2026 MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation - Longer and Slacker

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majorjake
Posts
33
Joined
5/25/2018
Location
Burlington, VT US
3/3/2026 8:24am

Chris King has been in an odd cycle of sort-of-discontinuing, then reviving, 6-bolt hubs for years now: https://chrisking.com/blogs/news/6-bolt-is-back

I bought my Druid off of a factory rider and it came with one 6bolt and one CL hub.  He couldn't explain it, they were all that way.  The best/worst of both worlds.

3
storm.racing
Posts
285
Joined
2/15/2022
Location
Silverton, CO US
3/3/2026 8:26am

Chris King hubs used to really be something......

15
3
Nobble
Posts
225
Joined
9/24/2010
Location
Lakewood, CO US
3/3/2026 11:34am

Chris King has been in an odd cycle of sort-of-discontinuing, then reviving, 6-bolt hubs for years now: https://chrisking.com/blogs/news/6-bolt-is-back

majorjake wrote:
I bought my Druid off of a factory rider and it came with one 6bolt and one CL hub.  He couldn't explain it, they were all...

I bought my Druid off of a factory rider and it came with one 6bolt and one CL hub.  He couldn't explain it, they were all that way.  The best/worst of both worlds.

Was the front hub the one that you can convert to 20mm? (ISO AB i think they called it)


My TR-11 has one CL and one 6b King because the 20mm hub was 6b only and the 148 was CL only.

3
3/4/2026 12:23am Edited Date/Time 3/4/2026 12:24am

Anyone have spy shots of the inverted cane creek

This one was wandering around a few months ago, supposedly being the inverted cc:

1000037295 0.png?VersionId=HtouSWDnB
6
3/4/2026 8:28am

Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at 1022 grams for the set (without tape and valves). Now NOBL has raised (or is that lowered?) the bar again, with today's launch of their all-new Ethos series. These new wheels also use Berd spokes up to and including the enduro wheels, with the super-light Ethos SL180 set weighing in at 933 grams (both the Berd and the NOBL wheels feature 30mm internal width carbon rims). Today's announcement from NOBL: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/ultralight-xc-dh-nobl-introduces-all-new-ethos-wheel-series.

11
Dogboy
Posts
65
Joined
4/12/2011
Location
Chapel Hill, NC US
3/4/2026 8:39am

Anyone have spy shots of the inverted cane creek

On the Cane Creek website 

IMG 3685.jpeg?VersionId=Z3vLCKBy7 5SXsJCcvvRDDAjHb
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krabo83
Posts
713
Joined
12/26/2017
Location
AT
3/4/2026 9:38am
iceman2058 wrote:
Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at...

Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at 1022 grams for the set (without tape and valves). Now NOBL has raised (or is that lowered?) the bar again, with today's launch of their all-new Ethos series. These new wheels also use Berd spokes up to and including the enduro wheels, with the super-light Ethos SL180 set weighing in at 933 grams (both the Berd and the NOBL wheels feature 30mm internal width carbon rims). Today's announcement from NOBL: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/ultralight-xc-dh-nobl-introduces-all-new-ethos-wheel-series.

those fabric weight weenie spokes are just for headlines IMO, would never put that on my bike.

2
24
majorjake
Posts
33
Joined
5/25/2018
Location
Burlington, VT US
3/4/2026 9:43am
iceman2058 wrote:
Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at...

Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at 1022 grams for the set (without tape and valves). Now NOBL has raised (or is that lowered?) the bar again, with today's launch of their all-new Ethos series. These new wheels also use Berd spokes up to and including the enduro wheels, with the super-light Ethos SL180 set weighing in at 933 grams (both the Berd and the NOBL wheels feature 30mm internal width carbon rims). Today's announcement from NOBL: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/ultralight-xc-dh-nobl-introduces-all-new-ethos-wheel-series.

krabo83 wrote:

those fabric weight weenie spokes are just for headlines IMO, would never put that on my bike.

