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Nowadays ski area general liability insurance is by no means a "one stop shop". They'll look at things like skier visits, claims history, terrain profile and what activities they offer outside of skiing. Hardly a flat underwriting process like yesteryear. Bike parks 100% drive an increase in premiums, and from what I understand, the increase is in proportion to the size of the park (so you build more, you pay more) and just like skiing, number of visits/injuries etc. BTW - Thanks to everyone for checking out my monster Vail post. I know its a touch tangential to bikes, hence...

Just read “Greedheads” on your Substack. Holy hell…

I just spun this up; gives you some idea where we might be.

I'm just gaga over my L 2023 Smuggler. I bought the frameset new, but now used ones are commonly available. It's just a very fast very capable trail bike, that I can still manage some Enduro lines on but also commonly do XC loops too. Mine weighs 28.3#s ready to ride but mostly has all the tricks except I have a heavier dropper, front tire, one insert and seat. I had a Spur V1 before it and I reused many of the parts for the Smuggler build, and the Smuggler is not only faster going down, but it's actually considerably...

Just added a new post to my substack for those interested. Here is the synopsis... The Bad (mostly covered here) • The factories in Taiwan are getting way fewer orders. • Canyon full year 2025: revenue down 7%, EBITDA down 34% • Knolly news (see above) - one thing I didn't mention is the mechanics here. Getting your LOC called sucks, and it extra sucks when your business has been contracting. I do wonder what the business actually looks like, how big the delta was (how much cash did they need) and if they were forecasting a profitable year. I...

dude, go outside and ride your bike!

Honestly, the Reya is the first XC bike that I really, really want to try as a 6'3" individual. I feel like that jack nichelson nodding meme as I work my way down the geo chart on the XL. Edit: Can we also agree that peak bike industrial design is a straight top tube that aligns directly with the seat tube... connecting the top of the head tube to the rear axle with an un-interrupted straight line?

Kinda funny, in a size medium it’s just really average geometry. Basically the exact same as the top fuel, and actually with the top fuel m/l sizing you actually get a longer chainstay at just a slightly longer reach.

What is this shade you speak of? Jokes aside, I’ve learned to embrace wearing long sleeve sun shirts while riding in SoCal and occasionally soak my shirt when I find water so I can stay cool during the dog days of summer 🫠

Melamed talking a bit about the new Maxxis casings, sounds like they are not far from the release anymore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6JUjkXUdAs&t=215s

You're an amateur. I carry a ton of tools, but every other year or so something goes so horribly wrong I STILL have to walk back to the car. Bikes are pretty good though. My proudest trailside repair was actually roadside...blew a shifter cable 40 miles from home on a cold February day on my gravel bike. I had an extra cable in my little revelate gas tank bag. Fixed it, rode home.

Rumors flying on Reddit that Knolly is no more, or at least bankruptcy upcoming. If true… sad day that Reddit beats Vital to a big rumor. https://www.reddit.com/r/mountainbiking/s/X7ho0Uxg8t

I hope Vital is doing a no holds barred Cascadia downcountry grudge match between the Spur v2 and Reya.

Have you completely given up trying to genuinely contribute in these forums? I haven’t seen a post in weeks that has a positive connotation or actually adds to the conversation. Please don’t turn this place into a pinkbike comment section.

here is one of many trail building / advocacy forum topics - https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/The-Hub,2/I-dont-like-the-direction-of-… use it or start your own instead of talking trails in tech rumors.

https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/32-inch-wheels-and-mountain-bikes#c… 😏