Guest: Sergio Avanto

Sergio Avanto, now at FOX MTB, talks about the innovations in MTB that could work in moto, his path in and out of the motocross industry, working with James Stewart, Chad Reed, Ryan Villopoto, Ken Roczen and others, the politics in factory racing, his accomplishments, regrets and more. --- CHAPTERS --- 00:02 Show intro & sponsor rundown 01:18 Guest intro: Sergio Avanto 02:36 Sergio's return to mountain biking with FOX 04:28 MTB suspension customization, fork tech & OEM testing 14:52 Fork tech evolution & the e-bike suspension challenge 20:20 Specialized's Genie Shock & American vs European rider styles 24:05 Ad reads & FOX's Live Valve NEO system 31:58 USD forks, Answer Manitou & breaking into Factory Yamaha 38:20 Learning suspension from John R and Ross Maeda 44:27 James Stewart's photographic memory & Kawasaki whoop curve 52:24 Adapting bikes to riders (Barcia) & Kawasaki's data problems 59:46 James' L&M fork stiffness debate & Suzuki's frame edge 1:07:34 Ad reads & the pivot-point/AMP-link history 1:13:10 Honda's 2027 bike, leaving Yamaha & Keith McCarty 1:19:02 Kawasaki/RCH suspension politics: Barcia and Roczen 1:31:19 Roczen's low-maintenance Suzuki title & building FOX's MotoShock 1:35:22 Aftermarket suspension struggles & the L&M/Larry Brooks fallout 1:41:31 Ad reads & what made elite riders special 1:44:29 Toughest riders to reach & why data-driven setups fail 1:53:15 Kawasaki's inflexible setups & leaving for RCH 1:57:34 Toxic Suzuki team rivalry & Villopoto as best tester 2:03:43 Happiest career moments & would Sergio return to moto 2:09:58 Custom NEO tune requests & sign-off 2:12:16 Outro