All

I got the DHRII mounted up today and got 2 laps on it. The trail I ride is about a 4.5 mile forest road climb and a 3 mile 1500ft descent. We had a pretty good rain storm over the weekend and the trail was absolute hero dirt today. The first thing I noticed after mounting the tire was how much smaller and further apart the side lugs are on the DHR2 versus the DHX. I’ve been running 24-27 on the DHX combo and haven’t pinged a rim yet so that’s the pressure I ran today. I didn’t notice a...

On paper the specs are comparable to the benchtop dynos most workshops that have one use - https://ctwautomation.com/products/crank-type-machines/ Things like rigidity of the frame and scotch yoke could be more of a limiting factor - my dyno weighs twice as much but has similar speed/stroke specs. Things like the electronics and data processing are also important and you get what you pay for, so I'm not exactly endorsing it but it could be good as an entry level or 2nd portable dyno for some people. But I mostly just think its cute!

Closing thoughts on the new maxx Terra v2. Dh season is over for me now, and I’ve been riding the DHR2 since it opened. FWIW, this is on a DH bike at race pace for the season. Just about 160 miles and just under 100k feet of descending. Still has tons of breaking grip, can’t tell the difference in nor-cal dirt from maxx grip, but well over 2x the life, if not more. Casing is spent and the tire got a sidewall slice at the top of the casing insert on the last run, so she’s pretty cooked, otherwise would...

I have around 500 miles on a set of the spec radials on a full powered ebike. I like them more the shredda/ albert combo I was running before. I think the T9 compound is the only thing available thats comparable to maxgrip, schwable ultra soft and conti super soft feel less sticky on smooth rocks and roots. Im more of a 2-2-2 tire tread person so the butcher fits my front tire preferences more than anything that was available in the schwable radials until they released the tacky chan. I can’t say if the radial part of the specialized...

I installed hardwired Di2 on to my Bosch Wild with 11 speed Linkglide. I removed a SRAM 11 speed so the weight gain was significant which in my head bummed me out, although it's the exact same weight as GX T-Type. Imagine my surprise when not only was the gear spread much nicer, not only did I gain a lot of functionality, not only does the Linkglide shift positively and amazing (95% as smooth as T-type, but faster), not only did my running cost go way down and my relaibility went way up, but shockingly my rear suspension instantly got...

It’s the new TQ120 with dual batteries. Bikes available in January’27

Bike rental fleet beige?

It’s Taichung Bike Week. Primarily it's an OEM and B2B event, but occasionally some new stuff can be found out in the open. Speaking of DVO:

In the early days at least, yes they used the Spire hardware. That was actually something we had recommended since at lower volume it’s easier to just buy existing pivot hardware. It’s one of those things you that is super efficient to run in volume but not so much in low quantities. Of all the Horst link bikes I’ve messed with, that pivot hardware kit has been one of the easiest to live with. You aren’t gaining any performance from it, though. I’d imagine at this point they are using their own hardware though.

DVO does their manufacturing and assembly in their own division within the Suntour factory. Suntour is also a massive supplier (not just to DVO) of forged components like crowns, lowers, shock bridge/reservoir mounts, as well as various tubes. Speaking to Bryson earlier this year he mentioned DVO has been helping Suntour with some R&D. He didn't elaborate, but it wouldn't be surprising if there's some collaboration going on with their increased presence on the race circuit.

Where are you riding most often? I'm interested because I ride all over california and have a nomad 6, a hightower 4 and a bullit. I honestly found the n6 platform to be pretty easy to morph into whatever I wanted it to be. With an air shock, it was very playful and easy to move around... with a coil shock and a cascade link, it was very planted and stable. My only real complaint is that the frame is slightly too stiff and there it took a lot of fiddling to find a spot where the support, plushness and...

Have you considered a Revel Ritual?

Trek Fuel Lx/Mx and the Devinci Spartan fit the bill pretty well.

I now see what people were warning against in regards to @Dougal - SC...

That's an awfully confident statement from someone with little or no experience operating a company with large scale outsourced production, overseas or domestic. Care to share a factual example? Also what and who is a 'marketing type brand?' Last I checked the bike industry is collection of honest brands, riders, and designers trying their best to make products of value or improve the experience and enjoyment of other cyclists. Of course they also have to market and advertise if they want to stay in business, but both realities can coexist. You're the NZ distributer for Hayes/Manitou and operate a suspension...

The soft undercurrent of a few of these post seems to imply anything made in Asia or engineered by Asians is somehow of lower quality. Engineering really has nothing to do with nationality or ethnicity. You can find high and low quality products everywhere in the world. Quality is a reflection of the decisions made by the brand not the the citizenship or location of the engineers. If you are manufacturing at scale at some point you'll need to work with a factory and their engineers. And you'd have a hard time finding a greater concentration of institutional knowledge and...

Recently learned how hands-off Transition is for manufacturing. They basically do the industrial design and pivot layout then the factory does the rest. No in-house composite engineer or stress analysts at least double checking what the factory is doing. I know they’re not unique in this, but they’re charging a lot for what is basically a Transition shaped catalog frame. They give a lot back to the riding community here, so as a local it’s a little easier to stomach, but if I were outside Washington it would be a much harder sell.