The Pinkbike Podcast: Episode 118 - Music and Mountain Biking

 What music? anything you like. Just as long as its in your ears and not blaring out of a bluetooth speaker

 The music is best when all you hear is tires rolling across the terrain and the little pings from rocks and loose dirt

 The title subhead reminds me of a story I still laugh at to this day regarding AWOLnation's 'SAIL'.

The scene is me and some buds were chilling at the top of the climb before a big, popular descent. Most people do the 5min shuttle to get to the top, but we had climbed the access road and were catching our breath before dropping in. From the parking lot, we see 5 or so certfied® dads start rolling our way. They had just lifted their e-mtb's out of a $60k Toyota Tundra with a 3in lift. It's a common sight in this neck of the woods, where the average home value within a couple of miles of the trail is well into the millions.

So these dad-bod dudes come rolling by, a nice train of 5 or 6 riders into the 'black diamond' (manicured flow jump line with tables and small gaps) trail that we had all come up to hit. 2nd to last dude in line, clear as day, yells into the universe 'SIRI, play SAIL by AWOLNATION!!' and we all absolutely hit the floor laughing. Normally, I'd think this was a joke, but judging by the man, this guy was entirely serious and really wanted to listen to the sweet sounds of dub EDM on his way to casing every single jump.

Anyways, that's my SAIL story. Thanks for listening.

 SAIL!!

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 @mikekazimer I'm with you...I don't want to hear music while I ride. It's my time to disconnect. Music is for before and after a ride while driving to and from the trailhead since I'm not lucky enough to live within riding distance of a trail system.

 Podcasts for the climbs - music for the descents

 TOPIC FOR FUTURE PODCAST: I'd love to hear more conversations about riding in different places: uk, Spain, France, south america, south Africa, etc. Learning some hacks for international mtb trips too, whether it makes sense to travel with a bike vs rent, use trailforks or hire a guide. Whenever I travel with my wife I try to sneak a few bike days in and logistically it can be challenging. In France for example, i could rent a bike easily but because of the train/tram/bus strikes, it was hard to get to the bike parks.

Side note: if I ever have headphones on a descent, it's cheesy yacht rock. Hall & Oats, Steve Winwood, Steely Dan.

 I like to wear my Aftershokz bone conduction headphones while riding. They give something up in terms of sound quality, but they leave your ears absolutely open for situational awareness.

 @mikekazimer damn you nailed it with the Carlin Dunne and Matt Hunter segments. My friends and I had a great night a few weeks ago watching all of our favourite segments from classic bike movies like the Earthed series, Collective, NWD etc. We all grew up in separate towns across Canada but everyone remembered these movie segments to a T quoting all the lines.

Favourite quotes/songs - Peaceful Day - Pennywise from the Psychosis Segment in Seasons “It’s gnarly out there boy it’s silt”

RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke - Berrecloth in ROAM

 I'm still rocking Swollen Members, Rise Against, Dope, etc. from the old NWD/Collective days. It just brings back a flood of memories and makes me want to go ride hard.

 @mikekazimer - I'm suprrised there's no Sonic Youth of Fugazi???

 QUESTION: Is it just me or does it seem like bikes just arent designed for heavier people? I am 6’3 and 215 lbs (not overweight) and I seem to have so many reliability problems with my bike compared to my friends who are all 5’11 and 170ish lbs. I go through heavy casing tyres and and DT Swiss alloy rims like there’s no tommorow, my enduro bike has Code R brakes (200 mm front and rear, metallic pads) and I’ve just had to sand my pads and rotors because they glazed over from overheating. A month or so ago I got my rear shock (Fox Float X2) replaced under warranty because I had blown through it and it was leaking oil. I try to keep my bike well maintained but it seems that I have many more mechanicals than my friends and I can’t help wondering if some of the components just aren’t designed for the force that some heavier riders can put through the bike.

