All

Tim at Esker here. You are correct sir, it's not us. The only thing I can say is that every guess in this whole thread is flat out wrong.

Tomorrow I’ll whip up some sort of comparison. Deflection can be analyzed by integrating across the width of the bar so if the outer 75% of a 35 mm bar were identical to a comparable 31.8 mm bar, the deflections would be identical over that length and the only difference would come down to that innermost 25%.

Thank god. I was shopping for bars and stems but just didn’t feel like there were enough options. This might just be the perfect one.

I find it hard to believe that this would be an Esker, simply because the design is more complicated than what is on brand for them. A huge part of their ethos is simplicity: Every bike they sell has external cable routing. Why would they do internal routing, especially if this was a prototype or validation frame? With how much the industry is struggling (Esker themselves have had a bunch of their bikes on sale, including their suspension bikes they just brought back this past year), I would be surprised that they would be trying to expand outside their core...

Maybe I'm mistaken, but before the current Firebird released (after the Phoenix) we saw photos of a carbon prototype of a 2 chains Firebird, that obviously they didn't continue with. This is either and old prototype, or another brands bike in my opinion. @Trocko I think people are staying away from aftermarket Phoenix parts seeing how the frames are doing a good job of disassembling themselves, they don't need extra help.

I'm recalling some article somewhere that someone talked with the owner or someone high up at Phoenix and it was confirmed that some folks ride prototype mules that never go to production but are still worth riding because they're sick bikes. I find it crazy that they'd already be proto-ing a new firebird after they just released an updated version (that had updates to the frame, so new carbon moulds I'm assuming), just doesn't seem likely or feasible. My money's on this is either a firebird prototype they built to test the principles from the phoenix that didn't end up...

I get what you're saying but... Has Pivot EVER used rock shox suspension?

Agreed. Them just releasing a new firebird last year and discussing why they didn’t go with the 2 chain layout in the press. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Updated Zeb also (technically not DH). Another speculated possibility is upgrade kit for Maven SLV/ULT to install the Base cam system. People have noted that some of the pros had a gold colored cam in their Mavens vs. the red one that comes in the retail.

This child vs adult terminal velocity question requires some real-world testing to confirm.

The Forbidden Izzo spotted in the wild today…

Or you could do this: 2014 One9 RDO reborn as a gravel beast. thru-axle, non-boost, 50mm stem, massive tire clearance and the geo is pretty much the same as a modern gravel bike

Brand that changed their logo and straightened their top tubes has a few new releases coming this year

What @jalopyj said. There used to be an easy way, which was to get a mullet correcting dhx2 eyelet from @CascadeComponents and a dhx2. I just checked their site, and it seems like they do not make/sell this product any longer. So, you'd have to find a second hand one, which would i bet would be finding a needle in a haystack. The other option is that you can go through avalanche downhill racing and have them create a custom eye to eye marzocchi bomber cr. If I had to guess... that would run about 400-450 on top of the...

UDH2, with +/- 50mm of chainstay length adjustment, so everyone can just use whatever they want and shut up about it.

Higher stack, not overly long, better ratio XL bikes (1.8-1.82 range)

thank you all who participated in this tech rumors thread! i'm going to lock it now, but we're carrying on with annual tech rumors - find the 2026 tech rumors thread here (starting on page 7 at the time of this post). YEW! https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/mtb-tech-rumors-and-innovation-long…

They inverted their inverted 4 bar?

It's 2026, the crab is ascendant.