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new giant reign deets (WHAT UP REIGN SX!)
https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/giant-introduces-all-new-ra…
You heard it here first folks, Giant is cool again
@sspomer how does it work when there are a bunch of press releases and bike releases on the same day like this? Is this just total coincidence? Is there some sort of market driver for fiscal year end or something on 12/1? I assume the product managers for these brands are pretty plugged in and have a pretty good idea of other company pending releases... or they get the info through the component mfg's somehow or is that assumption wrong? Is there a feedback loop from journalists that oof, that release date you chose is uhhh, busy?
Good day to have a beer at the end of the day and read about new stuff, that's always cool!
That routing looks like a mess
Spomer has way more experience in this field than I do, but I am always impressed that the first of every month is jam-packed with press releases. I always expect it to be busy on the 1st, and I've been curious why brands still launch new bikes/products on the first when you can only assume other press releases will be hitting the homepage.
I know people at brands chat, but with how many factors go into planning a product launch, it's got to be tough to change an embargo last minute just because someone else is launching something. I'm sure it happens to some degree though. I guess you just hope what you are launching is more progressive/eye-catching/important than others?
good question @ebruner. i actually have no idea how it works on the industry side. we knew orbea, giant and commencal were coming out today (anywhere from a few weeks to a week notice), and we got a generic PR email from scott last night at 130am about the lumen. the tip in this forum about "scott ebike on dec 1" was all we knew until that email dropped LOL. we don't tell brands about other launch dates (we're too busy w/ our own work), but i'm sure it can happen. not sure it would matter for big brands though. once a date is set, they're sticking w/ it.
a guess is that a bunch of containers with parts and/or frames have finally landed within the last few months and now bikes can be assembled and made ready for sale. maybe all these brands were waiting on the same thing? i don't know about fiscal year details or any of that. maybe they wanted to wait until after black friday so a deal wouldn't be expected on anything? i'd assume sales departments, marketing and PMs all work together to coordinate the launch times though.
edit: OR, maybe the International Headtube-routed Cable Alliance finalized their strategy for taking over the world last night
My experience with releases [mostly software, but with products in general] is that you release: a) when it's actually ready to ship, b) when your clients threaten to cancel their account if you don't release RFN, c) when it makes sense from a marketing perspective, d) if you need to get ahead of a competitor, or e) so you don't have to release at an inconvenient time.
I imagine that some brands will release on Dec. 1 because it's less than a month until x-mas, and they want people thinking about buying a new bike instead of buying crap for their families. The closer you get to the holidays, the greater the chance that the new new thing is just going to get lost in the chaos.
My $0.02, YMMV
One new standard I’d love to see in the bike industry would be a geometry chart where I can actually see what frame size I’m looking at when I scroll down to the numbers. And please just put the interesting numbers at the top. Nobody’s buying their next bike because of the rad head tube length.
Speccing a zeb fork with a shock without piggy bag, why?
Brands have their ear on their ground for sure and occasionally definitely use that to their advantage. Santa Cruz launched reserve with the Danny Mac vid the same day we are one launched. That wasn’t a coincidence by any means.
But generally if anything brands are trying to stagger their releases to get eyes on their launch media and not step on any toes whether on purpose or accident.
So, a friend who knows how much I loved my Chromag Rootdown just texted me about that Outside site having a couple of pics of a Chromag enduro bike.
The jockey is mounted to the swingarm up+left of the main pivot, near the shock shaft (see the pic of the Supre version).
Peep the granny gear descending! Not sure if the TQ will be able to keep up with that cadence. Looks like a rad bike though, but my trail bike now ways significantly more than an E bike, Oh what a time to be alive.
Somewhat off topic... but it finally happened....We have a headset routed bike in the shop that had it's bars spin and sheered the brake hose under a hard rotation.
Couldn't see that coming 😅
With all of these light eeBs being released, I'm hoping to start seeing companies make interchangeable bolt-on BB structure assemblies that can be swapped with the motor and batteries for a 100% human powered and lighter ride. That scott would be about 26 lbs without the battery and motor, so 28ish if you add a BB within some alu/carbon structure. Would be awesome to be able to ditch the motor for access to specific/protected trail systems, for occasional racing, or summers in the bike park. While they could charge a pretty penny for it, this would certainly cannibalize sales of non-electric mtbs. Anyone seen patents, rumors, or protos of something similar to this idea? I'm sure with enough $$$ it could be commissioned from WRP or another fabricator to bolt a proto onto a Kenevo SL or any of the other light eeBs released recently.