Headlines...and Olympic gold medals, and World Championships.  

18
ejj
Posts
15
Joined
3/12/2021
Location
Minneapolis, MN US
3/4/2026 9:45am
iceman2058 wrote:
Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at...

Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at 1022 grams for the set (without tape and valves). Now NOBL has raised (or is that lowered?) the bar again, with today's launch of their all-new Ethos series. These new wheels also use Berd spokes up to and including the enduro wheels, with the super-light Ethos SL180 set weighing in at 933 grams (both the Berd and the NOBL wheels feature 30mm internal width carbon rims). Today's announcement from NOBL: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/ultralight-xc-dh-nobl-introduces-all-new-ethos-wheel-series.

krabo83 wrote:

those fabric weight weenie spokes are just for headlines IMO, would never put that on my bike.

I've been riding them for a few seasons.  Pretty great. I treat them like garbage and have not had any problems. 

18
ebruner
Posts
339
Joined
3/29/2018
Location
Tustin, CA US
3/4/2026 9:50am
iceman2058 wrote:
Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at...

Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at 1022 grams for the set (without tape and valves). Now NOBL has raised (or is that lowered?) the bar again, with today's launch of their all-new Ethos series. These new wheels also use Berd spokes up to and including the enduro wheels, with the super-light Ethos SL180 set weighing in at 933 grams (both the Berd and the NOBL wheels feature 30mm internal width carbon rims). Today's announcement from NOBL: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/ultralight-xc-dh-nobl-introduces-all-new-ethos-wheel-series.

krabo83 wrote:

those fabric weight weenie spokes are just for headlines IMO, would never put that on my bike.

ejj wrote:

I've been riding them for a few seasons.  Pretty great. I treat them like garbage and have not had any problems. 

That's good to hear.  I was on a guided mtb trip/tour once and one of the other guys in that group had berd spokes on his wheel build.  Half way through the trip he had a stick get sucked into his rear wheel (incredibly bad luck granted) and it tore 3/4 of the way through one of his spokes and had to finish the trip on a loaner wheel.  I've always been interested in them to check out the weight and the ride feel... but I avoid having proprietary or even straight pull hubs because i don't want to be in BFE trying to source a replacement spoke.  

6
2
trytochaseme
Posts
12
Joined
8/7/2018
Location
Cedar Springs, MI US
3/4/2026 10:03am
krabo83 wrote:

those fabric weight weenie spokes are just for headlines IMO, would never put that on my bike.

ejj wrote:

I've been riding them for a few seasons.  Pretty great. I treat them like garbage and have not had any problems. 

ebruner wrote:
That's good to hear.  I was on a guided mtb trip/tour once and one of the other guys in that group had berd spokes on his...

That's good to hear.  I was on a guided mtb trip/tour once and one of the other guys in that group had berd spokes on his wheel build.  Half way through the trip he had a stick get sucked into his rear wheel (incredibly bad luck granted) and it tore 3/4 of the way through one of his spokes and had to finish the trip on a loaner wheel.  I've always been interested in them to check out the weight and the ride feel... but I avoid having proprietary or even straight pull hubs because i don't want to be in BFE trying to source a replacement spoke.  

I mean a stick getting stuck in a wheel will also easily take out a metal spoke. Ive also gone on to do plenty of riding after breaking a spoke or 2 

16
MikeyE
Posts
10
Joined
9/26/2024
Location
POWAY, CA US
3/4/2026 10:12am
IMG 2175 2.jpeg?VersionId=8eZugOarISicwk3VDdEhWp5mEtdoM
35
storm.racing
Posts
285
Joined
2/15/2022
Location
Silverton, CO US
3/4/2026 10:13am
MikeyE wrote:
IMG 2175 2.jpeg?VersionId=8eZugOarISicwk3VDdEhWp5mEtdoM

 

I hope Bilstein continues development 

4
nsp234
Posts
84
Joined
9/15/2016
Location
CH
3/4/2026 10:33am

Seems pretty far into production already to stop it now, but who knows...

