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One of the guys that got us here: RIP Mert Lawwill 09/25/1940-05/06/2026 Mert Lawwill the mountain biker.

my 2 cents after spending some time on the bike is that I really want to spend more time on the bike. A couple anecdotes here: I was surprised at how well it pedalled and the lack of heft that I was expecting after looking at it. After giving it back for a month I had to film on it with no time to get familiar again. First trail was a rapid North Van classic that I have ridden a bunch and I was immediately sending it. It was extremely poppy while still being planted, able to pull for all...

Keep an eye on the China Cycle Show

Shimano fishing is only about 20-25% of the revenue, they are still primarily making bike parts. But IIRC they absolutely dominate OEM lowerend market and this is the part of the market SRAM doesnt even compete in. In the end Shimano is still 3 billion company while SRAM is 1 billion company, even if we exclude fishing they still make double the revenue of SRAM. But I agree, everything in high end market (mtb and road) has been absolutely dominated by SRAM lately when it comes to technology, their strategy (to offer pretty much every bike component) has been really...

O chains are definitely not for the common mtb consumer. To many issues, water, wear, adjustability etc

Dude you’re not kidding. every garage in my neighborhood has a couple bikes in it and ZERO people give a shit about how I finally found a Doubledown Aggressor. I’ve even caught a couple of them look at me weird when I’m checking my wife’s e-scooter tires with a digital gauge. Retired Coast Guard neighbor looked me straight in the eyes and said he’d never heard of the Denim Destroyer. Come ON dude now you’re playing games

Earlier this year I went to People For Bikes’ Bicycle Leadership Conference. I’m not a PFB member, I don’t feel like a shill for them, but I have an in person experience which seems relevant to this: I learned that they feel that e-motos pose an urgent threat to existing routes to schools, etc. They’re still supporting new routes, but are focused on supporting existing routes - because there’s a risk that reaction to reckless e-moto users could jeopardize all bicycle access to bike paths. Undoing PFB’s previous efforts. PFB seemed eager to have e-motos regulated as motorcycles, and the...

This 1000%. I'm sure a lot of you know this, but a crucial piece of information is that "People for Bikes" is only "people" in the Mitt Romney sense of the word. It's a lobbying organization for bike companies, which explains a lot of the ebike legislation that has been passed in many states. The other old grumpy people will get this reference, which is what that moniker for an industry lobbying group always makes me think of.

Without any kind of fast charging available the Bosch SX system paired with the 400wh is not making any possible sense, just go CX / 600wh and detune to get better range at this point. TQ HPR60 with the 580wh is ahead of the whole SL segment, we need more bikes with this system.

Fazua being the elephant in the room there

As someone who often thinks of the good ole days of MTB, this applies here and often to me...

Bruh, you never go full turq

P.S. Praise the lord that new saint is still mechanical

I just want to back up the claims regarding wax. It's amazing. Clean and does wonders for longevity of a chain. I mentioned this a few times, I was on a ~yearly chain cycle before switching over to drop-on wax, the first waxed chain lasted well over twice what the ones before it lasted. All XX1/X01 Eagle chains on the same drivetrain. As the chainring and cassette were shot (cassette was missing two teeth on the 50T, front chainring was like an old grandma's mouth, barely had any teeth left), I didn't check the stretch. After retiring the bike, it...

I've been to Primoz' neck of the woods and would like to add that: You should absolutely go to that neck of the woods to ride if you get a chance. Primoz raced cross country for years before switching to longer travel bikes, and was fitter than me when we rode together. He's a great host and I cannot recommend Bled Cream Cake enough. However, I would not recommend eating it right before a 87 F/31 C mountain bike ride with Primoz. Primoz, I'm still right about heavier tire casings and softer compound. Fight me. Most power-based training plans emphasize...

Yeah, as someone who does HR based zone-oriented training a <32t is pretty amazing when i need to haul a heavy bike up something in zone 2. Sure I could ignore what I'm trying to accomplish on that ride and muscle my way up things and blow myself up in the process, but that's not always what you need to be doing. And yes, I do go to a gym. My guess is that people who are saying "real bikers only need 32t" haven't actually ever followed a formal training plan, which tend to involve a lot of time in...

If you use a power meter to follow power-based, zone-oriented training and a <32t chainring allows you to do so consistently and repeatably, you actually don't need a power meter, you need to train...in a gym? Flawless logic.

Just a warning relative to the credit scores / general life harassment field; FedEx will 100% send you to collections if you don't pay a customs / tariff bill. They have already paid those fees on your behalf and you agreed to pay them back when you chose to use them as your customs broker. As a general "this is how the world actually works" explanation; even if Raaw had a brand new USA distributor, that USA distributor would pay the tariffs, factor that as the landed cost of the frame and price the frame accordingly to USA customers to...

100%. If I see AI used to replace a creative thing, I'm out.

Hmm. Do I get to decide when it’s a sustained steep or recovery is necessary? Cuz I spent like an hour yesterday desperately clicking my gravel bike’s shifter in search of an even lower gear. I’m old, been drinking too much beer and eating Trader Joe’s peanut butter cups, and now I gotta deal with the knowledge that I have suboptimal gearing? Eff it