Hello Vital MTB Visitor,
We’re conducting a survey and would appreciate your input. Your answers will help Vital and the MTB industry better understand what riders like you want. Survey results will be used to recognize top brands. Make your voice heard!
Five lucky people will be selected at random to win a Vital MTB t-shirt.
Thanks in advance,
The Vital MTB Crew
It’s a joke page, but they bring up a fair point.
Electronic suspension has been banned in F1 for decades. Why is it allowed in mountain bike racing?
Maybe, because it doesn’t have a clear competitive advantage in downhill at least. People are trying all sorts of out of the box things at the moment.
I imagine Fox and rockshox want to run the neo and flight attendant at races to boost sales, so we won’t see UCI banning it anytime soon - despite how pointless I believe electronic suspension to be for everyday use.
They got it wrong all the time too. Honda in ‘97 being the prime example. How they didn’t listen to McGrath I’ll never understand.
Fully active suspension like what was banned in F1 would be fascinating on a mountain bike.
And then it should be banned.
this counter rotating sprocket as tensioner around the crank axle took me a while to get my head around, dumb easy but I was confused...as its just coasting
When they went too stiff on the frame... I think that bike was pretty much universally hated..
Yeah 100%, it's a delicate balance for sure. Also didn't mean it to come across as I way saying he was bullshitting you or misleading in any way, just that I mean what he says is too stiff might be just right for someone (like you said about the one-size-fits-all solution/problem). Thanks for sharing what he said as well, never thought about the stiffness of e-bikes in comparison to normal enduro bikes until now
That's what got me when I rode the Crafty at first as well, it has surgical precision with the front wheel while the rear triangle is kind of noodle-y in the best way, forgiving and incredible on off-cambers. When you push down on one pedal for example when the bike is still, you can feel the flex that happens, but I don't know if that's coming from the bottom bracket area, the rear triangle, or a combination of both. You feel it in corners as well, the long chainstay and flexy rear end make it so that you can feel the bike kind of vibrate (if that's the right word) as it loses and gains grips back and forth when you're at the limit. It makes it easier and less intimidating to find the limit of grip, as it doesn't just sweep from underneath you.
When he talked about stiffness, did he specifically mean bottom bracket stiffness, or just the front triangle as a whole? I read the following (https://www.cyclingabout.com/lab-test-why-lateral-frame-stiffness-matte…) which highlights the importance of the frame in the whole compliance conversation compared to wheels and other components, but I personally don't know the difference between a stiff front end and a compliant one.
The thing is that I don't know the difference between a stiff or flexy fork, handlebar or any components, as I've just run the same components for the last few years. I'd be very interested in testing the ends of the spectrum, based on compliance tests like Pinkbike did for handlebars, but university and expensive curiosities just don't mix 😭
Frame stiffness in MX is very interesting. I always had issues with cornering at high RPM's on my KTM, as the bike feels like it binds up and gets super stiff when there's a whole lot of vibrations going through it. One of the weirdest sensations I've experienced on a MX bike, feels like it gets nervous and twitchy. Might be one of the drawbacks of a steel frame.
Sexton has been experimenting with increased stiffness on the swingarm since St. Louis I think. Would be interesting to feel the difference between the stock swingarm and the one he's running.
I also have an HP Range. I can’t say I’ve hit the rocker linkage on much, but there’s plenty of rock chips that say otherwise. My downtube is relatively unscathed by comparison, so I don’t think the Demo will be quite as bad.
For mtb it can be hard to decouple frame flex from wheel flex. the wheel is a complex system (axle, hub, spokes, rim and tire) that influences this a lot.
I've got my Megatower V1 frame that I've had for nearly 7 years and after trying 5 different wheelsets on it, each one gave it a different handling characteristic.
Rider weight is a huge factor too. I think as suspension and geometry begin to plateau we'll see more brands talking about frame flex and trying to quantify or market it.
