Transcript 0:00 Hey, everybody. Thanks for tuning in. 0:02 This is Adam Blake's new PNEU podcast, and, uh, that title, uh, came from a pneumatic kind of play on words, and it's kind of funny that that's the title 'cause I've got a couple people here who have an understanding of pneumatic things and, and how they apply to bikes, but, uh, really a breadth of things. 0:22 Um, two representatives from a brand or now two brands that, that really, uh, keep me upright on my bike. 0:28 And I think, uh, a distinguishing characteristic of one of the brands is it is a brand that I one hundred percent rely on to access a facet of cycling that I love, winter cycling specifically and fat biking. 0:44 Uh, I have Scott Patterson, Chelsea Strait, uh, from 45NRTH Teravail. Uh, thank you guys for joining me. I really appreciate it. How you guys doing? Awesome. It's our pleasure. Thanks for having us. Yeah. 0:56 No, it's my- Yeah... it for sure is my pleasure. [chuckles] That is no doubts. Um, so 45NRTH, we'll, we'll kind of start in 45NRTH world, um, though 1:08 this podcast kind of has some gravel talked about and stuff, so we'll touch on Teravail and, and what they're doing too. 1:15 Um, w- maybe, you know, you guys can pool this idea, but kind of explain to me, if you're not familiar, it'd be pretty hard at this point if you're listening to fatbiketo- dot com to not be familiar with 45NRTH, but let's just say, you know, my mom is listening to this podcast, which she will. 1:32 Um, 45NRTH mentality directive maybe, or, or like what 45NRTH wants to provide to cyclists. Yeah, I mean, at the core, our, our sort of foundation, what we keep coming back to is comfort and control. 1:48 So those are kind of the anchors for the brand, right? We wanna make sure, like you said, Adam, stay upright on your fat bike when you're out there, right? Most definitely. And make it comfortable, right? 1:56 I remember my first experience now over six years ago with the brand was going out on a winter ride, and prior to that I'd had some winter boots that, you know, after forty-five minutes, no matter what, I was unhappy, and I was wishing I was home a lot faster than I was. 2:11 And I started with 45NRTH. 2:13 We did a cool little, uh, company retreat over in Wisconsin at Big Rock Creek, and we did a ride in Wolfhammers when it was super cold, and we're two hours in, and all of a sudden I'm like, "Holy cow, this is amazing. 2:26 I'm happy. I'm having a ball out here, and this is game changing." 2:30 And I think that's really what we take pride in, in having brought to the market, is that ability to enjoy winter on your fat bike for a lot longer and feel in a lot more control, right? 2:39 And so, you know, our, our, uh, more polished brand statements are sort of p- uh, paralleled, unparalleled comfort and, uh, keep your biscuit warm, and we've got some things like that. One of my favorites. 2:50 [chuckles] Mm-hmm. [chuckles] But, but just breaking it down really simply, it's about comfort and control, right? So we do the fat bike tires. We do boots, I mentioned. We do amazing gloves. 3:00 We also do a clothing system, the Not Vin clothing system, and we do headwe- a line of headwear as well. So we've got all those facets covered. Mm-hmm. Yep. Did I miss anything there, Chelsea? 3:10 Um, you know, we, uh, one way to think about kind of what our focus is are hand, feet, and traction. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, so those are gonna be, uh, 3:20 what we focus on the most, but we always want to add products to our brand that supplement that. And so, um, 3:28 yeah, like our, our gloves are a very, uh, popular item, uh, something that more than anything, people are like, "Wow, these are amazing winter gloves for cycling." Mm-hmm. 3:40 Um, with our, our boots, um, there's no other... Our-- There's other brands that make s- winter cycling boots, but we are the only brand that focuses on winter- Yeah... and cold weather. 3:52 And then, um, and as far as traction goes, you know, we have fat bike tires, studded tires, and studded fat bike tires, and those are all, you know, we a- we design them all with cold weather in mind. 4:05 Well, yeah, and hearing you say that reminds me that, um, one of the core tenets, maybe a way to simplify it, Adam, for some folks, is that we really take pride in, in highly technical products. 4:15 So when you're talking about the gloves or the tires, right? We use, um, Merino wool. We use Aerogel. I think we're the only folks using Aerogel as a technical product in, in our gloves and footwear, right? 4:26 And then our stud technology really sets our tires apart. So that common thread of, of really using just innovative technology throughout these categories has, has kind of set us apart. Yeah, definitely. 4:37 Uh, I think, uh, a big thing for me, uh, working at World of Bikes in Iowa City, you know, we were a fairly early adopter of, of the fat bike thing, and gear, well, tires too, and no more f- well, had some limitations, let's say. 4:53 But gear stopped me from riding, right? Mm-hmm. You know, like I had boots that are duct taped around the toe box and toe warmers and booty, you know, triple XL shoe covers- [chuckles]... 5:05 over boots, and it still was like, man, I got an hour out and my toes are totally numb. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, and we'll touch on sp- you know, two specific products that just blew my mind. 5:16 But I think one of the big things for 45NRTH for me, a- as the c- the brand continues to bring in more products, is they are all door-opening products. 5:26 Like you found there's a deficiency in your traction, uh, whether it's fat bike or commuter bike or whatever, you know. Ice was a limiting factor or flotation was a limiting factor, 45NRTH can open that door. 5:38 Your head gets cold, your hands gets cold, your feet get cold, 45NRTH can open that door, and they can elongate the enjoyment of the ride. 5:46 And for me, that adds value to all the blingy stuff that I put on the bike besides just the tires, you know? 5:53 And that's kind of where 45NRTH has really impacted me, is that, like, it continually almost challenges me to be like, you know, "I'm gonna see how long I can be in my Wolfhammers," you know? 6:03 Um, is that kind of a-Is that a mentality or something that you guys are very aware of? Of like, "Man, if we make this whatever, people are gonna be able to ride longer, more comfortably. 6:14 There's some technological benefits to this that are, are validated in experience and in testing and all that." Does that kinda drive things in 45NRTH? Uh, not only... Yes, absolutely. 6:26 And not only are we like, you know, we wanna offer this to the people, but we wanna use that stuff ourselves. For sure. We're based in Minnesota. 6:34 Uh, you know, it's, it gets really-- Our, our winters are, you know, everybody in the country knows that it gets cold in Minnesota. Right. Uh, they don't realize how warm it gets in the summer. [laughs] Yeah. 6:43 [laughs] It's focused on the negatives, right? Yeah. [laughs] Focused on the negatives. 6:46 So, you know, like, we know what it i- you know, we know ice, we know snow, we know, uh, below zero temperatures, and we wanna keep riding. 6:55 Because if we are holed up in our offices, we're just walking from the office to the car, from the car to our house, from the, from the car to the grocery store, then we're-- you're making the winter worse for ourselves. 7:07 Right. And, um, you know, we're not the only ones out there that wanna be able to ride year-round. Yeah. We want fresh air. We wanna, you know, when the sun is out, we wanna make sure to, to enjoy that. 7:17 And Minnesotans, you know, we're a hardy bunch, and we also know that there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear. Yeah, right. And so- Most definitely. And so, uh, yeah. Yeah. 7:28 Scott, would you, would you kinda- Oh, yeah... agree with that? Absolutely. 7:31 I mean, and, and you know, Chelsea does a lot more of the longer ultra-endurance stuff in the winter and summer than I do, and so she's, she's able to put the gear through its paces through longer hours. 7:40 But I think, like, if you, um, if you go to the start line of some of these ultras, for example, the footwear that you're gonna see is the 45NRTH Wolk- Wolf Gar, right? Right. 7:49 Like, that's gonna be on 90% of people's feet, and I think that's just a testament to the fact that that is this, this core inspirational element to the brand, right? 7:59 We absolutely want people to be able to do stuff that they wouldn't be able to do with their regular gear and enjoy winter and push themselves, and, and I think, um, our riders and, and some of the events they do are just awesome, inspirational testaments to that, so. 8:14 Yeah. And don't sell yourself short, you know. Uh, you wind up- Well, I'm kind of short. Well, yeah, well. [laughs] I was not gonna go there, man. 8:21 [laughs] Uh, but you've lined up at some, uh-- you know, both of you have lined up... You were a 40-- Chelsea, you were a 45NRTH athlete before coming on as a- Mm-hmm... 8:29 representative, a field representative of the brand, correct? Yeah, yeah. I was part of the, um, when 45NRTH first launched a- Badass team... launched a, a racing team- Yeah... it was just women, actually. 