A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
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A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Shifting Gears: The Revolution of Viral Bikes
What happens when you completely reimagine how a bicycle drivetrain should work? Steve Domahidy, founder of Viral Bikes, is betting that the future of cycling lies not with the 100-year-old derailleur technology we've all grown accustomed to, but with an internal gearbox system that promises to be virtually indestructible.
From his new headquarters in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas, Domahidy shares the fascinating evolution of Viral Bikes—a boutique titanium bike brand that's spent nine years perfecting its revolutionary approach to mountain bike design. At the core of every Viral bike is a 12-speed internal gearbox that eliminates traditional derailleurs, cassettes, and chains, replacing them with a sealed drivetrain and Gates belt drive system. The result? Bikes that require almost no maintenance (just a 30-second oil change every 6,000 miles), offer incredible stability with centralized weight and deliver unmatched durability for everything from technical trail riding to remote bikepacking adventures.
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Welcome to New American Town. I'm your host, nat Ross. Today we're sitting down with Steve Domohedy, the founder of Viral Bikes. It's a high-end boutique mountain bike brand that's turning heads with their high-performance titanium frames, progressive geometry and advanced drivetrain technology. Viral just celebrated their grand opening right here in Bentonville earlier this month in Shide Airship. They're at the Pump House. They make one of the most unique spots to demo a bike, purchase a bike, learn about the bikes while you grab a coffee and check out their beautiful bikes. We're going to talk about their journey and what makes Viral Bikes unique and why Bentonville was the perfect place to set up shop. Well, without further ado, I would like to welcome Steve Domohedy. So, steve, for the listeners out there on the podcast of A New American Town, some of them this is their first intro to viral bikes, so tell us about viral bikes and the brand yeah, thanks, nat, uh, thanks for having me on, thanks for visit bentonville, for um, for setting this up.
Steve Domahidy:This is a really amazing opportunity. I love, uh, sharing the journey of viral bikes, so I appreciate it, thank you. Um, viral bikes is, uh, we're a small company, we're a niche company. Uh, we've been doing it for nine years. Um, we've been making gearbox bikes, titanium gearbox bikes, and by gearbox I mean basically that there's a 12-speed drivetrain in in the middle of the frame, basically kind of where an e-bike motor would be, but it's not an e-bike motor and it eliminates the derailleur and the cassette and the chain.
Steve Domahidy:We use belt drives, gates, belt drives on all of our frames and basically it becomes a virtually indestructible drivetrain. You will never have to buy another drivetrain. It is indestructible in almost every way. It also has almost no maintenance. Basically, every 6,000 miles you have to change the oil and, uh, the the belts last about four times as long as a chain would. There's no lube on the belt, it's totally dry. So basically the external of your bike is is effectively maintenance free. I mean, some people do 6 000 miles in a year, some people do 6 000 miles in five years, but basically all you have to do is change the oil. It takes about 30 seconds.
Nat Ross:So, steve, walk us through the conception of Viral, because for you, cycling is a big passion of yours. You've founded several brands, you've been in the mountain bike space for a while and Viral Bikes takes all those elements of mountain biking but puts it into the future. So I know you briefly spoke about kind of the gearbox, but also why titanium, and then and then also the Gates belt drive like very intriguing, especially in Arkansas for a lot of folks that continually the wear and tear. So there's so many benefits to what you're doing, but you're also light years ahead a lot, of, a lot of the other brands well, uh, I've, I've done.
Steve Domahidy:I've been in the industry for 35 years and I've been doing a lot of different things. I worked for stram for a time. I was a bike shop rat in the in the beginning. Uh, most people know me from co-founding niner bikes, right, so I'm not, uh, I'm, I'm. I very much want to push the evolution of the industry forward in ways that make sense, not just for different sake, but different because it is the next evolution of cycling.
Steve Domahidy:The derailleur is a 100-plus-year-old technology. The patents go back to the early 1900s for the derailleur, right, and we have pushed that technology about as far as we can. Yes, you can make incremental changes a little bit better, and certainly SRAM and Shimano continue to do that. But at the end of the day, like the 29-inch wheel was the next evolution of mountain bikes, the gearbox, I believe, is the next evolution of mountain bikes and it just makes sense on every single level. Uh, yes, I've been doing it for nine years with viral um.
Steve Domahidy:In the beginning, uh, the first seven years, say, I kept it as a very niche, very small company because I knew that the technology hadn't quite gotten to the point where mass adoption would be absolutely, like, likely right? Yeah, the mechanical version worked amazing, but the twist shifter for the mechanical version was um divisive. A lot of people just look at grip shift and say I don't like that, I don't want that. Um and uh and basically you know, through that evolution, um Pinion, which is the leader in gearboxes, finally came out with an electronic shifter that allowed for a really incredible user interface with a trigger shifter for the straight bar or working with TRP. They have buttons for drop bars on the drop bar levers that TRP makes for the system. So it suddenly became the next evolution, suddenly became a lot more viable.
Nat Ross:Yeah, and Steve, I think you gave it the analogy of the auto and that element. But realistically, what you're doing with gearbox is a simplifying the equation for the user, correct?