 @mikekazimer @henryquinney I really appreciate Minor Threat and Youth Brigade. I also really love VAST and there is something emotional and epic about his music.

Other suggestions would also be:

I was a pretty angry kid in Connecticut growing up so I had a bias towards angry stuff getting me going.

When I was kid in the 90s/00s;
• Minor Threat - Straight Edge
• KFMDM - Ultra, Sun of a Gun
• Hatebreed - I will be heard
• Prodigy - Voodoo People
• Nine Inch Nails - Perfect Drug
• Vast - Touched

More recently:
• Brendan Fairclough movie "Deathgrip" soundtrack was great (not that angry)
• Imagine Dragons - "Machine"
• Justice - "Chorus"
• Lofidelity Allstars - "Battleflag"
• Public Enemy - "Shut 'Em Up" (Prodigy remix)
• The Cinematic Orchestra - "To Build a Home" (cry while I ride song)
• Solomon Grey - "Choir to the Wild"
• Underworld - "Rez"

 I don't have any music related to MTB. But a huge folder of music from snowboard and skateboard videos. Mostly from the times when "Limewire" still was a thing.
When riding bikes i have no need for music and only get annoyed by those bluetooth box dudes... Just get headphones for f**k sake!
Sail by Awolnation just mostly reminds me of someone barely able to ski, filming himself riding down groomers with a selfie stick in a mixture of pizza and parallel turns...

 I never listen to music while riding because Alberta and Eastern BC is prime bear country. Prefer to focus on my surroundings and have situational awareness of my environment and sounds my bike is making.

 Ok - so Henry got after Kazimer for his ludicrous supposition that European mountain bikers are riding trains to access terrain.

But I've definitely ridden a local train (tram? IDK, it was on tracks) in Oslo with guys who were using it to shuttle laps on their bikes. Some googling leads me to believe this was to access the top of the Frognerseteren trails.

Can any Oslo locals help me out here? Relic of the past (I think this was 5 or 6 years ago)? Unusual event? Or something that people regularly do?

 The tire noise on the trail is my music!
I turn my phone off and don’t want anything to do with anything else than riding my bike in those few hours.
But good music that is used on some good footage, like a good edit can be motivating before going.

 I don't get what's so funny about taking the train to the trailhead?
Here in Norway, there are plenty trains, subways, trams and other railed transport systems that delivers you to the trailhead. Last time I checked, Norway is a part of Europe (not the EU though).
-In Oslo you can shuttle from Oslo city center to the top DH and single track trails, ride down and take the subway back up to the top of the trail. Lot's of subways delivers you directly onto the trailhead and bikes are free to bring along in the Oslo area, all from the city center.
-In Bergen you can take Fløibanen to the top of the mountain Fløien and ride the trails down.
-In Trondheim you can take the tram from the city centre to the top of the trail head and singletracks.
-There are trains that delivers you directly to the start and end some of Norway's most popular biking trails like Rallarvegen.
So, plenty of railed possibilities to ride, just to mention a few.

 @henryquinney nice to know there is someone else who only utilizes 1 playlist of 'liked' songs.
I, too, have eclectic tastes... do your friends also refuse to let you control the music at parties and carpools? lol.

 To the part about music and riding. I don't think there was mention of bone conducting headphones. Ya the bass is non existent but at least you can hear what's going on around you. Thoughts?

 I saw Whitechapel -S.C.U.M on Henry's list and got stoked, not seeing that coming. Until I realized I swapped artist and title... I love seeing what other people listen to, in hopes of adding to my own lists, but there seems to be a lack of heavy listening. Unless I'm just an outlier.....NAH!

 Showing my age here, but one band in particular will always be associated with mtn. biking for me.

