What Changed for Max Hartenstern in His 2025 Breakthrough Season?

Downtime - The Mountain Bike Podcast

Downtime MTB

Sports, Leisure, Fitness, Health & Fitness, Hobbies, Wilderness

4.9 • 628 Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, I’m joined by Germany’s Max Hartenstern, a rider who’s quietly been building toward a breakthrough. Max started out racing BMX before switching to downhill in his early teens, working his way up through the iXS Cups, and eventually finding his rhythm on the World Cup circuit.

We chat about what those early years taught him, how he’s evolved his training and bike setup, and the importance of team dynamics in getting results at the top level. Max also shares his thoughts on the new World Cup format, how he’s learned to keep racing fun, and what’s clicked for him this season as he’s delivered his strongest results yet. So sit back, hit play, and enjoy this episode with Max Hartenstern.

You can also watch this episode on YouTube here.

You can follow Max on Instagram @max.harternstern and on YouTube here.

Podcast Stuff

Episode Sponsors

Fox Racing

This episode is supported by Fox Racing and they recently launched the brand new Jackson Goldstone signature collection. Check it out here.

Canyon

Canyon recently launched the Neuron:ON CLLCTV and it’s a whole lot of fun to ride. With a gravity ready spec and the latest Bosch motor, this is an insanely good bike for £5149. Check it out over at canyon.com.

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Photo – Monica Gasbichler (@mediamoni)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Gwynie was starting in front of me and Minard was in the back of me.
0:03.1	I was like, shit.
0:04.4	It just needs those one result, that one result, did shows you can do it.
0:13.0	Hey everyone, I'm Chris Hall and this is the downtime podcast, the podcast for the true fans of gravity mountain biking,
0:19.1	taking you deeper into the sport than anywhere else.
0:22.0	This episode is sponsored by Canyon and Fox Racing. Over the last few weeks, I've been
0:26.3	lucky enough to spend some time riding the Canyon Neuron On Collective. Canyon engineers have
0:30.9	taken the Neuron on and turned everything up a notch to make it an awesome gravity-ready
0:35.1	e-bike. For just £5,9 pounds, you get the latest Bosch motor
0:39.6	with a removable 800-watt battery,
0:42.3	kit it out with a 160-mill Rockshocks Zeb Ultimate Fork.
0:46.0	Add in Sram Maven brakes, their new Eagle 90 transmission,
0:49.0	and Shwellby's Magic Mary radial tyres,
0:51.2	and you've got a bike that's ready to hit the trails hard.
0:54.0	I also don't think I've seen a better e-bikes bet at that price. Ride in the Neuron Collective is a whole heap of fun. As with all the canyons I've ridden, it's really easy to get to grips with and you're quickly hitting trails at full speed. As e-bikes go, it feels playful and maneuverable, but that combo of Zeb Forks and Maven brakes inspires confidence
1:11.9	to help you hit things faster and faster each run. Then you've got that insanely good Bosch motor
1:16.9	to take you back to the top, ready to go again. The Neuron Collective is available now in all sizes
1:22.1	from Canyon.com. Jackson Goldstone won the World Cup overall last weekend to add to the
1:27.4	World Champ Stripes, and you could say that that was the perfect promotion for his freshly Jackson Goldstone won the World Cup overall last weekend, add to the world champ stripes,
1:28.3	and you could say that that was the perfect promotion for his freshly launched Fox signature collection.
1:33.3	Here is what Fox had to say.
1:35.3	With the constant weight of expectations on his shoulders, Jackson Goldstone's hunt for precious metals struck the richest seam of all to take the gold and title of
	...

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