The Pinkbike Podcast: Episode 101 - MTB Tradeshows Explained

 I really hope this podcast doesnt destroy the story I have in my head. I picture Levy and Kaz at the trade shows being winned and dined while they receive kick backs from the wheel and axle standards cabal

 Trade shows are an opportunity for decently compensated middle managers to travel without their families to a place where hookers are easily available. That’s literally it.

 I worked in Venture Capital as an Associate for a while and also in Corporate Development M&A at a fast growing tech company for a while.

We used to talk about these waves of acquisition. A lot of these companies have been on bigger company radars for quite a bit. Often the timing is pretty hard to move that much money. I expect the primary drivers are:

1: Very high public and private sock valuations mean that these acquisitions can take place with company stock, so on paper the valuation looks quite high to an acquired company owner.

2: Bigger companies get better economies of scale, so helps smaller companies with production pressure.

3: Over the past several years, companies have been keeping more cash on hand, meaning companies are looking for more places to take risk. Having lots of cash on hand isn't always a great thing. Investors want you to put it to work possibly.

4: Eventually interest rates will rise (inflation is going up but the federal rate hasn't moved as much as it probably should). This will make debt for companies with revolving or short-term debts suffer a bit more, so they will want to look for more capital to prevent a short-fall. Even employees might have more stability with a larger parent.

5: Doesn't seem like these are distressed asset purchases where the backend will be rationalized (G&A laid off) too much on the possibly optimistic side of things

 old nerd reminiscing: pre-internet (when the primary source of bike news was magazines, with months old intel), interbike was an amazing experience. heaps of never before seen bikes & wild proto hardware (back when cnc & wild suspension platform experimentalism ran rampant). OG legends everywhere, and unlike these days, more or less all the major players were in attendance - not to mention all the freaky small builder stuff in the convention center peripheries. peak interbike was SUCH a rad scene.

 How about a pod of former and current wrenchers for pro's and some of the horror stories close calls and hilarious moments in the pits?

 I'm no ebike fan, BUT WORSE THAN ZWIFT (or any other indoor stationary training)?! GTFO!!!

Nice rant though....

 Can we either get Henry to talk louder into the microphone or get some audio work done on the podcast. I’m so tired of having to turn my volume up and down depending on who is talking. He has great things to say but I can never hear him. And then I turn it up and Levy ends up yelling in my ear. It truly is a struggle haha

 I'm a bit late on this question for you guys. But on the MTB Geo episode you were talking about seat tube angle. Why is steeper better and why are we still trying to decide what the "right" seat tube angle is, when road bikes have been settled on 73 degreed, more or less, for a long time? The pedaling mechanics shouldn't be any different between the two. Is it a function of mountain bikes riding steeper climbs? Is it an attempt to combat longer reaches?

 I went to Eurobike in 1997, the weekend Princess Diana died. As soon as anyone heard my accent, they did their best to give me their condolences, like I was a representative of the royal family. Awkward. But I did get to chat with Keith Bontrager for half an hour. That was just a few months after Trek bought the Bontrager brand. We discussed the wishbone stays and downtube gussets on the new Trek aluminium hard tails with a certain amount of sarcasm. And I met these nice guys who were just starting Truvativ with cranks and BBs. Plus German beer. And swimming in Bodensee. On balance, it was positive (but I wasn't really working).

 My best memory from a trade show is meeting Charlie Kelly and Joe Breeze and talking for a bit. It was great to meet those guys...I'll never forget it.

 What happened to “behind the numbers” articles?

 Just watched the (6 item) 2019 Taipei cycle show video- nothing of that seemed to have appeared on the market. The TOR stuff looked promising but the webshop is empty. Is that what Trade Shows are for: You see it there you'll, never see it again?

 Here is a question for a future podcast. We always focus on the One bike that we would choose, but let's face it there are plenty of readers here that have more than one bike. So how about discussing with the panel what 2 bikes they would choose. XC + Enduro, or Trail + aggressive ebike. It could lead to some interesting discussion. This might be a good one to ask when you have a panel consisting of riders from a large cross section of terrain locations.

 Make that episode about Pros wearing out parts ridiculously quick happen or I will break into PB Headquarters and glue mike bears on every single rim I can find!!!

 I think it would be fun to rehash the future of bike shops. Trek is buying up shops left and right. Specialized is venturing into consumer direct (and will probably start buying shops too if it bodes well for Trek). Will PON join the battle of giants and start forcing shops with Santa Cruz to drop their other lines and pick up GT and Cannondale? Or just start buying up shops too and making their own stores? I feel like big brands have been flirting with this "car dealership" idea. This could also mean any little shop who wants to stay independent will have to go to smaller boutique brands to not be ruled over. Curious to see what you guys think.

 For an mtb geo episode: should bike manufacturers provide geo numbers in the sag position rather than non-sag? (Or maybe they already do, but I doubt it). Seems like we compare all kinds of geometry values and then sit on a bike which immediately throws them off. Plus each bike would sag into these updated numbers differently (based on kinematic), so comparing the usual non-sag values isn’t exactly apples-to-apples.