Some time in the early 90s, my pre-driving-age (Or maybe just not-car-having. I don't honestly remember.) self, and younger brother are catching a ride up the mountain with the mechanics at our LBS for our first ever ride on the premier local singletrack (Santa Ana River Trail, in the San Bernardino Mountains). Prior to this we'd only ridden the local foothills, ridgelines and fire-roads, so it was our first real "mountain" ride. There were two different drivers, and one of them had a Jeep. I called dibs on the Jeep and when we got to the trailhead my brother climbs out of the truck and says, "You should've rode with Leonard."

Shortly afterwords my mind was blown by the twisty, flowy, and at times super exposed (Don't even really think about it now, but the narrow exposed sections really made an impression riding it for the first time.) mountain singletrack. Unlike anything I'd ridden before in the lower foothills.

On the ride back down the hill it was my turn to ride in the truck, and I'm in full epic-ride afterglow mode when Leonard pops in a cassette (Remember those?) and my mind was blown for the second time that day, as Primus, Sailing the Seas of Cheese blared out of the speakers. I was into punk, metal, and a bit of industrial at the time, but Primus was a whole different beast, borrowing elements from all of the above for their own unique sound. Probably could have been just about anything new at that age, and in that mindset, and it would have made an impression, but it happened to be Primus, which is now indelibly seared into my memory as "mountain biking music".

 Imagine commuting on your MTB with knobbly tires, seeing that roadie in the distance asking to be smashed. Put on Dragula and your going to leave him in the dust.

 A couple songs from mountain bike vids from the past that stick out in my memory:

Teaser for NWD 5: AMP Seven nation Army
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNpXmjdJKTc

Logan Peat's NSMB Airprentice application video - first time I heard MIA's Paper Planes, but I can't find it on the interweb now.

 18 Candles by The Sessions just got taken out of Spotify, it is the song on Matt Hunter's cut on Seasons, it was my go to song for my solo rides

 I was laughing so hard this episode. You guys have such good chemistry! Quinney was diggin some hilarious holes! I really loved the relationship advice Kaz gave a couple weeks ago too. Super funny. Keep it up!

 I was bred and raised through 90s metal. Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Biohazard... you name it. Still beautiful to listen to while climbing. Way too dangerous while descending, it completely obliterates your self-preservation instinct.

 Fun podcast. You guys are sometimes quite wide apart on that spectrum. Good laughs.
@mikelevy you guys answered a question I had on the Alloy Stumpy vs Carbon Stumpy. Your latest review of the alloy stumpy had you all suggesting an upgrade of suspension and brakes.
Where is the best value for money in either Fox or Rockshox three tier suspension selection?
Do a Super Deluxe Ultimate or Float DPX2 have a place on a shorter travel trail bike (weight is not a concern)?
Would you do a video similar to @henryquinney's Budget vs Baller, where you take one of those value bikes that you all like the geometry and upgrade the components? No Mike Bear please

 Two questions @mikekazimer and @mikelevy forgot to ask @henryquinney before hiring him:
1. You know Squamish is the best place to ride, right?
2. You aren't that annoying guy on the trail riding with his phone speaker blaring music, are you?

 Respect for Henry in this podcast. Squamish isn't the be all and end all, the interior of BC has equally good riding, don't worry about what tires you ride, just ride your bike, etc. . . . . refreshing to hear in these days of product pushing, forced obsoletion

 New album (and all the older albums) from Turnstile rips. Seeing them in ATL coming up. My 49 year old body will be sore.

 An interesting music question to ask is what's the preferred driving track? Maybe it's placebo but I definitely drive faster and more aggressively listening to hard rock over my slower chill playlist.

 Add some zydeco to your life! It’s the happiest friggin music on earth, like sunshine directly to your soul.

 Tool when im riding, tool when im not riding, its a lot of tool mostly

 What? No Skynyrd?