8:38 I know, and they were all pretty BA. [laughs] And so it's- April, you. Yeah. So- Who else was on that? Uh, Danielle Musto- Yeah. Oh, man... and Jill Martindale. Yeah. And yeah, all four of us, um... 8:49 Yeah, we had already been fat bike racing, and 45NRTH decided to start a, a cycling team, um, a fat bike team, and, uh, we were the, the original four. And since then it has become co-ed, but, you know- That's true... 9:02 it's awesome that they have badass women. Oh, yeah. It was like- Can I swear on this podcast? Yeah, m- uh, we try not to say the F word. [laughs] But I think anything else flies really. Okay. Awesome. 9:09 Uh, and if you say the F word, we can probably edit it out if you want. Um- Anyway, I-- sorry to interrupt. Yeah, no. I, I consider- I just wanted to stay on brand... that all the time when I'm talking with you. Yeah. 9:17 [laughs] Um, but yeah, so, uh, but you've, uh, Scott, you've lined up to some r-real deal winter races too. This isn't like we sit in an office, and we design these, like, theoretical boots and tires, right? 9:28 No, not at all. You, you know, you're doing stuff. A-Arrowhead? I have not done Arrowhead, yeah. Did you do a distance of ITI? No, no. What was the big one you did? I t- I generally go for the shorter stuff, right? 9:38 I'm like, I'm like the rabbit who tries to get out front early and then have people chase me down, right? Oh, wow. That's nor- that's normally how it goes when Chelsea and I race, right? 9:46 I'll try and, I'll try and get out the first lap, and then, uh, Chelsea will go by me, and then I'll just try and catch [chuckles] up for the rest of the race. But- I've never really had that luxury of being out front. 9:54 Yeah. You know, I'll do, I'll do, like, the, the Fat Bike Birkie, and I did, um, my-- one of my favorite races last year was Fat Bike Worlds at Crested Butte. Sure. That was awesome. 10:02 And that was, that was an awesome just push for me. You know, it was over four hours of just some great climbing at altitude, pushing, slogging it out. 10:11 And, uh, I just love those events because obviously we wouldn't do this job if we didn't like riding outside. 10:17 I mean, it would be really hard to be passionate about the products and to actually try and sell it if you didn't love it. And so for me, that's just all encompassed, right? Way back before I, um-- I love winter, right? 10:28 Way back before I even got in the bike industry, I used to work in coffee, and I did bike-- coffee bike delivery in the winter, so I would haul around a trailer of coffee. 10:37 And so I had to be pretty comfortable with this idea of riding bikes outside in the winter, and, um, it was kind of a natural progression. 10:43 And I just love that we continue to try and get out there and do these events 'cause it, it keeps it fresh and fun, so. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. 10:50 Uh, events, the proliferation of events in the fat bike world and the exposure that they present, you know, uh, live in Iowa, February specifically, every weekend within t-half an hour of me has a f-pretty legit fat bike event, you know. 11:08 Uh, I would assume you guys experience kind of the same thing in Minnesota, and it, it's really nice that, you know, more people riding more often in more conditions, you know, trying things that were uncomfortable, trying things that were daunting to, to even consider, you know, like zero degrees, let alone, I mean, let's say single digit temps, let alone zero, let alone negatives, you know. 11:30 Mm-hmm. A-and just kinda keep experiencing that, you know. Bike is an experience vessel for me, right? It, it allows me to take in scenery and 11:40 road conditions and these experiences, and I think 45NRTH does a really good job of, of at least providing an option if you wanna get di-deeper, you know? Yeah. Mm-hmm. 11:51 If you wanna dig and s- and challenge and see what you can endure- Mm-hmm... to some extent, safe, more safely maybe. Mm-hmm. 45NRTH really comes into play with that. 12:02 Um, so, uh, you might have to correct me on certain timelines. Um, brief history. First 45NRTH product, Husker Du.Technically, am I wrong on that? It's the first one I- I-... really remember... 12:15 I think there was a, a tire called the Polaire, no, the Xerxes and the... We had a couple really, really tires. Studded, smaller t- tires. Yeah, there was, there was... 12:23 Yeah, there was maybe the Polaire or something else. There were a couple of really early tires before I started. Um, but the Husqvarna was kind of a game changer. And then- Total game changer... yeah. 12:32 And then where we really sort of took our, took our next step of development was with the first studded fat bike tire. Right. Right. And so that put us- Talk about a game changer. Yeah. Holy cow. Studded fat bike tires. 12:43 If you've never ridden a studded fat bike tire on, like, in its element, it's the greatest thing in the world. You, you c- you don't wanna put a foot down, 'cause that, you may slide out. 12:53 [laughs] But as long as you're on those four-inch- Mm-hmm... ish wide studded tires, we've gone straight across lakes, uh- Mm-hmm... 13:00 we've ridden a lot of creeks, all kinds of terrain that, again, was not even accessible for you wonderful people, helped push, push that. 13:08 And other companies have a- kind of adapted to it, but f- really, the precedent was set by 45NRTH for things like that. Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. 13:18 I mean, Chelsea can attest to this, but one of my favorite rides, um, in the cities last year was riding on Minnehaha Creek when it was cold enough and frozen enough. Mm-hmm. 13:27 And you get these sections, you're exactly right, Adam, you get these sections where you're looking at it and, you know, early on in the season, you forget how great the tires are, the traction is, and you're looking at it and you're like, "Oh, my gosh, this is gonna be super sketchy," right? 13:39 And it just looks like a perfectly piece of glass, like- Right... you know, gl- glazed over. And then you get on there and you're like, "Oh, yeah, I can, I can kinda moto on this." Mm-hmm. 13:48 Obviously you're not leaning over turns, but, but you can do stuff that you can't possibly think you can do. And there have been times when you put your foot down and you're like, "Whoop. Oh. 13:57 [laughs] Shouldn't have done that- [laughs]... 'cause I was better off staying on the bike," right? Right, right, right. Totally. Totally. Mm-hmm. And even on one of those rides last year, right? 14:03 So I was, I was on the creek at night, had the lights on. You're in the city, so you're kind of in this... 14:09 But the trees are kinda coming over the creek, and it's this magical forest that kinda winds through the city, and you can kinda see the lights off to the side, and it's just this spectacular environment. 14:19 And again, back to what, you know, if, if folks are wondering about fat biking, one of the things that it really can do for you is it can allow you to do stuff in the winter and, and change that environment, and, and makes places that you even ride in the summer, they feel totally different and magical in the winter, right? 14:34 Because you have different sounds, the way the bike feels on the snow is different, and it's just a, it's just a awesome, different experience. 14:42 So if people are, are considering it, if you haven't done it, I can't recommend it enough. Right. 14:47 And one thing I wanna add to, like, that Minnehaha Creek experience, and then other, you know, uh, other winter-focused, um... 14:56 Like, why winter-focused cycling, uh, is, is great is because, like, the Minnehaha Creek, uh, that winds through these neighborhoods where there are no... 15:06 You know, there are, like, bike paths and, and other, like, hiking paths in certain sections, but you get into these neighborhoods where now it's all private. The creek itself is public, but- Mm-hmm... 15:18 um, everything on either shore is private. And so now you can stay on the creek and you can go further, and you can access things that you wouldn't be able to access any other time of year. Totally. 15:27 Uh, you can ride across the, the lake that normally you have to go around, you know? And it's kinda fun to take those, you know, seasonal shortcuts. [laughs] Oh, yeah, totally. 15:37 A- again, this opening door, like, you know? And you don't even know you can do it, but somebody you're with is like, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this." Mm-hmm. Yeah. "I'm gonna try this." 15:44 And then they do it and you're like, "Oh, my gosh, I have to do this now," because that is so awesome. I wouldn't even have considered it before, you know? Mm-hmm. Um, so 45NRTH, uh, probably will, uh... 15:57 You know, tires was the most im- maybe platform for the brand, but the brand has expanded. Mm-hmm. Um, clothing, uh, is really important to winter cycling. 