Jeff Goes for 24 hours, Our Favorite Products of 2024, Best Chain Lubes & More... Ep. 148 [Podcast]

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 148 of the MTB Podcast presented and hosted by Worldwide Cyclery...

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 148 of the MTB Podcast presented and hosted by Worldwide Cyclery. I'm Jared.
I'm Jeff.
And I'm Liam.

In this episode, we discuss my 24 hours at the Old Fort Endurance Festival, some of our favorite things this year, and some super listener questions ranging from the best Bond villain to the best way to take care of your chain—and everything in between.
"Whoa, nice work on that."
"Thanks, Jared."

"Super, super, super listener questions—some super listening questions."
"Yeah, they better be super, super good."
"They're just super listening."
"Super—you can fill in the rest."

Zach is on holiday vacation, and we've replaced his words of wisdom with Cody's parenting advice. None of us are parents, so Cody's offering us some parenting advice since probably a lot of you listening are.
"What is it, Jared?"
Cody says, "Don't start Elf on the Shelf, whatever you do."

There was a big debate, but we can't explain it further because we don't want to ruin anything for anyone. And that's that. Just don't.

Onto Daniel's fun fact: Christmas trees usually grow for nearly 15 years before they can be sold.
"Fun fact about the fun fact—I worked at a Christmas tree lot one year."
"Nice!"
"Yeah, really?"
"Yeah."
"That's cool. What job hasn't Jared had?"
"That's a good question."

"You're a real estate agent, a carter… Well, you know, people are always looking for a certain type of tree. You got your Douglas Firs, and I forgot what the other ones are called."
"Depends on how much they want to spend, right?"
"Yeah, and for me, as a guy working on the lot, I knew all the trees. If you want a big one, a certain size, a certain type, I got you."
"Sounds like a big tree lot."
"Well, it was average."
"As a Christmas tree lot owner, wouldn’t it just be easier to go, 'Here are all the Douglas Firs, 3-foot to 8-foot,' and put them in order?"
"Oh yeah, we did that, and then on the other side, same thing. Direct people to the right ones."
"Put up some signs, cut half your employees. Are you Elon Musk? Part of the Department of Government Efficiency?"
"That was incredible."
"I think there were only two guys working the lot anyway. Typically, you help people, do a fresh cut on the bottom, give it that fresh cut smell all day."
"Oh yeah."
"Maybe a little trimming if people want, then tie it on top of their car for them."
"You want to know a fun fact? I've never had a real Christmas tree in my life."
"Growing up or no?"
"Never."
"Wow."

"It's a pretty conflicting thing. There’s not a single Christmas decoration in my apartment."
"Well, you could just have the tree without it."
"To show you don’t have a lady living with you?"
"Yeah. Taylor brought one for us. My roommate, who is a female, doesn’t care at all. She’s only there half the time anyway."
"Right."
"It’s kind of polarizing… Well, not polarizing, but I’m torn about the whole Christmas tree thing. It’s fun, it smells good, and it’s a nice experience. But at the same time, the industry is... I have mixed feelings. Cutting down a bunch of trees, trucking them down here, people put them in their house for a couple of weeks, and then throw them away. It’s kind of ridiculous."
"You know what I like? Those scented pinecones."
"Those just fall on the ground anyway, no harm, no foul."
"Yeah, and they smell great."
"Home Depot."
"Wait, what are you doing at Home Depot?"
"Bought them at Walgreens."
"Even weirder."
"What were you doing there?"
"I don’t even remember what I was getting, but I saw the pinecones and thought, 'I like those,' and now my place smells great."
"That’s awesome."

"One last fun fact about the Christmas trees: the ones that didn’t get sold were donated to a big cat sanctuary. Like cougars and lynxes. They love to play with big Christmas trees—clawing and biting them."
"I like taking them to the desert and lighting them on fire."
"That’s a cool thing too."
"Yeah, but big cats love playing with them. This is some serious mountain bike knowledge on this podcast so far."
"Yeah, we’re like five minutes in and haven’t even mentioned mountain bikes yet."
"It’s festive, you know? Holiday season, baby!"

