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Great thread. I'll share my own.. Been working in the industry for years now in various roles, this has turned me into my non-bike friends go to person for anything bike related. A friend hit me up to change his pedals for him - not a problem, bring the bike over, I've worked in shops for years, and changed thousands of pedals. My friend comes over, throw his bike in the work stand, swap one pedal, come around to the other, it doesn't thread on, he watched me struggle for 10 minutes or so, I thought to myself, the thread...

Nice thread! So, I started biking in 92 and since pupils don't have cash for workshop repairs, I was thrown into wrenching the same moment I began and never stopped. These days I am totally guilty of wrenchers' cockiness, yeah got it all covered, noone can tell me anything. Last fall I got a Slash gen6, the one with the chain tourism, so to speak, idler pulley and additional pulley at the chain guide. From the start, the drivetrain made a slight churning sound, which disappeared when lubing the chain. Instant jump to conclusion: yeah, must be the complicated chain...

I'll narc an old buddy out. Our team got a hell of a hook up from so many companies back in the race day. Built our bikes up. Show at SnowShoe & make the rounds of the pits thanking all our sponsors for their support. Teammate goes up to FSA & complains that there's something wrong with their headset b/c he's got play. Isn't delivered in an "inquisitive" manner, more of a "WTF" tone. FSA rep/mech takes one look at it, never looks at my teammate & says "It's upside down." Rep turns his back & walks off. Keeps on...

Speaking of tubeless explosions, I once drove five hours to an XC race that started at 7:30 am the next morning in Echo, Oregon (near the middle of nowhere). I needed (read: wanted) to switch tires to something faster rolling for the race, but from 8 until 11 pm the night before the race, for the life of me, I could not get the front tire to seat. This process included driving from gas station to gas station looking for a car tire air compressor that put out enough cubic feet per minute to seat the tire, to no avail...

WE'VE BEEN MEASURING CRANKS COMPLETELY WRONG! THEY SHOULD BE MEASURED FROM THE GROUND!

No, we haven’t been measuring sag wrong. Any method of measuring sag that is repeatable is an acceptable way to measure sag. As it is something that must be tuned as opposed to setting to a specific percentage, being able to repeatably measure sag is the most important thing. You can do this seated and measuring at the shock just fine. If someone wants to measure it with a whole bunch of kit that’s fine, but telling everyone they are wrong and do it wrong is silly. It is definitely worth noting that on more progressive bikes you shouldn’t be...

I think 32” wheels sound amazing for the rough, washboard, rutted Colorado dirt roads. I don’t race and don’t care for sprinting. But some big ol wheels that roll and roll… I like it. Tall comfy front end sounds good too. Not everything needs to be race-ready

Brembo brakes official

No need to split the tube, just go lower

Absolutely horrific. Scott will love it. Can't wait for a new steerer standard to solve the issue of the taper getting in the way of the stem.

you're all helping them figure out 32" way too much with these suggestions 🤣

Amazing how there are so many people who come to a tech and innovation thread to complain that bikes have changed in 15 years. “WHAT? ANOTHER INNOVATION? HELL NO NOT ON MY WATCH, BROTHER.” “WHAT THE HECK? BIEKS ARE GETTIN EVEN MORE CAPABLE AND FUN TO RIDE? I NEED TO POST MY OPPOSITION TO THIS MALARKEY.” Edit to add: it’s also a really wild take to say that bikes peaked in 2012. I personally think it’s a wild take to say that bikes are peak right now. They just keep getting better!

After going back and fourth for the last month I decided to pull the trigger on some T4V4’s to replace the Radic Kaha’s that I’ve been running for the last year. I figured my purchase should trigger some event that causes hope to release the new gravity brake causing me to have buyers remorse over the purchase for not waiting, but giving anyone else the opportunity to grab some discounted T4V4’s or the new brake… your welcome 😂. Some initial impressions: Last time I worked on a set of hope brakes was at least 15 years ago, and they always...

We tested Crankbrothers new Synthesis Enduro Alloy 2.0 wheels that launched today and were super impressed by how stout and durable they were. Our tester Mikey has broken every wheel I've ever seen him ride, and these wheels have made it just about 4 months completely unscathed. Which honestly speaks more to their durability than Commencal/Muc-Off racing with them 😂 They're sold as individual wheels, but complete sets retail for $700 (CB hubs) and $900 (i9 hubs), and the rims carry a lifetime warranty—a first for Crankbrothers on alloy rims. There is also a DH/e-MTB model. https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/wheelsets/crankbrothers/synthesi… Highlights - Reinforced...

Great question. This might be the best thread on Vital. I have so many to share, but a great one is showing up to a shuttle day with all my riding gear, a change of clothes, lunch, electrolyte drink mix, etc, but I forgot my bike. For everyone else that meant they got a designated full-time shuttle driver that day.

I was squeezing my brake lever randomly at the trailhead, forgetting that I hadn’t put the back wheel back in yet and the pistons popped right out the caliper 🤦🏻‍♂️

I can concur on the Convergence vs Union statement

Good feedback everyone. I do agree that DD's feel nice, but the sidewall support is more or less the same as EXO+. I'm relieved to find out I'm not crazy. I'm going to continue trying out the DD's with inserts for my ebike, and see if I can get through the year on the reserve AL/HD hoop that I have on it without murdering it. I typically murder 1 ex511/reserve AL-HD per year, so that wouldn't be pretty standard. I think it's time to bite the bullet and just go to DH casing rear tires for my enduro bike and...

I spent more time than I would like to admit trying to fix my shifting. It would shift fine for some of the cassette but some gears I couldn't get to work right no matter how i adjusted. i even replaced a derailleur hanger. Turns out i routed the cable of my shimano derailleur backwards.