I's been a busy few months since the last podcast—Jason went to New Zealand and Italy, Tanner has been to nearly all 50 states working different shoots and projects, and Dakotah has bounced between Europe and Tennessee as he feverishly tests every setup under the sun.

We covered a lot of this show, including Dak's crash at the Tennessee National, getting outside of the box with setup, Reece Wilson's crazy stem/bar combo, gym training vs. on-bike training, and goals at the first World Cup. But mostly, we caught up on life because we don't see each other enough these days, and the podcast is the perfect excuse to banter and hang out. We hope you enjoy!

Today we talk with Matt Thompson and Steve Wentz who just returned from Masters World Champs downhill in Chile. Matt took the rainbow stripes in the 50-55 Master C2 class and Steve landed a Top 10 in a stacked field of “younger” talent, most importantly beating Ben Deakin in the process.

We dive into what Masters World Champs is, learn about their experiences with the event over the years and dig into the full story of this years’ race. As a bonus, they both came home in one piece.

RockShox Zeb fork is all-new for model year 2027. They’ve taken what they learned developing the latest Boxxer, and have applied many of the same technologies and tuning ideologies to their single-crown, gravity fork.

Vital editor, Jason Schroeder, has spent the past few months testing the fork and runs you through everything that’s new, and how it’s performed so far.

More info - https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/2027-rockshox-zeb-fork-tech-info-impressions-discussion

0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Chassis Updates
0:46 - New fenders
1:05 - New pressure relief valves
1:16 - Linear XL air spring details
1:42 - AirAnnex chamber
2:01 - new Adjustable Bottom Out (ABO) feature
2:51 - New stanchions detail
3:08 - ButterWagon Tech - divots in the stanchion
3:31 - Charger 3.2 damper updates
3:38 - Oil, seals, grease updates
4:20 - Zeb Product Line
5:06 - Setting up the new Zeb
5:25 - Damper settings
6:10 - Air pressure settings
6:56 - Linear XL air spring positives
7:49 - Linear XL air spring negatives
8:34 - ABO impressions
10:05 - Zeb's versatility
10:46 - Bottom Line on the new Zeb

Elite race day at the first event of the 2026 @prodownhillseries was a heater at Ride Rock Creek bike park in North Carolina as downhill mountain bikers put it all on the line for victory. Listen to the post-race interviews with Luca Cometti.

Interviews
0:00 - Lucas Dedora
1:11 - Final Elite Men Finishes
2:07 - Luca Shaw, Elite Men's Winner
3:07 - Ryder Lawrence
3:43 - Aletha Ostgaard, Elite Women's Winner
5:37 - Eliot Jackson
7:05 - Kai Burleson
8:20 - Dante Silva
12:04 - Podium Shots
12:17 - Tilly Melton
13:11 - Ryan Pinkerton
14:06 - Mallen Bro
15:15 - Kailey Skelton
17:05 - Alden Pate
17:57 - Andrew Driscoll

#USDH

Luca Cometti heads to round 1 of the 2026 Pro Downhill Series at Ride Rock Creek, North Carolina. Track walk took place today, and Luca grabbed the pros to find out how they'll approach the weekend following the Tennessee National.

Interviews
0:00 - Intro
0:27 - Dillon Lemarr
2:14 - Gracey Hemstreet
3:06 - Bode Kuhn
4:10 - SR Suntour Holeshot
4:27 - Tayte Proulx Royds
5:24 - Ryan Pinkerton
6:11 - Austin Dooley
6:45 - Abby Ronca
8:35 - Drake Parker
9:14 - Asa Vermette
9:53 - Kai Burleson
11:22 - Tyson Henrie
13:42 - Kasper Woolley
15:03 - Tyler Ervin
16:02 - Cole Suetos
17:14 - Aiden Chapin
18:57 - Nik Nestoroff

Watch the interviews

What a crazy day of #USDH action at the 2026 Tennessee National at Windrock Bike Park. Austin Dooley took the Pro Men's win by just .004 seconds over Cole Suetos. If they crossed the line at 20mph, that's just 1.4 inches! Aletha Ostgaard stomped on the women with a win by over 6 seconds. Gwin slid out, Ronan Dunne and Luca Shaw flatted, Dak was coughing up blood after a seeding crash. It was hectic! Luca Cometti gets the scoop from all the pros to see how their race days went.

0:00 - Austin Dooley
1:14 - Aaron Gwin
2:23 - Ronan Dunne
3:57 - Dakotah Norton
5:52 - Cole Suetos
7:29 - Eliot Jackson
8:57 - Aletha Ostgaard
10:42 - Taylor Ostgaard
11:52 - Rob Warner
13:59 - Lucas Dedora
14:59 - Mack Manietta
15:56 - Kailey Skelton
17:12 - Dylan Maples
18:35 - Podium shots
19:42 - Raina Logar
21:17 - Mikey Delesalle
22:37 - Dante Silva
25:03 - Ryan Pinkerton
26:44 - Luca Shaw

You can watch these interviews on YouTube

The first major U.S. downhill mountain bike race of 2026 is underway at Windrock Bike Park. #USDH shredder, Luca Cometti, grills the pros during track walk to see what they're up to and how their feeling for this weekend's race. Riders like Ronan Dunne, Dakotah Norton, Aaron Gwin, Dante Silva, Kailey Skelton, Frida Ronning and more DH pros speak up.

0:22 - Frida Ronning
1:02 - Dakotah Norton
2:43 - Aaron Gwin
4:57 - Gavin Tomlinson
5:59 - Bode Burke
7:04 - Kai Burleson
8:27 - Alden Pate
9:54 - Jordan Bouldin
11:03 - Ryder Lawrence
12:00 - Mack from Pemby
13:06 - Tyler Ervin
14:07 - Maylei Leaneagh
15:01 - Cole Suetos
15:37 - Jack Zenoni
16:49 - Dante Silva
18:46 - Nik Nestoroff
21:07 - Kailey Skelton
22:38 - Tegan Cruz
23:18 - Fiona
24:03 - Ronan Dunne
25:05 - Ryan Pinkerton
26:02 - Outro

You chimed in and the name of our podcast, Bikes: Unaffiliated will remain. In this episode, Jason Schroeder, Shawn Spomer and Lars Sternberg tackle an assortment of random bike and non-bike subjects like why was our tech forum picking on Dario from Pinkbike, why didn't Spomer answer Lopes' phone call, should we test a 32-inch-wheeled hardtail, what is Epicly Later'd, the DHR II sucks as a front tire, why don't Lars or Jason like radials and plenty more.