Jack Pittens is the co-founder 9point8, an Ontario-based bicycle component brand known for its dropper posts and other innovative products.

• How did 9point8 get its start? What is your background?
• For dropper posts, is there an advantage to using a sealed cartridge vs. one that's tunable, or another design?
• How do you make a dropper post lightweight? Do today's buyers even care about the weight of a dropper post?
• Why do you assemble 9point8 dropper posts in house vs. outsourcing production to Asia?
• How often should riders service their dropper posts? What does service involve?
• Do you think adding electronics to dropper posts is a good idea? What are the pros and cons?
• Why do two similar dropper post diameters — 30.9mm and 31.6mm exist? And why are 27.2mm diameter dropper posts so hard to find?
• Why are seatpost head designs so complicated?
• How did the 9point8 INVRS pedal design come about?
• What else is 9point8 working on?

Get more info at 9point8.ca. An automated transcript is provided at Singletracks.com.

This episode is sponsored by Trailbot. Trailbot is the smarter way for trail managers to communicate updates without relying on social media. Don’t let The Algorithm bury your posts—easily share conditions and closures to your web site, social media and the app all at once. Best of all, it’s free.

Trailbot is used by over 260 trail systems in 17 states and growing fast. Over 50,000 riders have installed the free iOS and Android apps to get official updates with optional push notifications, without having to see what their weird relative posted on social media.

Learn more at trailbot.com.

Lee McCormack is a mountain bike skills instructor and coach, and he's the author of nearly a dozen books, including the NICA Skills Training Manual. He's written extensively on bike fitting and fitness training, and just last year he launched his own bike brand, Mistress Cycles.

• How have mountain biking techniques changed over the years?
• What's the difference between a good mountain bike racer, and a good mountain bike coach?
• Is pedal cadence important for mountain biking? How do you know if your cadence is too fast or too slow? How can you improve your cadence?
• Why are you such a fan of pump tracks. Why?
• How do Moto Cranx work on a pump track?
• Do you think mountain bikers tend to be overconfident, or underconfident in their skills?
• Do you think it's possible to be faster in your 40s or 50s than in your 20s by maintaining fitness and progressing your skills?
• How did Mistress Cycles come about? What is it about "modern" mountain bike geometry that you find frustrating?
• You've come out with some innovative products over the years, like the RipRow trainer and Moto Cranx. In addition to the bikes from Mistress Cycles, do you have any other projects in the works?

You can keep up with the latest from Lee McCormack on Instagram @leelikesbikes, where you'll find links to all of the projects we talked about today.

An automated transcript of our edited conversation is provided at singletracks.com. Click here for an unedited video of our conversation, where Lee illustrates many of the concepts discussed. Note: may contain brief language some readers find offensive.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Backslope Tools.

Backslope Tools designs and produces innovative lockable, stackable, and field-repairable tools for trail building, landscaping, and gardening. With 20 years of trailbuilding experience, Backslope is putting the right tools for the job into builders' hands, from individuals to full-on trail crews. Order online at backslopetools.com and save 15% on your order with code SingletracksPod.

In this episode of the Singletracks podcast we're going to be discussing some of the latest news and trends from the world of mountain bike trail development.

We discuss:

• A recent meta-analysis of mountain bike tourism by IMBA and the Trust for Public Land
• The use of private land for trail development
• Threats to existing trail systems
• What's happening in Arkansas
• What to expect in 2025 and beyond

Visit Singletracks.com for a complete transcript,

--Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks