All

No insert guy here. I'm around 265ish and have been on WAO Strife (dh) rims on dh casing tires for the past three seasons and no rim failures and no flats. I'm a pretty smooth rider, but ride pretty hard and live in the rockies and terrain can be pretty unforgiving. If that ever changes, might look into them, but for the time being, life is fine without them.

I run Cushcore Pro F/R on my park bikes in the summer. North east rocks EAT wheels alive, and they seem to help save the rims from this. I'll still get a good ding here and there, but the rims definitely last longer. The downside is slower acceleration due to the heavier mass, but that's somewhat compensated for by the extra mass helping to carry you through chunk.

Team Robot is spot on with why you might need them. It's interesting reading everyone's different uses and setups. Particularly Storm Racing with the thicker with skinny tyres and thinner with DH tyres. I get that, even if at first it makes no sense, especially as now my use has changed. Also interesting to note that many DH pro's don't use them these days after the initial buzz, but I think almost all XC pro's, even some cyclocross and roadies use them to allow them to keep going until a replacement is available on the course. Cobbled classics season, perfect...

Huge cushcore fan and user here. Absolutely must have a Cushcore pro in rear wheels otherwise I will destroy them. The tire support for cornering is a nice benefit. I think I like the damped feel too, but that's definitely not the main reason I run them. I used to go through multiple rear wheels a year before Cushcore, which got really old. As others have mentioned, when I take a used Cushcore Pro insert out of my rear tire, it's completely knackered, covered in knife slits from the rim, which leads me to believe it's really doing it's job...

I was an insert denier until this winter... I've destroyed a freshly built-up FR541 (which I put on a rear wheel to replace an EX511 that lasted maybe a year and never survived Northstar season) by hucking into a root on upper Jugs. That somehow didnt impact the sidewalls at all, but made a big enough well on the bead shelves so the system wouldnt hold air. It did not help to put tape pieces or rubber repair thingies to smooth it out too. Given the NA prices for DT Swiss, I figured I can eat the cushcore price. It...

I originally got cushcore back in the day right when it came out because I had just got a new to me used DH with Enves on it and wanted to protect them since I didn't have warranty and no money after that purchase. Since then, I have been a user on every bike. What is interesting is that I use XC on my DH bike and Pro on my trail bike. I have been considering going down to XC on my trail bike recently but I certainly smash way more unexpected rocks on my trail bike whereas I know...

Darkfest 2026 is a wrap, but there's plenty more content to come! Here's the event report from the organizers, along with a set of absolute bangers to drool over while we wait for the official edit to drop as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The dust has finally settled over the farm, the tools are down and the 10th-anniversary of Darkfest presented by Monster Energy has officially gone down as the biggest, fastest, and most festive week in big air history. What started as a massive vision for the Falcon Heavy line and Rocket Launcher landing became a reality through the sheer grit...

Built up a set of TRavens with TRP Evo Pro levers and Bronze Calipers. Ultimately went this route because I could build up a set from takeoffs and spare parts cheaper than buying either set new down here in NZ. Plus love a kludge. Everything went together super easy, thanks to everyone who tried before and sorted the details. Definitely took a few bleeds and piston faff to get it feeling good. Coming from TRP EVOs definitely feels like more power delivered sharper, never ridden Mavens so can't compare to their power. I was expecting more dead band with this...

The only validation I was seeking

Great idea and love the test.

Just to follow up on the question regarding the carbon Maven levers. I rode them yesterday with the A1/red cams and didn't notice anything weird feeling. With grip tape at the hook, they felt just like alloy SRAM levers with grip tape, other than being less cold in the morning.

pit bits from tennessee national - https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/pit-bits-tennessee-national-2026

It is quite the debate on bikes, components, and the price tag brands put on them. If you look at it from a business standpoint and count in the overhead costs, developing costs, tariffs, shipping, different labor costs in different countries... When people are aware of "how low" the unit prices are, their first reaction is being angry. It makes such an immense difference if you either make a couple of thousand units in Asia or just a hundred locally in the US or in Germany. I, personally, think that you can have an absolute blast in the woods on...