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Ha, that thing would be fun AF if I still had an urban commute.

My latest mulling over the barbell effect and how it might apply to bikes. In essence, in this post I play with the idea that we're seeing a hollowing out of the middle, both with respect to company size and product pricing. // Substack // Blog EDIT: I've given @sspomer permission to post any of my stuff in full here so you don't have to click through to anything. Plus, I'm totally cool with him editing it (which I very likely need). If you all want me to aim at anything specifically for next week just let me know!

Report from the second and final day of EDR World Cup racing in Morillon, France: RUDEAU PULLS OFF COMEBACK WIN WHILE HOSKINS SURVIVES SCARE TO TRIUMPH IN UCI ENDURO WORLD CUP FINALE 24th August 2025 – Alex Rudeau came from behind to win the men’s Elite race at the final UCI Enduro (EDR) World Cup round of the 2025 season while Elly Hoskin underlined her superiority at the Morillon, Haute-Savoie (France) with a crushing 23-second women’s Elite triumph. Rudeau was five seconds behind after a gravity-intense Saturday that contrasted with the lung-busting nature of day two that featured several tough...

Morillon EDR World Cup Race Report - Day One: Jesse Melamed (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) is in the perfect position to win the final round of the men’s Elite UCI Enduro (EDR) World Cup after day one in Morillon, Haute-Savoie (France) and clinch second overall in the standings, while Simona Kuchynková (CUBE Action Team) and Elly Hoskin are the women Elite celebrating at the halfway stage in the finale. BRACE OF STAGE WINS PUTS MELAMED IN THE DRIVING SEAT After a couple of gloomy training days, the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series returned from its six-week hiatus to glorious...

the grand parents of ergon and bar ends - oakley 3

Vital RAW in not rainy, perfect summer conditions for a weekend of #USDH from the Downhill Rockies series in Telluride.

RE: 2016: People may not remember this, but it was not a good year in the bike industry. Europe had terrible weather in March and April, Brexit was happening, there was an unforeseen glut of inventory (at the wholesale/distribor) level in the USA and China saw a big slowdown that caused their market to contract. If you go dig around you'll see stories on this stuff. As to the future, while I don't have a crystal ball, I do believe they'll hit their 2025 numbers. This is not inflation adjusted, just raw sales numbers. One thing I learned in working...

Well I can think of 10 people, 2 bike brands, and the network of supporters behind them who’d want to share that image. Besides the actual race with coverage is at the end of the week. It will have double the views of anything on wbds YouTube channel now that they have removed juniors. And the winning run will likely have views in the millions as opposed to the views under 200k. There is also the Garbo and air Dh as smaller podium opportunities. Tons of vlog opportunities. And the entire week is probably the most attended mtb event in...

I can only relay to this thread what was relayed to me, although apparently it was the stance of multiple dealers that the new, heavier but more capable platform had lost some of the charm of the predecessor and a large part of that was that it just didn't feel like a little bike anymore. Maybe the interior of BC is an anomaly, but yeah, the shop sells an absolute ton of ebikes. Sure. Are regular bikes still selling? Absolutely. The shift has actually been away from what we would have considered as great first full-suspension bikes for people (2500-4500...

I don't think so. The Privateer's top tube hump looks like a dog taking a dump and I had legitimately forgotten how bad the rocker link is. I've never been a Trek guy and don't think there is anything that'll convince me to be a Trek guy, but the new Fuel is downright svelte compared to the Privateer. Weight? I'm on a Madonna, so not the guy to criticize bike weight. Lol.

Weight reduction will be a big one. Quite a few brands have swung to the heavy side. It's time for a correction.

I agree, incentive is limited. I'm actually a sucker for rad paint jobs, and nobody is doing anything remotely cool these days on that front. Where the hell are the fades, splatters, metallics, neon colors, etc. No originality at all. Please drop some acid and get back to me.

Fox reports earnings after the close. Not expecting anything major, but they remain a solid benchmark for the space. I’ll cover it. Quick aside: after talking to a few private credit guys, it's becoming clear that the smaller the company, the more pain they're feeling...regardless of industry. That might seem obvious, but for many private companies under $50–100M in revenue, key profitability metrics have noticeably compressed over the last 3–4 years. Tariff concerns have eased somewhat, but they still hit these smaller players harder, especially those already operating on thin margins. Worth noting because Fox is large and public, with...

I’ve seen a few, considering there’s not many on Schwalbe regardless, with the Albert as a rear of front and rear both on Dh or EDR 🧐 Also, knobs are not lower than an Assegai, go measure them, I did. And I think it goes hard as a rear tyre and rolls incredibly well for how beefy it is. Was recently on very loose and dry condition around the sea to sky area and it might be the radials doing wonders but even crawling down steep double blacks I’ve had 0 wishes on stronger braking from the tyre

Just my own 2c but I’ve not punctured a tire in probably 20+years, knock on 🪵. But I don’t mess with less than DH type casings for the most part anymore. Spend a few years pedaling 40+lb bikes everywhere and you’ll feel like your riding an ebike every time you jump onto a trail bike with sub 1200g tires. But whatever 35psi in my minions…. 😆