Hello Vital MTB Visitor,
We’re conducting a survey and would appreciate your input. Your answers will help Vital and the MTB industry better understand what riders like you want. Survey results will be used to recognize top brands. Make your voice heard!
Five lucky people will be selected at random to win a Vital MTB t-shirt.
Thanks in advance,
The Vital MTB Crew
It's hard to get 26t chainrings and bikes are far from optimised for chainrings that small... Sram for example doesn't even make rings smaller than 30t (for 1x12).
Swapping out my 1x11 for an Eagle setup 2 bikes ago was a revelation.
Big part of the whole gear thing is also local terrain and the steepness of the climbs. My local climbs are an utter pain and going 52t in the cassette was an improvement over the previous 50t.
I'm really enjoying 10s Linkglide...
Required parts on a higher end complete bike. Today they don't come with pedals, which is a good start. In addition to no pedals I wish there was a build option to also exclude the saddle, seatpost, grips, bar and stem. If I bought a new complete bike today they would all be changed to what I like/fits me. Then I would be left with a pile of parts I don't want which is a waste of $/materials/energy... I recall one brand offering an option like this and don't recall which one.
Let me know if you would also change most or all of these parts on a new complete build.
He was hunting for 1.25 units. Went down a rabbit hole looking for any axles, even checking Ali. No dice. Alternate solution established, 1.5mm Time Serts.1.5 axles are still available readily.
For the presta averse: https://www.ethirteen.com/products/quick-fill-plasma-schrader-valve
you don’t have a need for a bottom bracket tool and a cassette tool?
mandatory iscg tabs for ebike motors
Sorry never mind one.
Internal cable routing can do one.
15mm axles need to go back to 20mm, the industry went boost for supposedly stiffness, then smaller 15mm axles, figure that one out????
Quick release no thanks.
Last one:
12 speed, why on earth would I need a 52t chainring, and a super long mech flapping about? 11 SPD 46t is plenty for me thanks
Can we pleeeeease let the 20mm thing die?! 15mm axles are FINE and one of the few things that are close to universal! Forks are plenty stiff as they are so I don't get why people keep banging on about that one
I also think 12speed is pretty spot on these days - I found 11spd was close but wasn't quite there in terms of range + steps between gearing so I had to compromise at one end. Might be fine for people who have less climbing or fast descents but I feel like 12 speed can work for everyone at the moment
Seems like not many know this but Shimano make a 12 speed shorter cage derailleur (XT & XTR) setup to be paired with a 10-45 cassette (SLX/XT/XTR). Been running this setup with a 30T chainring for 3+ years now and love it.
Headset bearing angle. No idea why both 45/45deg and 36/45deg exist but if everyone could agree to pick just one of them that would appreciated.
Direct mount chainring standard would be nice to be universal across the big three (shimano/sram/race face) but that's probably never gonna happen. At least Race Face seems okay with other brand using the cinch mount.
6802 bearing used in freehub, don't know if it's just the oe bearing being of poor quality but they are always going bad way too quickly compared to the other bearings in the rear hub. But I haven't tried good industrial brand bearing like NTN/FAG/NSK/SKF.
After fighting with Hope cranks over the weekend, I'd kill the following:
Proprietary Spindles
Proprietary tools for crank arm/spindle removal
Non 30mm Spindles
Non BSA Bottom Brackets
BSA30 12/16 Notch (Just pick one or the other)
I’d like to lose the standard where “entry level” bikes are £2-3k and entry level E-Bikes are £5.5k+ with a spec I’d be willing to ride. Absolutely ludicrous.
To me the 15/20mm debate is to do with being able to put my DH wheels on my trail bike. If 15mm is strong enough for DH, great, put that on everything, otherwise, put 20mm on everything. Also, isn't a 15mm hub also a 20mm hub with extra inserts to make it suitable for 15mm axles, so it doesn't even end up being lighter overall? Would also mean sellers/manufacturers don't need to stock/make twice as many hub standards.
Push guy couldn't even fully articulate (or reasonably justify) the actual necessity for 15mm axles. We all know the inverted, single crown design is inherently going to have more 'benefical compliance' flex patterns...but he never directly justified the need for 15mm over 20mm, even though the entirety of the project was dedicated to making a stout, predictable inverted single crown trail fork.
15mm is trash, unjustified, weighs more and really truly is kept around exclusively for XC monkey holdouts who shouldn't dictate real world performance on bikes meant to fuck.
Done
Anyone saying 12spd is overkill is welcome to try out Slovenian terrain. Or any glacial or steep river valley mountain range terrain for that matter.
How is 15mm heavier than 20mm?? If anything bearing lifetime in 15mm hubs is longer than with 20mm hubs.
Unless you force yourself to run 34t and up chainrings...I don't even see the purpose of 11sp let alone the nonsense of 12sp.
Rather have the stronger chain option (9/10sp chain geometry) and a thoughtful gear-spaced 10sp 10-46t cassette on a 32t oval chainring. Would be *plenty* fine, crazy light, stronger, more reliable. Still hitting a 46t rear, I mean...that's what 80% of riders are best suited for.
