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that's cool etian. well done! do you have any more photos?

Hi everybody, To stay on the topic of this page, here is my homemade prototype!! I did all the design, calculation, nearly all the CNC machining as well by myself and now it is riding since May 2013!!

Ha!! that is my toolbox in the corner! if you look closely on the table there is one of the first 303 RDH prototype frames. Likely the one that Leov raced at MSA and Bromont that year!

Internet forums - where people tell other people what they can and can’t feel.

Sounds like a CEO who loves bikes and will prioritize company culture, innovation, and supporting creative freedom no matter the cost NOT

Thats crazy, My Bosch has been solid, though not on a trek its been submerged and no worries!

Wow. This thread is fun. Few thoughts I feel compelled to share. 1) I personally am not anti-union. I am however suggesting its important to know "what value you bring to the table" (individually or as a group). Any group of people can unionize, it doesn't mean there is underlying value that will result in pay increases (or pay at all). 2) Wu-Tang said it best. CREAM. This doesn't just go for the riders, but the promoters and anyone trying to get paid off of this sport. Unfortunately, the (free) "cash (flow) pie" is highly unlikely to be big enough...

Raaw does precisely this, for each size you can select a lower leverage or (slightly) higher leverage rocker depending on rider weight: https://raawmtb.com/en-us/collections/madonna-v3/products/madonna-v3-fr…

haven't read it through so right this second i'm only posting to share, this isn't a statement of agreeance or disagreement Rant Alert: I retired from the Crankworx World Tour at the end of the 2022 season after my 20th year of working on the project. As a co-founder of the tour and former co-owner, I am completely disheartened by the male slopestyle athlete's decision to not participate in the 2024 season's kick-off event in Rotorua. Holding last minute negotiations to get appearance fees and increased prize money after traveling to the event already knowing what the prize money status...

Robert from The Loam Wolf here. I was the one who broke the Scalpel, and I’m not surprised I did - overshot the landing of a large jump for an XC bike, landing in the pocket between the landing and the flat ground after it. Huge bottom out. I corrected Kaz at Pinkbike’s quote - he had flatteringly guessed me to be 190lbs, whereas I am 220lbs. Nothing fishy. I wholeheartedly believe the Scalpel is fit for purpose and that it was my fault! Was having far too much fun and got carried away.

I've heard Brendon mention several times that his ACL tear was a turning point where he felt like he lost that top end race speed and more or less lost the ability to compete for podiums. Definitely seems like something that needs to be managed well or it can be a major hinderance to an athlete's career.

I think social media has been a blessing and a curse for slopestyle/freeriders. In the early days of Crankworx, social media wasn't what it is today. I remember the days of getting mountain bike magazines in the mail and first seeing pictures of events, then you would have to wait until New World Disorder or some other movie to see actual video of events. Those DVD's I would order were usually the only way to see these athletes do crazy tricks. This truncated the number of times I would see these riders and tricks to a few times a year...

The NFL doesn't pay players. F1 doesn't pay Lewis. The NBA doesn't pay LeBron. The venues they play in don't pay them either. I don't think you understand who the riders "work for".

I can feel the teenage angst bleeding through here, so I know I'm not going to change your mind. For anyone who is intellectually curious around the subject and how wrong this person is, here is an easy example to follow. The TL;DR is supply and demand underpins how "markets work". Not name calling and employees banding together (ironically what you just described has more Marxist tones, which is fine). Anyway - my example for anyone who cares... At the pointy end of the spear in the live performance space, its pretty widely acknowledged the best in the world right...

Crankworx isn't their employer though. Their employer is their sponsors. Crankworx is the competition they enter, and the platform granted to them to show their skills, market themselves as athletes & ambassadors, and ultimately prove their dollar value to said sponsors.

More high pivot sender

Oh man, I could beat this topic with a broken stick until it returned back to life. Rampage athletes get an appearance fee ever since 2015. Why not the slope guys? Most the slope guys dont actually make that much. I did Pretty good for 15 years. Id average probably 65K USD all said and done over those 15 years. Less when I started and the bigger years in the middle. That is sponsorships and winnings and any travel budgets. BUT I would spend at least 30k of that on traveling and expenses. So that 3k a month before taxes...

Glue and metal works fine. A key problem is that even the best made frames get destroyed during a WC season. Most riders go through 3-4 frames in a season. Neko cracked 12 of his frameworks bikes in his first full season. The commencal DH bike would barely last a quali run alone before cracking haha

Pfftt....first person to test/race the original carbon Demo's was their product manager. Don't kid yourself. There are things the computer can't do that the big boys willingly strap up to test.

What is the source for the claim that Pivot did not put this prototype through lab testing? Pivot certainly has the resources and the experience to lab-test any new frame and I would, frankly, be surprised if they had actually skipped that step. If true--big 'if'--it would be downright irresponsible. One thing I have heard over and over in interviews with downhill racers is that is difficult to truly replicate 'race pace' riding or bike responses in testing. I'm not fast enough to know if that's accurate or not, but if so, then testing prototypes in actual races makes some...