Mountain Cog

Josh Anderson & Dane Higgins
  • 5.0 (41)
  • Sports
  • Updated Weekly

Mountain bike podcast that will make you laugh and learn. Featuring a wide range of passionate guests. Available everywhere (Apple, Spotify etc).

  1. 5d ago

    135 - Can You Buy Speed On A Mountain Bike? The $10K Bike Debate

    Send us Fan Mail Can you buy speed? It's the question every mountain biker asks themselves while staring at a $10k build in the shop window, and it's the one Josh and Dane finally sit down to debate. They break the argument into pieces — weight, suspension, drivetrain efficiency, tires, frame stiffness, brakes — and figure out which of those upgrades are real and which ones are just good marketing. Turns out, the honest answer is somewhere in the middle, and it depends a lot less on the price tag than you'd think. Dane brings shop-floor stories about what actually gets people faster (hint: it's usually not what they think), and Josh lays out the numbers on price-per-pound and where the smart money stops making sense. They also cover depreciation, the emotional cost of crashing an expensive bike, and why your tires deserve way more attention than they're probably getting. And because it's MTNCOG, there's a detour into Josh's worst ride of the year that has nothing to do with bike specs and everything to do with bad timing. Listen to Mountain Cog Apple Podcasts Spotify Other Podcast Sites Socials Instagram Facebook Email mountaincog@gmail.com

  2. Aug 25

    134 - Bike Shop Secrets: 9 Problems, 9 Fixes: From Fork Feel To Hot Waxed Chains

    Send us Fan Mail Dane and Josh dig into nine grease-under-the-fingernails topics this week, kicking things off with a question that's been bugging Josh for weeks: why can two identical forks feel completely different? Turns out it's a mix of manufacturing tolerances, bushing wear, and oil that's gone stale — and the guys walk through how altitude changes your air spring feel too (plus the weird lawsuit history behind why some forks have bleeder buttons and others don't). From there it's straight into hub end caps falling off, why your spokes might be pinging after a truing, and the right way to torque your pedals without stripping a crank. The back half gets into chain wax gone wrong — including a lube-mixing mistake that turned Josh's chain into a gunky mess — plus a real debate over which shop tools are actually worth the money versus the ones collecting dust on the wall. They close out with a cautionary tale about e-bike internal cable routing that'll make you think twice before DIY-ing a dropper post install. If you wrench on your own bike even occasionally, this is one to bookmark. Listen to Mountain Cog Apple Podcasts Spotify Other Podcast Sites Socials Instagram Facebook Email mountaincog@gmail.com

  3. Aug 11

    133 - Made in the USA: Which MTB Brands Actually Manufacture Domestically?

    Send us Fan Mail Josh and Dane spend this episode digging through the mountain bike industry to find out which brands are actually building their stuff in the USA — and the answer isn't always what you'd expect. From titanium frame builders like Moots, Lightspeed, Sage, Chumba, Sklar, and Bingham to newer players like Stinner and Neuhaus, they break down who's hand-welding frames stateside and who's just slapping an American flag on the marketing. They also dig into legacy brands like Foes, Ventana, and Intense, arguing over which ones still deserve the "Made in USA" label. From there, the guys move through suspension (Push, MRP, Risse), wheels and hubs (Enve, Industry Nine, Chris King, White Industries, Onyx), and drivetrain and cockpit components (Thompson, Wolf Tooth, RevGrips, Paul, 5Dev) to map out a full picture of what's really built in America versus overseas. Along the way they talk tariffs, why domestic manufacturing doesn't automatically mean better quality, and a few surprises — including some companies you'd swear were American that aren't. If you care about where your bike parts actually come from, this one's for you. Here are the websites to all of the brands discussed in this episode. Bikes/Frames https://moots.com/ https://litespeed.com/ https://sagetitanium.com/ https://chumbausa.com/ https://sklarbikes.com/ https://binghambuiltbikes.com/ https://www.stinnerframeworks.com/ https://neuhausmetalworks.com/ https://www.foesracing.com/ https://ventanausa.com/ https://intensecycles.com/ https://reebcycles.com/ Suspension https://www.pushindustries.com/ https://mrpbike.com/ https://www.risseracing.com/ Wheels/Hubs/Rims https://enve.com/ https://industrynine.com/ https://chrisking.com/ https://www.whiteind.com/ https://onyxrp.com/ Components https://bikethomson.com/ https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/ https://www.paulcomp.com/ https://ride5dev.com/ https://revgrips.com/ Also… in this episode we refer to this past MCP episode with local frame builder / frame building school run by Bohemian Bicycles... https://www.buzzsprout.com/2052531/episodes/12986027-043-design-fabricate-your-own-frame-dave-bohm-bohemian-bikes-framebuildingschool-com https://www.bohemianbicycles.com/ Listen to Mountain Cog Apple Podcasts Spotify Other Podcast Sites Socials Instagram Facebook Email mountaincog@gmail.com

  4. Jul 28

    132 - Whistler on a Budget: Flights, Shuttles, Lift Tickets, Food, and more...