16:09 Uh, the, the mindblower, the, the best piece of winter equipment I've ever bought, lot of fat bikes, a lot of tires, a lot of this, a lot of that, Wolfhammer boot. Changed the game. 16:23 Like, I remember getting my Wolfhammers and I walked straight out of the shop into the creek and just stood there. [laughs] And my feet- That's awesome... were totally fine. Yeah. 16:31 [laughs] I have a picture on my Facebook of my feet in Wolfhammers, first gen, in the creek. Yeah. And the warmth and the accommodation of that boot and, you know, for me, I'm a clipless guy. You know? 16:43 I know there's a, a lot better flat pedals nowadays and stuff like that, but I, I like the way I can control the rear end of my bike when I'm attached to it. So I'm always a clipless guy. 16:53 So I made significant concessions in winter pre-Wolfhammer. Mm-hmm. Um, kinda, you know, how has Wolfhammer impacted the brand? Uh, now we're on maybe fourth generation, is it? Like, six or seven. Really? Yeah. Actually. 17:09 Six or seven with, you know- It's quite a few... four m- at least four major changes- Mm-hmm... that I could think of- Oh, yeah... you know. Mm-hmm. 17:15 Um, how did, how did the Wolfhammer kinda maybe set the precedent for other pieces that I'm super fond of, like a Greasy Cap? Mm-hmm. 17:24 Um, w- which I wear literally every ride in the off, in the "off-season," quote, unquote, you know. Mm-hmm. Uh, gloves, Sturm fists, stuff like that. 17:31 45, or, uh, Wolfhammer kinda came out really throwing haymakers at everyone, you know? Mm-hmm. It made people reassess what they were doing. Well, I think it was just- Yeah... a totally new, innovative product, right? 17:43 Right. It didn't look like anything else, and it wasn't manufactured like anything else, right? 17:47 We already talked about the inclusion of Aerogel, which is this highly technical, very thin insulation that, that's compressible, right? You don't need loft. 17:54 And so you put Aerogel on the bottom of the Wolfhammer, and all of a sudden, to your point, Adam, you're riding clipless, and in the past, where you had the cold from the pedal coming up through the bottom of the boot, the Aerogel stops that, right? 18:05 And that allows the bottom of your foot to stay warmer. 18:08 And then we did things like we created a roomier toe box-And we incorporated two hundred grams of insulation, of the highest quality insulation in there, and then that waterproof membrane. 18:18 And all those things stacked on top of each other create this boot that had, had not been in the market before, right? And so it was completely this unicorn that was a game changer. 18:27 And I think the fun part for the brand is having to try and, you know, up that each iteration, make it better than the past, right? And so that's what we've really enjoyed. 18:36 And then you'll find li- things like we did a limited edition Red Wing leather version, which was cool. So cool. And the latest gen has the BOA on there, and so we've, you know- And the removable inner liner. 18:46 The toe boot. Yeah, yeah. The removable liner. Yeah, the liner is huge. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. 18:51 So it's, it's been really fun 'cause we don't feel like we can rest and just hang out with that first-gen product, a-as awesome as it was, right? We're continually trying to raise the bar on that stuff. 19:01 So that's what-- that's part of what makes it fun. Yeah. And you, you see that, you know, i-in kind of the mid-weight shoe too. You know, we had Faster Cat first- Mm-hmm... Japanther. Mm-hmm. 19:12 Was there something between Japanther and Ragnarok? Mm-mm. No. And now Ragnarok, which is, like, my shoe. Uh, you know, it's, [chuckles] it's getting kind of crazy at this point. 19:21 But, you know, besides the direct summer, you know, hundred degree Iowa summer in the corn field, I'm either in a Ragnarok or a Wolfhammer. 19:28 [laughs] Because from, uh, you know, September to November, the Ragnarok just crushes, and then from December to February, the Wolfhammer crushes, and I'm probably back in the Ragnarok for events like Land or Mid-South, you know. 19:42 A-and those kind of 30 degree in the morning, 50 degree in the afternoon days. 19:46 It just really, uh, kind of has changed the game, and you see it across the breadth of the industry that, you know, people, like, have taken notice, right? 19:56 The big guys have tried to stick their nose in, and all these other brands have tried to stick their nose in. 20:01 But 45NRTH, to me, has really, uh, done a great job of maintaining, uh, that kind of, like, premium, not in necessarily cost, but that premium representation of, like, if you, you wanna try any other thing, that's fine. 20:17 But if you just really kind of want the end game, big deal, this is the jam, 45NRTH probably got you covered, you know? Mm-hmm. Well, yeah. 20:24 Um- I mean, I mean, one thing I would say to that too is, is I think the, the story there kind of relates to our whole, uh, parent company too, right? 20:31 45NRTH, as an in-house brand of quality bike products, we have a really nice luxury, which is that we don't have a ton of pressure to squeeze the most margin out of every inch of material in that boot, right? 20:42 Obviously, we need to be a profitable company as part of this larger, successful business, but what that's really afforded us is the ability to use products like Aerogel that cost more than the insole that you're gonna find in that competitor's footwear, right? 20:56 So we've always been able to take this approach of we're gonna invest in the highest quality materials, and yeah, we're gonna make it fit and make it a, a profitable footwear, but we're not gonna always constantly have to nickel and dime the product itself to make a certain margin with this higher pressure coming down on us. 21:12 We have the luxury of not having to do that, and I think that's another part of the story that makes our products exceptional. So you, you absolutely hit on that, right? 21:19 When, when you talk about trying to be p-a premier brand, we're able to do that because of the, the products that, and the materials that we invest in for these products. Mm-hmm. And then our product team- Yeah... 21:30 uh, is relatively small, and, you know, we-we're out in the field a lot. Um, we're using the products a lot, and we take feedback really seriously- Mm-hmm... 21:40 which is another thing that I think sets us apart from other, other companies out there- Sure... trying to do winter cycling gear, is that because it's not just profit for us, it's also, like, we want to be the best. 21:50 We, we want this to be functional. 21:53 Um, that, uh, you know, hopefully our consumers are feeling that, you know, we're listening to the feedback, and we, we do change our products, you know, relatively regularly because we always wanna be figuring out how to do this better. 22:09 You know, like, this was great right now, but we thought of something else to make it better. We've gotten a suggestion that will help us make it better. 22:18 And, uh, you know, so it's, it's ever-changing because, you know, we have new technologies, we have new ways of thinking about things, and- Yeah. 22:27 And Chelsea's always taking surveys of our athletes out, and, and yourself as an athlete. You're always providing that feedback constantly to the product team, and, and those can get looped in pretty quickly. Mm-hmm. 22:36 I think that's a great point. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's aw- That, uh, it shows, uh, from a retail side, you know? It really shows the continual motivation to progress the brand. 22:47 It's like, yeah, this is really good, but nobody's resting on their laurels. Like, new things have come to light, you know? 22:54 We can utilize this or that now, and, and it sure seems to me as a purveyor of the brand that Re- uh, that 45NRTH really feels the necessity to continue improving things that are, in my opinion, already better than most, almost every offering anyways, you know? 23:13 Well, and we don't, you know, we don't always hit a home run out of the gate, and, um, like, Ragnarok is a great example. Sure. 23:18 That's the third ite-iteration of t- of that shoulder season boot, and I think with that one we finally got it right. 23:23 But it took a couple times to really build on that, and now we have the Ragnarok, which is an exceptional boot, and it fits really well, and it does everything we wanted it to. 23:33 But out of the gate, we weren't always perfect on that- Right. And then-... on that shoulder season [laughs] And if you put all the boots, like, side by side, what did we end up doing by the time we got to the Ragnarok? 23:42 We simplified. Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Gimmicks not needed. Function needed. Mm-hmm. You know, reliability needed. Right. So we stripped out the, you know, the extras, and, you know, it's as simple as it can be- Yeah. 23:54 I think some of that-... uh, to do what it needs to do... some of that may come from, uh, dabbling in uncharted waters to a certain degree too. Oh, yeah. 24:00 If you have no frame of reference of what anyone else is doing except for a concept, yeah, I mean, you can't be perfect all the time, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. All right. 24:08 Well, and, and I appreciate, you know, anyone listening, if, if you've, if you had a first-gen product and you've, and you stuck with us and now you get a Ragnarok, like, thank you. Right. 24:15 That's awesome, because, because we wanna be there for you over the fut- the whole life cycle of your riding and our brand, so. Yeah. Um-We're gonna take a quick break. 24:25 Uh, we're gonna bring another, uh, person in to kinda continue this chat, uh, talk on a, a new, uh, reiteration again, what, you know, of a product that's existed, and then we're gonna kinda deviate into more gravel mountain stuff and, uh... 24:41 Can you call Teravail, 45NRTH, like, sister brands? I don't know, how... I mean, how do we talk about that? [laughs] I mean, they're always connected to me because the personalities- Yeah... 24:50 are, are concurrent, you know? Uh, but whatever. I don't have to title it. Uh, we're gonna talk about a, a different brand, kinda talk- Yep... some gravel, things like that. Uh, we'll be right back in just a minute. 24:59 Awesome. Today's show is brought to you by the Huge-Ass Race Series. Visit hugeass.bike, and set your phasers to fun. Hey, we're back. Uh, we've got a new friend with us. 25:12 I'm currently with Scott and Chelsea of 45NRTH, uh, slash Teravail, and we've got Steve now, the marketing manager for both brands. Thank you for joining us, Steve. Thanks for having me. Really appreciate it. 25:23 Uh, we kinda talked about some development of product, breadth of product, you know, those kind of things, and I'd, I'd kinda like to just touch on two specific products or, you know, a set of products and a specific product, uh, that 45NRTH, uh, provides, and then we're gonna move on to a couple other things. 25:42 Uh, first one, you know, that, that is pretty impactful to me, I have it on a rim just because it's so badass in the shop just to show people that don't even care, you know? 25:54 They're, like, shopping for a road bike, and I'm like, "You should look at this 'cause it's so badass." A Wrathlord tire. Wrathchild had existed, studded fat tire. 26:06 R- uh, Wrathchild now also in a plus size as well if you're a plus bike rider. Mm-hmm. Uh, that is a bad mama jama too. [laughs] Uh, I put some on a tandem recently. So BA. Ooh. 26:17 [laughs] Um, but the Wrathlord, like, visually impactful. Mm-hmm. You just touch it, and you're like, "This is some nasty meat. This is the jam." Right. 26:27 When the going gets tough, this tire's getting me out of the, the bullshit, is the only word- Uh-huh... that I can think of, you know? Um, who, who comes up with the name Wrathlord, which is super tough, um, and 26:42 you know, so lot... 300 studs in the Wrathlord? 300. Dead on 300? Yep. Yep. Yep, if you, if you look at that compared to the Wrathchild, and you're, you're like, "Oh, why is one the Wrathchild? Is it a lesser tire?" 26:54 Um, no, it just has a lot less studs. Yeah, 240 or something in those? Yeah, 224 studs- 24... in the fat, um- Child... it's a... Yeah. It comes in 26 by 4.6. Mm-hmm. But it's got a much more spaced out... 27:07 The lugs are much more spaced out. Right. Um, so there's a lot less lugs to put studs on. Right. And so the Wrathchild has a lot more lugs, and each of those lugs have studs, so 300. Right. 300. Yeah. 27:20 Wrathlord, uh, you know, some studded, some studded tires, you know, on concrete and, and getting between the actual usage of the studded tires get a little, little shimmery, little shaky. 27:32 Uh, I got to ride these tires on a Mukluk recently, and I was so amazed that they succeeded so well when I would push, like, stuff that I don't expect to succeed on, you know, like bermed ice, you know? Yeah. 27:48 A- and the way they- Yeah... hooked up. Um, a- and but also really confidence inspiring getting from bermed ice cavern or whatever I'm in at that time, creek- Yeah... uh, to the next one, you know? Um, Steve- Mm-hmm... 28:05 'cause you didn't get to talk at the beginning. [laughs] How do you market, I'm gonna say, the most badass tire on the planet for bikes? I don't know what else to call it. 28:16 Well, it was clearly- Just say it's the most badass tire on the Earth. [laughs] Pretty close, actually. Yeah. I forget what the packaging says, but it's along those lines. 28:24 [laughs] Um, it was, uh, I think looking at the Wrathchild and the Wrathlord, the Lord is clearly an evolution. Um, and sort of the, 28:35 I wouldn't say problems that it solves, I would say what makes it different from the Wrathchild is, uh, to your point, getting on that ice. Uh, the lugs are much closer together, more studs, so the... 28:48 You're likely more op- There's more opportunity to have studs touching the, uh, the ice. Um, whereas you do have some blank spots with the Wrathchild. 28:56 However, because the Wrathchild has those lugs that are more spaced out, it sheds snow more easily. 29:02 So there's sort of those pros and cons to each, and it really just depends on the riding conditions you're gonna be going into, which one is sort of the right weapon for you. Yeah. 29:10 Well, and one of the things that, that we need to add on both of these tires that, that sets them apart from even the rest of the line is the XL Stud, right? Oh, yeah. 29:18 So both these tires come with our XL Stud technology, which again is, is unique in the marketplace. We're the only ones doing that. 29:25 The stud is a bigger stud with more surface area and a sharper point than you're gonna find on anything else out there. 29:31 So when you're talking about ripping berms and ice, that's why you can do that crazy stuff with these tires, because they come with the XL Stud, and that is the game changer there, right? 29:40 So, and, you know, the, the Wrathlord is the father of the Wrathchild. It's 300 studs. It's a meat grinder. Mm-hmm. And one of the reasons why that XL Stud is so effective is you said that it, it has a sharper point. 29:53 Mm-hmm. But it's actually a concave shape. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 29:55 And so the point goes all around the, the outside, and you just have a lot more, uh, a lot more sharp surface area that contacts with the ice that really, really grips in. 30:07 So, you know, compared to any other, uh, stud out there, even if they are concave, uh, just the sheer s- you know, size of that, that stud- Yeah. Mm-hmm... is most definitely- Absolutely. I think that... 30:19 And that's impactful visually. Like, if you put your hand on that tire, you know, you, you don't run your hand along that tire. [laughs] Mm-hmm. You just put your hand on the tire and let it sit there for a second. 30:31 Um, and we could probably talk about the development of studs.For quite a while too, if we wanted to, because, you know, that has really progressed a lot of things, um, from a, you know, whatever carbide-tipped stud, maybe they weren't even carbide-tipped at the beginning. 30:46 That was pretty small and maybe helped took the edge off to studs that I, I know I really rely on, uh, for traction and, and the ability to achieve things. That, that's kind of come along with tires. 31:01 Um, uh, but that's a big deal, I think, is, is that stud shape that Chelsea, you touched on. Um, if, if the Wrathlord had... Speculate. 31:15 If the Wrathlord had an original stud, you know, from the first Escalator, let's say, which was kind of the precursor to the Dillinger, uh, which is a 45 North tire, um, do you think it would be as effective or, or, like, is there a proportion there from any of you guys? 31:30 Like, how much is the XL concave stud versus tire construction, ply, you know, lug spacing, all that stuff? A-any speculation on that? So you're-- Let me see if I understand your question. 31:44 So you're asking if we were to design the Wrathlord tire around, like, the earlier stud? A less effective stud. Mm-hmm. How would that diminish the effectiveness? 31:55 Because I feel like the Wrathlord is a very well-rounded tire, uh, in all conditions for me. Um, if the stud was diminished, would have-- how greatly would that impact the overall performance of the tire, I guess? 32:09 Well, our XL studs are- Yeah. Game changer... are, are game changer. Yeah. They are. That's what I thought. But with that being said, the XL stud doesn't nec- isn't necessarily best for all user cases. Right. Sure. 32:20 And so, you know, if you're, you're dealing with, you know, steep trails, lots of rocks, um, you know, the s- like- Roots... steep icy trails, that's where the, the stud is gonna be awesome. 