Steve Domahidy:A lot of that, a lot of simplifying for the user. Definitely, low maintenance is one of the main things about the gearbox. That's pretty amazing, but there are a lot of reasons why the gearbox is better in virtually every single aspect of mountain biking or adventure, gravel racing or riding. Um and and the the low. Having the weight centered and low on the bike in the middle is really uh, makes for an amazingly stable bike, both jumping in the air or just on the ground.
Steve Domahidy:You know our drop bar gravel bike is basically a drop bar mountain bike and it is aggressive in terms of its uh, stability and ability to handle really uh, aggressive terrain. It's got a very slack head tube angle and a very long front center, so it's really stable at speeds. It's stable packed out we have a lot of customers that do bike packing. So because you know the drivetrain again, you don't want to be in the middle of nowhere trying to fix a derailleur hanger that you bent or trying to, you know, get a derailleur to function properly because it got smacked by a rock or because the electronics died or the battery died or something happened to the system and now it's suddenly not shifting. Um, you know, people want to make sure that when they are in the middle of nowhere, that their drive train is the last thing they have to think of. So so we have a lot of people who do you're definitely safeguarding them there.
Nat Ross:So I think the the one piece that is intriguing for a lot of folks now is where can they demo one of your bikes or test ride a bike? Where do they find you? Um, if we say airship, a lot of folks are familiar, but where are you located within the pump house, man?
Steve Domahidy:we are. Yeah, we're at the pump house location, which is on Northwest A, so 802 Northwest A Street is the address for the Pump House. We are in the walkout basement, so around back we have a door that basically opens up to the Slaughterpen Trails, literally out the backyard. The Slaughterpen Trails start one of the starting places for Slaughterpen, and we have several different bikes. We have several straight bar bikes, several drop bar bikes in different sizes that people can come in and demo. Um, get a, get a chance to ride a gearbox. Most people have not ridden the gearbox, and so our brand will be their first opportunity to really sort of understand what the system is, how it's awesome, and get to ride one for themselves.
Nat Ross:Well, and you mentioned your current lineup, so for sure the Slaughterpinch Trail is like literally, you open your door and you have the flow and you're on to All-American in no time. So what about the gravel and your drop bar, gravel frame? What's that demo experience like? Or someone wants to test ride? And what um in in your redesign of the bike and the evolution? Um, because you kind of look into the future of a lot of these things, what do you see the success with folks that are coming into town for big sugar classic um this fall, or anyone wanting to ride some gravel or mountain bike? Um, can you kind of walk through the lineup of what they can um talk to you about or learn about and then perhaps get on a test ride with?
Steve Domahidy:yeah, well, like you said, the uh, the viral derive is our mountain bike and that's our straight bar mountain bike. That is, uh, it's a two up to a 2.6 inch tire, uh, 29 inch front and front and back, and, um, we have several sizes of those to demo and that's, uh, it's a titanium hardtail um built around a 120 travel fork, but it can still take a rigid fork for those who are clearly just doing, um, you know, adventure touring and want to have a capable bike but a straight bar bike and and have the pneumatic suspension. The 2.6 inch tires are really great for, uh, adding comfort to a to a bike packing bike. So, um, that's the derived. The drop bar bike is called the viral wanderer and, uh, it is a drop bar mountain bike, so it also is built to wander uh, quite specifically, and, um, you know, it fits up to a 2.4 inch tire, uh, which is pretty crazy for a drop bar bike. Uh, it's also built around mountain bike standards so you can run, again, a rigid fork on the front or 100 mil travel like a sid or a fox, 32 step cast um and you can kind of switch back and forth.
Steve Domahidy:A lot of, depending on the terrain they're riding will get two forks and switch it back and forth, my wife among them. So in Bentonville in the Northwest Arkansas area, we have an amazing series called Rule of Three, which is gravel, road and single track in a single race, and the Wanderer is absolutely the best bike in the world for that. That ride, that kind of riding where you can rail the single track as comfortably and as adeptly as you could on a mountain bike but you can still have, you know, the drop bar positioning for, uh, the road and gravel sections um, and you know, get a slightly slicker uh tire. You know a gravel specific tire that can do um, that has like a center strip that's a little bit more, more better for the road and gravel um portions of that ride. So yeah, the wanderer is kind of a do-everything bike. My wife and I just took uh two of them to england and did a six-day bike backing trip from Scotland to England. It was really amazing.
Nat Ross:Well, I'm sure you turned some heads there, but also even at Leadville this year the Leadville 100 mountain bike race had a lot of drop bar bikes like the Wanderer. So for sure you're on the right track with what the people want and they can come to Bentonville and ride it. So why did you choose the mountain bike capital of the world to kind of launch viral out of? And then, what's it been like setting up at Airship? I know you just had your grand opening, but it's still a little bit hot in Arkansas. You don't have the destination riders till this fall coming in. How's the grand opening been and what's it looking like that you're influencing the riders in the community now that you're established?
