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https://www.sram.com/en/life/stories/specialized-highgear-co-development From the outset, the core challenge was clear: transmitting full downhill sprint and impact loads through an extremely compact system. Traditional solutions such as belts or meshing gears were quickly ruled out due to inefficiency, packaging limitations, suspension constraints, and durability concerns. Chains remained the most efficient and proven option, but early analysis showed that a single chain could not withstand elite downhill loads within the desired compact gearing and envelope. That insight led to the project’s defining architectural decision: a two chain system. Two parallel chains could theoretically share the load, but ensuring equal load distribution introduced a...

Buying a Santa Cruz usually costs a bit more, but there are some legitimate reasons other than VPP to buy one. Kinematics / ride dynamics are well engineered regardless of linkage used SC geo is usually solid, nothing weird Build quality Ability to purchase replacement parts for many years (try buying parts for a 5 year old frame from any other bike company) Lifetime warranty (one that you can actually count on).

Good questions! I had a great conversation with Kiran MacKinnon of Santa Cruz Bikes at Sea Otter (and it should be published as a podcast at some point), and he said that because e-bike frames have to be so much stiffer than pedal bikes, taking the motor and battery out basically produces a bike that rides like a block of wood (i.e. overly stiff and harsh over bumps). That doesn't mean that an e-bike with the motor removed is unridable (i.e. Martin Maes racing DH on the e-Wild frame as a development project for the new Rallon DH bike), but...

No, the Scott engineers are furious because Specialized added so many new links but didn't seal them inside the frame. They're yelling at their screen right now, "Just make it look like a pregnant whale! It's so easy!"

“Hey do you guys have a spare HighGear perimeter seal and lower case bolt o-ring in stock? I’ve got a race this weekend.”

ucimtbworldseries.com

Please let’s not start that ”it’s too bike park” track talk again, we all know how it went with Poland. Just wait until we see riders riding it.

Well, we have seen a few meters of the whole track so far.... Hill seems to be relatively steep, which is always good.

Yeah, it can be a headache. Korea is crazy convenient once you're in the digital ecosystem. Often a nightmare if you're not. In other news, course inspection with medical teams and WBD today!

I'm I the only one that tightens the jam nuts for the compression fittings at the lever to "So tight that I'm worried that i'm going to crack the lever body"?

Would be amazing if sleeper put together an earthed style video.

Page 100 folks. Already a tenth of the way to the third version of Tech Rumors!

Forgot the most important part of the media pass: Air conditioned Port-a-potty's. The most lavish of thrones. They even had a gold plated one. Because 'merica. Also, how bad ass is Jill K? Every time I see podium photos of her NOT on the top step, she looks soooo pissed. That hunger is real. If I were racing her, Id consider not winning just so she didn't kick my ass afterwords. (Important note to Jill: Not saying I could beat you anyway). She's such a boss. Brembo told a friend of mine "they didnt have time to bleed them". Could...

Mountain bikes should be designed to ride offroad not whether or not they fit on a bike rack. Now you can have geo for going fast and/or for being jibby, etc. BmB has gone down the dirt bike geo road even if he didn't initialy base it on that. He has been testing the limits and seeing what works and what does. He has done what most brands have never had the courage to do. You can only respect him for that. The rest of the industry has been slowly changing geo for decades and selling it with a ton...

Hope has 3D files to make tools for maintenance. One of the tools is an alignment tool. I don’t have a printer so I sourced them from Etsy. Hope tools

Man, there's just something about these Sleeper Co vids. The camera work, editing, color grading, b-roll, textures, sound design, all of it. Just such a pleasure to watch every single time. Hope we get to see a lot more of their work again this year. There's no video series rumor thread, but word is there's something old but new on the way.

Another pre-season vid, this one covering the Trek-Unbroken team's off season trip to NZ and reflecting on the 2025 season. I feel like this team is going to be really really in the mix this season.

Race fans, today is a good day for content! Starring Jackson Goldstone and produced in collaboration with Anthill Films, The Search for Milliseconds documents the dramatic journey of the youngest rider in history to claim the UCI Downhill Elite overall title. From pre-season testing to start gate tension, the film follows Jackson and his support team as they hunt for every millisecond that can make or break a champion.

The Rise of the Alran Brothers by Sleeper - put everything down and watch this!