"All right, fantastic. Give them the fantastic testimonial."
"Thank you all, and especially Jeff, for the adventure race updates and stories. I got into mountain biking through adventure racing. I raced AR competitively for over a decade, and it makes me very happy to know people are still out there destroying themselves and hallucinating for days at a time."
"That is definitely true in that sport."
"I had to give it up when I had kids. The time commitments aren’t really compatible with having a family, but I miss it and love hearing about it. Now that mountain biking is my main sport, I love that I can hear about both along with great info and tips in one podcast. Thanks again!"
"And can we get an update on Bean the cat, please? My cats, Toothless and Fudgy Potato, are asking."
"I’m just going to say—why do cats have the most out-there names? Toothless and Fudgy Potato?"
"And I want to know the nicknames for each of those cats. I guarantee there are at least four that have evolved."
"They’re so far down the road."
"That’s how every pet works. Dude, people and their pets."
"You’re just not a pet guy."
"I love dogs. I think dogs are better than humans."
"Yeah, but if you had dogs, you’d get it."
"Fun and games. I just can’t have one right now with my lifestyle."

"Well, Bean is doing great."
"They asked for an update on Bean?"
"Bean’s doing fantastic. Speaking of the Christmas tree—she loves the tree."
"I was going to ask about that. Does Bean jump all over the tree and tear down ornaments?"
"Thankfully, no. But one year, she climbed the tree almost to the top and then jumped out."
"Whoa."
"Nowadays, she just likes to hang out by it, smell the pine needles, and drink the Christmas tree water at the bottom."
"Interesting."
"Not healthy, but she loves standing water. We put out a glass for her on the table, and she drinks out of it."

"I just thought of the funniest little Instagram short—someone at a Christmas tree lot walks up to you in a Santa hat and says, 'I want to buy a Christmas tree,' and you’re like, 'What kind of leaves do you want on it, man?'"
"Oh my God. I make one mistake, and I’ll never hear the end of it."

"You know where you didn’t make a mistake? The Fox 36 video you just produced and released."
"Well, I did make a couple of mistakes."
"I was very impressed. I thought you were well-spoken, and it was one of the most in-depth videos on a fork damper we’ve ever made."
"Thank you."
"I’d have to go back in the archives to see if we’ve done anything more in-depth."
"It was about 13 minutes long, all about the Fox 36 GripX damper."
"Yep, and we didn’t really do a full video when that fork came out a few years ago."
"Maybe just an overview?"
"Yeah, but this was a proper review, and the fork is relatively unique."
"Yeah, it is. I love it. It’s really good."
"It works so well, it’s hard to describe."
"You covered a lot of details people want to know about, especially when they’re spending over $1,000 on a fork."
"Thanks! I tried to offer some value."
"I buy things online, and I love in-depth videos about products before I buy them. That’s why we do a lot of YouTube videos ourselves."
"Awesome. Liam, I’m sure you’ve already watched it and learned a bunch of new things about Fox that you didn’t know."
"I’m part of the QC process, so I watch it."
"With a detailed microscope comb?"
"You mean a fine-tooth comb?"
"Yes, that’s what I meant to say."
"That reminds me of Spaceballs. You seen that movie? When they’re combing the desert, and there’s a guy with a huge comb."
"Oh, I need to watch that again."

"Well, tell us about the race. I know you told us, but tell the collective podcast audience."
"We’ve mentioned it on the podcast before. Basically, there was a huge hurricane out east—Hurricane Helen. Old Fort, North Carolina, got damaged badly. Two race organizations, Tanawa Adventures (mostly trail running) and Pisgah Productions (mostly mountain biking), collaborated to organize a 24-hour fundraiser race. You could do 6, 12, or 24 hours of running or biking."
"I was the only person who emailed the race directors and asked, 'Can I do 12 of each?' Nobody else did that."

"On the course, I was so out of my league with the runners. Everyone was an ultra-runner—people who had done Leadville or 100-milers. This was the longest run I’ve ever done in my life."
"Like, collectively during an adventure race, right?"
"Yeah, but not one straight 45-mile run. This was the longest one-time run I’d ever done. The runners were like, 'You’re going to ride bikes today? That’s crazy!' Meanwhile, the mountain bikers were saying, 'You ran today? Running sucks!'"

"There were close to 100 participants on each side. Each participant had a donation page, and all the funds went to the Old Fort Strong Fund. A lot of people listening to this podcast donated to my page, so thank you. I was the third-highest fundraiser and raised just over $10,000."
"Nice work!"
"Craig, a good customer of ours, bought some Birdhawk 27 wheels to raffle off at the event and used $1,000 for shipping. Then he put $1,000 back into my donation page. Craig and his partner Nikas hosted us at their Airbnbs in Old Fort, which they call Hey Old Friend."
"Old Fort is near the Pisgah National Forest, and you can ride the Kitsuma Trail straight from their Airbnbs. It’s a well-known trail in Pisgah."