Steve Domahidy:yeah, um, a great question. Um, bentonville is an amazing town. Um, and I don't think people, if you've never visited the city of Bentonville, then you just you just simply can't wrap your head around it. Early on, you know, I had talked to my wife about Bentonville and, and you know, we were looking for places, you know, throughout the country, even including Canada, because my wife is Canadian to move and it just wasn't on the top of her list and it and and neither of us had actually been here before.
Steve Domahidy:And about two years ago, in September, we visited Bentonville for the first time and just were blown away by the city, by the walkability, by the artwork by Crystal Bridges Art Museum, by the work the Walton Family Foundation has done in this city, by Runway Group and Blue Crane and all these organizations the um walton family foundation has done in this city, by, you know, runaway group and blue crane and all these organizations that are basically making the quality of life here in bentonville amazing. And so, within two weeks of going back to our home, my wife was like I think we should move to bentonville and I was like, yes, let's do that. So we sold our house and we moved here. Uh, literally within the span of months, um, and it's been an amazing experience, I think one of the biggest um lessons.
Steve Domahidy:That really wasn't even what drew us here originally, but one of the things that my wife and I quickly found out was how much bike industry and bike advocacy is happening here in Bentonville and it just made it home so much quicker. We've found like-minded people a lot faster. We've found really great friends a lot faster. We've found groups to ride with way, way easier and way better and we just like. It's amazing how the environment here just sucks you in and makes you part of the uh on goings uh, without hardly even trying like it's. It's really ingratiating. The people here are incredibly nice and the bike community itself is just really fantastic. So Viral couldn't be happier to be in a place that is that welcoming and that open to the industry and to bike riders of all types and just simply a wonderful community to be involved with.
Nat Ross:I can tell you that the community here is really excited to have Viral on board and around. It's completely authentic and I think one of the questions that a lot of the folks around Northwest Arkansas are wondering is do you find, steve, that this is a great testing ground for you, or is it helping with the design for your future concepts? Are you getting good feedback, like from the test tracks or for where you work, um, when you're out testing your bikes and working into the future? I don't want to give away trade secrets for the what you're doing down the pipeline, but, um, in general, has this been a good test ground for you for viral?
Steve Domahidy:yeah, I mean honestly the location and uh variability of trails that are so close to now that our downtown location, um headquarters, is really unheard of unless you're living in a mountain town. You know, if you're in, if you're in like copper, if you live in copper or crested butte or you know, uh, breckenridge or something like that, then maybe access is that easy. But most bike companies do not have access to testing grounds that are as good as the ones here and with the trail um, diversity here is really pretty amazing. So I can test in a single day. I can take my gravel bike out, test, ride that on on really chunky, gnarly gravel roads and then come back, grab the mountain bike and go.
Steve Domahidy:Do you know 15 foot drops at kohler, um, and kind of in the same day at the same place, at almost the same place. You know we're able to like loop anything we want for any kind of bike we want. I mean, I I would say if I were testing downhill bikes, maybe this isn't the right location, but viral isn't isn't doing downhill bikes just yet. So we are working on a full suspension bike, we are working on an e-bike, an e-gravel bike, um, and of course, uh have our eyes on the future, for every other kind of bike that we can integrate with a drivetrain like the one we're currently using. So for sure, bentonville is an amazing place to test and verify designs and technologies pretty quickly and easily.
Nat Ross:It's pretty awesome technologies pretty quickly and easily. It's pretty awesome. Well, steve, I think a lot of folks are really intrigued now and they're on their way to Viral HQ, but in the meantime, where can they follow you, either on social media or check out your bikes online, before they make their site to Viral HQ and visit you?
Steve Domahidy:Yeah, and, by the way, just for anybody who's listening out there, if you want to come by and check out the bikes or you want to do a test ride, please reach out to us at info at viralbike. Um, we can set you up. We definitely want to know ahead of time if you're coming in and and and want to take a bike out. We can set it up ahead of time and make sure we have the right size for you and whatnot. So our website is viralbike, so really easy thing to remember. Viralbike and Instagram handle is viral underscore bikes. I believe that's our Instagram handle. I should have known that coming in, but I think that's it. We're pretty easy to find. But, yeah, just make sure we're here and willing and able to get you a bike out the door. It would be lovely to to hear from you all and and um, come by and check out our stuff.
Nat Ross:Well, Steve Domaheity, founder of Viral Bikes Viral HQ in downtown Bentonville at Airship, Very stoked that you were able to join the new American town podcast with us and Bentonville and the community in Northwest Arkansas Super excited that you guys have set up shop and we can't wait to be a part of your journey and ride.
Steve Domahidy:Thanks, nat was amazing opportunity to come on the show and I appreciate. I appreciate your time.
Nat Ross:We love you and can't wait to send you more business. And as Viral Bikes grows, the Bentonville community it's one in the same. So thanks for being part of our great community here. Visit Bentonvillecom. Backslash bike is where you can learn more about all the upcoming events. That is everything from this fall. This is a new American town. Again, I'm your host, nat Ross, and that was Steve Domohedy with Viral Bikes.