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Flip chip city
New Knolly incoming?? Interesting to see they may have moved away from they’re traditional 4x4 setup. SS’s taken from one of their athletes instagram.
Actual Knolly prototype, or just Knolly stickers on a Santa Cruz/Crestline/similar?
Would be quite surprised to see Knolly make such a drastic move away from their existing suspension platform, design language, materials, etc.
Sure looks like a V4 Nomad
Never mind, that's a V4 Nomad.
Yeah saw that bike in the lift line this weekend at Whistler and it definitely threw me off! First thought was oh rad, someone custom painted a Santa Cruz (I love custom painted bikes) and then when he shifted, I saw the Knolly on it and got confused.
I have 2 major questions.
Why would Knolly abandon the layout they're known for, that works well for them?
Why would someone put Knolly branding on their custom painted Santa Cruz?
For those who have had problems with the Santa Cruz V10 headset, now the last units are with this screw in the piece.
Now that I take a closer look at it you guys are definitely right about it being a Nomad. Realistically he probably snapped his Warden and is waiting on a replacement, that guy goes through frames like you wouldn’t believe.
Not a proto. Have seen this around whistler all summer and it’s just a Santa Cruz that’s been painted / decals removed. No proto from knolly anytime soon.
Not exactly an innovation per se; but Raaw has started offering the option to rent a toolbox full of all their adjustments included. You get it for two weeks so you can decide if any of those adjustments make sense before you buy. And, get a discount when you do decide to buy something afterwards. Pretty cool idea.
https://raawmtb.com/en-us/collections/parts/products/raaw-factory-suppo…
that's really cool!
I'd say that's pretty innovative
It is cool indeed, unless you live in north america and have to order this from Germany (and send it back)
only available for EU as of now
While this is not available right now, anything from Raaw into North America is expensive. Before the current restrictions shipping was always really expensive with only one option. It is super quick, like 2 days or less, but expensive. So I tend to wait until I need a few things before buying any spare parts.
That has been out for the 2024 V10 since late last year. SC has been sending them out under warranty throughout this season, I got mine in July. Still running a good bit a torque through the headset. I haven’t heard of any 2025s needing it, SC said they made some changes.
I’ve also had to use A LOT of torque to keep the headset still on my V10
If we compare your post to mine, I think it can be said that the dislikes came from your point about enduro not being relevant. If I had to guess I would say that enduro racing has become less relevant, but I feel that the core riding style of pedaling bikes up to the tops of DH tracks has never been more relevant.
Maybe we can look at the downcountry trend as the advent of riding categories that transcend the racing categories that birthed them. The average rider’s average ride does not demand XC race machine, but we can get a lot of useful insight from XC. Likewise, the average rider’s average DH tracks dont demand a full-blown DH bike, neither do they demand the full-blown efforts of an enduro racer, but those disciplines have helped us develop bikes that are a blast to ride.
I know downduro is a cringe term but think of it as the industry un-racing enduro bike design to create bikes that are relevant for day to day riding and are just FUN to rip. It seems like the “quiver” is evolving into 30lb-ish 120/130 (or shorter) and 38lb-ish 160/170 (or longer) bikes, rather than a whole slew of bikes that are built around specific racing disciplines, and since we have the short travel bikes well-sorted it makes sense to re-examine the long travel bike, hence your points about less focus on pedal efficiency, etc.
I've been wondering what the next big thing is going to be for the industry to try and hype us up on... Will dual purpose Enduro/ DH bikes be it? Go from Enduro pedal friendly bike to DH plow machine by simply switching out most of the major components on your bike..
LOL. Quick 45 minute parking lot job.
At least most enduro riders are already using DH brakes and tires, so the savings will be huge!
I suspect we'll see more of the one frame Enduro/ DH bike moving forward.
Orbea proved the concept can work, and it spreads the development cost over a larger amount of bikes.
It's better for the manufacturers.
Riders like the concept of being able to swap out the fork and shock for the once or twice a year park day, even if most riders never do it. It's the same as flip chips, most riders find the setting they like and stay there. I'd bet a good bit of riders never change the flip chip from the out of the box settings, but still find the idea attractive and a selling point.
Anyone know the release date for new Evil bikes? Also made a comparison photos against the old model. Seat tube insertion looks a lot better on the updated model.
Where are the new Evil models posted? Any idea if they’re abandoning the superboost rear hub spacing?
Love how the seat is tilted forward on the new Evil, like “yes guys this bike finally has a good seat tube angle”
Pls don’t be Supa Boost™️ The fastest time of the day was just set at MSA on a bike that’s 148. 2nd and 3rd in elite men were also on 148 bikes.
Just keep the dual crowns on tbf. The major thing about DH bikes isn't that they necessarily pedal bad, it's that they don't accommodate dropper posts a lot of the time. Combine a regular dh bike with the ability to run a dropper and some ever so slightly more conservative geo, then you're on to a winner. People won't care that it weighs a ton when they're riding the bike equivalent of a shire horse.
The current offering had a good seat angle, never wished it was any steeper
But, the new one looks even better
Hope it’s not far away