 I've always had a soundtrack going dating back to having a Walkman and cassette mixes whilst skateboarding to my current wireless earbud set up (Earfun Free, waterproof, auto stereo to mono default when only wearing one and inexpensive). I have mixes for rides consisting of all sorts of things that make me laugh, entertain and/or motivate me. As for Bluetooth speakers, not my thing, but I no longer chastise anyone about it. I ride on or let them pass sometimes getting amused with how whatever they are playing mashes up with what I have on. Speaking of mash ups, I enjoy hearing my bike sounds (hub screaming, brakes honking, etc.) with whatever I'm listening to. Remember, no matter how awesome your music is NO ONE wants to hear it. This especially true with the noisy trash I like...Pissed Jeans, Deaf Club, Slant, Black Flag, Double Negative, The Locust, Weedeater etc.

 Can’t wait till e-bikes come with built in speakers so I can blast some Bastille on the climbs!

 For anyone who is interested, this is my playlist featuring my favourite songs from the Clay Porter / Earthed generation of videos

open.spotify.com/playlist/5YfIJXiL3xWQ4b5O20r0xK?si=7da2d77b40a84728

 I've been riding for 7 years now. A combo of racing and casual riding. Never listened to music until this year. Been riding every day this month (team granite april challenge. Ride every day for at least 30 minutes moving time. No excuses) This is the first year I've gone completely solo and I started listening to music on my road rides (still riding my rocky mountain Instinct BC overforked to 170 travel up front). Have I noticed a difference? Hard to say. But it does seem to help pass the time especially when im doing late night 8/9 p.m. start time rides. No rhyme or reason to what I listen too, but definitely going to tap into some of these Playlists tomorrow. Shooting for a 40 mile ride on the enduro rig

 July Talk, New Pornographers, Arcade Fire (im a Canadaphile!), Foals, Girl in Red, Glass Animals, American Girls, Nathanial Ratliff and the Nightsweats, Michael Kiwanuka, Beach House, Bob Moses, Lucinda Williams, J. Cole, Sonic Youth, Waylon Jennings, The National, The Clash, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Connells, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and so much good riding musing and yes @mikelevy i am from Detroit, nothing wrong w/ a little Seger and the Sliverbullet! Rock on, Climb on, Ride on!

 Pinkbike then Downtime then Weekly Planet then Automovie podcasts out on the trails - I can hear what's what on the road sections.

If I was making a ride video I'd want DJ Shadow feat. Run The Jewels, Nobody Speak as the soundtrack to a 3m52s slow motion sequence of me making coffee and lacing my shoes, it would honestly be better than me riding. I ain't lying, kick a lion in his crack.
RTJ would feature heavily in any gravity playlist to blast through headphones as I fumble my way down the nearest hillock.

Would love to see a video of someone like Amaury absolutely sending it juxtaposed to the melodic sounds of Delilah's Go and the lyric, "No one puts it down like me".

 Podcast Question: one I kept meaning to ask, prompted by polll "Do You Know What Brands The Pros Use?", related to the win on Sunday, sell on Monday mantra, are there bike brands that show up well in races / have some top rides, but thier civilian bikes never quite make the cut in field tests?

 Podcast Question: Sorry another one... After SWAT and BITS, among others, and now Santa Cruz's new Glovebox on the hightower, is there going to be a race to get out bikes with in frame storage systems before all the good names / acronyms are used up? And if doing marketing for bike brands what would the podcast team call their holes?

 Soundtrack wise- some pairings that still stick out to me were Morcheeba over that Utah Watson segment in Ride To The Hills and in the same movie Leech's night-time urban to Four Ton Mantis by Amon Tobin. Both those artists are stellar and those songs fit the segment so perfectly. Watson cruising down that ridgeline with the "trapped in the skies what I to do?...brothah's from another planet... yall know the truth..." Loved it. Currently for music to ride to from the world of Hip Hop Marlowe and Run the Jewels come to mind as favorites, from the Rock side I still find myself going back to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Cave Singers and Cloud Nothings and for Electro/chill I'm liking Nym's stuff...

 Sepultura - roots, now that I think about it's very appropriate here.
"I'll take you to a place where we shall find our roots, bloody roots"
That's every mountain biking trail in PNW.

