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Dan wouldn’t even be able to qualify for a final. Being a fast rider at your own bike park you ride everyday is completely different from racing world cups.

Rachel Atherton is coming out of retirement for the 100k lol, the bike is being built, and she's probably the most capable between men and women on taking it. Sure it been awhile since she's raced, but I'm guessing she could still be first on race day if she put her mind to it.

Several Push shocks have been at Rampage already. Sorge and/or Aggy had one on their Evil.

I don’t believe Canyon are hurting much. They have a stacked field of roadies who are several times more expensive then anyone in MTB. Might just be a change of strategy to focus on a few big names, similar like YT did a while ago

Didn't Ohlins recently announce they weren't going to develop any new MTB products? Hmm, I guess this isn't super clear though... " During 2023 we reached our goal of a full MTB portfolio, from DH to XC. This means we are entering a new phase where we will be improving performance through a combination of running changes and new m.X versions. When it comes to MTB racing, we’re not going anywhere, as it is the backbone of our innovation. We will remain involved with our partner teams in both Downhill and XC racing, and we look forward to the future...

I dont know that dust wipers have a longer life but the dust and mud is sitting on the wiper the same way. Gravity is working for you on a USD fork. So, I have a dorado 37 that I adore. When it comes to life, the open bath TPC cart in the damper leg looks like it could almost never be serviced. Wipers stay good, oil never gets water and dirt ingress and stays silly clean and sliders well lubed. The air spring side stays clean but the grease breaks down faster. If someone wanted a no maintenance fork...

Sometimes getting some more life out of a pivot bearing will not be worth if it means said bearing is 5 times the price and/or lasts only 50 % more or something along those lines. If it was a forever solution, sure, go ahead. But based on what I've seen, I'd bet that the best option for a forever bearing is sealing it in and not counting on the 2RS seals to do the job (that and tolerances of the assembled parts). Part of the sealing is also shielding from the dirt - QED, I've ran 3D printed covers on...

We've suspected Evil is in trouble for a while, as they haven't released a new bike in god knows how long.

I’ve been getting lots of ads for evil bikes on sale. Some on IG are even some of their quite old frames (straight steerer tubes). Any idea on if they are in trouble?

i know it's a fine line between relevant discussion about economy and the bike industry in this forum thread and i'm always blown away by how civil everyone is here. i appreciate that! as it's starting to get a bit more general, we have an "off the bike" forum area if you want to talk general global policy, thoughts on immigration etc. - https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/VitalMTB/Off-the-Bike,3 let's keep this one as bike-specific as possible.

I mean Norco could have just said fuck it, the team are 90% of our entire marketing budget. Marketing budgets are huge. They can also work into rider contracts that they have to do x amount of photo/video shoots for product. With everything going on with wb and all the team stuff, maybe they are “buying the dip” and saying fuck it, everyone else is getting out, let’s go all in and that will be our marketing plan. As for canyon, yea they are hurting. They also dropped all their “influencers” and told them all they had to send all...

Your local bike mechanic doesn’t make enough money to enter a bike race, let alone buy a bicycle. The stock market isn’t the economy. The vast majority of americans are living one paycheck away from homelessness, in constant fear of medical debt, with less purchasing power every week due to the financialzation of the economy, stock buy-backs and sheer unregulated greed. Ymmv, of course.

I would say that most American's think the economy is bad because the top 1% make all the profit while they struggle to make ends meet on crappy wages. Half the US households don't have a 401k.

To be fair there's been talk of them folding for years.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/02/brompton-profits-plung… Folding bike brand Brompton in 99% decrease in profit, they made £4K in 2024 Hard times for these guys

So happy they are giving a young prospect Steve Peat a chance, kid has some serious potential!

because

I’m not hating, but Sam Hill is 39 years old. Hasn't it been more than a decade since he won a UCI DH? Why are we talking about what his program is when everyone is cutting budgets? #flatpedalswinsmedals

Well it's 8.25am January 1 in Sydney, I have a belting hangover. Expecting to see 300 post with new signings, rumours confirmed, ratboy to ride a 3 shocked cannondale. Instead we get Sam Hill riding for his local shop. back to bed