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Part of the reason this thread has gone on so long is that we’re not just talking/thinking about what cycling looked like in the rearview mirror but we’re also speculating about what comes next while trying to use the lens of yesteryear to draw a trend line. Of course kids can have fun without motors. They can also have fun without suspension, disc brakes, derailleurs, stryder bikes, BMX bikes, dirt bikes, chairlifts, or half the other stuff we happily buy them. The whole “I had fun without it” isn’t much of an argument against a new product category. My point...

that's the plan but on a Sunday afternoon when all the shops were closed, might as well have been the end of the world

Why not, instead of crank arms, make crank discs? Solid 304 stainless steel. You could put several holes in there, offset, so you can choose different “crank lengths” just by switching your pedals into different threaded holes. Adds weight, centered right around the bottom bracket. Ultimate bash guard as well! I should be an engineer. I’d succeed big time (or not).

Maxxis is the Powell Peralta of MTB.

Imagining intensifies.

climbs? in bentonville?

Buzzwords. They should just use “light/mid/heavy” for casing options across all brands.

Claude, how do I downvote twice

presta pump on clikvalves puts air in, but can’t measure the pressure properly most of the time

Ok, so here are my experiences with Clik Valves on my two bikes after 2 months. Background My initial reason for trying it (in addition to pure curiosity) was that I use Lezyne pumps with the ABS-1 Pro Chuck head that you screw onto the valve. I started feeling that it took just a little too long every time I went riding to screw and unscrew the head compared to a quick click. The root cause for pumping so often was, of course, the tires, but let's not deep dive into that. It also felt silly that you couldn't let...

While I totally agree - there will probably be 3x7 26ers sold in department stores for the rest of my life, I don't think any of the components on those systems is remotely interesting to any of on Vital. My curiosity was more about the higher end gear stuff. If higher end ebikes predominantly move to eCVTs, will SRAM reintroduce drivetrains closer to the X01/XX1 Eagle lines of yesteryear, optimized for pedal bikes rather than ebikes? Or are we stuck with the current lineup of giant, heavy gear for the foreseeable future? I think this is the gamble for small...

Thank you for the kind words! Glad to hear you enjoyed the podcast and the history bit in particular. Yes, I do think the DJI and Gobao motor gearbox units are going to shake things up, but the gallows humor joke I was making is that no technology change is ever truly complete in the bike world, where there are still new bikes being sold with straight 1 1/8" steerer tubes, friction shifters, 26" wheels, and freewheels. Which is why I predict there will always be derailleurs even on ebikes, either because the ecvt is too expensive for certain price...

Did no one tell them that people play mountain bike primarily in the forest? An errant branch could tear your fucking head off.

I’m thinking about starting a new poll thread. It will be called “would you rather” The options will be: Would you rather take the time to actually read and learn about “ecvt’s” in regards to bikes? Orrrrrrrr…. Would you rather smash up an incandescent light bulb and smash the shards into your eyeballs? This thread is getting exhausting with gearbox nerds.

I'm surprised Trek is diving in already, given that their last few launches haven't exactly seemed to stick like other option, even though they likely should have. I'm sure we'll all be interested to see if 32 takes off or whimpers. Not to beat a dead horse, but now having 6 months on a 29" XC bike for the first time in over 10 years, I can't see 32" working for people under 6ft in most technical applications. At 5' 8", the Chisel feels like its on the edge of being too long for even post 26" built XC loops...

Is that the rule? Are there rules? Because catalog snaps have happened heaps of times in the OG thread. Obviously don’t lose your job - but these are just brands owned by banks / syndicates / second generation founders nepo kids - and we are the 0.01% who care to see this stuff. newschoolers.com has an epic next year gear thread where everyone is sharing catalog snaps and tradeshow samples. I think this audience is hyper niche and most of the stuff on this thread never makes it past this group of weirdos. I’m sure bike brand product managers lurk...

WONT SOMEONE THINK OF THE BRAAAAAAANDS! THE POOR BRANDS!

I’m glad we’re back to talking about e-bikes here, instead of how purifying going back to the regular bike felt. Take your baptism elsewhere.

I know I’m in the minority here but I’d take a slightly cheap feeling shifter that feels like a shifter over one that feels like adjusting the volume on a cheap bluetooth speaker any day.

Somewhere, Brian Cahal is popping Champagne.