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Mayb the thread should be retitled, something like “tech rumors and innovation… and bitching about it.”

I just got a little queasy

Probably with an element of "why would I buy this Horst link PON bike when that Horst link PON bike is much cheaper?"

Does the chainstay kick out though? Like the chainstay has this weird link to the idler right? Does that link push the chianstay out to affect how the rear flex stay flexes and thus creates more growth? Like is it a reverse flex stay? Where instead of flexing open, the rear triangle flexes closed? Meaning the angle at the dropout gets more acute? IDK, I don't really understand it. And the photos on the website are terrible, you can barely see the thing. Look at this cool photo of a bush with our magical suspension hiding in the background while...

The last win on a Float X2 was Andorra 2023 from Thibaut Daprela. Hopefully the next time the X2 gets on the top step it won't be him taking it there.

Microspine drivers are a blight against humanity and should die in a fire along with the stupid plastic spacer they require to prevent Shimano cassettes from creaking like a haunted house. The only thing that might be worse than the microspine interface and its woefully anemic, made of cheese, lock ring might be the actual cassettes themselves which in the year of our lord 2026 still are half singe piece pinned garbage that falls apart and half stamped metal plates with spacers. Seriously, 12 speed shimano stuff is the most disappointing experience I've ever had with a drivetrain. I hate...

I would hesitate to call the XD driver good, it works just fine and allowed for the 10 tooth cog but in all honesty, my experience with microspline has been far better. Feels more secure, and I like having the engagement along nearly the entire cassette rather than just at the end, and not having the cassette have to be completely one piece or riveted together is not a problem. Sram has killed it in bringing new product to market quickly, in being the one stop shop for OEM, and their marketing is definitely working, but I won't say that...

The racing deserved so much better.

possibly the worst commentating performance in live tv lol. Dead fish have more personality.

just lost the common sense fast also.. HT on a WC, you become an obstacle.. not cool.

@sspomer when is bikes unaffiliated leaning into typical podcast discussions of wild conspiracy theories? I mean how can the HT guy not be a plant by WBD to turn the whole fan base against privateers. It's obvious they are a safety hazard...

I'm not going to cast too much shade on Hardtail Bro. I will, however, cast plenty on the mixed messaging and policies of WBD/UCI. Their implied goal has been to raise the professionalism and elite nature of the sport. Simultaneously, they've allowed a racer to use a hardtail to compete. This is inconsistent with the way they're supposedly pushing the sport. I also will cast a little shade on our community. We've bemoaned the loss of grassroots accessibility to the World Cups while also bashing hardtail dude, who represents just such grassroots privateerism. Dude managed to navigate the red tape...

If Richie Rude uses a steering damper I don’t even know if what im doing counts as riding a bike

Please let’s not start that ”it’s too bike park” track talk again, we all know how it went with Poland. Just wait until we see riders riding it.

It may not be a "whole separate sport", but there sure is a "whole separate text thread" for the e-bike riders in my friend circle. Now we rarely have big group rides as the crew is split in two and it's a pain to ride laps with both bike types together. So I'd say its a "whole different discipline" of pedaling a rolling thing with your feet.