32:30 But if you have roots and rocks and, and other things that you, that the stud could actually, you know, might not be as- Bite... it might not bite, it might not be as effective, um, in certain ways. 32:41 So sometimes even a smaller... You know, if you wanted to 32:45 customize it, because we can customize all of our studded tires because we sell our ti- our studs aftermarket, and all of our studs fit in all of our stud pockets. So you can mix and match. Mm-hmm. 32:55 And so, um, if that XL stud is too much for your user case, you can, you can put our normal conca- like our smaller concave stud in there, and it'll, it'll make a little bit less noise on the road if you're doing a lot of pavement riding. 33:09 Um, there's less metal to sl- you know, it's metal, um, you know, might slide if you're, uh, riding over lots of smooth rocks. Mm-hmm. 33:18 Um- Well, yeah, we're really seeing this topic come up with our winter trail tires, right? You mentioned the, the fat bike Wrathchild, right? But we also have the Wrathchild in a twenty-seven five by three- Mm-hmm... 33:27 twenty-nine two six, right? So when you get into these, and the, and the bigger XL stud fat bike tires were specifically designed for icy, snowy trail conditions, right? 33:39 And then you're getting these use cases where folks are taking these 33:43 winter trail tires, and if they're not in that icy, snowy stuff, but maybe they are riding over, like Chelsea said, roots, rocks, steep terrain, they might be better off with a concave stud in there, for example, right? 33:54 So it is, it is kind of matching where you're riding and what your goals are with the stud technology and the tire. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Anything to add on that, Steve? I don't know. 34:04 Well, uh, yeah, I would say the other thing is, and we don't have any real data on this yet- I don't worry about real data. 34:11 [laughs] Um, so just anecdotally, I would say, um, we're finding that with all of the riding we've done as a group and sort of sharing notes that if you end up on ice and it's zero degrees Fahrenheit, um, because the ice does become even more hard, uh, at that temperature, um, the regular concave stud, because it's finer, a little bit more narrow at the tip, um, it's able to penetrate the ice maybe a little bit better than the XL concave stud. 34:43 But then when you get up to twenty degrees, twenty-five Fahrenheit, and you're on ice, the XL, because it's a little bit softer ice, that sort of... 34:52 Because it is like a circular, uh, I would say ice skate blade almost, it really is able to dig into that softer s- uh, ice. So it's very interesting. But again, we don't have any data on that yet. [laughs] Sure. 35:05 Yeah, we're going super technical on you, right? Yeah. I'm not gonna personally hold you to anything. Yeah. Um, yeah, so maybe more variables than what my question allowed for. 35:14 Well, uh, and in general though, I think, I think, like at the ti- at the highest level, right, you're saying if you took that Wrathlord tire and you switched out the XL stud for a regular original gen one carbide stud from somebody else, how would that tire perform? 35:28 It wouldn't perform nearly the same. It would be a very different experience, right? What would happen is, is if you were on ice, you would get a lot less traction and so on. 35:37 But the great thing about the Wrathlord is, is it's, it's pretty fast rolling, and so when you have those conditions where you are on some snow or you're just in some hard pack, yeah, you'd still, you'd still moto. 35:47 So- Right. So maybe not better or worse, but a, a definite change in characteristic of the tire. Absolutely. We could say that. Yeah. We could all agree upon that. 35:56 Um, another piece or set of products that, uh, is really, I think, pushing, uh, people to get in colder weather for longer is the Notvent system. It's really not one piece. 36:11 Uh, it's at least three pieces that I can think of. Um, a-and we're on now second gen, just released this year kind of thing. 36:20 Um, kinda e-enlighten people to what Notvent does versus, you know, my wool sweater in the, in the closet or my old running tights under some snow pants, under, uh, you know, whatever. What are the... 36:34 I don't know if I need performance, like-... advantages, but how do they keep people, how do they function to keep people riding more, uh, safer to a degree? 36:45 A- as cold, uh, comes into play, I always am considerate of safety. 36:49 Uh, you know, you get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and it's zero, it's a whole different ball of wax than a flat tire, uh, at 50 or 70 or whatever, you know? Mm-hmm. 36:57 Where you can just lay in the ditch for a while. Mm-hmm. Um, how does Notvend, um, continue to progress and open doors for people? Uh, h- Steve, you, you probably touch on how do you deliver that message? 37:10 Because there's some, like the proof is in the pudding thing. You know, not everyone can get in Notvend stuff at zero degrees and ride their bike until they purchase it and expose themself to it. 37:21 So, uh, so maybe just, Steve, I'll start with you. 37:23 Kinda tell me how, how we, how you guys educate customers to the value of a system like Notvend, and then maybe you guys can talk, uh, more about the implementation in the field and what it actually does for you. Yeah. 37:37 Um, I would say simply put, it's, it's drilling down to the materials that are used and what the benefits of those materials are to the end user. Um, so you know, if... 37:49 I came in a little late, but I don't know if you had talked about, uh, the, all the Merino wool we use. We touched on Merino wool- Okay... being implemented. Scott mentioned it, but we haven't dug deep into that. 37:58 So then you get down to the, our bib layer. Uh, 38:02 and you know, a lot of Merino wool is used in there because it is a natural material that does a phenomenal job of keeping warmth, um, while wicking away sweat and moisture. 38:13 And obviously in those conditions, um, sweat management and heat management is hugely important. Imperative. Right. Exactly. 38:21 You don't wanna be sweating out and then have to change that tire 'cause you're gonna be a lot colder when you're sweaty than if you're dry and in the cold. Yeah. Um, 38:28 so it does a great job of that, and that's why you see a lot of, uh, our liners being made up of Merino, things like that. 38:35 But obviously you have to leave out the cold as well, so then there's, um, you know, weather resistant materials, uh, on top of that. 38:41 We have, you know, top layers that are wind resistant, um, obviously to keep the wind out when it's cold. Mm-hmm. 38:48 Um, so it's really, it's, it's drilling down sort of material by material and explaining away what those benefits are. And then, uh, you get into the jacket and the outer shell pant. 38:58 Um, we were talking about trying to dump excess heat so you don't sweat out, plenty of ventilation in there, uh, a lot of considerations like that. Yeah, I'm sure th- those kinda considerations also lend to versatility. 39:10 Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Some ventilation, more usability across a wider breadth of temperature ranges. Certainly. Um, you know, I'll personally say I thought the first generation, even in Iowa, too warm. I, I just- Mm. 39:22 [laughs]... I didn't really wanna ride when it was that cold to like justify the Notvend stuff at that point. [laughs] Yeah. Uh, I was like, "Whoa." 39:30 Um, but y- obviously you two, as much as anyone I'm assuming, have experienced these in all temperature ranges. 39:37 Um, alterations from gen one to gen two, things that people would really notice, or, you know, say somebody picked up a jacket in gen one, and now they're really interested in something like the bibs or the pants to match that jacket, maybe not a full, uh, upheaval of things, but new, further implementation. 39:55 Gen two versus gen one and, and your experiences utilizing both in the fields. So gen one, um, you're absolutely correct. It was really, really warm. [laughs] Um, it wasn't as relevant to as many people as gen, gen two. 40:09 Uh, we... Aside from the bibs, which there's a lot of similarities between gen one and gen two for the bibs- Mm-hmm... but for the, for the outer, the jacket and the outer pants, um, they are 40:22 just shy of a complete redesign. Mm-hmm. Yeah. We used, um, like a softer shell material. Um, there's a lot more chance for ventilation. Uh, the jacket now has a women's specific cut option, um, on top of- Phenomenal... 40:36 um, you know, adding that to the line. Um, you know, pockets are different. Um, it, like, uh, we used a little bit of a, I don't know the technical term for it, but like a, a waffled- Mm-hmm... 40:48 um, what would you call that material? It's almost like a patterned fleece kind of- Mm-hmm... that allows you to dump heat. Yeah. So- It's a patterned polyester. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Body mapping. Mm-hmm. Oh, sure. 40:56 Basically. Yeah. Uh, and so in, you know, in high heat areas, um, we have, you know, strategically placed materials to help you, uh, regulate your temperature and regulate that moisture, let the moisture... 41:09 There's places in the, the new design where you can dump moisture as well as heat. Um, because you're absolutely correct that, um, it's the, it's the, the sweat that's gonna make you cold- Right... 41:21 um, more than anything else, which is counterintuitive, I know. 41:24 Um, a lot of, like anybody who's done a lot of, of winter activity, uh, where you get your heart rate up, you know, like, it's really easy to overdress because- Easy... 41:33 you dress, you know, you, you wanna be comfortable as soon as you stan- step out of the house. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah, that is a falsity in sight. Yeah, totally. 41:39 If you're warm right when you get on that bike, you are screwed 20 minutes later. Uh-huh. [laughs] Right. And so, um, our, our material, our products are designed, um, better this time for high output. 41:50 You know, like when you're riding, when you're mashing through snow, like you're gonna create a, you're gonna go a lot slower, so you don't have the, the wind to help you- Stay cool... um, cool down. 41:59 Um, and you burn, you just run hotter if you're- Yeah... mashing through snow. Um, 'cause if you, uh, not everybody has this experience, but riding on snow versus doing road miles, uh- Not the same... not the same. 42:13 [laughs] Yeah. Not the same. Totally. Um- The wind blowing through your hair- And so I would-... not the same speed. Right. 42:17 So I would say that gen one, uh, I think was probably more useful for people that are doing road miles, um- Mm... 42:23 moving faster, um, where you do end up getting colder, whereas, uh, gen two, um, well, it, it layers a little bit better, so you can like use the system. Mm-hmm. Right. You know? 42:34 So if you need the outer, if you need to use the, the, the shell pants in certain conditions over your bibs, you can. If you need to- [laughs]... 42:42 um, you know, do the shell pants with just like your, if it's warm enough, wear the shell pants-Are warm enough and snowy enough- Right, right, right, right, right, right... 42:49 for the, the shell pants are gonna do a really great job, you know, covering the tops of your boots to keep the snow out. Um- Well, yeah, and it, and it... You know, being the sales guy, right? 42:57 I would always love to have, like, more products to sell, and I think this is just my personal take. But I think in a way, there was a place for the gen one product, which was like your bar pants and jacket, right? 43:07 If you're just going out with a ride with your buddies down by the river bottoms, and you got some beers in your backpack, and you're gonna stop a lot and hang out, that's kind of a... That was kind of a great setup. 43:16 But, but in the, in the perfect world that Chelsea's talking about, which we really wanted to improve upon, we needed to allow for better ventilation and, and heat management. 43:25 And my favorite part about the gen two outer stuff is, like with the pants, they're quiet. They just feel right. You don't feel like your movement's impeded. It's, it's just a really nice- Mm-hmm... nice product. 43:38 If I had to pick one of all three pieces though, I would probably go with the bib knickers. Mm-hmm. Right? Just because they're so unique in that they do have that wool poly blend. They fit so nice and comfortable. 43:52 It's like the second skin, and you can wear those things... I don't know, what, what temp can you wear those racing down to? I've, you know, I've worn them below zero. Yeah. 44:01 Definitely in a race situation where I know I'm gonna be running hot. Yeah. But I've, I've definitely worn them, you know, uh, 10 degrees below zero. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's amazing, right? Uh-huh. 44:11 And I can wear them up until probably 30 degrees. Yep. Yeah. Awesome. Super versatile. And then... Yep, and, you know, 44:18 if I was running, if I was moving a little bit slower, um, and just kind of, you know- Paddling around?... doing a little bit more- Yeah. 44:25 Yeah, paddling around, doing a little more of a casual ride, I could probably wear them a little warmer than that too. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. But they're so versatile. Mm-hmm. 44:31 They're, and they're, they're sort of the sleeper in the lineup because people are like, "Oh, I already have a pair of tights," like you said. Everybody's got a pair of tights. 44:38 Well, most people don't have tights like these. So- Mm-hmm. Yeah... folks out there, like, yeah, get your hands in these. Put your hands inside that fleece and feel how good [chuckles] that feels. Mm-hmm. It is awesome. 44:49 It's a wonderful, wonderful product. Yeah. Yeah. I would think that, uh, you know, just again to clarify, Not Vent is a system- Correct... 44:57 but you can implement all facets of the system in different ways to accommodate different temperatures. Because, you know, I've always really struggled with, like, temperature ratings. Mm-hmm. 45:07 You know, I kinda run hot, and, and if I'm kinda telling somebody that, "Yeah, you'll..." 45:11 You know, I can't really say like, "Yeah, you'll be comfortable at zero to 15 in this whatever," because I don't know them enough to know, and just because I am doesn't mean they will be. 45:22 So I think that that versatility and implementation of different pieces- Mm-hmm... 45:27 uh, and also to talk on something you mentioned, Scott, the bibs is what intrigued me the most because, um, they're gonna up the value of everything I currently own. Mm-hmm. 45:38 Even if I don't have the Not Vent jacket and pants yet, uh, the bibs will make all of my pants, and jackets, and, and top, and everything, because it's a different shaped bib too- Yep... 45:50 um, will make them all better, right? So it adds value to everything I currently own, as well as utilizing new technologies and things like that. Absolutely. Agreed? That's a really good- Mm-hmm... 46:00 good way of putting it. Can, can you guys unanimously tell my wife that I need, uh, a Not Vent system? [laughs] Just w- You would all agree that I need- Absolutely. Oh, 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes. 46:08 I mean, you're really- Yeah. Absolutely... you're deprived if you don't have that yet. So- Deprived, honey. I'm deprived. [laughs] Right. Uh- Safety, warmth- Safety... quality of life. Safety first. Yeah. 46:18 It's really- Oh, Jessica, I need these things. [laughs] Um, let's switch gears, warm up a little bit. Um, we [laughs] Warm up a little bit. Um, you guys also [laughs] That was terrible. Don't laugh at that stuff. 46:31 [laughs] Uh, you guys also, uh, with other individuals, kinda direct the, the trajectory of a brand Teravail, um, which is a newer brand than 45NRTH, uh, primarily focused in mountain and gravel, though you make a fat, at least one fat bike tire that I can think of, which is a sweet fat bike tire for multi-surface stuff. 46:53 Mm-hmm. Um, maybe Steve, we'll start with you. Uh, kinda talk about, uh, and we'll be maybe a little briefer on this, but talk about like what tire... You know, tires exist, right? We all know. 47:07 There's a lot of tire manufacturers. So when you're marketing, A, a new brand with some new tread patterns, and new concepts, and features in tires, um, what's your... I know what your goal is, but you know what I mean? 47:19 What's the- Sales [laughs]... what's the present-- Yeah, right. Sell things, um, is what it is. Uh, what's your presentation there? Kind of, you know, the advantage or the, the features, you know? 47:30 'Cause tire tech, I think, is lost on a lot of people, right? Yep. Oh, yeah. Uh, would we all agree on that? 47:35 That durometers of rubber and stuff, TPI even, not really fleshed out too often, and there's some misconceptions with what higher or lower actually means- Yeah... on a tire. Mm-hmm. 47:47 So how do you kinda, uh, project the Teravail impact, let's say, uh, into the gravel and mountain communities? Well, you said presentation, um, and I think our presentation really starts with the visual aesthetic. 48:01 Um, our tan walls, I think we would all agree internally, uh, may- maybe we're biased, but we really love the sort of warmth of our tan. It's something that the engineer and PM worked on for a really long time. 48:14 Um, and then aesthetically, I think our hot patches, the logo is a little bit cleaner, a little bit more subtle on the sidewall, and I think, you know, hopefully consumers are gonna be drawn to that. 48:26 Um, as far as a little bit of differentiation, and you mentioned, uh, tire tech being lost on many people, uh, I think we were all sick of getting hit with acronyms that we had to go to the website, look up, and read a paragraph to figure out what it really meant for the technology. 