 @henryquinney: It was so funny to hear the silence once you said that Squamish trails are not the best in the world. Clearly the others never heard that before, lol. Judging by their response, they could not take it either. Very defensive, so funny.
@mikelevy: your taste in music surprised me, going by the amount of tattoos, I was expecting a long list of metalcore bands, but hey, never judge book by its cover, right?

 Would like to listen to music while climbing, but I'm afraid of not hearing things on the trail ie bears (I ride in Alberta/bc) and also want forewarning if someone descending towards me... I could never listen to music descending- tried it once while riding in city park and felt like a sense was missing, not hearing the tires...
People blaring their music via Bluetooth on the trail is perhaps the most obnoxious thing ever. I feel like this issue has multiplied x20 since covid 19, with lots of trail newbies outside. I did not go outdoors to the forest to be assaulted by random noise/music. Seems either arrogant or naive to think nobody would be bothered by this. The argument of "im alone" is absurd, unless you're riding in the Arctic, or somewhere else similarly underpopulated. Headphones are not complicated.

 missing the Missy Giove Chainsmoke segment here. Not a fan o the band but at that time was incredible go riding kickstarter. Gender here was not a theme, just the attitude www.youtube.com/watch?v=zstpGRt2jlY&ab_channel=ElJefe4130 @mikelevy

 The Seasons, Roam and Follow me sound tracks got me through my formative years of riding. I still go wild anytime any of the songs from them come on.

 I have a comment about the comment on the word mullet for mixed wheel sizes:

I think it is a perfect description! Business in the front, party in the back is exactly what makes the mullet bikes great!

And if it is deemed as an immature description of the whole wheel situation, so what?

 Just remember that all the people on the trail, at the crag, or in the lift line love your music and very much appreciate you playing on your speaker for everyone to hear.

Also can you guys please do a review of Shimano mineral oil versus generic mineral sometime?

 Round my way, riding around with your phone blaring is known as a ‘Sodcast’. Henry, it the height of bad manners. Also, I suspect the sound will be crapper than Levy’s podcasts. Keep up the work

 For tires for winter riding in cold and muddy conditions I can very much recommend the Vittoria Mazza! The rubber compound they got stays soft even when it gets cold and the tread pattern self-cleans of mud very well.

 @mikekazimer Excellent choice adding in Turnstile, they rip.

 I don’t listen to music when I ride. The Black Angels song Young Dead Men would be great in a video part with lots of slo-mo shredding

 @henryquinney I think you should just double down and fully commit, Squamish is okay, Tacomas and Flannel Shirts are mehh too!

 7 minutes 23 seconds talking about mineral oil and not one mention of the Beastie Boys? Sounds like someone was trying to Savbatoge the podcast.

 I know I’m late to the party but I can’t be the only one who has at least one song from the movie rad come into their head every ride

 PAHAHAH! The idea that there would be a TRAIN to the top of a mountain is STUPID! Silly Kaz, what are you smoking?!

snowdonrailway.co.uk

 I tried it twice, didn't realize how much I used the sounds of the trail and tires to ride. Almost crashed both times. I sing the $#!+ out of Rage Against the Machine though.

 "Information is not knowledge.
Knowledge is not wisdom.
Wisdom is not truth.
Truth is not beauty.
Beauty is not love.
Love is not music.
Music is the best." -FZ

 Mark Matthews - Sweat Equity. The edit is awesome. The music and editing/filming is on point.

 @henryquinney: with every podcast I love your ways more and more. Yadiyadiyada!

 I tell you, The Black Keys are the best for riding. Try it

 Can’t forget Orca by Wintersleep in the Stevie Smith Seasons segment. Gives me goosebumps every time…

 Nwd8 was full of great tunes but something about Fabian Barels segment with Shiny Toy Guns song was my absolute favourite.

