On the Wednesday before Sea Otter, a rare opportunity came my way. Troydon Murrison, owner and founder of Crestline bikes gave me a call. The South African was heading up to Santa Cruz to ride with Sam Blenkinsop, a veteran pro downhill racer with a World Cup victory and World Championship medals to his credit. Did I want to come along?
How could I say no?
Blenkinsop surprised more than a few people by signing with Crestline for the 2023 season. It is an upstart brand based out of California with a concise line of bikes built on the Virtual Pivot Point suspension platform with technical support from Cascade Components. They make one downhill frame, which Blenkinsop will race in the World Cup and two e-MTBs. On this particular day, we were taking out the long-travel Crestline RS 75/50 EEB, equipped with Bosch CX Race.
On the drive up to the famous Campus trails, I had a chance to talk to the Kiwi pro about how he has incorporated e-bike technology into his training for the fastest, most difficult downhill races in the world. He had plenty of other interesting and surprising insights on e-bike technology too.
Direct Current: So tell me about how you use e-mountain bikes for anything — training, fun, whatever.
Sam Blenkinsop: I use it for everything pretty much now. I’m not really into sitting on a chairlift anymore. I’m getting to a point now, I’ve got children and stuff, so I don’t have much time in the day. So I pretty much use my e-bike as my downhill training, in a sense, because the platform of the downhill bike and the e-bike is kind of similar, and it rides similar. And the weight is not a big thing. I like the weight of the e-bike. When I jump back on my downhill bike it feels lighter. It’s kind of like when I ride motocross — you’ve got speed, and you’ve got the weight.
And then also for hunting missions too. I’ve done a lot now on the e-bike, and it can get me into country where it’d be a longer hike, so I can get to the top of the mountains and glass. I got a decent animal, a good stag, my first stag on the e-bike. Actually on the Crestline bike.
DC: So you’re using your same Crestline bike for everything. It’s not like a dedicated hunting bike?
SB: Just the same bike. I got in there on a four-wheel-drive track, so it’s not like I’m just hacking up and wrecking the bike or anything. It’s just like a normal trail, and it was really steep, so it was just full, full turbo. And then it just gets me up there and then once I’m up, I’ve got the time to glass around and then I can cruise down. It saves me spending like five hours hiking. It can be like an hour, you know? Then I’m in and out, and then you find the animal, cuz you’ve only got a certain period of time. When you’re hunting, you’ve only got like the first light, which is an hour and then the last hour of light. So that’s when the animals are moving around. That’s when I found that the animal, in the last hour of light. And then shot it, and then took it out.
For hunting missions, I’ve done a lot now on the e-bike, and it can get me into country. I got a decent animal, a good stag, my first stag on the e-bike. Actually on the Crestline bike.
— Sam Blenkinsop on how he hunts with his e-bike
It’s just different things you can do with them. I spend probably three times a week on my e-bike now. Working with Crestline now, I just enjoy riding the bike more because it’s more similar to my downhill bike. When I was on Norco, the bikes were completely different.
I do my intervals and stuff as well sometimes. Some days, I turn the motor on, and I do high-cadence for a minute, and then turn the motor off and then a real hard grind climbing. So I do a minute on, minute off. And then after I’ve done the climb, and then I get to ride, have some fun as well instead of just being on the road bike. So, it’s interval stuff and then I get to ride the trails as well. It’s a bit more fun.
When I’m climbing, I’m just trying to max out the motor. I’m pretty much killing myself. Then, I’m just riding all the downhills just faded. So when I come to a race scenario, it’s easier.
— Blenkinsop on training with an e-MTB
DC: So you’re actually toggling the motor settings specifically based on how you’re doing a workout?
SB: Yeah, yeah. So the rest period, the minute-off high cadence, well it’s not really a rest, it’s high-cadence, so I’m spinning out, trying to stay on top of the motor, but you’re still really working. You are using high and low cadence Then also some days, when I’m doing the downhill days on the e-bike, I just go and ride for an hour, an hour and a half, and then I just try and ride all the trails in my park. There’s some small trails, like 30 seconds to a minute long. So it’s kind of like an hour of downhill laps, but then when I’m climbing, I’m just trying to max out the motor. I’m just pretty much killing myself, really. Then I’m just riding all the downhills just faded. So when I come to a race scenario, it’s easier. I like racing cross-country as well, but on the e-bike, it’s more fun so you can ride the downhills properly.
DC: Are you the type of guy who just leaves it on turbo for the downhills? Or do you change the motor modes when you’re on a downhill?
