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Only those plastics rattled so badly that the little fittings fell out and looked horrible. They were not a highlight of the bike in the slightest.
I'm not sure many of us would buy bikes or bike parts if they were made of aerospace carbon... The price would be quite a bit higher than what we have now.
As for removable panels, cool idea, but it adds weight and I don't think it would fly for most (pedal) bike riders at the end of the day.
New Supernaught development - Dred E with a Boxxer, custom link and what looks to be a bb conversion where the motor was?
Also looks like no Ochain on Jackson's V10, which would be a big change from his normal 16 degree custom Ochain setup. Either this is a freeride/bike park V10, or he has some hub magic going on. Wonder if this is a result of SRAM buying the chain of O.
You looking specifically at that pic? If so, that’s not his bike in the pic. He’s just unloading it. In other pics from the same day, he’s on his usual bike.
But to confirm- levers are not flat enough, bars are rolled back, no stem spacers for that high stack, old fork, no ochain, diff tire set up.
Sorry I rambled. Dif bike haha
Now in regard to ochain… I’m definitely curious about that! He was the main guy prototyping higher/different degrees… and now it’s Sram. So it’ll be interesting to see how that’ll play out
Good eye, I think you're right and his bike is in the middle in the top three bikes hanging over the cab.
From what I have been told regarding O Chain. They are continuing support of other mounting styles besides SRAM. That said that question was asked over 10 months ago so things could have changed and I haven't asked that since. Though SRAM doesn't even sell O Chain directly yet so I would assume the Shimano crank enjoyers are safe..for now...
This discussion started because they released a new version which is only compatible with SRAM cranks, and is sold direct…
https://shop.sram.com/collections/ochain
Oh wow. I guess I spoke too soon. I was just on their internal B2B last week (post new o chain) and it wasn’t there. Also stoked to see Shop SRAM has a more complete catalog now! Good to know. Thank you.
You are already riding bikes with aerospace carbon fiber. The actual fiber is the same as what's used in aerospace. Example: Toray T1100 is the world's strongest fiber and used in both bikes and aero. T1200 coming and will be 10% stronger. What's different is mainly the resin and the process of making the bike. Note I could argue some of the bike parts I've seen are actually more complex and high performance than many aerospace manufacturers would/could make. It's impressive how far we've come in this industry.
Whatever that link is I want it available to buy asap
All these aerospace grade components and I still can barely get any air.
However, if it wasn't for advancements in other fields, we wouldn't be where we are today..
New Chromag Throwdown is out
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYPh7PJMgKA/?igsh=MTVzenExdzlwZW9xYQ==
*throwdown
Guess they pushed the launch date, as it seems the blog announcement was completed on May 7.
https://www.pinkbike.com/u/Chromagbikes/blog/chromag-introduces-alloy-t…
touting recyclability of a bike frame sure feels a lot like the weirdo prudes who push for hemp fabrics as a reason for cannabis legalization…I mean, I have some hemp jeans but we’re all adults here: we’re trying to get high bro!
We recycle pretty much zero plastic. I wish it mattered, but it simply does not.
Long time lurker, first time poster here. For some background I’m an aerospace composites engineer and spent several years in Advanced Product Development with an emphasis on environmentally friendly materials. There’s so much to get into on this topic and if folks are interested I’d love to start a dedicated thread on materials and environmental impacts.
The TLDR is, carbon fiber as a green product on its own is a fallacy. The raw fiber production may result in a certain level of carbon sequestering, but the process is still so energy intensive I wouldn’t call it an environmental positive. As for the resin, both thermo-set and thermo-plastics are petroleum derived products so we’re already not off to a great start.
Now to the recycling claims. Traditional thermosets can be recycled, but the process involves so many nasty chemicals it’s also not a viable process. Thermoplastics can in fact be reconstituted into new products with the caveat that there is always degradation in material properties. This is why products like tire levers and other non-structural parts are prime candidates for recycled material. My personal opinion is the bike companies touting TPC’s as environmentally friendly are in a best-case misinformed, or worst-case green washing.
Again, this is such a rabbit hole topic and there is a ton of nuance. But it’s an interesting topic and important to think about how we can reduce the impact our sport has on the environment. There’s also a ton of smart people and industry insiders in this forum that can probably chime in.
In short, can the cycling industry put thermoplastics in the bin for 25 years again?
This is a cool bike and I feel like we should be talking more about it in the "MTB Tech Rumors" thread than the environmental impact of thermoplastics and carbon fibre.
I love a simple, metal bike that can take a beating and it makes me think of a RAAW Madonna, but with a shorter rear end. At $3400, it's priced right in between the Madonna R ($2900cad) and Madonna 3.2 ($3900)
Haven't seen anything announced. But new Spot short travel bike:
https://spotbikes.com/products/diggity-125
I have a soft spot for Spot bikes and this new short travel bike looks great.
potential inappropriate content warning 🤣 updated version of neko explaining his 32" experiment from mountain creek
This was great. Endless curiosity at this point.
Assuming you’re asking from a technological, not environmental standpoint . Can we technologically put TPC’s in the bin for the next 25 years? That’s a blade that cuts both ways. Unless high performance polymers like PEEK, PEKK, PAEK, PPS, etc come down significantly in price then TPC’s are probably not going to gain much more traction in our industry. But if we don’t work to develop them then there’s zero chance of them being adopted. Much like fossil fuels thermoset resins are so damn good at what they do replacing them is really hard.
There is a little predicament in the Persian Gulf that that means the hunger for recycled plastic has skyrocketed.
Ironically, the moron-in-chief is going to make electric cars, recycling and efficiency a lot more economically attractive in the land of freedumb.
Is that new Chromag the same frame that was built as a purple freeride bike with a DH fork months back?
One thing missing here is the fact that with the proliferation of composite know how, there are more people around able to safely repair a wider range of issues.
Rather than pretending we are recycling carbon bikes I’d love to see more frames designed in ways that facilitate repair. Repair is verifiable in a way that recycling is not, it is cost effective for everyone concerned, and it is as close as you’ll get to good for the environment. It probably flows on to other design decisions to ensure repair is viable (like bearing placement, etc etc), but designing bikes for ongoing duty rather than ‘until they fail’ would leave us all better off.
Double upvote.
How is it already on sale? I've literally never seen a spot listed for full price.
It's not easy being a bike company in 2026
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