When this happened with Pivot it was all the forums were talking about. Orbea has been lucky to avoid the scrutiny!
Pivot and Orbea two very different vibes as brands. Feel like most of us are rooting for Orbea whereas Pivot it’s a toss up if you love em or hate em. Such a shame that 2 of the best looking DH bikes aren’t safe.
Genie Zeb sounds like unnecessary “tech” that mostly exists for marketing and branding… but that seems to be the Specialized brand identity right now.
Genie Zeb sounds like a RS implementation of Manitou's IRT, Chickadeehill's whatever's cart, Diaz's Runt, etc. A dual-chamber setup with two different pressures.
I never understood athletes or people saying "No photos" to a frame that sheared in half while riding. Things break in this sport. It happens. But you trying to silence the part where their frame catastrophically failed is not cool if you're representing the company in any form.
I never understood athletes or people saying "No photos" to a frame that sheared in half while riding. Things break in this sport. It happens. But...
I never understood athletes or people saying "No photos" to a frame that sheared in half while riding. Things break in this sport. It happens. But you trying to silence the part where their frame catastrophically failed is not cool if you're representing the company in any form.
My hunch is that the greater whole of those participating in the traveling circus are doing everything they can to keep brands (and money flowing into the sport). Broken frames are obviously really not good... but consumers wouldn't really understand or have context to how much product is destroyed during the process of racing DH. Right now when money is tight and the industry is hurting, it's likely not a great time for brands to have the perception that their marketing budget for dh racing (which is likely on shaky grounds) is doing more harm then good to their brand image.
I'm not saying this is a conspiracy... but likely a quiet un-spoken things that people are participating in without even realizing it.
Part of the issue with sharing these photos is the context is completely missed and then you end up with a parade of people saying things like "Orbeas aren't safe".
I had an athlete send a picture of a development frame snapped exactly like the Orbea (top tube and downtube snapped clean through) and immediately we started panicking about testing and strength issues. The rider basically said "this ones on me". He hit a tree head on so hard the handlebars were bent backwards and the bike went flying down the hill and fully snapped when it landed 10m away. Making a bike that wouldn't break in that kind of crash doesn't make it safer just like making a car that never gets dented doesn't make it safer.
You would not want to design a bike that never breaks; a frame can be Rampage ready and still end up in two pieces. Look at Greg Minnaars V10 from a few years back. It hit a tree sideways at probably close to 20kph and snapped. That should happen, your tubes are not meant to take lateral load like that and it does not reduce the safety. The Whistler DH is no joke, without context you have no idea if that Orbea snapped while riding or while it hit a tree sideways while flying through the air or because it hit a knife edge of a rock in a crash.
The prototype Pivot snapping is a bit of a different story because you have a lot more context. I am not saying don't hold companies accountable for product that breaks but don't assume the product sucks because it didn't survive a race weekend.
Random observations from walking the pits; Martin Maes bike for Whistler had a much more 'finished' looking carbon seat stay with a bridge. Kaos Seagrave's front triangle does not have a downtube storage door, just blank carbon where the door should be. All of the FMD team run Works headsets, not the proprietary gimble-based adjustable headset the Rallon comes with. The green Rallon that snapped cased the big triple after the wooden drop on the upper course, no idea what happened to that second one but looks to have broken in the same spot.
I’m having a hard time seeing how the new enduro can look like this but with a vertical shock. The whole design is focused around a horizontal shock. Can someone with photoshop skills help us out
I’m having a hard time seeing how the new enduro can look like this but with a vertical shock. The whole design is focused around a...
I’m having a hard time seeing how the new enduro can look like this but with a vertical shock. The whole design is focused around a horizontal shock. Can someone with photoshop skills help us out
Don't know if this was posted before but Spotted near Northstar Closing weekend
Pretty sure Colty has a deal going with that brand, think they flew him out to china to ride it and do a bunch of media. He was still racing a demo 11 at US open.
We helped them prototype their suspension layout. That bike from Crankworx a couple of years ago I actually machined the links for. They are handling their own production now though.
I never understood athletes or people saying "No photos" to a frame that sheared in half while riding. Things break in this sport. It happens. But...
I never understood athletes or people saying "No photos" to a frame that sheared in half while riding. Things break in this sport. It happens. But you trying to silence the part where their frame catastrophically failed is not cool if you're representing the company in any form.
