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The mental image of the guy hiding in the bushes is hilarious
Haven't they been racing on it since Les Gets or are we talking not World Cup level race teams?
Not a World Cup team. I’m talking about production level frames that go to the public.
On that note, my friend‘s daughter qualified AND raced a junior World Cup at Lake Placid this year. Pretty rad.
With you being on the front range, I'm sure you are familiar with the gathering spot at the gate to the Enchanted at the top of Apex, the guy on the proto went one switchback higher up the trail then chucked himself and the bike off trail haha
Ahhh... That makes sense. And congrats to her! That's awesome!
I will never not downvote AI slop
That pic is from a graphic artist on IG who does MTB related stuff. Pic is a few years old now but definitely not Ai slop
Then you're gonna love this:
Back to crab related rumours. Kavenz has started prototyping their VHP V8 which will be carbon tube and cnc’d lugs. They will be posting a series following along with all the details, similar to what they did when they created the first version of their frame.
This is rad... of course I'm a bit biased as a Kavenz owner myself, but I've been pretty stoked with what they're doing as a small frame manufacturer.
I love the idea of serviceable rear mechs but for the price of this you could have 4 XT 12sp derailleurs or 8 Deore 11sp derailleurs! (I just carry an extra in my pack on all day rides) The Jab's price is getting in the ballpark of where these things should be, but realistically I'd only pay $200 max for any derailleur. I wish there was an actual study of what mechs can take how much force because that would convince me to pay over $200 if it's considerably more durable.
I actually think the Jab pricing is pretty good when you think about long term ownership. If I ever swap frames/bikes and want to change between a Sram and Shimano set-up, your incremental cost is not a whole new derailleur but just the cam. I feel like there is a longer term relationship with these product that I am all about.
Not that I know of, but the Madrone Jab is manufactured in the US and looks like a quality product with a lot of the same benefits.
I think derailleur lifetime really depends on where and how you ride, what the condtions are like and even the impurities in the water from your hose pipe. For me Shimano 12 speed derailleurs (Deore, SLX or XT) were terrible with clutches and jockey wheels seizing after a few months and b-bolt and parallelogram pivot play ruining shifting in far less than a year. I find that the most robust 12 speed mechanical derailleur from Shimano or SRAM is the X01 Eagle, but they still only last about 2 years including new b-bolts and aftermarket jockey wheels and cost about the same as the Ratio or Madrone options.
Also I like to support products that are adaptable and rebuildable instead of disposable and so don't mind paying a bit extra for this, even if it doesn't pay back in the long run.
Vision Velo has a video on their Instagram showing where they're at with a prototype Podium Mudguard. So far it's looking good but not great:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRP1Nt3DK9G/
FWIW I have a couple of their other mudguards and they're bomber; best ones I've used (my previous top picks were RRP and Mudhugger).
lol. That was a fun bike to build but was def not the favorite of those three prototypes for anyone. Def know the crew learned a bunch from that.
I really enjoyed that toolbox too….
The problem with that prototype was that it didn't use enough aluminum.
That would have caused an aluminum shortage if it had gone into production...
Curious what trail were you on? Near Golden?
I was at Apex Park in Golden, that’s the park where they ride most, home of the famous “Lunch Ride.”
I stumbled across another firmware update in the Sram app today for transmission rear derailleurs. It is another step faster now through the gears, and their 2nd improvement in shift speed this year.
Interesting. I never would have thought mountain bike tech would evolve around your derailleur collecting data, then your phone sending it to sram to then create a firmware update to better optimize it.
I saw this scrolling on Instagram, a friend in the USA, proto of which brand? Trek?
Going by the dropouts I would say yes, who else uses split pivot? Salsa, Devinci, who else did I miss?
A few pages ago, people were hypothesizing this was a new Wilson. Pictures were taken at Highland bike park, which is near eastern Canada… sort of. There’s also an engineering group near there that designs bikes for other brands, so the jury is still out.
I would love it if this were a new Wilson. The last carbon model they made in 27.5 was the best cornering downhill bike I’ve ever ridden IMO.
Not a high pivot looking at the chain... So, I would eliminate Trek..
The chainstay of the guy your girlfriend tells you not to worry about. My lord that is a long one.
Orbea also uses a concentric pivot at the rear axle, but considering they've already released their Rallon EN/DH in carbon, it would be surprising to see them testing another alloy prototype so soon. Devinci seems more plausible to me.