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After running Trickstuff Maximas for nearly 4 seasons, I decided to not carry them over and sell them off with my complete bike. The way they were sold and what happened to their Germany HQ didn't sit well with me so it was time to move on. Tried to get a set of Trinity again but kept sleeping on the launches so I gave up. I ended up getting a set of Hope GR4s and did a 3200M day of descending on my local trails as the first ride. I am pretty blown away by them honestly. For those wondering...

Does anybody know what happened to Bode Burke's shoulder in his final run at National Champs? Must have been a pre-existing issue, because he didn't seem to crash in his run ,but he still pulled over mid-run with his shoulder too messed up to ride.

For some years now I've run a strip of Velox rim tape to cover the spoke holes and then tubeless tape over the top. Saved me from having to ride a flat all the way down a few times. I use 16mm Velox iirc on my Reserve 30 and 31|DH.

Flashback to #freckleGate....

Things are looking Blur-ry

Name goes back some 15-20 years ago when first proper tubeless components were introduced (tubeless ready tires, tubeless wheelsets like mavic demax, which are not drilled throught etc) but a lot of us scrubs couldnt afford those and sealants were not as good as they are today so if not using proper parts the setup most likely wouldnt hold air and a ghetto setup was invented by cutting a 20" innertube and streching it over a rim and then mounting a tire, so the cut innertube would rest between the tire and the rim effectively sealing it. Combined with the...

Yeah sorry not sure what happened there, but a more "tightly" wound spring would be softer - if there is more wire in the spring between the 2 end coils, imagine that stretched out to a straight bar and try to bend them by holding the ends. A longer bar of the same diameter wire would be easier to bend, so makes for a softer spring

Dang. A 4:30 senior men's winning time in 2026 is a very, very, very long DH track.

It's still on twitter https://x.com/bikerumor/status/2080777975331455266

While I totally agree - there will probably be 3x7 26ers sold in department stores for the rest of my life, I don't think any of the components on those systems is remotely interesting to any of on Vital. My curiosity was more about the higher end gear stuff. If higher end ebikes predominantly move to eCVTs, will SRAM reintroduce drivetrains closer to the X01/XX1 Eagle lines of yesteryear, optimized for pedal bikes rather than ebikes? Or are we stuck with the current lineup of giant, heavy gear for the foreseeable future? I think this is the gamble for small...

On the topic of highly competitive national championships, the French just duked it out for sleeves and honors in Les Menuires; one look at that start list and you feel like you're at a World Cup trying to qualify. Congrats to Marine Cabirou, Nathan Pontvianne, Ava Chaumet Lagrange and Sacha Brizin! 2026 French National DH Championship Results - Elite Women 2026 French National DH Championship Results - Elite Men 2026 French National DH Championship Results - Junior Women 2026 French National DH Championship Results - Junior Men

I’m thinking about starting a new poll thread. It will be called “would you rather” The options will be: Would you rather take the time to actually read and learn about “ecvt’s” in regards to bikes? Orrrrrrrr…. Would you rather smash up an incandescent light bulb and smash the shards into your eyeballs? This thread is getting exhausting with gearbox nerds.

Quick anecdote: I’ve convinced myself to race the MSC DH at Targhee, and the Geometron G1 I pieced together isn’t quite what I hoped it would be, at least not yet. Hence, I started looking for a proper DH bike that wouldn’t break the bank and every bike that was in my budget is out of stock. Then I started shopping for a handful of other DH-adjacent items, shoes, pants, gear, etc., and had the same reaction: inventory feels noticeably lighter across the board. And again, bargain pricing also seems much harder to find. Really hard, actually, which I guess...

Luca, Richie, Asa, Pinkerton, Maples, Gwin if he has a good day, Cannonball Bode Burke if he can finish his run, and many more who legitimately have the chance to win like Austin, Dante, Medcalf, Kitchen, Suetos, Nik, etc- is this the most competitive senior men's USA national champs since the 90's or eeeeeearly 2000's? And I'm sure I'm forgetting someone important in my list.

#USDH National Champs track walk with Luca Cometti - Unc Chats

$381? This is for blinglespeeds, not singlespeeds.

Putting on flat pedals for a mud race is one thing. Running flats in good weather is another.

Random thoughts / observations: I watched jr's this weekend. I normally don't have time and maybe just watch the highlights of them if anything. The jr women are fucking flying and its not just Aletha either. They are all tapped and riding really active on the bike. It would be interesting to see where the majority of them slotted in vs the elites. I think the Elite womans field is going to get detonated next year and they are going to need to expand the number of finals. Go watch the Jr's!