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This has been my experience as well. Just stay on top of chain wear and you're golden. The drivetrain on this bike https://www.vitalmtb.com/community/ARonBurgundy,30923/setup,41567 is still in operation today and it was lightly used when I built the bike in 2020. I did retire the cranks out of caution as I wore through a few layers of carbon on the arms.

X01 Eagle is the bees knees. I ran the same chainring (gx aluminium), cassette (the old 10-50t),shifter and derailleur for 4 and a half seasons on my old bike with only a new X01 chain about every year. The derailleur is still being used on one of the bikes by a friend who bought it off of me. I ran the last chain for 2 seasons (and I started waxing the chain in the same time frame) and just recently gave it to another friend to use it some more as I only measured 0,35 % wear rate on it...

There’s TONS of issues with transmission 90/70. I see lots of posts on other media (Facebook Reddit pinkbike etc) about shift quality skipping. Getting stuck in gear etc. I’ve had the best luck with xo about 2 years and I haven’t touched it. Just replaced a chain and cassette when it wore out.

Technology is not a replacement for bike maintenance. You simply have to tear your bike down once a year if you're riding a good amount and make sure you touch everything. Too many mountain bikers are in the ride it until it breaks or there is a problem mindset.

In a world where a lot of bike developers are focused on e bikes, count me in

Local shop told me that a replacement for the Yeti SB160E is launching next week (presumably Tuesday, the unofficial launch day of new things). It might use the MT-something name. Should be 160 or 170 travel. Full power Bosch motor. Very expensive, as expected. Dentists rejoice!

Coil shocks for everything! Tallboy 4 w/ cascade link and 7.5' x 2.0' coil shock (stock is 190mm x 45mm). Rear travel is around 145mm, front is 150mm with a 64.5 degree HA. Very supple, yet still supportive and a blast to pump down the trail. With light wheels (as pictured), it rips the climbs and is a big mileage all day trail machine. Swap to heavier wheels and tires and it will handle any enduro course out there.

Tacky Chan is faster rolling, basically an improved DHR2. Magic Marry is an improved Assegai with a little more edge on looser conditions. If you want a faster rear, Nobby Nic rolls well and pairs well with the MM up front.

I just mounted a Hans Dampf rear with a Radial Magic Mary up front on my 130mm bike and it feels very fast pedaling. Much faster than the Xynotal in the rear. I’ve got a Big Betty I’m going to try for less XC terrain too. Schwalbes prices are spot on. $65 for the trail casing Hans and $80 for the trail casing Betty.

What!! They're killing off SLX and now mechanical XT? Those are two of the best groupsets out there. The best value drivetrain is SLX levers, calipers, derailleur, cassette, and chain, with XT shifter, with a DUB GX alloy crankset. Ubiquitous parts, great functionality, easily serviceable, and doesn't break the bank.

Little bit of an aside, but I'm doing some homework on the players in Taiwan, China and Vietnam responsible for most of the "big guys" bikes (frames, primarily). I have a few sources that are helping, but if anyone in this thread has anything to offer - jeff.brines@gmail.com I think it'd be really cool to shine a light on who is making what for who, even if it doesn't mean much on the surface. If the semiconductor industry can be so precisely mapped by Dylan Patel and his team, I feel I can figure the bike thing out. The smoke...

I'll beat the drum of a different tune on this one: YT is fundamentally broken no matter the region. While I don't have most recent financials, they were abysmal as of 2023 and things have not improved since. I've mentioned it above, but they are underperforming across all profitability KPIs, and there isn't top-line growth to somehow justify it (its not an AI company, lol). I buried this in my post a month ago but YT was forced to shift from taking delivery of complete bikes to taking delivery of frames and assembling on their own. While this may seem...

The wet granite is grippy until a bunch of mud inevitably gets dragged down onto it, then it can get pretty wild. The highly-polished roots are even more treacherous though. Being an East Coast guy, I have a hard time trusting any rock to have grip.

For context, I can (and have on previous trips) tear through a maxx terra DHR 2 in 7 days in whistler with 3-4 days in the park and 3-4 days pedaling. That same DHR 2 would last me ~300-500 miles in socal with the low end being my enduro bike and the higher end of that being my trail bike. That wear looks really good for a maxx grip dissector with those riding stats from my pov. I could tear through the previous gen maxx terra dissector in 8 rides or less in socal (~160 miles). I can't wait to...

I've been running the new Dissector in the rear (MaxxGrip DoubleDown) the past three days in Whistler. Here is a wear update at 57 miles, 10,600 ft climbing and 15,000 ft descending. Initial thoughts: Sick rear tire for down country and trail riding. Side lugs have good support, transit knobs add consistency when leaning over, and it rolls nice and fast. It's also got deep enough knobs that it can grab traction in moderately loose/mixed soil. I've really enjoyed how it allows my rear wheel to settle through supported corners. My rear wheel will slightly break loose and whip around...

Agree on the Tacky, just like the dhf did not like it as a front tyre, loved it as a rear, but I think it rolls faster than a dhf as a rear tyre. Albert, it’s an Hans Dampf on steroids in my book, more braking, more grip, rolls a tad slower. Way better than the aggressor in everything but rolling perhaps, even though softer rubber and radial chasing make it roll better over roots and stuff than the hard rubber on the aggressor

Pricing might be shocking in today's dollars but on an inflation adjusted basis its absolutely insane how much performance we get at the ~$3,000-4,500 price point, especially if you buy a "COVID bike". I'm as nerdy as they come, and my GX Spire is an amazingly capable bike, one I can throw all the money in the world at and be no faster on. My story is not unique, $4,000 is the same today as $2,400 was 20 years ago. While that amount is nothing to scoff at, we are getting so much more net performance for our inflation adjusted...

Welp looks like my SH51 cleats are getting the CL-MT001 pedicure tonight courtesy of a angle grinder.

Shimano released a new SPD cleat today. Compared to the 30-year-old SH51 cleats, the new CL-MT0001 cleats feature an additional ramp at the back of the cleat, which Shimano claims improves walkability and functionality—enabling back-to-front and top-down clipping in addition to the traditional front-to-back motion. The new CL-MT0001 cleats are backward compatible with all SPD pedals. If I were asked at the start of the year to guess which longstanding Shimano product would finally see an update in 2025, SPD cleats would not make my first twenty guesses. While 30-year development cycles don't bode well for those holding out for...

team rumors.