SB: I keep it on like Tour or sometimes Eco. It depends on what I’m doing. I kind of like to save the battery. Because then sometimes I’m like, ‘Ah, maybe I’ll just keep going for like two, three hours.’ People are like, ‘Ah, e-bikes, you’re just doing nothing.’ But you’re not. It’s a different feeling.
I feel like, if you get e-bike, you want one with the full travel. Because I’m a downhiller, I want something that can keep up with my speed, not just like kill the bike, you know? And you’ve got the weight with the motor and the battery and everything.
— Blenkinsop on why he prefers long-travel e-MTBs
DC: Do you remember the first time you did a proper ride on an e-mountain bike?
SB: Yeah, at first I thought they were just shit. It was when I was riding for Norco, and I took one out in Whistler. It was after a day of just like doing downhill, and I was just really buggered. So I took it for a ride to see what I think. I was just, ‘Oh, it’s not gonna be that enjoyable.’ It was only a small-travel one, it was like a 140 or something. I think the Sight, and I was like, ‘Oh man, this is awesome.’ I just like loved the climbing, and I killed myself but obviously it didn’t ride the down as well because it was a small-travel one.
Then after that I ordered one from Norco, and I got the biggest travel one. I feel like, if you get e-bike, you want one with the full travel. Because I’m a downhiller, I want something that can keep up with my speed, not just like kill the bike, you know? And you’ve got the weight with the motor and the battery and everything. You just want that enjoyment out of the bike instead killing yourself after you’ve had all this fun climbing.
At first I thought they were just shit. So I took it for a ride to see what I think, and I was like, ‘Oh man, this is awesome.’
— Blenkinsop on his first e-MTB ride.
DC: You said you ride dirt bikes too, like how, what’s the comparison there with um, riding an e-bike?
SB: Yeah. I have both now. So I have a Surron as well, an electric motorbike. I use that for hunting as well if I’m more lazy, if I don’t want to pedal. Sometimes I feel like you have more speed on the e-bike than a downhill bike because you’re, I guess you’re riding the trail more times and you learn the trail and then the weight of the bike you feel more safe as well because it’s more planted. I feel like I ride faster on most of the trails, and then it’s the same sort of feeling when I’m on a motorbike, cause I’m going faster. And then when I jump on the downhill bike I feel like I’m at a slower speed. I ride a lot of like stuff in the woods. When I’m on the motorbike, it feels a lot faster. But then when I’m on the downhill bike it feels safe and a lot slower. Especially for World Cup stuff now it’s a lot faster and everything’s hidden, coming a lot faster. So when you’re riding a moto in the woods, it’s like you’re thinking all the time trying to keep control the bike without hitting a tree. So then when you get on the mountain bike, it’s a lot more nimble and then you’re doing these faster speeds
DC: Are a lot of your fellow downhill World Cup racers on e-bikes now?
SB: Basically I think everyone pretty much has an e-bike now. You see all the top World Cup guys like Bernard [Kerr] and Minaar. Sometimes at the end of the day, you feel a bit buggered after training, but you just want a little spin just to get the blood flow going. Like, I’ve been like a bit sick the last week, so I’ve just been using the e-bike to get the blood flowing and then get up the hills and do a ride and then I feel so much better. It’s just like a million things you can do with them. It’s just like another tool for us.
I’ve said to everyone now, if I wasn’t racing or anything, and I had one bike, I’d just have an e-bike for sure. Because I’ve got children now, and I just don’t have time to do the rides like I used to when I was younger, spend a whole day out in the forest and whatever. I only have an hour or so or sometimes two, so I feel like when I’m on the e-bike, I can do the same amount of riding that I do like in a whole day in a few hours. And I’m just buggered and then the battery’s dead too most of the time
If I wasn’t racing or anything, and I had one bike, I’d just have an e-bike for sure. Because I’ve got children now, and I just don’t have time to do the rides like I used to when I was younger, spend a whole day out in the forest
— Blenkinsop
DC: What was your impression when Crestline approached you to, to see about riding with them?
SB: I was pretty stoked about it. I wasn’t sure at the start, ‘cause I didn’t know about the bike, but I had a good feeling because they worked with Cascade Components. Even though the bike was developed and everything, I felt like it was still like a prototype for me. Now I can change the link or whatever and change things quite easily. Out of the box, when I got the bike I was like really surprised. The very first corner I hit, the first time I took it out, I was like, ‘Ah, I’ve done a good decision here!’ The bike just turned amazingly. I was just surprised at how good it felt and then how quick and easy it was to change the linkages and stuff. I’ve worked with Norco and it took, I’d say, four years to even change anything. And then literally this was like, almost like two-week turnaround for a linkage change. So it’s quite cool seeing that process.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.