 I lost my spleen at an Interbike. You don't want to spend a week in a Vegas hospital.

 As someone who worked many trade shows back in the day, the only thing I miss is getting some face to face time with customers and industry friends.. As far as working, it sucks. You're on your feet all day, you hit autopilot on the products, and by day 2, I usually had a bloody nose from being in the AC all day.. The major players pulled out of interbike because of how expensive it was.. I think industry shows are a waste.. Get more stuff where the consumers can be involved. The industry will benefit more from letting the riders see, touch and feel the latest and greatest in person..

 @mikekazimer I’m totally with you on the time limit for Vegas. For me it’s 36 hours. It’s bizarre and fun to start with, but then the constant sound of slot machines gets to me and it’s an instant need to GTFO.

 Great example of a product I found from a guy at a show (festival) with his own little stand - wickflow.com - came across it at NembaFest in VT and these things are a lifesaver in the sweaty summer !!

 @mikelevy The podcast has been talking a bunch about eMTB lately, and I am seeing way more of them on the trails. I have a question about trail etiquette with them. Yesterday I was on a single-track climb trail and a pair of e-bikes came flying up behind me and hovered a bike length behind me. Zyuh zyuh zyuh zyuh. If a super fit rider came hauling up behind me, I’d pull over out of respect. But since this was a pretty steep trail, and they hadn’t earned my “respect” by actually having climbing chops, I let them wait and just rode to the right at a wider section of trail for the first, and the second had to wait until I got the overlook I was already planning on stopping at. What is the etiquette for passing and yeilding while climbing, both for human powered bikes and electric bikes?

 Just adding my Brett guesses: I have a feeling he’s gonna go a Yoann route and try to get close proximity manufacturers. That makes it tough for a slope style guy to pick bikes given that usually they get pretty niche builds/frames to abuse, but just going off his current vibes and personality. Plus with him testing out all these different suspension platforms, seems like a cool idea… idk

 @brianpark I recall you saying you have a 24lb Steel Hardcore Hardtail. I finally got around to weighing my bikes. How did you do it? I converted to tubeless XC tires on my rigid single speed and got it down to 26lb. That is aluminum frame, steel fork, BMX cranks, alloy wheels and one cog. So there is no carbon with a small amount of steel in the cranks and fork.

I recently built up an aluminum 26" hardtail and it came out at 31lb.

So what is the trick?

 Biased look with the Norco Range for bike of the year. It was chosen followed quickly by front page advertisements for the Norco Range, hmmm. Best experimental bike of the year for sure but not best overall bike. Trading pedalling efficiency for downhill performance and is not really an advancement, it's a trade off. Let alone the hanging link and added complexity.

 Podcast idea - @henryquinney and @mikelevy ripping on ebikes without interruption. I could listen to hours of this.

 Important question(s): When do we get to see the new Grim Donut in action and will it be with the Pinkbike Super Uber Factory Racing Team led by Mr. Cathro?

 Just a little loveletter to this podcast. I always enjoy listening to @mikelevy and the gang talking about what we all love most: bikes!

 The moment Henry made the Orange comment about the water bottle and Levy sounded they like cemented their bromance forever had me in stitches!!!

 @brianpark You can also ask Robin to chime in They would probably understand that part of the market a bit better than me.

 I'm thinking to stop wearing a chamois all together who's with me ? Do we really need them ? Pro's and Con's ? What do you think ? Please discuss your thoughts and report.

 Trade shows are fun the first few times. After that you are looking for excuses to head back to your room early to avoid the inevitable headache the next morning.

 Henry’s rant at around the 27min mark- brilliant!!

 One question you now have to chat about on the next podcast is the injection of Beta Pay-Wall articles into the PB front page.

 Why is everyone pronouncing brake lever so wrong. It is a lever and not a leaver?

 Las Vegas is getting a new bike park built up at MT. Charleston. Check out Lee Canyon FB page.

 How many times does Henry's nuts get done in this week? Is that your English line for us north americans at the moment? On a plus note, thank god you turned his mic down, cause he would come through yelling on previous episodes, someone should do an audio check before posting please and thanks?

 @henryquinney needs his own podcast where he just rips on e-bikes with his wacky british phrases

 i guess it s not really a trade show, but are you guys coming to the sedona festival? @mikekazimer @mikelevy

 @mikelevy and @henryquinney, fatbike in the snow or ebike on fun trails? I take the fatbike!

 Will the podcast be making a return to Acast any time soon?

 My flight gets delayed so now i get to listen to this and ep 100!

 Haven't listened yet, but this is the content I want more of

 Can Pinkbike review Poc's Mantle Thermal Hoodie?

 Is a MOD like someone worth special powers or dies it mean you’re on the payroll?

Asking fir a friend …

Seriously, this place has really gotten wierd, like off the rails.

It seems like Pinkbike is lost.

 got to love Henry and Levy ebike urticaria!

 Another great episode.