"Things break in this sport"
It's easy to earn a bad reputation when people see your frames snapping in half. Especially when it's two frames in one weekend from the same company.
When was the last time you saw a Trek / Santa Cruz / Specialized / Canyon / Mondraker DH bike snap in half? It doesn't happen to everyone, and people are right to be wary when they see catastrophic DH frame failures.
I never understood athletes or people saying "No photos" to a frame that sheared in half while riding. Things break in this sport. It happens. But...
I never understood athletes or people saying "No photos" to a frame that sheared in half while riding. Things break in this sport. It happens. But you trying to silence the part where their frame catastrophically failed is not cool if you're representing the company in any form.
"Things break in this sport"It's easy to earn a bad reputation when people see your frames snapping in half. Especially when it's two frames in one...
"Things break in this sport"
It's easy to earn a bad reputation when people see your frames snapping in half. Especially when it's two frames in one weekend from the same company.
When was the last time you saw a Trek / Santa Cruz / Specialized / Canyon / Mondraker DH bike snap in half? It doesn't happen to everyone, and people are right to be wary when they see catastrophic DH frame failures.
Shop guys pretty regularly see just about any frame on earth broken, and it really doesn't often turn any of us off a brand. The forces bikes see are both pretty dynamic and pretty crazy at times, especially considering how much we expect this premium stuff to weigh. Seeing a broken V-10 doesn't make me want to avoid them, it makes me curious how fuckin' hard the rider was going.
The general public does not always understand that stuff does just break. We get people in daily who tell us we couldn't pay them to ride carbon, then we grab a frame from the back with the BB cut out and say "go ahead and try to break this" and almost always have a believer in 20 seconds. We have a Blur front triangle with the BB cut out. I've put the TT on a stand, held the DT, and can literally suspend my 150lb ass. Probably been full force slammed against hard concrete corners a hundred times. That's still a frame that broke at the end of the day, so imagining the forces it saw to crack is pretty insane.
I think people should be a lot less wary. You're not a WC athlete, you aren't pushing a bike that hard, and the vast majority of broken items we see are due to rider error or mechanical neglect.
"Things break in this sport"It's easy to earn a bad reputation when people see your frames snapping in half. Especially when it's two frames in one...
"Things break in this sport"
It's easy to earn a bad reputation when people see your frames snapping in half. Especially when it's two frames in one weekend from the same company.
When was the last time you saw a Trek / Santa Cruz / Specialized / Canyon / Mondraker DH bike snap in half? It doesn't happen to everyone, and people are right to be wary when they see catastrophic DH frame failures.
The last time a SC frame snapped at a WC that I can recall it got covered up with a coat. It hit a tree, which often causes frames to break, so it's not like it was for some suspect reason and it still got covered.
Things break, but in today's internet/ social media world, that one broken frame can show up in so many places that to a casual observer it can look like a product is failing left and right and give a false narrative as to what is actually happening..
Don't worry they will find a way
When this happened with Pivot it was all the forums were talking about. Orbea has been lucky to avoid the scrutiny!
They always put their eggs in a yoke basket
Pivot and Orbea two very different vibes as brands. Feel like most of us are rooting for Orbea whereas Pivot it’s a toss up if you love em or hate em.
Such a shame that 2 of the best looking DH bikes aren’t safe.
Genie Zeb sounds like unnecessary “tech” that mostly exists for marketing and branding… but that seems to be the Specialized brand identity right now.
Genie Zeb sounds like a RS implementation of Manitou's IRT, Chickadeehill's whatever's cart, Diaz's Runt, etc. A dual-chamber setup with two different pressures.
Pics or it didn't happen
I never understood athletes or people saying "No photos" to a frame that sheared in half while riding. Things break in this sport. It happens. But you trying to silence the part where their frame catastrophically failed is not cool if you're representing the company in any form.
watch it be a vertical yoke instead
Real Enduro racers will still pick the stumpjumper
My hunch is that the greater whole of those participating in the traveling circus are doing everything they can to keep brands (and money flowing into the sport). Broken frames are obviously really not good... but consumers wouldn't really understand or have context to how much product is destroyed during the process of racing DH. Right now when money is tight and the industry is hurting, it's likely not a great time for brands to have the perception that their marketing budget for dh racing (which is likely on shaky grounds) is doing more harm then good to their brand image.
