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Dan Booker the latest rider to announce he is stepping away from Enduro. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse. Should be a walkover for the Yeti team.

I’m dying of thirst over here

It feels like it's been quite a while since the start of WC Downhill season, but now it gets pretty busy: If I'm counting correctly there are 5 races in the next 7 weeks. I'll gladly take that!

Jesus, sorry I asked about a coil shock on the new Tallboy.

Of all the reviews I have seen online, nobody is complaining about the progression or bottoming out all the time. And if JKW didn't immediately fill it with volume spacers, then I think there is some overreaction here.

In my group of pals most people are riding whatever enduro bike they purchased since Covid. Quite a few have put what would essentially be the parts package cost of a new bike upgrading their now 4-6 year old frame. I imagine most people will end up with an e-bike. The wealthier folk will get the latest and greatest and sell the used stuff to the less wealthy of us. Once the market is as saturated with e-bikes as it currently is with pedal bikes, well the industry will be right where it is now with pedal bikes. Now the...

Or maybe it becomes like the car industry where leasing is one of the main forms of "ownership".

I just got a little queasy

How much of the appearance that “e-bikes are the only thing selling” is an artificial bubble based on the fact that they are a market that essentially did not exist 6-7 years ago? Thus, we are still working through the initial phase of: everyone who is interested buying into the market (often for the first time) looks like greater demand than what will stabilize over the ensuing 5-10 years. I imagine over time as there are less ‘new’ buyers and the demand becomes only individuals turning over from an older model to a newer one that e-bike sales actually drop...

Niner shutting shop shouldn't surprise anyone. They haven't done anything relevant in near a decade. Geo and aesthetics for their full sus platforms are very much off the back. That they lasted as long as they did was always a wonder to me.

Side point, but after talking to a number of brands and shops, one thing keeps standing out: e-MTB is no longer a side quest (even if you aren't amflow). I know this is a big "duh" to those in Europe, but for me (a long time analog bike guy) its a stark reminder things have changed. I have three brands telling me off the record e bikes drive over half the company's revenue. If you don’t have a real e-MTB story right now (like Niner), you’re making yourself harder for shops to justify carrying. From the shop’s perspective, they can...

Jeff Kendalweed said the Santa Cruz rep brought volume reducers for him but he was happy with whatever’s in there stock, so I wouldn’t assume Santa Cruz fucked up until we get some more reviews/users actually saying they have issues. The price does make the bike a hard sell when there are so many cheaper 4 bar bikes that ride really well.

Maybe Im missing something but how in the right mind is a company like Santa Cruz releasing a bike with very little travel, high price point, and the rear shock comes stock with all of its tokens in use? If you needed more resistance youre just up shit creek until Cascade makes something? Im genuinely so confused how they go from a well done VPP to a simple 4 bar and screwed that up when every other company can do it. Like who signed off on this?

@CascadeComponents right now...

Yes but have you seen a sc frame vs an intense frame? Definitely worth the extra money

This is one of the more boring, small-brained conspiracies in a while.

I’d love to see a shoot out of trail bikes using the same linkage designs. It would really interesting to start to dig a bit deeper as to what sets them apart - quality control, kinematics, maintenance, etc etc.

visual summary

Remember the good old days when we talked about bikes on here?

Wait till you hear about Volkswagen!