Mark Weir Talks Will vs. Skill, Climbing 1M Feet in a Year, and His Almost Heart Attack
Singletracks Mountain Bike Podcast
Singletracks.com
4.7 • 574 Ratings
🗓️ 5 August 2019
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Note: This episodes contains language some listeners may find offensive.
Mark Weir is a legend in the mountain bike world, having won the Downieville Downhill eight times and making his mark at WTB as a demanding product tester over two decades. He even has a mountain bike tire named after him, the WeirWolf.
In this wide-ranging interview, we talk about enduro racing, climbing a million vertical feet in a year, his near heart attack, trail advocacy, and electric bikes. Mark is an entertaining guest who could easily host his own podcast, so you won’t want to miss this one. It’s already one of our favorites! Here are some of the questions we asked.
* How is downhill endurance racing different from the more traditional, UCI-style downhill mountain bike racing?
* How does enduro racing connect with the ethos established in the early days of mountain biking?
* How and when did riders like yourself bring the French enduro race format to the US? Was there a natural transition from races like the Downieville Classic and super-D events to enduro, or was the change more abrupt?
* When did you start to see frame geometry and components shift in the enduro direction in the US?
* Based on your experience over the years, what’s more important in mountain biking: will or skills? Obviously, you need both, but what’s a good percentage split in your opinion?
* Last year you came dangerously close to suffering what’s known as a widowmaker heart attack. Part of your recovery following surgery has involved riding an e-bike. How has that helped you get back into riding and fitness?
* One of your many claims to fame is you climbed 1M vertical feet on your bike in a single year. Why did you set this as a goal for yourself? What did it take to make this happen?
* Mountain biking has taken you all over the world. What are some of the best trails that stand out in your mind?
* You’ve worked closely with WTB for at least a couple decades now. What are some of the projects you’re most proud to have been a part of? Where do you see opportunities for MTB product improvement in the future?
--Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi, just leave and work now. Sorry, it's a bit loud. Um, basically, so I was thinking we could get Macies tonight. Had a big Mac on my mind all day and delivery fee on the app is now from 99P. So you win? Of course you are. Love you. Bye. |
| 0:13.2 | Exclusively on the McDonald's app. |
| 0:16.0 | 18 plus service fee and small order fee may apply. Participating restaurants. Serving times and teas and seas apply. |
| 0:20.0 | Hey everybody, welcome to the single tracks podcast. |
| 0:23.4 | My name is Jeff, and today my special guest is Mark Weir. |
| 0:27.6 | Mark is a legend in the mountain bike world, having won the Downeyville downhill eight times, |
| 0:32.5 | and making his mark at WTB as a demanding product tester over two decades. He even has a mountain |
| 0:39.8 | bike tire named after him the Weirwolf. Thanks for joining us, Mark. Oh, thanks for having me. |
| 0:45.8 | So you're known as a really accomplished downhill endurance mountain biker. How's that different |
| 0:51.9 | from the more traditional like UCI style downhill mountain bike |
| 0:55.9 | race format? For me, when I started, it was definitely, I really like to get outside. I really like to |
| 1:02.4 | see new things. And when I started racing downhill World Cup, I even did some, some cross-country UCI events, but those guys were so focused and so |
| 1:17.0 | built on, you know, the hamster cage that I couldn't really be involved in as much because |
| 1:22.6 | A, I probably didn't have the talent. B, I didn't have the ability to sit there and do the same thing over and over again. |
| 1:29.4 | It kind of drove me crazy. So with endurance and adventure, you know, I could do new things. I could on-site stuff. |
| 1:37.1 | I could see new places. That's kind of what I was really into doing. And I loved to suffer back then. |
| 1:43.2 | So I wasn't really ever at my top form. I was always |
| 1:46.8 | kind of a little bit tired. But I always thought I could ride through it, but results would show |
| 1:52.3 | otherwise. So Enduro mountain bike racing is obviously a hot format right now. How does that connect |
| 1:58.8 | with sort of the ethos that was established in those |
| 2:01.6 | early days of sort of downhill racing and mountain biking in general? I mean, it was kind of, |
| 2:08.8 | it's funny because we have a story back in probably 2002 with Curtis Keane, who was on our team at |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Singletracks.com, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Singletracks.com and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.