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Tech rumor wishes for 2026 anyone?
Mine would be Evil updating the rest of their lineup including the epocalypse, and Yeti releasing their DH bike
Higher stack, not overly long, better ratio XL bikes (1.8-1.82 range)
Wishes for 2026:
Looking to buy a light trail bike in coming months so hopefully one of those 3 happens:
New SC Tallboy gen6, hoping for frame weight under 6lbs / 2700g, travel increase to 140mm front /130mm rear wouldn't bother me too much but would prefer it to stay at 130/120mm
Yeti SB120 with sixfinity suspension, I have no interest at all for their switch infinity system that require proprietary bearings and frequent maintenance. A switch to sixfinity would likely mean heavier frame weight but could accept it for the suspension performance boost.
Light trail Ibis, be it a Ripley SL or a new Exie but something in the 120-130mm travel range and can take 2 water bottle.
New Rockshox Pike to fight the Fox 36SL, current Pike is good but a bit porky compared now to the 36SL with a 150g difference. Most likely Boxxer and Zeb gets updated first with the linear XL air spring we have seen on world cups and spy shot.
More options for light trail tire in the 800-900g range to fight the Magnotal, Wicked Will and Nobby Nic Super ground. A control casing Butcher and Eliminator could be interesting. Revamped trail michelin tires could be interesting too.
Sram finally make it possible to run 10-44 / 10-46 XPLR cassette with a medium cage MTB derailleur for people that don't live in the PNW and don't need 52t low gear and would rather have tighter cassette steps.
Just a quick note about the SB120's Switch Infinity lube maintenance:
It's a 20 minute job from standing inside my house and realizing it needs to be done to finishing up and putting the torque wrench away. That hasn't felt like too big of a timesuck every 100 hours. Plus, the bike feels sick. The Sixfinity looks to be super interesting, too. I wonder if it'll make its way to the rest of the bikes.
A lot of people around the ol' internet have said things hinting at some crazy amount of maintenance required for the Switch Infinity. I haven't felt like it's too much. It almost put me off buying the bike in the first place but I decided to read the manual and figure out exactly what goes into maintaining it. It didn't seem like too much so I dove in (after test riding the bike) and it's been fine.
It takes longer to clean my bike in preparation to working on any part of it than it does to actually move the rear triangle out of the way and service the SI link. Maybe a previous model of component/linkage/frame made it a bigger pain-in-the-ass so that's why people have that impression? So far, I'm not complaining about it. I'm not really a good bike mechanic nor do I have super awesome tools; modest tools and a work area I have to set up every time I want to work on the bike. In fact, I just did the SI lube maintenance a couple weeks back with a broken finger on my dominant hand in an unheated garage below 20ºF. It took me 40 minutes total but a lot of that was using rags dampened with hot water to clean the bike first.
All that said, Tallboys seem sick, that Revel Rascal looks awesome, and Pinkbike loved the Intense Spider. I'd also recommend looking into a Mondraker Raze. That's the other bike I was looking at when I decided to go with the Yeti. I had narrowed it down to the Raze and the SB120LR and the Yeti folks were super accommodating to let me test ride a couple sizes and forthcoming with info while I couldn't find a single Raze at any component level in my size in stock in the US. I sent a bunch of emails and no one had one. So I went with the Yeti. A few months later I started to get emails trickling in with "that will be in stock on [some date]" so it seems that problem has been solved since then.
Sorry for the long reply. I just wanted to let you know what that SI maintenance routine looks like from the perspective of a bad mechanic with mediocre tools and no dedicated work area!
Will echo what DontWorryImAPilot said. The SI linkages gets all this internet trash talk. I have a SB160 that requires far less maintenance than my 2 prior Forbidden's did for reference. I appreciate that the SI is a contained system that can be easily replaced and I have 100% confidence that my shop would get me a warranty replacement if anything went array. That said, my 160 is 2yrs old and the SI has no objective signs of wear. It's my favorite bike of all time.. I would be much more skeptical that the 6bar wouldn't need a full rebuild in the same timeframe/usage. Way more variables with all those pivots and bearings.
My biggest gripe with Switch Infinity is all the weird bearing size they use. Afaik the V1 SB150 and Sb130 were worse with all the extended inner race bearing that mean you can only get the replacement from Enduro or Yeti. The current V2 switch has more aftermarket option but still MR17287 and double row bearing (3802 and 398 in v2 linkage) limits a lot aftermarket option.
I miss my old Yeti 5.5. 140/160 and weighed 29lbs with a coil shock (XL). Bring back 30lb all-mountain bikes!
Sadly I think those days are over. Frames are being beefed up to handle loads and in frame storage. Horses for courses.
There is no reason to make a cast "mockup" that doesn't have all the features just to check dimensions. Every detail on the tooling can affect dimensions so you want to have the tool as final as possible and then make corrections. Adding bracing later will affect the bridge and by proxy possibly the lower to twist differently, will require different material amount to fill the void, etc., essentially making a new part.
The two holes being breather holes, possibly but they are in a weird place to be able to reach them. I'd kinda think they might be there to prevent really thick walls in the front of the brace (if you look at it you can see the brace sticks out in the front quite a bit).
As for what coming in there? No idea, just a thought. But having another cast part and bonding it in there it would make the arch a lot stiffer and make it look clean as well...
I am guessing Lightweight Chassis up to 130mm Travel…
For one, I heard rumours but also it makes the most sense, since that is what really is missing in their lineup.
