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!
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The Vital MTB Crew
I think 32” wheels sound amazing for the rough, washboard, rutted Colorado dirt roads. I don’t race and don’t care for sprinting. But some big ol wheels that roll and roll… I like it. Tall comfy front end sounds good too.
Not everything needs to be race-ready
not 32" but prototype giant XC bike from VDS pits today
Interesting that they have gone with the horizontal shock like every other brand, the liv xc bike is flex stay and vertical shock, assumed the new anthem would be the same. Can't see the rear dropout area, but the production bike has to be a flex stay doesn't it?
Can we call this general layout XC crab or something?
damn, I knew it was bad out there, but giant (putting in some r&d) moving away from maestro is def a signal of the end of times.
Brilliant! Of course! It's so simple- handlebars everywhere!
pit bits from VDS
How about Lobster or Shrimp links? Both are somewhat related to crabs and that's kind of what you look like when you ride an XC bike (hunched back to a low bar/stem. Just imagine the negative stems that will be on 32" XC race bikes... carcinization continues as Nino Schurter goes from GOAT to Lobster)
Dak mode ✔️
Nino mode ✔️
It's the lightest layout... And it gives the option to carry 2 water bottles.
Looks like Jessie-May Morgan from PB has dinner plans – from her Liv Pique review the other day:
I too prefer to smash my ballz against all the things when flying OTB.
Dude really said "I hate when things are colors"
I mean cmon, we have the mass dampers mounted to 3D printed flexy plastic number plates now?
Probably an empty can to appease a rider that can’t tell the difference.
As long as it works in the rider's head...
Sometimes, it's just to go with the flow, if the rider feels it makes a difference, even though physics and data might prove otherwise, the teams/mechanics will roll with it. I'm not surprised mental coaches are so important now at their level, if you have an edge "in your head", chances are it'll work on the track.
I've seen it before, and I'll see it further on
2022+ XC bike starter pack
*Linkage driven single pivot w/ flex stay
*Top tube mounted shock
*Two bottle cage mounts
*Bring your own logo: Specialized/Cervelo/Pinarello/SantaCruz/Transition/Kona/Trek/Cannondale/Orbea/KTM etc
Blueprint:
Thought: If they mount an empty can there they can shape the number plate to be a fairing while staying within the aerodynamic rules. The number plate has to be shaped that way to accommodate actual equipment?
More like I "hate" painted instead of anodized lol. Looks cheap and tacky, kind of like plastic brembo caliper covers you get for stock brakes on the car to make it look faster haha https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315502970018
Next up, everyone is wearing back protectors that happen to be teardrop shaped.
Looks like Troy's on Freedom Coast levers?
Deore and XT Di2 is here to join it's more expensive sibling XTR. On overview of everything can be found here -
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/wireless-shifting-masses-shimano-introduces-deore-and-xt-di2
And since pricing is probably what people want to know most, I put everything together in one spot.
Here are two other helpful assets to differentiate shifter and derailleur differences.
Specialized Gravity put up some Insta posts showing more details of the Brembo's
So it’s a Deore upgrade kit at a SLX price? Shimano is so weird sometimes.
didn't have a new izzo spec with 36sl and xt di2 on my bingo card for this month
so what's happening to the mechanical options? any word on that?
will the current products stay in the lineup?
are they planning to release new mechanical stuff in the future? (2030 maybe?)
The pricing is definitely weird. There is basically just a 15% difference between XT and XTR. It's almost just about getting basic Deore or all features XTR without being too bothered by XT at all.
$435 retail for a replacement of the bottom-tier derailleur that will ship on cheap bikes seems completely daft. Joe-shmo is going to quit mountain biking after he smokes his first derailleur and doesn't want to pay up to replace it.
There is no more SLX.
Wait, you can do that? My 2006 Toyota Matrix is gonna look sick with clip-on Brembo brake calipers.