I think a downtube experiences tension and compression, but I think for the majority of impacts its experiencing them as a compression event. That's part of the reason why roadbikes can have such tiny toptubes and still need such huge downtubes. The early 2010's TCR is a great example of this extreme difference in tube sizes:
Here's my caveman understanding of those forces (not an engineer):
But I don't even think that compressive force is the main reason downtubes need to be stiff. I think the main reason is that it connects contact points. It's the most direct line between my hands, my feet, and the rear wheel, so it's a gigantic lever that gets used any time I input a rider force, and any time the ground inputs a lateral twisting force into the bike via the rear tire's contact patch. Funny enough, that's also why I think road bikes like the TCR up above have had such a large discrepancy in tube sizes, because riders don't want their bikes twisting under pedaling loads, especially during out of the saddle sprinting.
Okay fellow forum nerds, does that logic check out?
The downtube is the main component that oposes side to side flex when side loading the BB and transferring the loads to the front wheel. The rest helps too, as in the seat tube and top tube, but these play a much higher role in rear stiffness (coupled with the rear triangle) as the chainstays aren't as stiff in roll. The fork is comparatively stiff in roll, but is depending on the top tube to load it up.
As for comoressive and tensile loads, yes and no. If you're loading the forks fore and aft, you're likely applying a torque at the headtube (besides the lengthwise force) and trying to bend (twist) the downtube as well, not purely pulling or compressing it.
I too frequently bang the scrotum of my Range. I would be concerned racing dh on a bike with a relatively low bb (348 in the low setting).
How’s her mechanic think about it ?
I know they're completely different bikes but man the cavity in the downtube and shape of the chain stays near the BB area really reminds me of the current generation Jekyll.
I know we talked about this earlier, but we weren’t completely sure it was RMU. I’ve now received an email from them with this picture, so we can confirm it is their bike. It looks like it’s launching on May 1st.
Would be wild if this finally meant the release of the DH
End of switch infinity more likely
According to their instagram it will be called the NIGHTTRAIN. Other details include suspension designed with Dave Weagle (by the looks of the pictures probably something similar to what's on the Phoenix) and that it will be offered in three different build kits.
Job security.
I'm confused by the linkage. DW4 usually has a solid rear triangle. Is this a DW4 linkage with a flex stay?
Or is the dual chainring hiding a DW6 linkage, and this is DW6 with a flex stay?
Either way, very cool. I assume there may have been collaboration with Pivot or Dave Weagle. Looking forward to hearing more about it.
It looks to be DW6, just like the Phoenix
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DHZbUOEuMNj/
Specialized shop owners to their shop techs:
Uh, yeah, look guys, we’re gonna need an up to date copy of your A&P before we can let you work on the Demo 11.
The active suspension that Williams ran in 90s that was banned, isn’t the same as the electronic compression adjustment we have in MTB. You can lookup the ZF system used by Porsche. You need hydraulic pumps capable of high pressures.
Electronic suspension that could automatically adapt compression and rebound to the rider would benefit to most.
Where is this from? I heard they were close to releasing a new sixfinity regular bike.
This (and the Pheonix's) linkage is slightly different than the DW6 on Atherton/Robot bikes. It is missing the chainstay pivot; it's more of a flex-stay DW6. Dave Weagle has himself jokingly referred to it as "DW5" or "DWF6".
Obviously, he wants to find a way to get one. 🤣
pinkbike. I guess I started following them back on there during the frequent season videos with Blenki, Gwin, and Leov. Occasionally you get the oddball notification like such
Having ridden bikes from several major brands, my SC Megatower has easily been the best I’ve owned when it comes to product support, parts availability, and clear, reliable customer service. I used to make fun of people who had an SC, but after dealing with repeated warranty issues on other bikes, I get it now. The Mega is a sick bike, the VPP suspension rides great, but honestly, it’s the overall ownership experience that really sets Santa Cruz apart. I'm in the market for a shorter travel ripper, and SC is at the top of the list, even if it's just for customer service support.
Not a new bike...
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/support-adolf-silvas-recovery-fund-and-wi…
Post a reply to: 2026 MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation - Longer and Slacker