Idk how big of a market this is, especially for a brand that predominantly focuses on aftermarket. Like does, let’s say Öhlins sell a lot of their XC stuff? I live under the impression that XC riders rather have the exact same setup as a pro instead of custom building or swapping out components 🤷🏼♂️
Hayes updating the dominions. Honestly I wish they would keep the feel and power as it is but move to Mineral-Oil. Just to win over the masses. I‘ve been loving mine so much and I didn’t even touch that bleedkit for three years. I hesitate to buy new ones for another project though, because I feel like they got too be updated, given the fact they are on the market for already quite a bit.
If they don’t change to Mineral-Oil I would love to see tool free freestroke adjust and bleedport/crosshairadj.-screws that don’t rust.
That and maybe more cable actuated derailleur options is what I hope for 🤞🏼
You can probably replace both of those screws yourself with stainless steel ones
regarding yeti, the current switch infinity bikes use standard bearings. but looking forward to the sixfinity bikes, since the ebikes got raving reviews. after upgrading from a sb150 to a sb160 i swore that i would ride it till eternity… but if done right i might give in on them, if they don‘t raise the prices even more from the sb160 😅
An updated SID ultimate chassis that goes up to 130mm and is charger 3.1 damper compatible
If we're talking about wishes and brakes... I wish this mineral oil craze would stop.
Why exactly?
I personally don’t mind dot but, at least in Switzerland, Dot is a dealbreaker for most customers even more for shops. And I do kind of get it. If you look at TRP and the Mavens, I also think manufacturers figured out how to make brakes work fine on Mineral-Oil.
Imo it would be great if more manufacturers moved to it and customers would be less hesitant to try other brands.
There is a common joke in the industry in Switzerland: How do you bleed a DOT brake properly? Take it off and put a Mineral-Oil break on.
It’s the customers asking for it in my opinion. But I‘d love to hear from @Primoz why DOT should stay around
True, but it would also be nice if they could include that from the beginning
You can get the correct DOT fluid in any automotive shop. For any DOT compatible brake. Good luck with that with mineral oil brakes. You have different oils WITHIN the same manufacturer (Shimano), let alone between manufacturers.
I know I'm beating a dead horse at this point and derailling the thread at the same time, but sorry, I see ZERO benefits from using mineral oil vs. DOT fluid in brakes... If anything, also reading people's experiences about it, it's more complicated than anything, cleaning it up is a pain compared to DOT and the aforementioned issue of finding the correct one in stock.
When I said zero benefits, I lied. Technically it lasts longer on the shelf than DOT does, so when you invariably buy the special oil for every single brake manufacturer, it doesn't go bad...
I am also trying to understand this thought process. I can walk or drive to an auto parts store and pick up DOT fluid likely easier than trying to find the right mineral oil without having to order it online. I can bleed both my Hayes in 20 minutes with a spray bottle of alcohol on standby for immediate cleanup. It's too easy -- nothing more complex than using mineral oil.
AFAIK it's not being driven by performance but by upcoming EU regulations right?
100% agree on DOT supremacy, widely available wherever you are regardless if you have a bike shop around or not, i keep one type (Motul DOT5.1) of DOT fluid for all brakes i service, Sram, Hayes, Hope w/e. Super easy cleanup.
All other vehicles use DOT fluid brake systems (for a reason), why do bikes have to be different?
Might be why so many people ride E bikes these days. Pedaling a modern enduro bike around is not super fun.
I loved the yeti 5.5, that bike was fun.
I get that!
There isn’t a lot of those automotive shops in Switzerland so my view is a bit biased.
I use Bionol from Trickstuff for all Mineral-Oil Brakes (literally almost can’t get out of date), never had any issues. Some DOT systems tend to need a bleed every couple of rides, at least that’s my experience. If you don’t bleed brakes yourself, that’s pretty annoying.
Having worked at multiple Bike-Shops and now working for a manufacturer, the picture is definitely „hands-off“ everything DOT related.
Thanks for elaborating. Nevertheless I hope Hayes will at least update the freestroke adjustment. That 2mm hex is a bit fiddly
If they're updating the free stroke, they should also make it so that it actually does something. Dominions come with the free stroke adjuster in the shortest possible setting, and even with that, their free stroke is very long compared to other modern brakes. I've never met a Dominion user who wanted MORE free stroke then they come with out of the box.
Any system that needs to be bled every couple of rides is either broken or was not properly bled to start, independent of the type of fluid.
Wasn't there some talk a while back about connecting the two sides of the fork for some reason? What if the holes are for a piece of tubing to connect the two sides through the arch, which could then be covered by a cover over the hollow arch?
Like this:
https://www.everflow.it/webshop/tuning-parts/airlink/
On the topic of brakes, When will TRP fix their E23 calipers? The bleed port screw is awful and doesnt seal, Yes i understand some will weep from the threads but when it never stops....they also often leak from piston seals, a few guys i know with those calipers go "oh my TRP have been great no issues" but yet their pistons are wet and You can hear them coming from yet anther set of contaminated pads.
a Christmas an new years wish.... I wish people would learn to set up Components properly before getting online and having a whinge.(this same wish applies to some Bike shops aswell, Mechanic's push things they know how to fix, F everything else)
More short crank options particularly from the more affordable players.
More high rise bars.
Longer head tubes/more stack on lg bikes
Cheaper o chain from sram.
Lower prices on wireless stuff
spire v2
Sram filed a patent for a 12 speed motor gearbox unit? Story over on Pink Bike...
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