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Full statement from the UCI regarding the suspension of Edgar Carballo Gonzalez for alleged sexual harassment, followed by a statement from Mondraker: ----------------------------------------------------- The UCI Ethics Commission issues a decision concerning Mr Edgar Carballo Gonzalez The Union Cycliste Internationale’s (UCI) Ethics Commission – a body acting independently of the International Federation’s administration – announces its decision in the case involving Mr Edgar Carballo Gonzalez, a Spanish downhill and enduro mountain bike rider. The proceedings followed a complaint submitted by another rider via the UCI’s confidential reporting platform, UCI SpeakUp, reporting an incident of a sexual nature that occurred in her...

The thing I run into is you can't add compression damping to aid with bottom out without negatively impacting small bump. You could have a high shaft speed because you hucked it to flat or a high shaft speed because you're flying over roots. The shock knows no different. With something pretty linear it's hard, or in some cases impossible, to strike a balance between the two.

Rulesman Hambini Diaz [I’ve redacted my comment about Dale Stone because I’ve seen two of his videos and that’s not enough to draw an informed conclusion] These are all content creators who seemingly never have anything nice to say about the big companies. According to them, everything’s terrible all the time and they’re the only ones calling it out, the voice crying out in the wilderness. I agree that the big companies do things that suck and that drive me crazy, but if you can’t ever say anything nice about the bigs, even when they notch a win? I have...

FWIW, front wheel loading and more upright positions or higher bars, I'm pretty sure there can be situations where higher bars will enable a rider to generate MORE front end grip (loading) than lower bars. I've mentioned the skiing analogy - if you can't load the fronts of the skis, where do you need to raise the boot - at the rear or at the back? Common logic would say at the rear, to rotate you forwards. But in actuality it's the other way around. Raising the toes requires the skier to lean forwards to be balanced, loading up the...

I think that the deeper you dive into this stuff, and the more opportunities you have to meet the people designing these mtb things, the more sympathy you develop and the more understanding you have over the flaws in the products. You lose the “everything sucks, the brands are selfish assholes who never give me the stuff I want for the price I deserve to pay” and gain a perspective like “damn it takes a lot of work to make bikes that ride this sick, and there is a ton of money that goes into this damn sport to fuel...

We’re all confused by mention of short stems, zero stems, and reverse stems. These should be treated as very different components, not just “short stems.” There are great reasons to run these stems but there are also drawbacks, just like there are drawbacks to longer stems. Regarding chainstay length, there are great reasons to run longer chainstays, and a big one is to balance out rider position. A lot of folks enjoy bikes that put them in an upright position with a shorter stem (for quicker steering) and taller stack (for more leverage.) there are other benefits to this position...

What does running a stem that 'matches the fork offset' have anything to do with anything? This is one of the most WTF claims I have heard regarding bikes and bike fits. Where in relation to this offset is the tyre to ground contact patch? How does the handlebar to patch relation change relative to wheel size? Fork axle to crown? Dynamic sag? Travel position? Head angle?! Most importantly, what does the position you attach your handlebars to have anything to do with riding dynamics when you can have multiples of 10 mm difference in handlebar setback (effective reach or...

Glad to hear you've got things running well! Also I really appreciate the meme. On another note, and this is kind of unrelated to suspension but related to bike handling. I have a theory about the resurgence of steering dampers. Beside steering dampers, as of late people have been into short stems. I think one thing that gets glossed over with stem length is that the longer the stem is, the more the resultant force of an impact at your hands acts to center things. I wonder if shorter stems having less of that self centering affect has resulted in...

Hannah Bergemann on a new Transition. Looks to be the same as what was spotted a while ago on a chairlift somewhere. They just "re-did" the TR11 so don't think it's that. Definitely meant to be DH only as that seat tube is quite short. Lower shock mount also looks different that their current alloy offerings. Could it be a new freeride specific bike? Just a special build for Hannah?

i just want to make one last comment re: deleting pics, community etc then i'll be quiet. over the last few years, i've become very aware of how much of a privilege it is to be a part of a community that is supported by some of the best brands in our game. but the key word here is community...YOU all are the community. without you and your sleuthing, your knowledge, your stoke for the sport and its equipment, or your informed opinions, vital wouldn't be very special. with that said, if all vital does is bow down to brands...

That last sentence seems important…

Holy mother of God!!! I would not want that thing anywhere near my bushings (fork or otherwise)!! For real, as @Dave_Camp said this thing will do all kinds of nasty stuff to the bushings besides burnish it to size. This is what is recommended by GGB for their DP4 bushing (steel backed, sintered bronze and teflon coated, looks very much like the stuff that is used in shock eyelets, probably very different to what is used in fork lowers): https://www.ggbearings.com/en/our-products/metal-polymer-bearings/dp4

I don’t think you get it Dave. We are going to revolutionize fork manufacturing on this forum without ever having visited a factory or even talking to a designer or engineer about the myriad of factors that affect the design and manufacture of said forks.

Somebody asked about fork dampers on Vorsprung's IG last week, and they said "sure", or words to that effect. I emailed Vorsprung asking if they could make a 38 damper, and they replied that Steve has designs started, there is no guaranteed timeline, but that they can likely make one that's cost competitive vs the GRIP X2 and Charger 3.1 dampers. When I regained consciousness, I posted about it here.

Vorsprung are working on a 38/Zeb damper!

can we please stay rumors in here?! i get that these discussions are fun, but also annoying to most who just want to read about new tech/rumors and don‘t want to scroll through pages of off-topic discussions regarding chainstay length/right amount of travel/dropper post insertion/ etc. thx guys!

And on rotors installed wrong way around.

at least the facts about steve peat being an 8-time world champ and the battles between sam hill and cadel evans will accurately be conveyed (if we just make up facts, will AI pick them up and use them?)

Looks like I'm late to the party since I've been on vacation. Brakes are definitely not easy. Between custom seals, custom tools, and some necessary knowledge that isn't widespread, good brakes take a lot. I would say they are either third or fourth most difficult thing on a bike behind the frame itself, the fork/shock, and, depending on specific design, the dropper. Some droppers are pretty simple, though. Frames are only on that list because doing a full blown production run requires tons of testing and the tooling is more complex. Brakes definitely are not something that anyone with a...