and this is the closest thing to a full Whistler Bike Park guide you'll find anywhere.Listen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]

Send us Fan MailThere's a ton of talk right now about motor gear units (MGUs) coming out of Eurobike, but we haven't found content with enough depth to satisfy our questions. So in this episode, Dane and Josh go deep on MGUs, comparing five major players — Gobao, Avinox, Pinion, Owuru, and IntraDrive — and explaining how the different types of MGUs (stepped gearbox, CVT, and eCVT) actually work.The guys cover both sides of the MGU topic in detail, and argue over a few points along the way. On the positive side, they may: be way easier to maintain, facilitate better battery range, offer wider gear ranges than cassettes, allow shifting anytime, and move weight toward the center of the bike (lowering the center of gravity and moving mass from unsprung to sprung - which could mean better suspension performance). On the negative side, they may have: extra pedal drag, a wider Q factor (think pedal strikes), and real uncertainty about repair/replacement when the whole drivetrain is one sealed unit. If you want the real detailed MGU breakdown behind the Eurobike headlines, not just another "derailleur is dead" hot take, this episode delivers it.Listen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]

Send us Fan MailFifteen skills. One episode. Zero excuses for getting stuck with a long walk out when your bike breaks down. Dane and Josh take on the basic mountain bike maintenance every rider should know... the stuff that turns "I have no idea what's wrong" into a "quick fix in your own garage".From dialing in tire pressure to spotting the bent derailleur hanger that causes half the shifting problems they see in Dane's shop, this one's built for anyone tired of feeling helpless when their bike starts acting up. You don't need to be a pro mechanic, you just need to know the basics, and the guys make a strong case that a little maintenance knowledge saves you money, time, and a long walk home. Real-world advice from two guys who've been riding and wrenching in the Tucson desert for decades.Listen to Mountain Cog Apple PodcastsSpotifyOther Podcast Sites [email protected]