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This is a hilariously weird thread. Please all have your fun here, then stop thinking about this, get off work, and go jump some bump humps for your own good.

Party shirts? Are kooks actually core? Is Evan's MTB Saga core?

Flats = CORE Change my mind.

because its cheap.

Looks like CB Mallets in the pics.

Well, you would have to compare the spec radials to spec gravity tires, not grid trail since they are gravity tires and would weigh the same. I know a bunch of people on Schwalbe trail radials and they love them. Same with Schwalbe gravity. Only had one friend who complained about them being slow and giving up on them. And he def was on trails because he doesn't ever us dh casing, even when he really, really should. But he has lucked out so far, so good for him.

Reece absolutely has the worst bike setup of anyone in the senior men's ranks, and the only thing I learned from his second place at Andorra is that he's even more talented than I realized. Random question: does anyone know what tires Jordan was running? Seems like the Specialized team are on Cannibals 90% of the time unless it's a mudder, but I'm wondering if they maybe switched to a front or rear Hillbilly for the super loose conditions at Andorra.

Should be mentioned that Finn and Jordan were looking really on form in South Korea before both flatted. Both probably would have given loic a run for his money. Or you could go full conspiracy theory and say they gave loic better tires and after he was out said ok well i guess finn and Jordan can have the tires that don’t flat now.

Maybe a fraction of a step below, but I would include the current Commencal Muc-Off team. Amaury, Loris, and the two Alrans. The latter haven’t won yet, but I don’t think any of us doubt the day is coming for both and very soon.

First season of Nico on the team yeah? Could be an interesting conversation at the end of year. Great team, great bike, great riders. Comes down to resource allocation and having more time for the guys that are left. Some unconscious rider hierarchy bias probably comes into it. How good would it be for Jordan to clap back at Jackson the year after he has the season of his life? Those two still battling years after their junior fight.

The average rider does care about efficiency, most just don't know how to articulate it. They talk about the bike feeling slow, or that they're working really hard on climbs, and making improvements to how efficient the bike is (mostly by going to faster rolling, lighter weight tires since most are on traditional drivetrains) makes a huge difference to their ride experience. Can't forget the average rider isn't smashing wheels and ripping off derailleurs all the time, and shouldn't build their bikes up like a lot of us do.

Speaking for myself - it's not that I don't want a GB - it's that I don't want a worse drive-system than I currently have. If GBs get to the point where the weight penalty is small and efficiency is comparable, I'll be riding them. I think many of the folks you think are Luddiltes are really just people how value performance and don't break a lot of DRs (I've been riding since the late 80's, and I've yet to break one).

Gearboxes, the “fusion energy” of MTB.

The electronic suspension/high pivot/stand up and pedal convo is the dumbest thing to happen to tech rumors in a long time. Banal, illogical, myopic.

I don't think they answered a few peoples questions. I feel like a lot of people asked about chainstay/stack sizing and are the team members running the next size up chainstays.