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Pretty cool concept. I remember first noticing this on Vali Höll's YT. She rode without the pulleys during practice and then they were added for the final. Rulezman also makes them for his Banshee bikes. He claims it completely removes pedal kickback.

Interesting...

Mechanically speaking, nothing is gained with a 15mm axle over a 20mm. What we gained by going with the (mechanically inferior) 15mm axle is the rapid and widespread adoption of thru-axles across all mountain bikes, then road bikes, then gravel and CX bikes. If the axle choices in 2012 (or whenever) were viewed as a binary choice between lightweight XC-oriented QR axles and a heavy DH-oriented 20mm thru axle, I think it would have taken a lot longer for product managers to go out on a limb and spec better forks and axles. 15mm axles gave product managers needed cover...

They're also heirs to the $ billion tennis racket empire. Meanwhile, has Danny Hart been spotted riding a Nukeproof in NZ yet?

Yeah. Their mum is Rebel Wilson and their dad was the volleyball in Castaway.

stupid sexy Isles

Reece Wilson in new pinkbike video (advertorial), about belt driven bike prize money. No trek kit, just a lotus hat. I'd say it gives even more credibility to the Gamux team rumour. https://youtu.be/VZJfXHECfiY?si=XCAj0TI2IT8hl93p

MTB forumites: WC DH is the pinnacle of our sport with riders leaving no stone unturned to eke another few hundredths of a second out of their runs; tuned mass dampers, electronic suspension, O-chain, custom chain-stays, it's so cool! Science: Skinsuits are worth 1 second per minute of race time Also MTB forumites: Ewww

Not gonna lie. I saw the 75k thing (and the 30k thing that I mentioned another team floating), and I thought.. "I could just send my kid to go race with other people and probably end up saving money, but definitely end up putting much less strain on my work life." But... the whole reason we race is to spend time together as a family in interesting places doing something we all enjoy. And while it's not done economically, because we don't "dirtbag" it and instead treat most race trips more like a family vacation, the experiences are priceless... and...

75k to get a spot on a factory team is nothing. Hundreds of families in the US every year put a second mortgage on their house for their kids to get 10th place at lorettas super mini class. Don't even get me started with ski racing. People send kids to "academy" that costs 100k a year. Then like have a 1% chance of being on a national team. Then make 20 dollars a year unless they are attractive enough for a Rolex or Visa sponsorship.

This is basically why V&R Racing exists. To help cover the travel costs for junior (women) WC racers. (We kept Taylor Ostgaard on for an extra year in Elite cuz she's just so frickin awesome.) We'd love to expand and help more racers, but for now, we'll stay focused and try to fill the need. We'd love to see more sponsors like us helping fill this gap. We'll throw a little teaser out since this is the rumors thread - our next sponsored rider races for Gravity Collective.

Back to rumors - Cam Balanche on Scott, Giant or Trek? Marine Cabirou on Norco or Giant? And what teams get the supposed five wildcard spots to make the 20 world series teams?

When you spend 5to 10k on a bike you are into a constant maintenance cycle. Tires run almost $150 each plus sealant, cassette can be 500, chains and chainrings $100 each, bearings and maintenance, brake pads, grips. Then there’s gear that gets abused. Warm, cold and rain gear, lights etc. Gas for getting to spots or shuttling, and lift tickets, which are steadily increasing. That’s just for riding not racing. Travel entrance food coaching gym membership physio insurance

Somewhere in the last 20 years readers here lost track of the sport's trajectory. We are firmly in upper-middle class sporting territory. Being a young sport ( Performance MTB ) many of us came from various socioeconomic backgrounds to make it happen in the 90s but now that landscape is quite different. I would argue we almost surpassed skiing as the well-to-do hobby for people with money to spend.

It was either on the Gravity CoOp podcast or Vital podcast but one of the coaches who runs a Devo team (gravity academy maybe?) threw out that some parents are completely down with dishing out 30k for their kids to get to do a World Cup season. So yeah. This is pretty common practice. Every XC devo team (including Bear which is probably the most successful in America) have club dues that are pretty high. I also suspect that a lot of the teams are set up (not to use a loaded example) like pyramid schemes. The younger, less talented...

Just no lift or access infrastructure for gravity racing. The last race in 2006 had 200m vert & the winning time was 2.16.31 by Matti on his Honda... Ended on a beach though... cool...

Exactly, it's pretty cringey that a bunch of grown-ass men are dragging this kid on the internet just because an anonymous rumor says his parents are kicking in some cash to give him a chance to chase his dream. The kid obviously has some talent and happens to have parents with higher than average means. How is this different than sending your kid to an elite ski academy? Reece on Gamux is exciting - gonna get that $100k!

$75k I guess gets him entry to 10 WC races, transportation and accomodation at them, (plus IXS, British nationals too?) along with a V10 (and probably a Nomad to play on aswell) and all the wheels and tyres he can break. What's that worth on its own? Thats what he'd have to pay for anyway doing it the privateer route, plus he's also gonna get a mechanic, physio and training, fox support; plus its a way to grow his socials following. And remember he's still a minor so it's not like he could drive himself around europe sleeping in a...

Reece Wilson on a Gamux would be interesting. Probably has a good chance of nabbing that 100k Gates prize purse thing if it’s still going next year.