    Send us Fan Mail "Mythical" is the word Josh uses for Whistler before Dane even opens his mouth — and by the end of this episode, you'll understand why every mountain biker treats this place like a pilgrimage.   Dane, fresh off his latest Whistler trip, breaks down exactly what it takes to get there and what it costs once you do. Direct flights, the shuttle from Vancouver, lift tickets, lodging, food — the guys go category by category so you know what to actually budget for your own trip. But the real value here is everything past the spreadsheet: how Whistler's 100 trails split between flow and technical terrain, why the double blacks are a different animal than what most U.S. riders are used to.  Add in trail ratings, lift line strategy, and the amenities/adventures available for non-riding family members, and this is the closest thing to a full Whistler Bike Park guide you'll find anywhere. Listen to Mountain Cog Apple Podcasts Spotify Other Podcast Sites Socials Instagram Facebook Email mountaincog@gmail.com

  5. Jul 14

    131 - Will Motor Gear Boxes (MGUs) Change eMTBs Forever?

    Send us Fan Mail There's a ton of talk right now about motor gear units (MGUs) coming out of Eurobike, but we haven't found content with enough depth to satisfy our questions. So in this episode, Dane and Josh go deep on MGUs, comparing five major players — Gobao, Avinox, Pinion, Owuru, and IntraDrive — and explaining how the different types of MGUs (stepped gearbox, CVT, and eCVT) actually work. The guys cover both sides of the MGU topic in detail, and argue over a few points along the way. On the positive side, they may: be way easier to maintain, facilitate better battery range, offer wider gear ranges than cassettes, allow shifting anytime, and move weight toward the center of the bike (lowering the center of gravity and moving mass from unsprung to sprung - which could mean better suspension performance). On the negative side, they may have: extra pedal drag, a wider Q factor (think pedal strikes), and real uncertainty about repair/replacement when the whole drivetrain is one sealed unit.  If you want the real detailed MGU breakdown behind the Eurobike headlines, not just another "derailleur is dead" hot take, this episode delivers it. Listen to Mountain Cog Apple Podcasts Spotify Other Podcast Sites Socials Instagram Facebook Email mountaincog@gmail.com

  6. Jun 30

    130 - 15 Bike Maintenance Skills All Riders Should Know

    Send us Fan Mail Fifteen skills. One episode. Zero excuses for getting stuck with a long walk out when your bike breaks down. Dane and Josh take on the basic mountain bike maintenance every rider should know... the stuff that turns "I have no idea what's wrong" into a "quick fix in your own garage". From dialing in tire pressure to spotting the bent derailleur hanger that causes half the shifting problems they see in Dane's shop, this one's built for anyone tired of feeling helpless when their bike starts acting up. You don't need to be a pro mechanic, you just need to know the basics, and the guys make a strong case that a little maintenance knowledge saves you money, time, and a long walk home. Real-world advice from two guys who've been riding and wrenching in the Tucson desert for decades. Listen to Mountain Cog Apple Podcasts Spotify Other Podcast Sites Socials Instagram Facebook Email mountaincog@gmail.com

  7. Jun 16

    129 - Shop Talk: Budget Forks, Riser Bars, SRAMs $2k DH Group, & more.

    Send us Fan Mail Two old friends, one hot morning ride, and a whole lot of opinions. On this Shop Talk episode, Dane and Josh get into SRAM's eyebrow-raising $2,000 XX DH Transmission and whether a downhill bike even needs that kind of drivetrain. Dane brings the downhiller's perspective — years on the XO DH group, ditching chain guides, and why those Whistler kids running chainless might be onto something. Josh brings the questions the rest of us are thinking. The conversation rolls into the price chaos hitting the industry, from Specialized markdowns to Ozark Trail bikes earning a spot in Pink Bike's value test, plus an honest look at how some brands cut prices on the backs of local shops. Then the guys settle into rider-friendly territory: why Josh put 50mm riser bars on every bike he owns, what a decade of stack height data actually shows, and a no-nonsense budget fork rundown covering the RockShox Domain, Psylo, and Marzocchi. Plenty of laughs, a dad joke or two, and the kind of gear talk that only comes from decades of wrenching. Listen to Mountain Cog Apple Podcasts Spotify Other Podcast Sites Socials Instagram Facebook Email mountaincog@gmail.com

  8. Jun 2

    128 - Are Chinese Brands Disrupting the Mountain Bike Industry?

    Send us Fan Mail If you've been paying attention to the mountain bike market lately, you've probably noticed some unfamiliar brand names popping up — and some surprisingly low price tags attached to them. Episode 128 is Josh and Dane's deep dive into the growing wave of Chinese brands entering the US market not as behind-the-scenes manufacturers, but as direct competitors to the brands you already know and ride. From complete enduro bikes priced well below comparable US brands to electronic drivetrains at half the cost of Shimano and SRAM, something is clearly shifting in the industry. What makes this episode worth your time is that Josh and Dane don't just point at the price tags — they explain the machinery behind them. Vertical integration, fee-on-fee cost removal, reverse engineering, government subsidies, and the post-COVID/tariff driven factory crisis in China all played a role in getting us here. They also call out the stuff you should actually be worried about — inconsistent quality control, after-sale support that's still figuring itself out, and software ecosystems that need work. Brands like Amflow/Avinox, XDS/X-LAB, Elite Wheels, Seekrun, L-TWOO, and others get specific attention, and Josh makes a bold prediction about DJI and the future of the AMFLOW brand that's worth hearing. Listen to Mountain Cog Apple Podcasts Spotify Other Podcast Sites Socials Instagram Facebook Email mountaincog@gmail.com

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5
out of 5
41 Ratings

About

Mountain bike podcast that will make you laugh and learn. Featuring a wide range of passionate guests. Available everywhere (Apple, Spotify etc).

Information

  • Creator
    Josh Anderson & Dane Higgins
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    135
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Mountain Cog
  • Show Website
    Mountain Cog

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