The Downtime Podcast

This weekend Les Gets was alive with the sound of chainsaws, the smoke of red white and blue flares and some incredible racing. I'm joined by Neko Mulally and Olly Morris to find out just how difficult those track conditions were, what it feels like to be charged by thousands of mountain bike fans, if Max Commencal’s hangover has worn off yet and plenty more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this Les Gets World Cup post-race show with Neko Mulally and Olly Morris. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of World Cup and EWS racing. No matter where or how you ride, Maxxis has the tyres for you with a wide range of tread patterns, casing and compound options. You can check out the entire range of Maxxis tyres over at Maxxis.com, and find the tyres at your local Maxxis dealer. You can also give them a follow on instagram where they are @maxxisbike. Podcast Stuff Patreon I would love it if you were able to support t

This week I’m joined by Fox Racing’s head of sports marketing and athlete development, Austin Hoover. Austin is the man who’s responsible for looking after Fox’s athlete rosters and making sure that they look amazing at every race. We chat about how Austin found his way from being a stuntman at Disneyland to his role at Fox, working with the world’s best mountain bike and moto athletes. Hear what went into getting the whole of the Santa Cruz Syndicate on Fox and what it takes to make everyone’s bespoke kits. We also chat about the future of downhill race kit and the future of the sport under Warner Brothers Discovery. So, it’s time to sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Austin Hoover. You can find out more by heading to foxracing.com or by checking them out on Instagram @foxmtb. Podcast Stuff Patreon I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per episode and less than the

We're heading to Les Gets this weekend for the 6th round of the 2023 World Cup. Join me and Chris Kilmurray to find out about the track, the new festival style event, who's on form and much more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this Les Gets World Cup pre-race show with Chris Kilmurray. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of World Cup and EWS racing. No matter where or how you ride, Maxxis has the tyres for you with a wide range of tread patterns, casing and compound options. You can check out the entire range of Maxxis tyres over at Maxxis.com, and find the tyres at your local Maxxis dealer. You can also give them a follow on instagram where they are @maxxisbike. Podcast Stuff Patreon I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per episode and less than the price of a take away coffee. Every litt

Loudenvielle delivered us some ups and downs, ending in some absolutely awesome elite racing. Join me, Neko and Olly to talk about that insane track, the schedule changes, the cancellation of junior racing, the wildest race runs and much more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this Loudenvielle World Cup pre-race show with Neko Mulally and Olly Morris. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of World Cup and EWS racing. No matter where or how you ride, Maxxis has the tyres for you with a wide range of tread patterns, casing and compound options. You can check out the entire range of Maxxis tyres over at Maxxis.com, and find the tyres at your local Maxxis dealer. You can also give them a follow on instagram where they are @maxxisbike. Podcast Stuff Patreon I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per

It’s new venue time and we’re in Loudenvielle, France. We’ll be talking about this brand new track which sounds like it should provide a real challenge for the riders. Hear Chris’ thoughts on the venue, the track, who’s going to be pushing hard for the win and much more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this Loudenvielle World Cup pre-race show with Chris Kilmurray. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of World Cup and EWS racing. No matter where or how you ride, Maxxis has the tyres for you with a wide range of tread patterns, casing and compound options. You can check out the entire range of Maxxis tyres over at Maxxis.com, and find the tyres at your local Maxxis dealer. You can also give them a follow on instagram where they are @maxxisbike. Podcast Stuff Patreon I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s le

As Bike Park Wales turns 10 years old, I got the chance to sit down with two of the founders, Martin Astley and Rowan Sorrell. We chat about where the idea came from and what it took to bring it to reality on a hillside in South Wales. Hear about the highs and lows of running the UK’s biggest bike park, as well as finding out what they have planned for the next 10 years. These guys show what is possible when you believe in your idea and never give up, so, it’s time to sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Bike Park Wales founders, Martin and Rowan. You can check out all that Bike Park Wales has to offer at bikeparkwales.com and follow them on Instagram @bikepark_wales. Supporting Partners Bike Park Wales Head to the UK's biggest bike park where you'll have 46 trails to checkout, as well as great food and a place to relax after your ride and share stories with your friends and family. You can find out all you need to know at bikeparkwales.com. Trek Bicycles Trek Bicycles have sup

Vallnord World Cup took place this weekend in crazy conditions. Join me, Neko and Olly to find out who excelled, who struggled, how much the weather impacted the results and much more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this Vallnord World Cup post-race show with Neko Mulally and Olly Morris. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of World Cup and EWS racing. No matter where or how you ride, Maxxis has the tyres for you with a wide range of tread patterns, casing and compound options. You can check out the entire range of Maxxis tyres over at Maxxis.com, and find the tyres at your local Maxxis dealer. You can also give them a follow on instagram where they are @maxxisbike. Podcast Stuff Patreon I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per episode and less than the price of a take away coffee. Every l

Vallnord World Cup is here and I’m sitting down with Chris Kilmurray to find out about the changes to the track, the impact that rain can have in this location, dealing with the heat, who has a score to settle and much more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this Vallnord World Cup pre-race show with Chris Kilmurray. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of World Cup and EWS racing. No matter where or how you ride, Maxxis has the tyres for you with a wide range of tread patterns, casing and compound options. You can check out the entire range of Maxxis tyres over at Maxxis.com, and find the tyres at your local Maxxis dealer. You can also give them a follow on instagram where they are @maxxisbike. Podcast Stuff Patreon I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per episode and less than the price of a

Dan Roberts is the man behind those deliciously technical downhill bike reviews on Pinkbike, as well as being responsible for the RAAW Yalla and helping Neko Mulally with his Frameworks project. We sat down at Fort William World Champs to find out more about him. Dan shares how he created a career for himself in mountain bike design and offers some thoughts on bike design itself. As you’ll find out, it’s not been a straight forward path, but Dan hasn’t lost sight of how awesome his work is. There’s lots to learn from Dan’s story, so, it's time to sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Dan Roberts. You can find out more about Dan's work at garagebikeproject.com. If you'd like a copy of his awesome article in Downtime EP3 then you can get a copy here. You can check out the RAAW Yalla here. Supporting Partners We Are One Composites We Are One are generously offering Downtime listeners 15% off wheelsets, rims and their Da Package bar and stem. That's on top of their recently reduced

Ali Jamieson is the man behind the Trans-Savoie and Enduro2, however, despite living what, for many of us would look like the dream, life hasn’t all been plain sailing for Ali. As he prepares to launch an awesome new event, the New Zealand MTB Rally, Ali joins me to chat about his journey from full-time engineer to full time mountain bike guide and event organiser. Along the way, Ali has been diagnosed as bi-polar, taken on the French Government over their guiding laws, been bankrupt, and much more. This was a frank and open conversation that covers the highs and lows that life can bring. Please be aware that this episode does briefly discuss suicidal feelings. So, it's time to sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Ali Jamieson. If you want to find out more about the NZ MTB Rally, head to nzmtbrally.com or @nzmtbrally on Instagram. To check out Enduro2, head to enduro2.org or head to @enduro2.fr on Instagram. Supporting Partners We Are One Composites We Are One are generously offer

We’ve heard from sports psychologists and professional coaches before on the podcast and there is a lot to learn from them. Ciaran King however, has taken a slightly different approach to optimising performance, by following a more business style approach with his high performance coaching. In this episode we talk about the work that Ciaran has done with me, to help me improve my own riding and life in general. Ciaran shares lots of actionable tips to help everyone be more confident, happy, focussed and productive and ultimately to ride better as a result. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Ciaran King. If you want to find out more you can head to Ciaran's website here or follow him on Instagram @peakin_high_performance. Supporting Partners We Are One Composites We Are One are generously offering Downtime listeners 15% off wheelsets, rims and their Da Package bar and stem. So wether you want their new Convergence wheels, their still very awesome Revolution wheels, or their Da Pa

World Champs in Fort William delivered us some incredible racing. A lovingly updated track increased the pace and the riders rose to the challenge with some amazing performances. So sit back, hit play and listen to this Fort William World Champs post-race show with Neko Mulally and Olly Morris. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of World Cup and EWS racing. No matter where or how you ride, Maxxis has the tyres for you with a wide range of tread patterns, casing and compound options. You can check out the entire range of Maxxis tyres over at Maxxis.com, and find the tyres at your local Maxxis dealer. You can also give them a follow on instagram where they are @maxxisbike. Podcast Stuff Patreon I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per episode and less than the price of a take away coffee. Every

Thanks to Santa Cruz Bicycles, I took part in this year's Stone King Rally. If you’ve been listening to our Downtime Goes Downhill series then you’ll know that Stone King didn’t quite go to plan and in this episode you can hear all about it. I’m joined by enduro racer Katy Winton, to quiz me on what went on. This is the deepest that I’ve ever dug physically and an insane rollercoaster of a week on a bike in incredible places with amazing people. I've also got some short interviews at the end of this episode with some of those amazing people that I met during the week. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Katy Winton asking me the questions. If you're interested in finding out more about Stone King Rally, then you can head to their website here. Supporting Partners We Are One Composites We Are One are generously offering Downtime listeners 15% off wheelsets, rims and their Da Package bar and stem. So wether you want their new Convergence wheels, their still very awesome Revolution

World Champs is here and I’m sitting down with Chris Kilmurray to find out about the changes to the Fort William track, the new World Champs schedule, the differences in rider support at this event and much more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this Fort William World Champs pre-race show with Chris Kilmurray. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of World Cup and EWS racing. No matter where or how you ride, Maxxis has the tyres for you with a wide range of tread patterns, casing and compound options. You can check out the entire range of Maxxis tyres over at Maxxis.com, and find the tyres at your local Maxxis dealer. You can also give them a follow on instagram where they are @maxxisbike. Podcast Stuff Patreon I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per episode and less than the price of a take