1
overbiked
Posts
49
Joined
10/23/2024
Location
Park City, UT US
3/4/2026 11:06am
nsp234 wrote:

Seems pretty far into production already to stop it now, but who knows...

Maybe Bilstein lied about stopping to get us to stop talking about it... take that with a grain of tinfoil hat.

6
3/4/2026 11:36am
MikeyE wrote:
IMG 2175 2.jpeg?VersionId=8eZugOarISicwk3VDdEhWp5mEtdoM

 

I hope Bilstein continues development 

I hope Bilstein puts a better lock on there before somebody carrying a Leatherman walks away with all the prototypes.

(Seriously, those cable locks are astonishingly easy to cut.)

7
3/4/2026 12:45pm
nsp234 wrote:

Seems pretty far into production already to stop it now, but who knows...

overbiked wrote:

Maybe Bilstein lied about stopping to get us to stop talking about it... take that with a grain of tinfoil hat.

Would be a cool move and I hope so!

3/4/2026 12:49pm

Does anyone know if stablead is still working on bringing anything to production or was that just a promo move to get industry partners?

stablead

1
TomJones
Posts
28
Joined
9/22/2015
Location
San Jose, CA US
3/4/2026 12:49pm
iceman2058 wrote:
Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at...

Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at 1022 grams for the set (without tape and valves). Now NOBL has raised (or is that lowered?) the bar again, with today's launch of their all-new Ethos series. These new wheels also use Berd spokes up to and including the enduro wheels, with the super-light Ethos SL180 set weighing in at 933 grams (both the Berd and the NOBL wheels feature 30mm internal width carbon rims). Today's announcement from NOBL: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/ultralight-xc-dh-nobl-introduces-all-new-ethos-wheel-series.

That is also not a factual statement. Specialized Control World Cups are less than 1000g's WITH tape and valves.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/roval-control-world-cup/p/1000218374?color=1000218391-1000218374

image 607.png?VersionId=zYB4qc76LqhPUvAnsHmpBfJ7

7
utmtbrider
Posts
13
Joined
2/27/2023
Location
Momo City, UT US
3/4/2026 12:58pm
TomJones wrote:
That is also not a factual statement. Specialized Control World Cups are less than 1000g's WITH tape and valves.https://www.specialized.com/us/en/roval-control-world-cup/p/1000218374?color=1000218391-1000218374

That is also not a factual statement. Specialized Control World Cups are less than 1000g's WITH tape and valves.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/roval-control-world-cup/p/1000218374?color=1000218391-1000218374

image 607.png?VersionId=zYB4qc76LqhPUvAnsHmpBfJ7

Tape and valves don't weigh 65g, still a pretty high chance the Nobl set is lighter.

7
3/4/2026 1:00pm
iceman2058 wrote:
Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at...

Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at 1022 grams for the set (without tape and valves). Now NOBL has raised (or is that lowered?) the bar again, with today's launch of their all-new Ethos series. These new wheels also use Berd spokes up to and including the enduro wheels, with the super-light Ethos SL180 set weighing in at 933 grams (both the Berd and the NOBL wheels feature 30mm internal width carbon rims). Today's announcement from NOBL: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/ultralight-xc-dh-nobl-introduces-all-new-ethos-wheel-series.

TomJones wrote:
That is also not a factual statement. Specialized Control World Cups are less than 1000g's WITH tape and valves.https://www.specialized.com/us/en/roval-control-world-cup/p/1000218374?color=1000218391-1000218374

That is also not a factual statement. Specialized Control World Cups are less than 1000g's WITH tape and valves.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/roval-control-world-cup/p/1000218374?color=1000218391-1000218374

image 607.png?VersionId=zYB4qc76LqhPUvAnsHmpBfJ7

Well they did point out that they were talking about 30 mm internal width, so the claim could still have some merit (that Roval wheel is 28.5…splitting hairs maybe, but still…).

