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Tim at Esker here. You are correct sir, it's not us. The only thing I can say is that every guess in this whole thread is flat out wrong.

An updated SID ultimate chassis that goes up to 130mm and is charger 3.1 damper compatible

I'm locking this thread for a day or two. Not trying to be rude, I'd actually love to jump in myself, but we've gone way off the rails. None of this ties back to the bike or outdoor industry directly. If you want to continue the AI discussion, please start a new thread, take it to X/Twitter, or head over to LinkedIn. Those platforms are built for this kind of speculation (and overflowing with this sort of banter). I want to keep this space focused on industry-specific topics. Nothing personal,I genuinely enjoy these conversations, this is just a "thread hygiene"...

I don't think 4.23mm chainstays are possible..

Would love to hear some thoughts on limited edition releases / drops to keep full price (or above) sales going. We've got $20k Levos, green 38s, silver Transmission, retro Yetis, etc, etc.

aren't xtr/xt di2 only with the latest versions (m8/9200)? I know m8/9100 are still available, but IIRC moving forward XT & XTR will be di2 only

Thanks! I just looked and the update was available in the app. Shifts fast as hell now!

I wonder how many people freaked out when Kaz said something to the effect of, "It's funny when people in the chat refer to Vital as the other site.. Like you can't say their name here.. We don't care if you visit more than one site. In fact, you should. Get another opinion before spending your money..." This was on the podcast within the last few weeks.

Does anyone seriously believe that 99% of the people in this thread aren’t also in the PB comments. The irony of claiming PB is filled with virtue signalers, while simultaneously saying Vital is better than PB. Both sites have their differences and are staples.

I'd wager a lot of it has to do with some finance nerd looking at things and going "we need to maximize the efficiency of our R&D spend". Two locations, two teams, even connected remotely isn't the same output, especially against a limited amount of fertile ground, as putting everyone under one roof. The fact that some will go elsewhere, is probably seen as a feature not a bug, considering what you are saying. Sad, but true. Unrelated, I do feel Specialized has exhibited a high amount of financial acumen and pretty dang solid management, even (especially) when they screw...

Just so we're all clear, I was never implying otherwise. This is why I was leaning into the semiconductor analogy. For instance, Specializes designs & engineers their bikes (Nvidia/Broadcom/etc), Merida manufactures the bike to their spec (TSMC, GlobalFoundries, Samsung, etc). Obviously, design/engineering is limited to the capabilities of the manufacturer, the same way Nvidia is limited to the capabilities of TSMC. It really is more of a partnership than some "input/output" vendor relationship. This is very different than the white label frames (or catalogue frames) anyone can go buy and brand as their own. While I'm interested in what is...

This would be so interesting. After your done can you unravel the ski/snowboard manufacturer web? In the snow world (bikes are very similar) I always found it so odd that companies try so hard to keep the factory that builds their boards secret. Very few, from the big players to the small core brands, make their own hardgoods. And similar to bikes, there are 10-15 (hard to tell because they are so opaque) factories across the world that make the boards for almost everyone. Some of these factories make awesome stuff, some are pretty terrible. If as a company you...

Yeah dude if you don’t have a couple e-fats hanging off the back of the RV don’t even bother showing up to the 50s diner sports bar in this town. Names like PEDALOOG and VICTROX in big silver letters on the big square downtube beam member are a bonus.

Around here, I mostly see FS e-MTB on trails, self-shuttling more often than not. The hot ticket for retirees is electric fat bikes. I can hear them coming up behind me when I'm riding to the pub - an odd cacophony of electric motor at full throttle mated to the thrum of overinflated 4" wide tires - and zip past doing 40 km/h, no pedalling.

Scottish Flag makes me believe that this is a World Champs special paint job

I've done well cycling in LA, with the very simple method of assuming every car can not see me or outright intends to hit me. That said, I don't imagine it's a sustainable mental health strategy. I have a lovely little video of a common bike lane experience in Los Angeles for those who need a chuckle on a Monday morning: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FHO1cXkJYdw