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It is refreshing to see a short travel bike without flex stays. This would be top of my list of I was looking for a full suspension down country bike.

My 2020 Norco Optic looking great still with all these new short travel bikes...

This is probably more relevant for the main tech rumors thread, which has evolved into pretty much just the stream of consciousness for us vitalers regardless of topic, but what if we had a bot that counted comments, and once a specific topic gets more than 5 comments in a 24 hour period it auot-comments and suggests a new topic for it?

The first prototypes were very exciting, but definitely didn't look like something that could command much money! The first pic is an example of one of the early prototypes that didn't look very good, and didn't work well either! The second pic is a later-generation prototype where I definitely started to say out loud, "Damn, this thing looks sick!". Even at this stage, we didn't have a full understanding of the costs, as we were still trying to get a certain level of performance out of it and weren't there yet.

Stay tuned for updates to the TC. It works better on the front of the bike now.

The Shredda's can definitely be seen as overkill, but so are coil shocks on trail bikes. It dosen't mean there aren't benefits to such upgrades. We are in a era where some riders obsess over weight, and some care very little about an extra 200g if it means they have more grip/confidence on the downs. Good thing there are options for both user groups! My personal experience on Druid V2: Shredda Rear on the front (Tacky Chan rear) is a insanely fun combo especailly on Black Natural Trails. With summer coming, I will be changing to something faster rolling on...

Completely agree. I have ridden and raced the eddy current front quite a bit in 2.6 and 2.4. I found much better loose over hard performance and more predictable behavior than the magic mary in corners. Way better wet rock and root performance too with the large center blocks. I think in my experience I would put it somewhere between the assegai and the DHF in terms of feel. Which is a good thing. That being said the radial version of the magic mary has grown on me and somewhat replaced the eddy current as my preference for PNW winter...

Just dropping in to give the Eddy Current front some love. Grabbed a trail casing/ultra soft 2.4" on a whim and have been pleasantly surprised. Magic Mary has been my go to for a while and the Eddy seems to clean up some its short comings. It does a better job with hardpack, feels like it rolls a bit better and other then really sloppy conditions, overall grip is on par. The biggest difference I noticed, the eddy does not share the mary's snap grip tendency when regaining traction when it drifts or is at the edge of grip. I...

Both of the stems you listed are cold forged, meaning they are forged at room temperature. As far as forging goes, this way is slightly more optimum for resulting grain structure/strength then flow formed or cast. Since the manufacturing method is the same for both of these stems, you're paying for the surface finishing of bead blasting and painted vs anodized. What you're paying for is the surface finishing to prep for anodizing and the anodized finishing. If you would add their top of the line Riza stem to the question/equation, then what you're paying for there is CNC machining...

Bike park rental fleet purchasing managers are licking their lips right now. All jokes aside, it's good to see Norco filling out their Range (pun intended). They've got everything from XC halo builds to entry hardtails to this new park bike, while still seeming a bit "core" with Brage and the DH team. It's refreshing compared to the appeal to Bentonville and Marin County dentists that Specialized is leaning into.

So this is kind of hilarious to me because forbidden just ships a pile of parts along with a frame that isn't even put together. Having built/QC checked a lot of bikes from Transition, Ibis, Cannondale, Orbea, and Forbidden I can honestly say that the QC on the Forbidden frames are absolutely stellar, on par with Ibis carbon (Ibis alloy leaves a lot to be desired). Unfortunately, with bike brands that ship just frame and parts end up leaving a lot of their bikes "QC" impression on the skills of the builder building the bike. If your headset creeks, or...

I always strip and rebuild bikes and frames when they're new to make sure that everything has grease, anti-seize, and locktite where needed and the only bike where it was a waste of time was a Specialized because everything was already assembled well. My Raaw madonna was pretty good too but the main bearing lip seals had been damaged and needed replacing. The sealing on the Raaw is pretty good and the stock bearings lasted a couple years in most of the pivots except the main pivot that wore out in 6 months. The main pivot is sealed from the...

Heard on a podcast Jesse Melamed talk about helping out a local company, I'm pretty sure he rides on RMU skis. He talked about how it ended up on the vital forum so more fuel to the fire. Now here's hoping Dave W let's them have some longer chainstays.

I should have been more clear when I wrote that (was on an airplane, and hate writing on an airplane). Fox isn't forcing anyone to do anything, but they are suggesting "legacy brands" are struggling while disruptive market entrants are eating their lunch. I scratched my head as to who they are really referring to, but broadly, I do think we can agree the "old school" OEMs out there (*cough* Trek *cough*) are getting smoked. Big picture, Fox is being cautious with respect to bikeonomics. If history is a guide, they are always a touch over optimisitic in what they...

Fox Factory reported earnings this evening. I'll do a deep dive post later, but here are a few takeaways. Q4 Results - Came in about as expected (overall). 2026 Guidance - Lighter than expected, but there are talks of divesting in certain assets (like Marucci) SSG (the unit bike components live in) lagged about 5% in year over year sales. Management described bike as "slowly stabilizing" but explicitly acknowledged "disruptive market entrants" forcing legacy brands to "consolidate or cease operations". Maybe they have caught onto this thread? Lol. Stock is flat in post market trading, down 4% prior to the...

because it isn't 15%. as has been noted it is 50% for steel specifically. it is then % of overall weight, so say 20% of total weight of the bike. now take 20% of the landed cost of the bike. now multiple that by 50%. It grows quickly.

I see the same thing in South Orange County, and I think we (myself included) may be overestimating the overlap between VitalMTB readers/contributors and the typical Specialized customer these days.

The thing is, I'm not sure they are releasing "duds" per say. In my main riding group, about 1/3rd of people are on current gen Epics. I also see a large number of SJ15s around the trails, too. And then when I start counting e-bikes, Specialized is the brand I see the most of at my local trails. Even when I traveled to bike recently, saw some more SJ15s and a Levo. Edit: when I was back visiting my parents last month, I saw a group ride with 8 people and to my recollection, all but 2 were on Epics...

1) they see themselves as a technology/consumer electronics company now. When they brought in a Dyson guy to the c-level I knew we were going to see a different speci. 2) they’re way more conservative. Sinyard is older, economic pressures intensified, and the types of people who work there are dramatically different than 10 years ago. This is all mostly for the better but eventually you start to feel a lack of life from the bikes. I used to really want speci to become a more relevant and saavy company, but now that they are I realized how much funky...