6
3/4/2026 1:15pm

I'm waiting for someone to make the claim they have the roundest wheel ever. 

21
1
seanfisseli
Posts
559
Joined
4/16/2024
Location
Santa Cruz, CA US
3/4/2026 1:41pm

I'm waiting for someone to make the claim they have the roundest wheel ever. 

Someone does and they don’t even know it yet

11
Uncle Cliffy
Posts
367
Joined
3/11/2010
Location
Medford, OR US
3/4/2026 4:09pm
ejj wrote:

I've been riding them for a few seasons.  Pretty great. I treat them like garbage and have not had any problems. 

Friend of mine has been beating the crap out of them ever since they were available. A lot tougher than I expected. 

The argument that it would be hard to source one on a trip is kind of silly. You can literally just put a couple in your pocket… 

16
TheKaiser
Posts
108
Joined
11/21/2023
Location
Storrs, CT US
3/4/2026 4:45pm
ejj wrote:

I've been riding them for a few seasons.  Pretty great. I treat them like garbage and have not had any problems. 

Friend of mine has been beating the crap out of them ever since they were available. A lot tougher than I expected. The argument that it would...

Friend of mine has been beating the crap out of them ever since they were available. A lot tougher than I expected. 

The argument that it would be hard to source one on a trip is kind of silly. You can literally just put a couple in your pocket… 

Yeah, Berd spokes seem ideal for backcountry repairs, due to the ease of carrying spares. Back in the day there was actually a company that made fiber spokes specifically for temporary use, to get you home if your steel spoke failed. I'm forgetting the exact name...Fiberfix, or something like that. At that time, they didn't consider the fiber tech to be sufficiently durable for permanent usage, hence the temporary repair angle.

12
TEAMROBOT
Posts
1348
Joined
9/2/2009
Location
Los Angeles, CA US
3/4/2026 5:36pm
ejj wrote:

I've been riding them for a few seasons.  Pretty great. I treat them like garbage and have not had any problems. 

Friend of mine has been beating the crap out of them ever since they were available. A lot tougher than I expected. The argument that it would...

Friend of mine has been beating the crap out of them ever since they were available. A lot tougher than I expected. 

The argument that it would be hard to source one on a trip is kind of silly. You can literally just put a couple in your pocket… 

TheKaiser wrote:
Yeah, Berd spokes seem ideal for backcountry repairs, due to the ease of carrying spares. Back in the day there was actually a company that made...

Yeah, Berd spokes seem ideal for backcountry repairs, due to the ease of carrying spares. Back in the day there was actually a company that made fiber spokes specifically for temporary use, to get you home if your steel spoke failed. I'm forgetting the exact name...Fiberfix, or something like that. At that time, they didn't consider the fiber tech to be sufficiently durable for permanent usage, hence the temporary repair angle.

That's the one! Still available for sale if anyone's looking to cement their position as the most prepared buddy in their riding group:

23
63expert
Posts
187
Joined
9/10/2022
Location
Beaver, WV US
3/4/2026 6:25pm
iceman2058 wrote:
Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at...

Last week Berd announced that they'd broken the record for the lightest XC production wheel from a major manufacturer, with their HAWK30 Gold weighing in at 1022 grams for the set (without tape and valves). Now NOBL has raised (or is that lowered?) the bar again, with today's launch of their all-new Ethos series. These new wheels also use Berd spokes up to and including the enduro wheels, with the super-light Ethos SL180 set weighing in at 933 grams (both the Berd and the NOBL wheels feature 30mm internal width carbon rims). Today's announcement from NOBL: https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/ultralight-xc-dh-nobl-introduces-all-new-ethos-wheel-series.

krabo83 wrote:

those fabric weight weenie spokes are just for headlines IMO, would never put that on my bike.

Next thing you know people will jump out of airplanes and trust their lives to some strings

25

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