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
But you still have to remove the brake from either side. Either the master cylinder or the caliper.
For inverted forks I clamp the stanchions in the bike stand and remove the bike.
Only way IMHO
Shifter pod on bars
Here’s me if they discontinue the original DHF
Is this just to leave room for the mass damper?
Finally! A proper electronic DH rear derailleur. I've been wondering when we'd be able to pay $1500 to ruin three derailleurs on the same rock in one race weekend. Can't come fast enough.
It's a conspiracy between SRAM and WBD to further price small teams and privateers out of DH racing.
But it's modular now, you only have to replace the broken part not the whole derailleur.
(Pay no attention to the fact that the individual replaceable parts are more expensive than an entire derailleur.)
I’d happily start the crowd fund campaign to get you a DH bike so you can do this in one weekend at Big Bear. Only this time, no felt or Gravity logo, Vital only.
Bikes with electronic derailleurs do not make any philosophical sense. I’d rather ride an e-bike.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The guy with the DHF tread pattern armband tattoo will have to get a coverup.
Or maybe he’ll be hyped that he’s got some ancient ink.
Or maybe he’ll get the new pattern right next to it. He’ll be looking like allover roadkill by the time he passes on to that bike park in the sky.
Yes I just want to announce ive seen that dhf tattoo guy. Like all tattoos, i’m impressed and embarrassed all at once.
he’s here isn’t he?
new shimano pedal looking awesome!
Jaxson Riddle on that new Transition freeride/dh bike that has been spotted a couple times now. Has some sort of paintjob, looking like it's closer to production?
It also costs more to build a car from parts than it does to buy one off the lot. That is how most products are.
Fire off some bottle rockets to celebrate its second coming!
I don't think anybody would expect anything different. I think the point is that SRAM parts are obscenely expensive relative to buying the whole. I don't know if these are representative, but Lost Co came up as my first google search so I'll go with that.
Eagle Transmission Derailleur - $400
Eagle 90 Mechanical Derailleur - $190
Cage Assembly - $140
If you break the cage on your electronic derailleur, you need to pony up 35% of the total cost to replace it. If you break the cage on your mechanical derailleur, you're at 74% of the cost of a new derailleur! If you break a lot of electronic transmission cages what you really need is a friend running mechanical that breaks a lot of parallelograms and is willing to split the cost.
You don’t need to buy the assembly with the clutch.
Aluminum T-Type cage: $30
https://www.performancebike.com/sram-ttype-rear-derailleur-pulley-cage-…
I heard at the bike park last week that the Optic was done for 2026. Crazy that Norco's full suspension premium non-electric bike lineup for 2026 is down to 2 frames for next year: Sight and Revolver. You'd have to think we'll see a carbon option between the two by this time next year. My prediction is that it won't be high pivot.
I was always told that if you keep finding yourself with the same problems then maybe it’s you that’s the problem.
Jokes
but seriously no wonder some people hate derailleurs if they go through that many, I’ve only wrecked 1 fully through an impact, others have worn out through use.
This is something that Sram does very well. Great support for aftermarket maintenance with rebuild kits for everything they sell. $30 for an alloy RD cage is extremely good value too.
I haven’t looked at the embargoed catalog yet, but I heard they’re leaning in on Ebikes next year. Sign of the times…
Fingers crossed there’ll be some good Optic deals if that’s the case.
Unless you’re talking about Time. No rebuild kits available nor will they provide any specs for sourcing your own replacement parts.
Just a reminder that the actual conspiracy is SRAM selling heavily discounted electronic groupsets to component integrato... I mean "bike brands" knowing that consumers will be on the hook for their shitty, high margin proprietary batteries and chargers.
Nothing says improving the environment and sustainability like planned obsolescence and more e-waste. Social Responsibility btw: https://www.sram.com/en/company/about/social-responsibility
They don't make the Range anymore? It seemed to me like the big rig enduro bike crowd is Norco's target audience.
They make the Sight and Sight Long Travel
I think Norco reducing frames goes back to what others have previously mentioned and lines up with how the new Trek Fuel is being positioned. Everyone is expecting their non-XC bikes to be able to ride anywhere (from local trails to DH) so they have to be made more robust, which increases weight, and then what is the realy difference between a short travel trail bike (like an Optic) and a long travel trail bike (like a Range)? You end up with the same brakes, wheels, tires, rear shock, and kit, with the only difference being a Pike/36 vs Zeb/38 which is not a huge difference in weight. The suspension kinematics are likely the same (less efficient pedaling than XC bikes but more than DH) so you have two of essentially the same bike.
I know weight is not really as big of a deal as many make it out to be, but the sentiment is still there and its an easy number to compare against (vs suspension curves or comfort or even efficiency). I don't think this is a bad thing as I still remember 'trail bikes' with noodley 32mm forks and rear ends that wanted to separate from the frame in every bermed corner, 'BuT iT wAs So LiGhT' so it was 'ok'.
With how aggressive XC courses and bikes are getting, we just moved all of the bikes up a category and removed some middle ground so you have two/three 'UCI race' bikes and one to cover the middle, i.e. XC + 'Trail' + Enduro/DH. Since I have a 2020 Fuel EX (130/150), I often look at the XC/trail bike reviews and have come to realize that things haven't changed that much, just the names of the bikes. I could get a Top Fuel (XC/DC) but it's almost the same geometry, just 10mm less travel, and only a touch lighter than my build. The new Fuel has more travel but is significantly heavier.
On a side note, I do wonder if some of this also has to do with the proliferation of eBikes and their popularity. If you 'must' make competitive race bikes but not 'trail' bikes, and many eBikes are 'trail' oriented, why not primarily design an eBike and then modify that frame to work without a motor/battery? You spend less R&D on a declining segment (trail) but still get to offer it alongside the larger market (eBikes).
They stopped making it last year actually. They put a longer travel Sight in its place.
I have that Range and it’s just phenomenal. I’ve contemplated getting a Sight to replace it. Shed some weight and get some more playfulness. Not worth it to sell in this market, and it’s just too damn good… Probably going to put a dual crown on it since I’m not sure their downhill bike is ever going to materialize.
lithium ion batteries are mostly recycleable these days. those raw materials are way too lucrative to throw away. you need of course a country with a functioning recycling system (read: NOT THE USA) who isn't still using landfills...
Don't replace with a Sight, supplement!
Both the Range and carbon Fluid went away. With the Optic going away it's becoming a very skinny premium lineup. Per Majso's point, the Sight and Optic were so darn close that I almost wonder if they could have come up with a 140mm rear version of the Sight on the same FT/RT and called in their high pivot trail bike with a little bit lighter builds.
Running the Optic and Fluid side by side in carbon was always an odd choice, there was going to be a lot of overlap even if the bikes were tuned different by default. I can totally see the platforms being combined into something a little bit more focused, but I can't see Norco exiting the segment entirely. Maybe they'll bring back the Shinobi nameplate? Hahaha.