Ever since picking up a 29er I've ran a 30t chainring in the front. A 32t on the 27,5" bike before that (on Eagle), a 50t cassette on it and the previous 29er and a 52t cassette on the current 29er. I also downgraded from 175 to 170 and now 165 cranks. Shorter cranks should be used with smaller chainrings too. Because of that I'm more likely to go to a 28t chainring than I am to a 32t. 34t is just stupid for stuff we have around here.
Becuae I suspect assumption about weakness are coming, you are welcome to come for a visit. And no, I will not push my bike up the hill if it's too steep, if I wanted to walk, I'd go for a hike, not ride my bike.
TL,DR: don't assume what kind of drivetrains people need. And if 10spd really was enough, it would have taken off. There are 9spd and 10spd wide range drivetrains out there but I bet (based off the 12spd jumps) the jumps between gears are too big. On tarmac transfers it's quite possible to not be able to find the goldilocks zone with current 20 % at the bottom of current cassettes.
20mm was universal, now all my old 20mm wheels that are still fine to use no longer fit on any new forks.
I've taken 12 SPD off my bikes and fitted 11spd. Less sensitive as latest Shimano mechs bend like foil. Looking to machine my own cages soon.
I've done same gone to 30t on my 29er with 165mm cranks.
My mullet is 32t with 165mm cranks, gonna try this silly SRAM gx 12 SPD eagle for a while then go back to 11 SPD when it breaks
It gets to a point with these huge cassettes, must be going so slow would be faster to walk???
Everybody pulls out the walking card. First of all, if it can be avoided, I'm not pushing my 15+ kg bike up a fire road when I can ride it. It's like trying to hammer a nail with your fist while you are holding a hammer with the other hand. Second of all, just yesterday a bunch of people on a test race were walking on a fire road and a fairly steep uphill trail and were much slower than people riding past them. Including people riding 30-52t ratios on 29ers.
If Shimano derailleurs are soft, just go Sram. I rode an X01 for 4 and a half seasons over 350k meters of climbing and 450k meters of descending, straightened the hanger multiple times and sold it off to a friend who replaced the a year old gx derailleur with it and was shocked at how much better it shifts.
Yup just fitted a SRAM gx 12spd hours ago, I'm building up a new bike, waiting for a few more bits to arrive and hopefully test it next weekend. Pretty sure i will end up reverting back to 11spd again tho.
I don't have any fire roads I can't get up on 10/11 SPD or even 9spd back in the 26" day.
I can kinda see the advantage of 12spd on a really rough/loose crazy steep climb, but would probably just push at that point as my heart rate would max out.
Gonna self report here but... Everything in dual 29 or MX if you're lucky. (Especially companies that offer dual 27 or MX for medium or smaller... but not large. Just to spite me.)
I don't know what to do. I'm not a fan of wagon wheels but aside from buying old bikes I'm running out of options. And, in a terrible bit of irony, the few 650b rigs left are fucking Yeti and Pivot. Just to really hammer home how I can't afford this hobby lol.
Basically looking at a Marin Rift Zone. Currently own the Kona Process 153. Giant Trance X might be an option, not sure for how long. (Luckily they never change things so good I guess.) Transition Scout and Norco Shore are frighteningly close to yeti pivot prices now. GG shut down. Propain seems to be selling the last of their 275 stock. Not sure if Clash will stick around. Iffy on Fuji/Salsa. And I think that's entirely it. For new stock. Actually most of that is old stock if we're being honest... But bikes with a warranty basically.
I think it’s time to change water bottle boss spacing.
shits been the same for at least 40 years now with no competition. This is the final frontier of MTB innovation.
Have you looked at banshee?
You're a God damn monster.
Water bottle boss' are literally the only universal thing on bikes.
Which is crazy, right? As I see it, that’s the only standard on a bike. I got bottle cages from 20+ years ago that still fit any new bike. 6 bolt rotor mounting comes close to being a standard, but Centerlock. Everything else isn’t a standard, it’s dealers choice.
Lawd, some of you kids don’t know the hell of the olden days when there were 75 seatpost sizes and every bike had a unique derailleur hanger. Yeah, there’s issues with too many headsets these days, but it’s got nothing on that derailleur hanger chaos.
Until there is a industry supported governing body taking care of standardisation nothing is a standard. More like guidelines.
Airdrop, Banshee, and Knolly are options for dual 27s, and the bikes all look solid. I ended up nabbing a Status frame, running a 29 fork with a Production Privee lower cup extender to run a 27 up front. Haven't done the trig on it but the bike rides wicked fun, which is way more important than what a geo chart says.
Like old ones? Not seeing any dual 27 for Airdrop atm. Also these bikes price-wise kinda fall in the 'so expensive I could just get a pivot/yeti' category. Or at least a Norco Shore or Transition Scout. But yeah they're on my radar. Just way far off from center due to less availability in SoCal and fairly expensive MSRP.
I'm also addicted to older/conservative geometry and short chainstays so... Its basically old Kona Processes for me until I run out. Gonna be in my retirement home with a 2020 p153 sayin 'they dont make em like these bad boys back in the day'
The Edit and Slacker from Airdrop are both 27s, but I get your drift on pricing. FWIW, I've a Trance X29 and the only neg I have with it is the low stack, solved by a 60mm rise bar. For what they have the 27.5s going for now, I'd say they're worth a look.
Post a reply to: If You Could Change One Current MTB Standard...