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This is wild and speaks to different people’s experiences. I dislike the DHF because I don’t think it offers any improved cornering grip and the grip that is there is vague and hard to tell when you’re near the limit. The Assegai on the other hand has better grip overall and I can tell better where I am at relative to its break free point. The only downfall to me about an Assegai is its rolling speed.

Didn’t they move to 55mm chainline years ago? Even before transmission?

New Mallet DH on Party Marty's bike?

Mavens take massive shit on Saints, in terms of braking power.

Do you have a way of articulating how to use these? I know that seems like a silly question, but I have major hand issues and I have a pair sitting here. The main reason I haven't put them on yet is because I'm not really sure what the actual way to use them looks like. I was going to experiment later this week. Are you pressing the edge of your hand against the bar end actively or is it more of a loosen your grip, let your hand float, and use the bar end for security?

Code haters are just exhausting people. Codes are fine, always will be. Just because a maven exists. Remember, at one point WC downhillers had guides on their bikes. And guides suddenly became the worst brakes of all time the same day codes got released… time is a flat circle

Power of thiccness is a wild marketing line

Downtime mentioned how widespread the breeden bar ends are becoming, with people like Bruni, Pierron and many many others using them. Owning a pair, having recovered from 2 broken hands (left then right) in 3 years, I've found they definitely live up to the hype and really helped with arm pump and security of my weak hands on the bars. The bar ends are a much more interesting innovation than I originally expected, because they significantly change the biomechanics of the upper-body while riding. Stopped by the Orbea pits this weekend and they've cut grips down (pretty sure it was...

Excuse my French, but could we fucking please stop calling bikes "analog", "acoustic", or -the worst I've heard- "bio"? Bikes are bikes. Ebikes are something else. Now get off my fucking lawn you punks!

Tech Rumors and innovation

Name a more annoying sound than an American complaining about ebikes. Honestly, we've all heard your opinions before. We know you have them. I don't really like or want an ebike either but there are 12,000,000 whingy comments online about how you're too pure or too dedicated or too fit or too angry at unskilled riders and you're mad about it. We don't need any more. Talk about the market or discontinuation of normal bikes, sure, but complaining about being passed on a climb track or peoples ass cracks is tiring af at this point. You've been yelling about it...

Since we're off topic enough,I might as well invest my 2¢... I have enough experience on all sorts of bikes and their electric lookalikes. To me a downhill bike is the purest form of mountain biking. And this is my subjective understanding of the sport. I also really enjoy pedaling my Enduro bike. But I think most of us agree that the descent is what we call the "fun part". A downhill bike doesn't make compromises, and focuses solely on the fun part. You could try to argue that an ebike is about getting more of that fun part, but...

Guys, I know you don't want to hear this... but the racks on that new Levo 4 X monstrosity are really cool. Those ugly Levo X racks move all of the cargo on the bike from unsprung mass to sprung mass. As forum dwellers, we should all be able to appreciate why that's going to ride better, even if the XX cranks, the paint job, and the S-works price point are all serious headscratchers. If you don't believe me, check out this writeup from Travis Engel at the Radavist on a similar front rack design that he bodged together on...

“Physical effort and reward.” Is different for different people. In my friend group, I was the last hold out to finally get an Ebike. I was definitely snooty about them for a while until I got to try one. You know what’s great about them? Time management. As I’ve gotten older, there’s even more responsibilities. Plus I move a little slower. This thing allows me to get a solid ride in at a third of the time, and I’m still tapped at the end of it. I just can’t dedicate a whole day to a ride anymore. Not to mention...

Surely you don't take the lift at Whistler bike park or shuttle with your buddies then? Because you're a purist, right?

That was originally part of it, yes. But now everyone who isn't physically fit or is simply lazy can have a similar experience without having to put in effort. Same reason why pickleball is growing so quickly and tennis courts are being replaced. Most people want the easier option

because the numbers are wrong, it was 52.5% ebikes and 47.3% bicycles that were sold in 2025 in germany. in the mtb segment, it was 793500 emtb to 52500 mtb. source: https://www.ziv-zweirad.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Marktdaten-Fahrra…

Pretty far from 97-3 ratio I'd say. The G-A-S region has always been an regional specialty when it came to performance mtb. They resisted 2x, 1x, progressive geo, real tires, to name a few things, well into the adoption phase in other markets. Being a leader in eMTB market penetration doesn't mean that they're early, more that the MTB culture is different there.

"emtb can't give me suffering" Spoken like a man that has never run out of battery halfway into a group ride 😁

Do these numbers reflect ALL bike sales or just the sale of MTBs in Germany? Their cycling infrastructure is much, much better than most NA cities and cycling is actually a safe method of transportation. Are these numbers just being skewed as people switch to urban centric E-bikes as a preferred method of transportation? Also, it would seem that trail access in America is a concern that in some areas may steer people to analog MTBs still. Locally, it does seem like a DH bike and an emtb in the trail category is becoming more popular.