 PLOSIVS, Turnstile, Mission of Burma, King Gizzard…… @mikekazimer has great taste in music

 Boris brejcha!

 No discussion of mountain biking and music is complete without discussion of "Thee Deores"

open.spotify.com/artist/2ZjtmoSL9Ejdaz3m4TIMzc?si=Qze27HaiTAedBH7ALn1V-g

 If anybody else couldn’t find a song that Henry mentioned, Prometheus by Kae Tempest, it appears they were in a band called Sound of Rum.

 Hello from Switzerland, where I take public transport (Bus and Train) regularly to go biking...

 I think @henryquinney needs to experience the East Coast of the USA & CA if he wants to see people killing it on clapped-out sledges. (Maybe not North Carolina though)

 Regarding winter tires for the PNW: Continental Baron! Handsdown the best thing I've ever ridden over wet roots in the cold. The new equivalent should be the Argotal.

 An absolute utter display of total lack of taste in music.
Mountain biking is about 10 years behind BMX in the music video stakes.
Go watch Empire “Bad Idea” then come back to me before you mouth off…
F***ing student w***ers

 I‘d like to see Mike Kazimer take his bike into a german train…

 Thanks for making this podcast, and playlist happen! I am so pumped to get this in my ears!

 Stuff like Dario Marianelli, Future Islands, Coheed. Lots of Coheed. No hip hop/ rap though. Does not get me moving.

 Sail by aholenation is the worst!!! Fugazi- yes please.

 Music otw to ride, music otw home post ride. AM/FM radio in my brain in between.

 @mikekazimer playlist is on par for aging out east coast hardcore kid no earth crisis??

 Music for intervals and workouts (if I'm doing them solo). Podcasts for more mellow rides.

 Damn, Kaz. Mission of Burma, Kyuss, AND Low. My man...

 Kate Bush is the only person I recognise on either of those lists

 Switzerland actually uses a lot of trains, even for riding

 I just listen to napalm death in the way to the trail.

 Newfoundland is very cool Levy. It's not as fashionable and bro as Squamish, but that's a good thing

 Pretty much all of clays stuff has great music. The recent one with storch is such a blast.

 music for all trail conditions ;-)


www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gha9xrM10w

 not @henryquinney best pod performance...

1) turn your music off in the woods you tosser, i don't care if you are just passing me quickly....
2) i guess there are better places to ride than Squamish but you live there now so maybe have a "cuppa of shut the !@#$ up?"...... you wanker!
3) people in Europe definitely take bikes on all sorts of public transit you git! you can do these amazing point to point 100K+ rides over the Cols of the TdF and train/tram/bus back to a central locale!

There, I've exhausted by British insults that don't begin w/ the letter C! But he was trending there.

 CRINGE...personally i only can get psyched for mukbang asmr psytrance remixes

 Hey here is a question/podcast idea. How much does it cost brands to make superbikes?

 Thanks! Been pushing you guys for a music podcast for a while. Great way to finish up the work week!

 Un Simple Histoire by Thievery Corporation - ROAM. Knew I would ride bikes for the rest of my life after that.

 its BMX but chase hawks part in fit life...amazing part, amazing rider, and its spawned a 15 year love of the sword

 Motive soundtrack is the goat, no riding movie soundtrack has come close

 Music while riding

 The dots over the O in Boös indicate that you pronounce the second vowel separately, e.g. “Bo-os”

 neither canadians nor mountain bikers should be talking about music. Canadian mountain bikers? CMON now stop

 I can't hear Sail without picturing the cat jumping out the window.

 Amen @henryquinney - “choose not to care”

 We have shit loads of trains. They are everywhere

 First and last Sail video I watched - ugh: youtu.be/gnOoNosa5VM

 Van Homan | Fit Life | Patti Smith Group | Because the Night….

 Best and highest use of Dragula was Crusty 2000…

 Wolfmother.

 Buckethead

 Municipal waste