SteedCast

I love it when someone does something so different that for a moment it seems to be so pointless, but then the gravity of this new thing sinks in. I was like that when I heard that Steed Cycles were producing Podcasts. Called SteedCasts, faithful employees Dave O’Dowd, Scott Pilecki and Tristan Olk provide one hour of audio hilarity and informative banter. Set-up like a casual chinwag the SteedCasts have had me rolling around on the floor laughing, screaming at my laptop, and hungry for more.

I like this because this idea shows a shop who are willing to try something unique, know their assets (fun and friendly staff) and realize you don’t need to ram the marketing down someones neck to have some benefit to their business. To learn more I approached DOD for a mini Q&A. The first two SteedCasts are linked down below.

NSMB: Where did the idea of podcasts come from?

Dave O’Dowd: The idea for the podcasts came from my desk at my new(ish) office job. Working in Corporate Canada, even with a job I really like has it’s boring times spent in spreadsheets. I’ve been listening to a couple of tech Podcasts and realized I’d never heard one for mountain biking.

NSMB: Why are you doing Podcasts? Is it part of a mahoosive marketing manifesto by the shrewd people at Steed Global Enterprises?

DOD: We were in the process of re-doing our website, so it was the perfect time to create a Podcast Section and gather some Internet Notoriety. Plus anybody who’s been to Steed and talked to Scott or Myself knows that we like to talk, although not necessarily agree [Cough…Schwalbe…cough]. Eventually we’ve got our eye on everything right down to breakfast… Steedios.. they’re like Cheerios made from bike wheels.

NSMB: How do you go about recording them? Have you got a studio or ghetto set-up? If so, can we do a pirate radio station.

DOD: Our setup is semi-pro, we’ve got a good audio recorder and I can do some basic audio mastering, that’s the pro part. The ghetto part is that we record hunched around a coffee table in Tristan’s basement. I think pirate radio dies out with this interweb thing… that being said…”TALK HARD!” (google it)

NSMB: Dave, you do a great job of corralling the conversation and have a voice for radio, is this a natural gift or have you got previous experience?

DOD: It’s probably a natural gift, I’ve been making an ass out of myself for years, so doing it in a podcast is just an evolution of that. It’s not super necessary to corral the conversation much, Scott, Tristan and I have a natural flow and it seems to come back to the point most of the time. Plus half the fun of listening is waiting for the chemistry to break down to insults! Thanks for the compliment on my voice, I ….HEY…WAIT a minute!

NSMB: How drunk do you guys get?

DOD: Not much booze involved yet. I have to drive home at the end of it all. Plus we’re waiting out for a beer sponsorship.

NSMB: How do you organize toilet breaks?

DOD: One two litre bottle in the room… it’s like a road trip of opinions.

NSMB: What is the policy on swearing?

DOD: We’re trying to keep it family, but Scott is definitely the colour commentator. He’s the Rush Limbaugh of Mountain Bike Podcasts.

NSMB: How often will these podcast be coming out?

DOD: We’ve gone up on the iTunes Store and are trying to ramp up to bi-weekly (every two weeks) schedule right now. It really depends on how many people tune in for the madness!

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Take me to your SteedCast…

SteedCasts are available to stream or download on the Steed Cycles website, as well as on iTunes. SteedCast #2 can be found HERE. If you missed SteedCast #1 and want to bone up on your World Cup DH season (plus a bunch of other tangential topics), check that out HERE.

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The SteedCast brings shop talk and friendly banter right into the comfort of your home. What are your thoughts on the format? Have you listened to both SteedCasts? Subscribed? Release your own banter below… they’re listening.