2026 MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation - Longer and Slacker

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15 hours ago Edited Date/Time 15 hours ago
So many bones to pick with that vid. The outgoing Zerode Katipo is very capable and aside from the seat tube angle I have very few...

So many bones to pick with that vid. The outgoing Zerode Katipo is very capable and aside from the seat tube angle I have very few complaints. It's a pleasure to ride. Much more satisfying ride quality than my SB Yetis. It is an enduro bike and they all climb  tolerably at best in general race trim with the ethos of get it to the top, make it ride really fast on the way down. I have only washed the belt and lubed the idler in my season and a half of riding. No issues...

With a cable grip shift (or DIY trigger) gearbox setup you can feel the system release pressure and permit a shift as you let off the pedal torque. I kind of preload the shifter and feel it jump into place. An then when it clicks in, it's in. No tickticktick smack bang like from a derailleur, especially in low gears where a big cog jump would be needed. The low gear instant indexing is actually where I appreciate the Pinion the most. Want to go from 5th to 2nd? Just time a pedal stroke letup and twist or do it while coasting. Done. 

I have a handful of races on my Katipo. Being able to change gears without needing a risky pedal stroke to set in the new gear is an advantage IF you have the skill and foresight to get it right. I have been burned on an unforseen increase in climb grade while sprinting, but that was on me for try to "SS legs" in too high of a gear in the first place. 

Gearbox is a hard sell but if you take the dive with an open mind it's a lot of fun, quiet and low maintenance for general enduro riding. 32" wheels are probably a worse compromise (4). 

I loved my Taniwha till I tried more updated geometry 😄 
As much as I love the idea of the Smart Shift, I feel like it actually neuters the bike with the slower shifts. The gripshift is so quick and has such a short throw, so you can grab so many gears. The amount of time you actually need to back off the pedals to shift is so short. You're only limited by how quickly you can twist the thing. I was really disappointed with the Cinq shifters. I have video somewhere. If I remember right, I could get through all 12 gears with the gripshift in just over a second, not that you'd need to, while the Cinq was almost 1 second per gear

4
trytochaseme
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8 hours ago
So many bones to pick with that vid. The outgoing Zerode Katipo is very capable and aside from the seat tube angle I have very few...

So many bones to pick with that vid. The outgoing Zerode Katipo is very capable and aside from the seat tube angle I have very few complaints. It's a pleasure to ride. Much more satisfying ride quality than my SB Yetis. It is an enduro bike and they all climb  tolerably at best in general race trim with the ethos of get it to the top, make it ride really fast on the way down. I have only washed the belt and lubed the idler in my season and a half of riding. No issues...

With a cable grip shift (or DIY trigger) gearbox setup you can feel the system release pressure and permit a shift as you let off the pedal torque. I kind of preload the shifter and feel it jump into place. An then when it clicks in, it's in. No tickticktick smack bang like from a derailleur, especially in low gears where a big cog jump would be needed. The low gear instant indexing is actually where I appreciate the Pinion the most. Want to go from 5th to 2nd? Just time a pedal stroke letup and twist or do it while coasting. Done. 

I have a handful of races on my Katipo. Being able to change gears without needing a risky pedal stroke to set in the new gear is an advantage IF you have the skill and foresight to get it right. I have been burned on an unforseen increase in climb grade while sprinting, but that was on me for try to "SS legs" in too high of a gear in the first place. 

Gearbox is a hard sell but if you take the dive with an open mind it's a lot of fun, quiet and low maintenance for general enduro riding. 32" wheels are probably a worse compromise (4). 

Lacanuck24 wrote:
I loved my Taniwha till I tried more updated geometry 😄 As much as I love the idea of the Smart Shift, I feel like it actually...

I loved my Taniwha till I tried more updated geometry 😄 
As much as I love the idea of the Smart Shift, I feel like it actually neuters the bike with the slower shifts. The gripshift is so quick and has such a short throw, so you can grab so many gears. The amount of time you actually need to back off the pedals to shift is so short. You're only limited by how quickly you can twist the thing. I was really disappointed with the Cinq shifters. I have video somewhere. If I remember right, I could get through all 12 gears with the gripshift in just over a second, not that you'd need to, while the Cinq was almost 1 second per gear

I also loved my Taniwha but could not go back to it after trying a newer bike because of the geo. That side I was a massive fan of the pinion and will for sure have another one some day. I think the shifting gets blown out of proportion. I would just time my shifts when my pedals were are 12 and 6 position and ease up a bit on the power and you could shift no problem. I was very against the grip shift at first but after some time on it I liked it. 