I guess you mean eMTBs? Fazua already lets you drop the motor and battery.
That can also sound a lot like 'companies make/design eMTBs only, and you get to decide if you want the motor/battery installed'. Maybe they still sell the regular bike but it's just a motorless version of the eeb.
It's almost like I made a forum thread about this
I'll add my $0.02 here too being I used to work in a world where news (and press releases) was everything. I also have direct knowledge & insights into the outdoor industry.
Big picture, general timing around the launch of a product is very important and something that is thought through thoroughly. Questions usually considered include do we have the product to actually sell/ship to dealers? Have the dealers been made aware? Will this cannabilize some other product in our line or make a certain version irrelevant? Has the media been given ample time to test the product (sometimes these tests/launches go hand in hand; less of a thing in supply chain crunch)? However, the *specific* day is a little more of a craps shoot. Most companies have done the basic homework and know the best day for an announcement is Tues-Thurs.
Knowing what the competition is doing is one thing, knowing specifically when they are launching another. Outside my time in media where we were given embargoed PRs, the competition doesn't know exactly what is launching and when (unless they have a friend at the media outlet who backchannels this information to them). Furthermore, companies keep a lot of their R&D under wraps (looking at you Yeti - they have an entirely different off site building they do all R&D at) so its extra hard to know what is even coming.
The exception to everything I'm writing is something like earnings or an investor day (if you are a publicly traded company). Those are forecasted and put on a calendar months ahead of time with some cultural consideration given (but not much; IE - you know Apple's product launch day way in advance, you aren't going to launch your widget on the same day).
Remember, way back in the day, basically every product launch happened at the tradeshow (interbike) and a new lineup was rolled out year/year. This new way of launching product is far more efficient and sensible (being bikes don't care about the orientation of the earth to the sun), but it makes the Vitals and Pinkbikes a lot more important to these launches.
YMMV
@baronKanon yes, you can drop the motor but can you bolt on a normal, non-electric BB?
@Masjo feel free to share the link to the existing thread to lead this topic away from the main tech rumors. This is exactly what I'm talking about. If manufacturers offered one frame design with 2 interchangeable bolt-on modules, a) traditional BB w. chainguide mounts, b) a motor and battery. Seems pretty feasible, though it would be less optimal for pedaling from little extra weight and in terms of suspension tuning. Lots of AM or longer travel bikes up for sale these days in Europe because people are mostly riding electric steeds. Most would prefer to keep a bike without a motor too but can't justify a bike worth $3-4k sitting idle around the garage.
If you want to continue the lightweight eeb conversation, here's the thread:
https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/The-Hub,2/Lightweight-eMTBs-heavier-MTB…
You have described the one single thing I pray never ever ever becomes common
When this happens i'm pretty sure somehow all the prices will rise even more while manufacturing will get cheaper
Will going back to non-headset cable routing the new threaded BB? Companies jump on the integration trend now and then in a few years some company will go back to the "old, better style" of external routing and be lauded for finally listening to the consumer and then over the next three years most companies will return to where we are now in the ever cyclic world of... Well, cycling.
Long time listener, first time caller. Really enjoy this nerdery when its not derailled by eebs. Grabbed a few screen shots of the new sram derailleur for everyones enjoyment!
Cheers!
I heard a rumour that the SRAM flat-top chain was going to be necessary for decent shifting with the new derailleur and [presumably] cassette. Can anyone corroborate?
Yeah, one of the earlier posts has more details (IIRC the cassette was marked as "flat-top only" or something similar...)
From another forum: " I had a conversation with a reliable source, who has access to supply chain ordering for new bike builds at a well known company. He advised me not to order any SRAM Force, as they are being updated in March 2023."
Dunno if they're going to release all AXS stuff at the same time, but that's in-line w/ what other folks have posted for the new Eagle release...
here are the first shots of it from this summer, 2nd shot of cassette indicates specific chain
https://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/New-SRAM-Drivetrain-at-World-C…
Well, you’ve already mentioned WRP yourself - just check his Instagram to see which other project he’s involved in. Exactly what you have in mind with the interchangeable bb section, although currently it’s for going from standard drivetrain to a prototype one, their own design, but he and the others have some thoughts about e-bike-nising the thing in future!
Ah, thanks for this. I know from working with the Force drivetrains that it can take a long time [a couple hundred km] to get the chain and cassette to mesh/shift well. Hopefully, SRAM fixed that for the Eagle version.