"So, my original goal was 40 miles on foot and 60 miles on the bike. Once I saw the course elevation, I knew it would be hard. I ended up running 45 miles and biking 55 miles for a total of 100 miles in 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 57 seconds."
"You crushed it!"
"The run felt good, but the bike was tough, especially the last two hours. The mud turned into peanut butter, and I had to claw mud out of my tires to make them spin."

"The whole event was inspiring. Everyone was in a great mood, and the aid station was incredible—bacon, coffee, chicken broth with noodles. It was so well done."
"Sounds like you had a great time."
"Yeah, it was hard, but I’d do it again if there was another good reason to."

“Jeff, you were talking about the running and biking split. What was your goal going into it?”
“My original goal was 40 miles on foot and 60 miles on the bike. I didn’t know the terrain or elevation when I set that, though. Once they released the GPX files, I realized it would be tough. I ended up doing 45 miles on the run and 55 on the bike for an even 100 miles in total.”

“How much elevation did you gain?”
“Just over 16,000 feet between the run and ride. The bike course had a lot of steep climbs. The first two laps were fun, but it got rough after midnight. The course turned into peanut butter mud as the ground thawed, and I had to claw the mud out of my tires because they wouldn’t spin. It was brutal.”

“Were there others still racing at that point?”
“Not many. Most people doing the 24-hour event slept during the night and did one lap in the morning. There were a couple of hardcore runners who stayed on pace, though. One guy and one woman hit 100 miles running—just wild. They kept moving at the same pace I was on my bike.”

“What was the hardest part mentally?”
“The loneliness at night. After 12 hours, it became a ghost town. I’d go out for laps and maybe see one other person every three laps. It felt demoralizing.”

“Was your bike set up well for the race?”
“Mostly, but I realized I should have had a wider gear range. I was running 11-speed, and on some of those steep climbs in the middle of the night, I wished for 12-speed. My legs were jelly. Next time, I’d use a smaller chainring or a cassette with more range.”

“Taylor came out for the last 12 miles, which was nice, but it didn’t help much physically because my pace actually picked up when she joined. I was trying to keep up!”

“That’s awesome. Did you hit your goal of 100 miles exactly?”
“Yes, but barely. I stopped my Garmin at 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 57 seconds. I was panicking in the last hour because the mud was so bad, and I thought I wouldn’t make it. It’s a totally arbitrary goal, but I told myself I had to hit it. I was running up hills, clawing mud out of my tires, and watching my watch the whole time.”

“What’s the update on fundraising? Did the event hit $1 million?”
“It was at $950,000 during the race, so it probably went over $1 million by now. Huge thanks to everyone who donated, especially the people who listened to the podcast. The whole event was inspiring—great community, great vibes, and people pushing themselves for a good cause.”

“Shoutout to the aid station volunteers. They were incredible. Coming from adventure racing, where you’re completely self-supported, having people hand you chicken broth and coffee every lap felt like luxury. I had all my calories planned out, but I didn’t even need them because they had everything.”

“What’s next? Would you do it again?”
“I’d consider it if there were another good cause. It was fun, but definitely challenging. I learned a lot and would approach it differently next time.”

“Let’s talk about listener questions. First, what’s your favorite bike and non-bike product of the year?”

Jeff: “Bike product? The Yeti ASR. It’s fast, light, and capable—just an awesome bike. Non-bike? Maybe my prototype Kettle pants. I’ve been testing them all year, and they’re finally going into production in 2025.”

Liam: “For me, it’s my custom-built van. I spent 42 nights in it this year and put 20,000 miles on it. It’s not just bike-specific; it’s life-specific.”

Jared: “My Fox 36 GripX fork. It’s versatile and handles everything I throw at it. Non-bike, I’d say my Fuji XT-1 camera. It’s my first real camera, and I’ve been using it for everything.”

“Next question: Who’s the best James Bond and villain?”

Jeff: “Pierce Brosnan as Bond. For villains, I think Jaws with the crazy teeth was iconic.”
Jared: “Same for me—Brosnan was great, and Jaws stands out.”
Liam: “I don’t really have an answer. I just remember playing GoldenEye on N64.”

“Final listener question: Should I get a progressive coil or a Cascade link for my Turbo Levo SL?”
Jeff: “For Poppy and progressive performance, I’d stick with an air shock like the Float X or DPX2. Adding a Cascade link with a coil might make the bike less poppy because it increases leverage ratio. You’ll get progression at the end of the travel, but it might feel too soft off the top.”
Liam: “Agreed. A Cascade link works better with an air shock. The Float X is great—simple, durable, and easy to tune.”

“Anything else?”
“Nope, that’s it. Thanks for listening. Happy New Year!”
“Happy holidays! Ciao!”