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how can it be "Outstanding"if it has top out clunk and the clicks are hard to notice.

I loved my V2 when I got it, not the most "supple" but amazing support! But it slowly deteriorated even with regular lower leg services into crap with the bushings scratching the uppers. I got new uppers and lowers on warranty and upgraded to V2.1. It is now by far the best singlecrown fork I have tried! I have half a year into the V2.1 by now and it keeps going strong, still very supple off the top but great support. Much easier to set up as well.

It kills me that of all people, it had to be this guy.... cringe worthy

Extreme Racing Shox or EXT is an Italian suspension supplier with roots in motorsports, where the brand found success working with legendary racers like Sebastien Loeb who dominated the World Rally Championship for years aboard his Citroens. In 2014, EXT decided to try their hand at making products for mountain bikes as well, and brought over many of the technologies and the expertise they have been developing over the years. We have previously tested their excellent coil shocks with good results (links: Storia review and e-Storia review), so when the company introduced their first air shock we were keen to...

Honestly, I haven’t paid much attention to Vital recently as I prefer the editorial content from previous presenters who are gone. But THIS. Wow. Three guys my height who are legit shredders AND can discuss what they experienced in a coherent and insightful fashion. Well done, sirs.

I recently went from 12* SQ Lab backsweep bars to more traditional 8* backsweep Chromag FU50s to get some more rise (grrr low stack height on L/XL frames). Setting them up for the same hand position, which I measured with a string, they feel surprisingly similar. Only diff is slightly more outside palm pressure on the 12* bars like Sir Bot mentions, and the 8* bars create slightly more elbow torque. Elbow issues are why I originally tried them, but that's long since healed so I find no benefit any longer and do get excessive hand pressure on very long...

According to Trek, derailments can be due to the lower guide wheel being out of alignment from the factory and adding a 2mm spacer to the ISCG tabs can fix it. We weren't aware of that possible remedy during the test so we can't say if that fix works, but it'd be great if it did. Kinda crazy to be dropping chains with so many chain retention doodads involved (narrow/wide ring, two chainguides, clutch derailleur, idlers to correct chain growth, etc).

Frame: Anything from Nicolai, especially the G1. These things are built well and not for weight-weenies.will survive pretty much everything. Wheels: DT-Swiss are great, even entry level E1900 are pretty good. Dropper: BikeYoke is the best. If you are on a budget, BrandX and so on work pretty well as well. No Reverb! Brakes: Formula Cura 2. Sram has good parts availability but needs quiet a bit of service in my experience. Had leaky caliper pistons a few times and stuck lever pistons on the older Guides. maybe it got better, I don't know. Shifting: GX 1x11: Reasonably priced and...

how can someone leave out the alien, nico vouilloz in a goat-debate???!!

Interesting test, thanks for doing it. Here are my thoughts: 1) Nearly without fail, amateur riders, even fast and aggressive ones will be faster over their entire trail ride choosing the fast tire with 'just enough' traction over the slower rolling higher traction tires. In fact, it's not even a small difference. 2) This 'Ripper' could really utilize the greater stability and traction of the gravity tires, this closed the gap considerably. Amateur riders would have been able to exploit less of this stability advantage and the time advantage to the trail tires would have been larger. 3) That's a...

My riding observations: I've been running these for about 6 months, in Northern and Southern Utah on my Transition Patrol, and have come across very impressed. My typical set up is a Double Down or similar casing out back, with a lighter duty tire up front, and 28 Front /30 Rear for air pressure. With that same setup but with the inserts, I can safely run as low as 22 PSI front and rear, without worrying about rolling a tire or dinging a rim. For more natural trails I may be able to do a bit lower, but for me...

Ican't believe the reviews for this tire are so few and far between. I have the 2.4 EXO Maxxterra (27.5) that I put on the rear in November of 2019 and having ridden many tires from the Maxxis lineup (which is my basis for comparison) including DHF, DHR2, HR2, and Aggressor, I will compare this to their other rear tires. I feel like it has better climbing grip but slightly slower rolling speed than the aggressor (2.3, dc exo) but the braking, traction, and cornering characteristics closer to a HR2. You can punch into corners or drift into them...

I've just taken delivery of one of these and couldn't find a review of anyone who has actually ridden one. First and foremost lets get the elephant out into the room. The twinlock......im sure if you test bikes and drive to bike parks then the twinlock makes no sense. But for those of us who live in the real world and have to ride to get off road, often up roads hills, then the lock-out is great. The next thing is that if you view this as a 29er with 150mm suspension then again it makes little sense as there...