1
Primoz
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SI
6 hours ago

I think the same review (tanihwa review maybe?) that mentioned the shifting with a servo motor under full power on the assembly line also mentioned that you could preload a shift and it would click in when you let off the pedals. That doesn't work with electronic shifting though, just like regular shifting, with a cable you have a lot more feel. 

As gor spacing out or delaying shifts, again it's like letting up on the pedals, it's just good practice. Running a Garbaruk cassette this becomes more important as it's not as tolerant to multi shifts to easier gears as stock Sram Eagle cassettes are, but still, letting the chain wrap around a ring at least a little before shifting again makes sense and lowers the stress on the chain. I think a big reason we have the ability to shift 3 or 4 gears on trigger shifters is marketing and we'd be better off having only single click ebikeesque trigger shifters. 

1
GRM50
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6 hours ago
enigmas wrote:
Long time reader, first time poster. I've heard rumours of an an Ibis HD7 this year from my LBS, and just noticed that the Ibis Ripmo &...

Long time reader, first time poster. 

I've heard rumours of an an Ibis HD7 this year from my LBS, and just noticed that the Ibis Ripmo & Ripley have had their build specs updated with the new deore groupset yet the HD6 hasn't..

Trocko wrote:
I’ve heard of a longer travel 29er which I’d assume would be the updated HD since ibis just uses flip chips for mullet now. Not sure...

I’ve heard of a longer travel 29er which I’d assume would be the updated HD since ibis just uses flip chips for mullet now. Not sure on timeline though. I’ve also been meaning to message Jank components if they have tried long stroking the ripmo with their long chainstay links. Jumping to 65 stroke should give a ripmo close to 162mm travel. 

Updated HD6 seems like the most logical step for Ibis considering they've refreshed the Ripmo/Ripley, Ripley SL, and OSO in the past few years. 

I really hope they take the OSO platform/mentality and apply it to the updated HD7 with the ability to swap wheel sizes and modular dropouts. 

4
4 hours ago Edited Date/Time 4 hours ago

Spotted an interesting DH bike in Verbier today, gearbox, high pivot and the rider was wearing what looks a Whyte Bikes t-shirt

IMG 5693 0.JPEG?VersionId=AncPj7A2pQkuwL9tTJ
17
seanfisseli
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Santa Cruz, CA, USA
3 hours ago

arguing about gearbox shifting sucks. Take it to a new thread please.

4
jsray
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3 hours ago

arguing about gearbox shifting sucks. Take it to a new thread please.

Welcome to the thread. 

9
overbiked
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2 hours ago
Spotted an interesting DH bike in Verbier today, gearbox, high pivot and the rider was wearing what looks a Whyte Bikes t-shirt

Spotted an interesting DH bike in Verbier today, gearbox, high pivot and the rider was wearing what looks a Whyte Bikes t-shirt

IMG 5693 0.JPEG?VersionId=AncPj7A2pQkuwL9tTJ

Definitely a Whyte logo, could conceivably be mr Joe Barnes himself. Bike has the very specialized-esque four bar Whyte uses. 

2 hours ago

Shame effigear can't get their act together. I genuinely think it's a better design;  no double seal needed for concentric output,  no overdrive,  etc means out of the box there is a huge potential for efficiency gains, not to mention the removal of an idler. 

 

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1
seanfisseli
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Santa Cruz, CA, USA
2 hours ago

arguing about gearbox shifting sucks. Take it to a new thread please.

jsray wrote:

Welcome to the thread. 

Touché 

1
amanitas
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Bellingham, WA, USA
3 minutes ago
Spotted an interesting DH bike in Verbier today, gearbox, high pivot and the rider was wearing what looks a Whyte Bikes t-shirt

Spotted an interesting DH bike in Verbier today, gearbox, high pivot and the rider was wearing what looks a Whyte Bikes t-shirt

IMG 5693 0.JPEG?VersionId=AncPj7A2pQkuwL9tTJ

Frame looks like a bonded aluminum construction similar to what Frameworks was playing around with. That headtube looks familiar but can’t I remember where I’ve seen it.

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