2026 Predictions

MikeyMT
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Bozeman, MT US
1/3/2026 10:41am
Mr.Nally wrote:

I heard it's the weekend before Whistler WC though. Which is dumb. Cos a lot of faster racers probably won't do it

MikeyMT wrote:

I predict Jackson won’t do it again…overall is the real deal Hardline is still just a glorified crank works. 

saskskier wrote:

I predict there is zero chance Jackson doesn't race BC Hardline unless he's injured. 

My guess is he will learn from Loic this year. Tiny crash and you’re done. 

1
seanfisseli
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Santa Cruz, CA US
1/3/2026 2:54pm
MikeyMT wrote:

I predict Jackson won’t do it again…overall is the real deal Hardline is still just a glorified crank works. 

saskskier wrote:

I predict there is zero chance Jackson doesn't race BC Hardline unless he's injured. 

MikeyMT wrote:

My guess is he will learn from Loic this year. Tiny crash and you’re done. 

to top last season he will have to go all out. If there’s a hardline at home he’s going for it 😈 

2
storm.racing
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Silverton, CO US
1/3/2026 4:24pm

Jackson is for the boys. He'll send it. And win the overall. 

You misspelled Asa. My dude Asa will be taking overall and hardline this year.

8
2
owl-x
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887
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Location
Shell Beach, CA US
1/3/2026 6:30pm

Bro. 
J Goldstone opting out of a local edition of Hardline? Come on. 
 

Reading that actually makes me hurt and angry. 😡 


Boost Bro is always go. 

I’m logging out. That’s a ridiculous thing to say. 

6
2
Clownshoe
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Whistler, BC CA
1/4/2026 6:40am
MikeyMT wrote:
Nothing like crankworx DH watching a bunch of randoms get beat by the 1 real WC racer…maybe will pull more people this year given same track...

Nothing like crankworx DH watching a bunch of randoms get beat by the 1 real WC racer…maybe will pull more people this year given same track as WC…

That's actually one of my favourite parts.  I love the "open" part of Crankworx racing. Pros vs Joes

For example, I can say I once beat Cedric Gracia in the Garbo DH back in the day. 

He had a front flat in the first minute of his run and continued to the bottom on it instead of getting a DNF.  I beat him (by less than a minute). Truly the pinnacle of my otherwise inauspicious racing career.

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2
MikeyMT
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Bozeman, MT US
1/4/2026 7:46am
MikeyMT wrote:
Nothing like crankworx DH watching a bunch of randoms get beat by the 1 real WC racer…maybe will pull more people this year given same track...

Nothing like crankworx DH watching a bunch of randoms get beat by the 1 real WC racer…maybe will pull more people this year given same track as WC…

Clownshoe wrote:
That's actually one of my favourite parts.  I love the "open" part of Crankworx racing. Pros vs JoesFor example, I can say I once beat Cedric...

That's actually one of my favourite parts.  I love the "open" part of Crankworx racing. Pros vs Joes

For example, I can say I once beat Cedric Gracia in the Garbo DH back in the day. 

He had a front flat in the first minute of his run and continued to the bottom on it instead of getting a DNF.  I beat him (by less than a minute). Truly the pinnacle of my otherwise inauspicious racing career.

Joe’s vs. pro…

dolface
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Location
CA US
1/4/2026 8:47am
MikeyMT wrote:
Nothing like crankworx DH watching a bunch of randoms get beat by the 1 real WC racer…maybe will pull more people this year given same track...

Nothing like crankworx DH watching a bunch of randoms get beat by the 1 real WC racer…maybe will pull more people this year given same track as WC…

Clownshoe wrote:
That's actually one of my favourite parts.  I love the "open" part of Crankworx racing. Pros vs JoesFor example, I can say I once beat Cedric...

That's actually one of my favourite parts.  I love the "open" part of Crankworx racing. Pros vs Joes

For example, I can say I once beat Cedric Gracia in the Garbo DH back in the day. 

He had a front flat in the first minute of his run and continued to the bottom on it instead of getting a DNF.  I beat him (by less than a minute). Truly the pinnacle of my otherwise inauspicious racing career.

MikeyMT wrote:

Joe’s vs. pro…

It's plural, not possessive... 

8
4
MikeyMT
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34
Joined
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Location
Bozeman, MT US
1/4/2026 8:52am
Clownshoe wrote:
That's actually one of my favourite parts.  I love the "open" part of Crankworx racing. Pros vs JoesFor example, I can say I once beat Cedric...

That's actually one of my favourite parts.  I love the "open" part of Crankworx racing. Pros vs Joes

For example, I can say I once beat Cedric Gracia in the Garbo DH back in the day. 

