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I'm waiting for drivetrain-free systems to catch on. Aaron Gwin demonstrated the benefits of pedal-free DH long ago, but sponsorship for that approach seems to be lacking. Imagine, no DR, no cassette, no chain, freedom to use any crank length or even pegs if you want.

Taken from PB, new TRP brakes in the works (or at least calipers)

How many of those DH teams do you think would be running gearboxes right now if there wasn't a €100k carrot being dangled before them?

If you asked Pivot it would be 435

I need a high pivot CVT. What should my chainstay length be?

As long as this is now an "innovation of CVTs for bikes" thread, I think it's key to point out that the conventional 1x12 drive train is roughly constant efficiency in all gears, slight worse for cross-chaining, and slight worse for smaller cogs due to increased internal friction in the chain links bending around small cogs. There's data for this kind of thing online. When we are talking about gearboxes with and without CVTs, we still have to pay most of the efficiency loss that a conventional drivetrain sees, since we still need a belt or chain to reach from...

I think the selling point for CVTs in ICE-driven systems is that often gas engines have a pretty narrow torque band where they are efficient, with efficiency dropping off quite a bit outside of the band. A standard transmission with maybe 4 to 6 gears will end up just having a couple of sweet spots where efficiency is good. The CVT allows the system to live in the efficient band most/all of the time. Commercial 18-wheeler-type drives have staged transmissions to get them many more points where the system is good, much like our 12-speed drivetrains. They pop through 4...

I believe the new Saint group will be like how modern pickups are in the USA. Waiting for a truck company to make a durable, usable, no bullshit build. It shows up but they did something so stupid in design that no one wants it, then we just go back to the older models anyways.

(Edit) the silicone 20A / 25A compound versions are ready in 32mm and 34mm now! I’ve always loved having thicker grips and have been riding diety supracush for a long time which is a 34mm diameter. I’ve recently created my own grips in an effort to have my own larger grips. Two of these listed in the link are at 36mm and I use a rubber/foam mix to make them. Been riding them all season. https://mtbairgrips.com/collections/grips If anyone wants to try them in exchange for a review lmk or you can also of course buy them. I’m currently working on...

I'll be dead before new saint drops.

What JVP said. For me it's a compromise of grip and confidence inspiring on the downs vs hauling drag uphill It'd be pseudo science but if you had a power meter I'd be interested in a comparison of radial vs non-radial. Find a fairly uniform part of a climb trail and do some laps trying to keep the power constant. It wouldn't have to be super high power merely something you could achieve repeatedly. I recall pinkbike in the Levy days doing something similar for some of the field tests.

Little insight I got. July release for yeti Avinox cvt system is not 100% and far out from coming to the market. Apparently issues with the system auto shifting down when rider puts high watts combine with motor. Sounds like System protecting itself. Not sure if this is just a software or the system not being able to handle it. We’ll see. Some high ups in specialized are not happy. A nasty email sent to engineers/ product developers to step it up and motor/gearbox combo bike priority 1 Specialized has an unreleased bike the industry will get to see at...

Riders' goals matter, this is where racing and daily riding for nine-to-fivers diverge. Enduro and DH racers want the fastest speed going down, recreational riders are looking for the best compromise to reduce suffering on the way up. The people I ride with only care about speed when climbing . For descending we want confidence and predictability. Confidence = speed for us. The tire that is fastest descending changes 150 times a year based on the specific trail and the amount of moisture (or complete lack thereof). My ideal tires for a weekday lunch ride on Galbraith flowy stuff are...

I could give this a go, would back to back race sim laps be enough to provide accurate results? At least in a way that it is consistently one way or the other?

John Karrasch (@flexfitbyjohn on Instagram) is doing real world rolling resistance testing (using Chung method) of the current crop of XC and gravel tyres. He’s dabbled with trail casing of XC tread like BRR has, but not into the trail, enduro, DH etc type tyres that this forum is normally interested in. I’ll ask him if he’s interested in this current question of radial RR.

Let me say more clearly what was implied in my previous post: those old road bike rolling resistance tests tell me that our own internal rolling resistance gauges in our brains are not very trustworthy. I'm not convinced that radial tires roll slower because the only evidence we have is that they feel like they roll slower. 21mm tires pumped up to 120 psi feel fast as hell on asphalt. As you go faster, you get more and more vibration feedback from the tire, giving the sensation of greater and greater speed. A 32mm tubeless GP5000 pumped up to 60...

It wont this year. They made the mistake of designing it without a gearbox. Scrapping the whole lower half of the bike.

Slow clap. Part of the reason why road bikes came with 19-23mm tires pumped up to 120+ psi is because they felt faster than bigger or softer tires, and because of flawed test methodology (testing tires on smooth steel drums in a lab vs. testing on real asphalt). I've heard a lot of people in the tire forum say that radials roll slower, and they certainly might. But until I see actual test results using a methodology that makes sense, I'm going to assume that no one knows the answer to that question.

" We’re seeing this play out with radial tires. Less efficient, more grip." Have you seen any data comparing the same compound, tread pattern, and casing durability for radial vs. conventional tires? I am sure that a sticky DH radial rolls slowly, but so does a sticky DH conventional tire. More trail oriented radials with faster rolling rubber and lighter casings are only just starting to come out, so I hadn't seen any real comparisons in terms of watts consumed. I suppose if one wanted to be really comprehensive about it, one would also need to test the radials at...