I'm not saying this is a conspiracy... but likely a quiet un-spoken things that people are participating in without even realizing it.
Part of the issue with sharing these photos is the context is completely missed and then you end up with a parade of people saying things like "Orbeas aren't safe".
I had an athlete send a picture of a development frame snapped exactly like the Orbea (top tube and downtube snapped clean through) and immediately we started panicking about testing and strength issues. The rider basically said "this ones on me". He hit a tree head on so hard the handlebars were bent backwards and the bike went flying down the hill and fully snapped when it landed 10m away. Making a bike that wouldn't break in that kind of crash doesn't make it safer just like making a car that never gets dented doesn't make it safer.
You would not want to design a bike that never breaks; a frame can be Rampage ready and still end up in two pieces. Look at Greg Minnaars V10 from a few years back. It hit a tree sideways at probably close to 20kph and snapped. That should happen, your tubes are not meant to take lateral load like that and it does not reduce the safety. The Whistler DH is no joke, without context you have no idea if that Orbea snapped while riding or while it hit a tree sideways while flying through the air or because it hit a knife edge of a rock in a crash.
The prototype Pivot snapping is a bit of a different story because you have a lot more context. I am not saying don't hold companies accountable for product that breaks but don't assume the product sucks because it didn't survive a race weekend.
Random observations from walking the pits; Martin Maes bike for Whistler had a much more 'finished' looking carbon seat stay with a bridge. Kaos Seagrave's front triangle does not have a downtube storage door, just blank carbon where the door should be. All of the FMD team run Works headsets, not the proprietary gimble-based adjustable headset the Rallon comes with. The green Rallon that snapped cased the big triple after the wooden drop on the upper course, no idea what happened to that second one but looks to have broken in the same spot.
Diaper bike in a new color now
And low progression bikes
I’m having a hard time seeing how the new enduro can look like this but with a vertical shock. The whole design is focused around a horizontal shock. Can someone with photoshop skills help us out
Apparently the Goodman Santa Cruz team will be on Devinci next year...
Congrats on pulling off a cool and interesting project. I hope it's a killer ride!
Some very Devinci-esque frame welds...
Colton Peterson has been riding that bike in Trans Madeira too
@CascadeComponents 👀
Pretty sure Colty has a deal going with that brand, think they flew him out to china to ride it and do a bunch of media. He was still racing a demo 11 at US open.
for those looking for more info, found the deets here: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/randoms-round-2-crankworx-whistler-2025.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com
I knew I had seen that somewhere before. Crazy long looking lower link!
We helped them prototype their suspension layout. That bike from Crankworx a couple of years ago I actually machined the links for. They are handling their own production now though.
"Things break in this sport"
It's easy to earn a bad reputation when people see your frames snapping in half. Especially when it's two frames in one weekend from the same company.
When was the last time you saw a Trek / Santa Cruz / Specialized / Canyon / Mondraker DH bike snap in half? It doesn't happen to everyone, and people are right to be wary when they see catastrophic DH frame failures.
Shop guys pretty regularly see just about any frame on earth broken, and it really doesn't often turn any of us off a brand. The forces bikes see are both pretty dynamic and pretty crazy at times, especially considering how much we expect this premium stuff to weigh. Seeing a broken V-10 doesn't make me want to avoid them, it makes me curious how fuckin' hard the rider was going.
The general public does not always understand that stuff does just break. We get people in daily who tell us we couldn't pay them to ride carbon, then we grab a frame from the back with the BB cut out and say "go ahead and try to break this" and almost always have a believer in 20 seconds. We have a Blur front triangle with the BB cut out. I've put the TT on a stand, held the DT, and can literally suspend my 150lb ass. Probably been full force slammed against hard concrete corners a hundred times. That's still a frame that broke at the end of the day, so imagining the forces it saw to crack is pretty insane.
I think people should be a lot less wary. You're not a WC athlete, you aren't pushing a bike that hard, and the vast majority of broken items we see are due to rider error or mechanical neglect.
The last time a SC frame snapped at a WC that I can recall it got covered up with a coat. It hit a tree, which often causes frames to break, so it's not like it was for some suspect reason and it still got covered.
Things break, but in today's internet/ social media world, that one broken frame can show up in so many places that to a casual observer it can look like a product is failing left and right and give a false narrative as to what is actually happening..
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