He had a front flat in the first minute of his run and continued to the bottom on it instead of getting a DNF.  I beat him (by less than a minute). Truly the pinnacle of my otherwise inauspicious racing career.

MikeyMT wrote:

Joe’s vs. pro…

dolface wrote:

It's plural, not possessive... 

Pardon the typos, sent from my iPhone. 

1/5/2026 7:06am
- Amflow stays popular despite “real” brands dropping DJI bikes. They lower their prices/build spec to compete. Teewing is too late and fails to get its...

- Amflow stays popular despite “real” brands dropping DJI bikes. They lower their prices/build spec to compete. Teewing is too late and fails to get its footing against the “real” brands and Amflow.

- Bosch bikes go on sale at the end of the year.

- Bikes on sale remains the new normal. Everyone has a great bike with a lifetime warranty. New riders continue to get insane deals on used bikes. Low prices are the only way these 2 groups will be convinced buy a new bike even sans rampant inflation.

- YT makes a better comeback than we’d hoped for. Compromises build spec a little to maintain their low prices.

- Nukeproof comeback flops because they set prices too high. The Nukeproof of ole was a great value in that it’s nicer than Marin/Polygon/Vitus but less expensive than a Transition or Santa Cruz. (this is how the brand is perceived in the US at least)

- More park/free ride bikes released

- Continental radial tires. Maxxis ignores radial and continues to fall off from its once dominance.

- Tires stay way too expensive

- Ric is finally kicked out of the commentary booth

- Gravel and XC begin to merge as gravel riders want 32” and aero XCM continues.

ntm95 wrote:
I highly doubt amflow will stay popular unless they release a different bike soon. The motor/battery is good, but the bike itself is a stumpjumper knockoff...

I highly doubt amflow will stay popular unless they release a different bike soon. The motor/battery is good, but the bike itself is a stumpjumper knockoff from temu. I was not impressed with the one I tried. It's laughable that they're priced higher than a forbidden e druid (which is a much, much better bike). The teewing flux also looks vastly superior in terms of geo and kinematics to the amflow, but we will see how their production quality and detail work gets on.

I totally agree with you but we're both forum nerds. There's tons of people who own Stumpjumpers and have zero problems with that bike's performance. I think that extends into Amflow and their target market, which isn't us. Personally, I'm neutral, neither love nor hate, the SJ (spent 3,000mi on an SJ Evo), and feel like I would be on the Amflow too, although I would really like to try one with the Cascade Link. Cascade's Recent email said that link may be more popular than the Levo link, so maybe the Amflow does appeal to nerds too...

1
1/5/2026 8:42am

Some of these may have been touched on and are fairly obvious, but putting them all down to paper here: 
-Specialized releases updated 2-chain enduro/e-bike platform along with the DH bike. Pedal version may have 1 chain but still use under slung link somehow. 
-Maxxis releases the DHF2 to huge success (will become most common tire on Maxxis World Cup racers bikes) 
-Maxxis finally releases their new DH casing that's been in the High Roller III for well over a year. Possibly further (that what's been shipping on the HR3) updated to compete with Radial. And will come down to lighter-weight casings and not just DH. 
-Schwalbe finally releases the Tacky Chan and their new 2:2:2 prototype Radial tires to the public 
-SRAM Base Maven brake gets rolled out in Ultimate and Silver configurations (pad adjust) 
-Rockshox releases the updated Zeb and Lyrik (new air spring, thing at the bottom of the leg (ramp control/air XL larger chamber to reduce ramp. Likely updated Charger 3.2 damper as well.)
-Rockshox releases the updated Super Deluxe that been seen around (looks like the Fox Genie shock) 
-Brands will continue to make multi-SKU bikes swapable with links and shocks (Enduro bike frame can also be the DH frame, or trail bike frame is same as enduro frame)  
-Many racers will be on 32" bikes for World Cup XC. It will become an issue because smaller riders will have too much butt buzz/small frame issues for packaging, and teams will apply major pressure to the UCI to allow mixed wheels in World Cup XC. 32" front, 29" rear. There may even be a mid-year ruling if there is too much advantage being gained by the 32" racers. The caveat to this is that other brands (Specialized, Schwalbe, etc.) will need to roll out 32" tires as really right now the only tire available to VIPs is the Aspen. So many teams won't jump until they have tires ready. So this may not pan out, depending on number of 32" tires available. 

4
1/5/2026 9:40am Edited Date/Time 1/5/2026 9:40am

RAD and RAD angle will become prevalent (again?/more prevalent than before) as a natural progression from all the chainstay talk. Discerning riders will develop RAD preferences and shop bikes that can be reasonably setup to match them.

 

2
1/5/2026 10:20am

Vali back on form with stability from the new team 4+ wins. Men’s side has more parity but Henri Keifer gets his first W. Max Alran gets 2.

6
Howse
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Seattle, WA US
1/5/2026 10:12pm
I think you're right on the 120-130mm bikes. I think bikes are going to divide into short travel bikes, ebikes, and DH bikes. Maybe not 2026...

I think you're right on the 120-130mm bikes. I think bikes are going to divide into short travel bikes, ebikes, and DH bikes. Maybe not 2026 but at some point.

And I bring this up because some folks don't know (literally a friend of mine was telling me how much they miss parmigiano reggiano but they haven't had it since they've become lactose intolerant): Aged hard cheeses have less lactose than younger and/or softer cheeses. If a person is intolerant, they might still be able to have parmesan, Romano, Manchego, and other aged hard cheeses. The aging process in cheese denatures some of that lactose that would be in younger cheese. Something that I thought was obvious changed my friend's lactose intolerant life because they tried and could tolerate hard cheeses after thinking that had to give up cheese completely. So now I bring it up every time someone mentions cheese and lactose intolerance.

Cheese sidebar over. Bikes are sick.

I read this about some soft cheeses too, like camembert.... 

2
Mr.Nally
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AS
1/6/2026 12:40am
BGoldstone wrote:
Vali back on form with stability from the new team 4+ wins. Men’s side has more parity but Henri Keifer gets his first W. Max Alran...

Vali back on form with stability from the new team 4+ wins. Men’s side has more parity but Henri Keifer gets his first W. Max Alran gets 2.

I'm predicting an all first year elite podium at a World Cup Next year. An Alran or two, Asa, Waite or Clarke. They've all got speed, team support, two years of rapid learning under their belts etc....

4
MikeyMT
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34
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Location
Bozeman, MT US
1/20/2026 7:52am
MikeyMT wrote:
1. Loic wins the overall2. Vali goes undefeated3. e-bike hate will increase4. The new demo will be made into an e-bike version - the 2 chain...

1. Loic wins the overall

2. Vali goes undefeated

3. e-bike hate will increase

4. The new demo will be made into an e-bike version - the 2 chain mechanism will be swapped for a new motor from Spec.

5. Bikes wont change much

6. Gates still pushes the nonsense purse to no avail

7. Reece Wilson will do something even more weird with his bike and still not make it through in Q1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv2dSlxHPYA&t=1011s

 

Well the last one is already half true! 

seanfisseli
Posts
568
Joined
4/16/2024
Location
Santa Cruz, CA US
1/20/2026 8:19am
MikeyMT wrote:
1. Loic wins the overall2. Vali goes undefeated3. e-bike hate will increase4. The new demo will be made into an e-bike version - the 2 chain...

1. Loic wins the overall

2. Vali goes undefeated

3. e-bike hate will increase

4. The new demo will be made into an e-bike version - the 2 chain mechanism will be swapped for a new motor from Spec.

5. Bikes wont change much

6. Gates still pushes the nonsense purse to no avail

7. Reece Wilson will do something even more weird with his bike and still not make it through in Q1.

MikeyMT wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv2dSlxHPYA&t=1011s

 

Well the last one is already half true! 

Psyched someone had that on their bingo card haha. 

2
Sherbet
Posts
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11/5/2014
Location
CA
1/22/2026 2:50pm
I think you're right on the 120-130mm bikes. I think bikes are going to divide into short travel bikes, ebikes, and DH bikes. Maybe not 2026...

I think you're right on the 120-130mm bikes. I think bikes are going to divide into short travel bikes, ebikes, and DH bikes. Maybe not 2026 but at some point.

And I bring this up because some folks don't know (literally a friend of mine was telling me how much they miss parmigiano reggiano but they haven't had it since they've become lactose intolerant): Aged hard cheeses have less lactose than younger and/or softer cheeses. If a person is intolerant, they might still be able to have parmesan, Romano, Manchego, and other aged hard cheeses. The aging process in cheese denatures some of that lactose that would be in younger cheese. Something that I thought was obvious changed my friend's lactose intolerant life because they tried and could tolerate hard cheeses after thinking that had to give up cheese completely. So now I bring it up every time someone mentions cheese and lactose intolerance.

Cheese sidebar over. Bikes are sick.

Howse wrote:

I read this about some soft cheeses too, like camembert.... 

The downside to low lactose is that lactose is what helps cause cheesy dreams. 

I thought I recalled DJI saying they did not want to be a bike brand, and just wanted to sell a motor. I've always assumed they would fold out of cycling at some point when their motor ecosystems are more distributed and appreciated. 

1

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