48:41 Tell me about it. Trying to sell out off of a tire wall, and you gotta explain every single feature of every single brand- Right... but they're all basically the same. Right. And, and does that really sell tires much? 48:50 No. It confuses people. [laughs] Right. So our goal was to sort of simplify that and make, um, comparison shopping and cross shopping a little bit easier for the consumer. 48:59 Um, so-We're not gonna go deep into the technology of our compounds unless you do wanna go try to find it on the website. Uh, on package and, you know, generally in our, our promotional materials, you're gonna see, 49:12 uh, as far as compounds are concerned, grip, fast. Okay. It's pretty easy. I can understand. Uh, constructions, durable, light and supple. Can also- [laughs]... understand those things. Yeah. 49:26 Um, so, uh, we think that, uh, on shelf that's gonna make it much easier for sort of that, uh, consumer path and, and path to purchase. Right. 49:35 'Cause people can probably interpret that, like, super mega shield protection, blah, blah, blah means durable, but also durable means durable- Right. Mm-hmm... and it's pretty clear, right? We, yeah, totally. 49:48 [laughs] It, it is, exactly. And the light and supple- Right... is more li- is lighter and more supple. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. S- pretty mu- pretty easy at that point. Right. 49:57 And I'm sure you wanna know, uh, you know, why the Teravail brand was started. Yeah, why not a branch off? Yeah, totally. I guess 45NRTH more was studs and, and traction- Mm-hmm... 50:06 and so we needed to branch to a new company or... Well, I mean, not-- without getting too into it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, the Teravail brand wasn't started by the 45NRTH crew. Okay. 50:18 Um, it was started by other, um, people in the brands around quality bicycle products. Mm-hmm. And, uh, 50:25 the reason why the brand was started is because, like, gravel racing was getting much bigger, and there wasn't a whole lot of quality tubeless-ready gravel tires. Yeah. 50:37 And- Not to stand up to what people were putting them through at that point. Right. 50:40 And it's also, you know, um, with their Warbird and, like, all the work that they're putting into, like, a gravel specific bicycle, they're like, "There's not a lot of gravel specific tires that are good." 50:50 [laughs] Right. Right. Yeah. A lot of people were- Agreed... using their cross tires- Yeah... or they're using whatever. And so, uh, that's where the brand was formed is, like, there's a l- there's a lack of options. 51:01 Mm-hmm. Sure. And so Quality Bicycle Products has a, has the ability to, like, have, you know, have people work on that problem. [laughs] Yeah. And, you know, it's like the brand was, was started. 51:12 Um, they realized, like, "Oh yeah, this is gonna stick because," you know- Yeah, with the Cannonball, right? That was their first tire. Cannonball, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Sweet. Right? I mean- And then-... 51:19 one of my favorite gravel tires ever... and then the next products that Teravail came out with, uh, were, like, for bike packing- Right... plus tires. Right. Yeah. Um, why? 51:26 Because that's where the industry was moving, but there was a lack of tire options. Yep. Yeah. 51:31 Uh, and so then, you know, having, having, like, the Coronado, which is a really great bike packing tire, having kind of the more plus size mountain product, um, to fit the need in the industry. 51:43 And then from there, we've just started to fill in the product line, um, with, you know, with other needs. But- Yeah. Yeah... like, we led with where is the industry lacking right now? Directly, yeah. 51:53 What is there a need for? Fill in the void. And then since then, the rest of the industry, you know, has caught up in certain ways, and so we're always trying to think, like, "Oh," you know, like- Mm-hmm... 52:01 "What can we do that's different? What can we do that's new?" Sure. "What can we do that's leading?" Right. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 52:07 I mean, and, and I think, you know, most of your enthusiasts listening are obviously running, uh, tubeless tires, but a lot of folks, back to confusion around tires, right? 52:14 Some folks are intimidated by tubeless, and one of the things that we came out of the gate early on with was this focus on all our tires are gonna be tubeless ready, and our bead technology is actually a proprietary bead. 52:25 And so our tires tend to mount up super easy, and they retain air. And like Steve mentioned, our beautiful tan wall tires. Some tan walls out in the market, because tan walls are generally thinner, right? 52:36 You'll see sealant seeping through those. Well, you don't get that on our tan walls because, again, we take so much care with the construction, and that proprietary bead snaps right on, and it stays on, right? 52:46 I-- We just finished our, uh, winter trade show, and I had a couple folks, and I've also had this experience myself, where they come up and they're like, "Hey, I have my gravel bike. I rode it all, all fall. 52:57 I put it in the garage, and then I just grabbed the tire the other day. It's like I just inflated it. It hasn't lost any air in two, three months." And I'm like, "Yeah, that's what Teravail's all about." 53:08 So that's part of the experience that consumers are gonna get is that reliability, that easy tubeless setup. 53:14 And then our tread patterns, like, one of the things we love is making really fast, fun, efficient tread patterns and matching those with the constructions that are gonna give you a great ride experience, right? 53:24 'Cause we all know, you know, and, and I didn't know this until I actually started working more in the tire world, right? Which has, again, only been six, seven years. 53:30 But when you pair the right tire, the right pressure with the right, with that trail that day, that can make or break your experience. Oh, yeah. 53:38 And so if you get those things right, you're gonna have a great day, and you're gonna feel confident and comfortable, and you're gonna do things that you didn't think you could do on the bike. 53:47 If that tire's got too much air or you're just running a totally wrong tread pattern for where you're riding, no matter how good a rider you... Well, there are some great riders who it doesn't matter. 53:55 But for most of us mortals like me, it makes a big difference, right? 53:58 And that's part of the fun part that I know our team has working on tires for both Teravail and 45NRTH is we have the ability to sort of help people elevate their riding experiences, and that's a ball. Yeah. I, uh, 54:12 to talk on what you just said, I run Sparwoods on my Cutthroat. Yeah. Uh, I used to run Durables in Emporia 'cause it was such nasty flint rock, and that was, like, my bomb-proof tire. 54:22 You know, you just cut tires at Kansa all the time, and I've never cut a tire of a Durable Teravail tire in Kansa. Uh, and I run light and supples now in Iowa 'cause we have a little more rounded gravel. 54:35 But I, I check my PSI more frequently, but I swear I pump up my tires, so to speak, like, five times a year. I mean, I put- Yeah... sealant in it- Yeah... occasionally too, so I have to address that. 54:49 But, like, I, I go and I'm like, "Oh, better get the pump and check the tire before we go riding." Yeah. I'm like, "Nope, feels good." [laughs] Like, every- Totally... single time, you know? It just blows my mind. 55:00 Mm-hmm. And, and when, uh-One of the things that, um, helps with that is the fact that we use a 60 TPI construction. Yep. Mm-hmm. 55:08 And so, you know, um, certain, certain brands are really all about the higher, higher threads per inch count. Right. Um, what that does is it gives you a really supple ride feel and, and all of that kinda thing. Mm-hmm. 55:22 But what happens is there's less rubber- Mm-hmm... um, involved, and so that means it's more porous, which means that you lose sealant and air faster. And air. Yeah. 55:31 And so our 60 TPI is just – we, we believe is just – it sets up tubeless better. Yeah. 55:36 Uh, so, you know, our light and supple Tan is our lightest and most supple tire that we have, but we, you know, we stand by our 60 TPI. 55:46 We're not gonna go less than that, um, for the foreseeable future because, you know, less than that, uh, you, you compromise a little bit- Start sacrificing a little bit... of that quality of, of the tubeless setup. 55:56 And, you know, certain brands have done it really well and been able to, you know, but, you know, there, there's – something's added [laughs]- Yeah, right. No... to make that happen. Yeah. And so, yeah. 56:06 Maybe 300 TPI track tires- [laughs]... on a tubular is, like, all good, right? Uh-huh. But you're not really considering the same things that most of us real world- Yeah... 56:15 all-terrain kind of riders are really experiencing. Well, I'll just give listeners a, a little sneak peek at what we got coming in terms of- Ooh. [laughs] Little, little – not too much. Uh-oh. 56:24 Don't worry, Mark, he's like, "What's he gonna do?" Steve, Steve's like sweating right now. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, Mark is like, "What's he gonna say?" [laughs] No, just keep your eyes peeled, right? 56:30 So, so we are gonna have something that we're really excited about coming this spring, which is a Tan Durable as well. Oh, yeah. Right? So- Okay... I'm not – so don't worry, I'm not letting all the cats out of the bag. 56:38 [laughs] Just the baby kitten. Yeah, keep a couple cats in the bag. [laughs] So, so Tan Durables. Mm-hmm. Pretty excited about that. Yeah. That's gonna be happening. 56:45 And so when, so when folks – listen, when you, when you think about our lineup, it's pretty easy to, to sort of compartmentalize and think about what we have, right? 56:52 So w- in all of our tire tread patterns, you've got a couple different constructions. 56:55 You've got a Black Light and Supple, a Black Durable, the Tan Walls that we mentioned, which are traditionally really light, and then we're gonna have that Tan Durable. Yeah. And that's generally the lineup. 57:06 We got some other outliers that we won't talk about right now, but yeah, we got some, we got some great stuff. But that's pretty easy to get your head around, right? Right. And that's – we appreciate that, so. 57:13 And then do you know why we have the, the Tan Durable coming? Because people asked for it. [laughs] Right. Right, right. There you go. Going right back to what you said. Totally. We listen to feedback, you know? Totally. 57:22 I, I totally agreed. Um, awesome. That, you know, I, just personally, on Teravail tires, on 45Nrth tires, never disappointed. Uh- Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. Uh, this is a new feature. 57:39 It is the lightning round. Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. [laughs] Lightning. That sounded like me. [laughs] Oh, good. I normally do that, yeah. That's me. 57:48 Sometimes that's my same sound effect for lightning, as it is shooting the gun. You should share an office with this guy. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] You two are the same. 57:54 [clears throat] Wait, I'm gonna have to add a sound here in a minute. Hold on. [laughs] Just keep going, keep going. Yeah. I'm gonna find this. Here we go. So this is, like, four questions, top of your head. 58:01 I'll go boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom. Okay? All right. Um, coldest temperature you've ever ridden in- Uh, negative-... that you know of... 20 Fahrenheit. Oh, God, negative 30 or 40. I don't know. It was, yeah. Wow. 58:13 You really just- Negative... I just had to up you. Oh, yeah. Sorry. [laughs] Sorry. It was, it was really cold. And Chelsea crushes everyone. Yeah. [laughs] It was around negative 20 air temp. Air temp. Yeah. Yeah. 58:22 Yeah, wind, uh, you know, air temp. Yeah. Are we doing, uh, yeah, wind chill. Yep. All right. Yeah, not wind too much. Um, toughest race or ride you've ever done yourself? Oh, geez. Ooh. 58:37 [laughs] Filming in Colorado just a couple days ago was the toughest ride 'cause you didn't get to ride your bike at all. [laughs] Aw. It was, uh, a, a death march through the mountains for a little while. 58:47 I understand that one. [laughs] Yeah, I'm gonna say, uh, so this was a couple years ago, uh, I thought I'd do the Lutsen 99er on my fat bike and my, uh, Teravail Coronados off the couch. I hadn't really ridden much. 58:58 And so that was, that was a pretty s- big slog fest with a couple dark moments, so I think that took me eight and a half hours, and I didn't look very good after that one. It was- You always look good, buddy. 59:07 [laughs] It was the, it was the fitness that he was suffering from, not the tires. [laughs] Yeah, yeah. [laughs] Right, yeah. Coronados performed wonderfully. Yeah, tires- My legs failed miserably. His legs. 59:14 Thank you for clarifying. [laughs] 'Cause I was on the same tires. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So thank you. [laughs] And I saw Chelsea for, like, two minutes at the beginning, and that was it. 59:20 [laughs] That was pretty fun, though. We both – did you do your fat bike that year? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Nice. Great. 59:24 Um, I've, uh – I think the, the toughest physically, um, but the toughest, yeah, physically was the Margie Gesick. Yeah. Right. Um, 100. I've done it twice now. Ugh. Um, but mentally I felt awesome. 59:37 The toughest mentally, I think, was the DK 200. Mm. Dark places in that race. Mm. But Margie, whoa, like golf clap for you on that one. Meet some demons out there in the woods. 59:46 That's – oh, yeah, you find out what you're really made of- And some mountain lions... in those kinds of events, right? 59:49 Like, things can- Oh, and then, uh, two weeks before that, I did the, the Almanzo Royal 160 in the rain. Oh, it was like two weeks before. But it was like cold rain. [laughs] Totally. Um, so- Keep crushing me. Yeah. 1:00:03 Tires on your fat – I assume you all personally have a fat bike. Mm-hmm. Tires on it right now? Right now? Right at this moment. I can't remember if I switched the wheels. Doesn't mean anything. I think Rathlords. 1:00:12 Rathlord? Yeah. I'm gonna s- I'm gonna cheat here, and I'm mounting up Rathlords right now, so Rathlords. Rathlord. Mm-hmm. Uh, I have one set with Rathlords and the other set with what we like to call Tan Helga. 1:00:22 Yeah, Tan Van Helga. Or sorry, Tan Van Helgas. Yeah, I'm on 27 1/2 Van Helgas, uh, now, and then I have some Studded Dillingers that are primo. Um, favorite 45Nrth product? Any product. Oh, that's tough. 1:00:36 That's like Sophie's Choice. I know. Uh, uh... I'm pointing at him to increase pressure. Yep. I'm gonna go with the new Wolfhammers. New Wolfhammers. Scott? I'm trying to make my, my secret noise here. Here it is. 1:00:51 [horn honking] [laughs] Jesus. [laughs] We – I need a mixing board, like just a button for that anytime I need it. There's an app for that. We could do that, actually, yeah. There's an app. I think I get to pass. 1:01:00 I love them all, right? Like, how do I- Yeah. I can't really pick. It's hard for that. XL Stud is my single favorite product. Awesome. XL Stud. Uh, this is-Silly. 1:01:10 Um, and I actually, but I hear it from a lot of people, the greasy cap. I was gonna say the greasy cap. Oh, damn. I forgot about that. 1:01:15 I waffle between Wolfhammer and greasy cap, but God, I wear that greasy cap- Oh, yeah... more rides- Yeah... than any other piece that I own because it's so versatile. Mm-hmm. Uh, I think I have three of them. 1:01:26 'Cause, you know, you don't wanna put... You get a little sweaty, you put it in the, the dryer or whatever, and you gotta put the next one on for the next day, I gotta keep cycling through my greasy caps. 1:01:35 Oh, I do love it. Well, at least you wash yours. [laughs] Well, I would... Yeah, I get instructed to put my dirty clothes in the laundry. That's what I- [laughs] And then they come out clean. 1:01:44 I'm not really sure what happens. [laughs] It's magic. Yeah, it's, it's definitely magic. Um, thank you, guys. Uh, social media, anyone wanna just take this? 1:01:53 Uh, 45NRTH and Teravail, Instagram, Facebook, uh, any of that stuff. Uh, Steve, maybe you. Yeah, what about- Where can we find you? Oh. Where can, where can listeners get more access to 45NRTH and Teravail information? 1:02:06 Yeah, exactly that. Search 45NRTH or Teravail on Instagram or Facebook. Um, we're posting quite frequently, and as of, uh, about a year ago, we really started updating our YouTube, uh, channels- Oh, great... 1:02:19 on both of them, so you're gonna see a lot of product videos, and every once in a while you might see some cool brand piece videos as well. 1:02:24 Yeah, that's- Yeah, and in case you don't know us at all, it's, uh, we dropped the vowel, so it's 45 N-R-T-H. Yep. Thank you. I was just gonna touch on that. Excellent. Yep. N-R-T-H, 45 N-R-T-H. 1:02:34 Uh, I'm amblake50 on Instagram. I am Adam Blake on Facebook. [laughs] Uh, can't really do anything about that. [laughs] Uh, I work at World of Bikes in Iowa City, Iowa. We are- Which is an awesome shop. We... 1:02:47 Hey, man, we've really supported and, and been... It's been a pleasure to be able to grow with brands like 45NRTH, Teravail, uh, really in, in specific niches of cycling that I'm so fond of. 1:02:58 Uh, I, I always appreciate it. Uh, that's worldofbikesic on Instagram, just World of Bikes on Facebook. 1:03:04 Uh, and as usual, as you will come to realize, we are on fatbike.com, your place, fat bike information, brand awareness, product awareness. 1:03:16 Not just fat bikes, some plus bikes, some gravel stuff trickling in there and stuff. Um, always a pleasure. Thank you guys both. You know, Chelsea just jetted. Uh, she got tired of me, so- [laughs]... 1:03:28 uh, that's, that's cool. Thank you, guys. She's got, she's got a race today. Appreciate your time. Sweet. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks so much. It's been great. Of course.
