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Weight weenieism is alive and well in my group of riding buddies. We bought up all the remaining mechanical XX1 Eagle gear as T-type was taking over. All on Blurs that are under 22lbs. One with a sub 16lb Mondraker Podium. I'm sure this varies by local and riding style, but I think the move by SRAM and Shimano to heavy electronic parts has been a boost to the boutique component market, like Madrone, Garbaruk, Darimo, etc.

Correct! Boeing bought the drawbenches that lived in Connecticut and also the draw benches from Sapa. 2015 was the last time anything except drawn-over-mandrel straight gauge 6061 has been available domestically. Swaging machines and shops that can dome and swage still exist, if you know where to look. There might be an automotive muffler plant in Ohio that has a draw bench suitable to the task in mothballs, but the chances of a dusty old mandrel for a Klein downtube being useful, or there being staff members who remembers how to run the machine are pretty darn low. Outside of...

Jumping in to help as hopefully the Germany team is home and sleeping ahead of their weekend. Correct, our master cylinders are side specific. Our EasyLink line connections allow for easy swap of the lines if you move from F/L-R/R to F/R-R/L. Basically you push the pads back, slide the rubber boot back, remove the easy link clip on both brakes, remove the lines, reinstall the clip, swap the lines, and click in the brake lines. Then reinstall the rubber boot. In almost every case I have done this, no bleed was needed. If a bleed was needed, it...

I think you kind of nailed the point- DH bike development isn't for selling DH bikes but selling trail bikes. The R & D probably helps the whole line up of bikes, but it raises the brands profile so much it doesnt matter if they make the money back on DH bike sales or not. Despite the high prices it wouldnt surprise me if they still aren't hugely profitable at all

No one says you can't share you opinions, but I am highly encouraging you to take this amazing opportunity to spearhead your own topic on this amazing form. You can gather all the haters and have a massive long discussion about your preferences in clutch tension in a cohesive form instead of interrupting a thread dedicated to the discussion of new tech. It's not that you shouldn't be spouting your thoughts on vital, it just gets tiring when someone wades into a discussion of new tech decides to complain about new tech. Not to mention the fact that this SRAM...

Who at sram hurt you? I think I'm on record saying that the only thing worst than The XTR cassette being made of plates and cheese is the awfulness of the microspline driver. A plastic spacer to remove creaking isn't a solution. Anyways, back to the rumors: Is Transition the new Yeti?

He gets a fresh chain put on by a pro mechanic every single day. I get a fresh chain put on by a hack mechanic every 6 months.

How did we ever have fun riding bikes as kids before batteries and motors? What a terrible childhood I must have had.