Welcome to Downtime Goes Downhill, a podcast mini-series that’s going to take you with us as we have a go at racing downhill at both a regional and national level. Chris, Jonathan and Ben are three different riders, with different abilities, strengths, weaknesses, goals and fears. We’ll share our preparation, training and setup, along with our different approaches to getting faster and our progress. You’ll hear all about our experiences at the races, good and bad. We’ll also be bringing in some of the best in the world to help us improve throughout the year, so hopefully there will be heaps to learn too. Downtime Goes Downhill wouldn’t be happening without the support of some incredible brands. So a massive thanks to Canyon bikes, Fox suspension, Wahoo Fitness, Fox clothing and protection, Maxxis tyres, Magura brakes and We Are One Composites wheels. This is episode five where flat pedals won National Champ medals. The weather didn’t play ball and this was our first mud race, and man was it muddy. He

I’m joined by Canyon's mountain bike engineering team manager, Moritz Ströer, to chat all things gravity eBikes. Hear Moritz’s thoughts on why eBikes weren’t initially great for gravity based riding. We talk about how eBikes have evolved and what has enabled them to become such a great tool for getting your gravity fix. Find out how and why the kinematics differ from regular bikes and why the kinematic on an eBike can actually be better. We chat about the future of eBike racing, Moritz shares some advice on choosing battery size and much more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Moritz Ströer. If you'd prefer to watch the episode, you can do that on YouTube here. Supporting Partners Canyon To check out all of Canyon's eBike range, head over to canyon.com. invisiFRAME If you want to keep your bike looking brand new and also make sure you get the best resale value possible when the time comes, then get your bike invisiFRAME protected now. As a Downtime listener, you can get 2

Today I’m joined by Kaos Seagrave. Kaos recently made the decision to move away from racing to focus on his freeride career and it seems to have been the best move he could have made. We chat about growing up in racing and the pressure he felt as the elite male on the team. Hear how he found his way into the freeride world and how that has ultimately become his focus. We chat about Red Bull Hardline, what it would be like it if became a series, winning whip offs, Rampage and plenty more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Kaos Seagrave. You can follow Kaos on Instagram @kaosseagrave. If you'd prefer to watch the episode, you can do that on YouTube here. Supporting Partners invisiFRAME If you want to keep your bike looking brand new and also make sure you get the best resale value possible when the time comes, then get your bike invisiFRAME protected now. As a Downtime listener, you can get 20% off worldwide using the code 'DOWNTIME20' for the month of July over at invisiframe.co

Welcome to Downtime Goes Downhill, a podcast mini-series that’s going to take you with us as we have a go at racing downhill at both a regional and national level. Chris, Jonathan and Ben are three different riders, with different abilities, strengths, weaknesses, goals and fears. We’ll share our preparation, training and setup, along with our different approaches to getting faster and our progress. You’ll hear all about our experiences at the races, good and bad. We’ll also be bringing in some of the best in the world to help us improve throughout the year, so hopefully there will be heaps to learn too. Downtime Goes Downhill wouldn’t be happening without the support of some incredible brands. So a massive thanks to Canyon bikes, Fox suspension, Wahoo Fitness, Fox clothing and protection, Maxxis tyres, Magura brakes and We Are One Composites wheels. This is episode four and after a bit of a break, we’re sitting down ahead of the UK National Champs to find out what each of us have been up to. Hear ab

EBike technology is progressing rapidly and TQ Drives are at the forefront. Today I’m joined by TQ's Product Manager, Daniel Theil and their Product Marketing Manager, Anna Vodickova. TQ are a new name for most of us, but I believe that they represent the future of eBike technology. Just a year ago they launched their system in the Trek Fuel EXe and it has received incredible praise from the media and riders worldwide. We sat down at their HQ to find out about the development of this lightweight, super intuitive eBike drive system. Find out how TQ have focussed on the rider to ensure that the technology works hand in hand with how we ride bikes. Hear how they’ve achieved all this in such a small and light package. It’s awesome to see what this brand have achieved in such a short time and I think it’s going to be exciting to see where they take this approach to eBike drivetrains. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Anna and Daniel from TQ Drives. To find out more about TQ Drives, head to t

James McKnight and Ben Winder are Misspent Summers. The founders of a small media company that aims to bring us exciting content from the wonderful world of mountain biking. We sat down in Leogang to chat about how the company has grown and what they are doing to provide amazing content from the Mountain Bike World Cup. Hear about their current and future plans, find out why Downtime EP exists, get our thoughts on World Cup racing in 2023 and much more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with James and Ben from Misspent Summers. To suscribe to Downtime EP, head here. To signup to the Misspent Summers newsletter, head here. Follow on Instagram @misspentsummers. Watch the episode on YouTube here. Supporting Partners invisiFRAME If you want to keep your bike looking brand new and also make sure you get the best resale value possible when the time comes, then get your bike invisiFRAME protected now. As a Downtime listener, you can get 20% off worldwide using the code 'DOWNTIME20' for the