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Hey Cam, when you ask "where should it go?" I wonder if it needs to go anywhere? It seems like the format you're hosting is popular and working great. Yeah, I get that Saturday race days are tricky for a lot of people, but if the Cascadia Dirt Cup is selling out on most race weekends... it seems like you've found an audience who that format is working for. When I was racing, I always loved Saturday race days at the CDC because it meant I wasn't getting home at midnight on a Sunday night if I had work on...

The advent of Enduro, and subsequent All-Mountain bike boom (Or am I getting it backwards? Chicken or the egg I guess) definitely lead to the "discovery" of a ton of overlooked trail networks, as well as the construction of plenty more. At least in the PNW it's easy to associate the starts of Tiger Mountain, Raging River, Sandy Ridge, with the excitement of long travel pedal bikes and the race formats they allowed. 15 years later, we've raced most of these systems half a dozen - a dozen times, and new venues and trails are being constructed at a far...

Practice day on Saturday. Race on Sunday. Having the races on Saturday means you have to take off work at least all of Friday unless you know the course. So if you want to make it more accessible, or encourage people to travel to new places, not having to take days off work is a great place to start.

I think Jeff's take from the pod regarding YT is a good lens to view this situation. You don't have to like the brand or Markus. However, they are back in the game and will be making bikes. Therefore, it would seem in regards to the purpose of this thread, looking at how they might operate/ what their plans are/ how vendors will respond to them is an effective lens to analyze the situation with. Again, as Jeff said in the pod speculating on this situation is interesting but there are real world consequences for many employees, consumers, and athletes...

i just wanted to say how much i appreciate the discussion you're all having about this, keeping it thoughtful and caring. whether you're for or against the level of risk, i think it's clear that everyone here cares about the riders first and foremost, and that makes me proud of this community. some care that the riders have the freedom to make their own choices, some care about protecting them from exploitation or going too far. regardless of outlooks, thank you for all the input and experiences and sharing. no matter what, i hope that all the injured riders make...

The Monday Morning Quarterback session has become as much a part of Red Bull Rampage as the event itself. It’s the collective catharsis we all need after something that feels less like a sports competition and more like modern-day gladiators in the desert. We’ll justify it, theorize ways to make it safer, and question the ethics, but the event will (probably) keep going. As long as the athletes want to ride, the fans want to watch, and Red Bull is willing to provide the infrastructure/distribution, it’ll continue. And deep down, we all know what’s likely to happen someday. Like @Buckets...

Rampage would be better if ALL the top riders were there. Lacondeguey was robbed regularly and some English guy was robbed as well i think In the words of Brage Vestavik : " I respect it so much. The riding that goes down is definitely revolutionary in its own way. Those guys are legends and have been pushing the sport since the beginning. But I almost don't even like to think of it as a sport, more of an expression and something I like to do. When I was there, it definitely felt like I was a part of a...

There is something really odd about the way the announcing style juxtaposes to the weight and gravity of what is happening. Yelling into microphones like overly excited 14 year old boys feels strange when its punctuated by silence of life changing crashes. I have tons of respect for the riders but I did not enjoy watching the little bit I watched this year. Ugh. Gnarly.

The Epic pass was not to help climate change, but to help earn money in a business negatively affected by climate change. The pricing is really to discourage the purchase of day tickets and push people into the pass. At most ski areas near population centers the skier experience went down significantly.

I think the ski discussion is really relevant for all the reasons you guys mentioned. We haven’t really looked into how well the “lift-served businesses” are actually performing, but I’ve always wondered about their economics. I’ve never done a deep dive, or even been to Whistler, (I know...) but in Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado, I’ve yet to visit a bike park that makes me think, “Yeah, these guys are printing money.” At best, most of them seem like breakeven operations, with Whistler possibly being the exception. Then again, maybe patrol + lifty + electricity isn't all that expensive so it...

I've heard media blasting can be too harsh on thin aluminum frames. I've had luck taking aluminum frames to get dipped at parts cleaners. Obviously you need to tell them it's an aluminum bike frame and not a cast iron engine block, because I think those require different chemicals and different tanks. My frame dip took a week from drop off to pickup and looked the bees knees.

i've stripped (and polished, if i'm ambitious) many an alu frame over the years. walnut blast works fine if you've got a local media blaster handy. otherwise lots of chemical stripper options out there if you want to DIY the thing. aircraft (aluminum friendly) stripper is quite effective, but noxious. there's a couple less toxic "green" options out there that do the job, but require a bit more elbow grease (multiple applications, etc). mothers mag / aluminum polish is the shit if you want to make things shiny afterwards.

Sneaky name change caught me out...... Loved the pod cast.

based on this week's events gonna throw strava here as a wild card, they thought it was a good idea to file a lawsuit based on a questionable patent against a company ~25x their size (based on net worth)

I do think the warranty discussion is super interesting and worthy of its own thread. I have my own thoughts, but I'll save them for if (when) that thread is spawned. I'm sure most of you have seen the YT video from the other site, if not, its worth the watch. I'll likely publish some thoughts over the next 24-48 hours. There is still a fair bit of confusion around what is happening there.