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Wait have you actually seen someone break a King hub? What part of it broke? While I generally disagree with your big guys breaking more stuff anecdote I'll bite on that. The last 25 years of my life have been spent as a mechanic, service writer and later warranty/tech support for bike companies, I've seen more than my fair share of broken stuff. Normal-sized young dudes sending it break the most bike parts, and older big guys complain the most about it. There is some crossover in the middle of course... I've broken every frame, rear rim and hub I've...

The advantages outweigh the small number of additional broken shocks. the yoke shock breaking thing is overblown imo. Ive seen warranty %s.

I should have been a bit more clear- I think the new stumpy that’s coming out is going to be fine if it has a yoke. The new shocks are tougher too- all brands. Older designs (bikes and shocks) are more fragile for sure. Monarchs were/are super fragile and had a high warranty rate. I think that is fairly well known. Keep complaining- some companies read this stuff!

I love the internet. I won't speak for David, but I do think its worth pointing out you've probably ridden stuff he's engineered (he's ex-SRAM/Rockshox, specifically a rear shock engineer). One thing I find really interesting as I get older is just how much harder it is to ascribe real correlation to an event, despite what may seem obvious. Turns out, there are often many variables to consider, and anecdotes by themselves don't hold as much water as we humans wish. In your case, I'd wager heavier/smashier riders go through shocks at a higher rate regardless of application. How much...

I've had a SRAM UDH snap using a nice and fairly new torque wrench. LBS had one snap as well. Despite the whole new standard, just like before you really need to buy a NSB or wheels mfg hanger in order not to have a bonded chinesium POS (unless you buy a Santa Cruz or other frame that comes with a nice in-house hanger).

The one SRAM sells has an aluminum inner portion with molded nylon over it.

Absolutely on point re GX and b-bolt upgrade. I create the Hall lock with a very thin washer between the b-bolt and outside of the derailleur. If you get just the right washer, derailleur can still pivot back with a firm push (maybe helps prevent damage?), but drivetrain is much quieter. Highly recommend experimenting with this if you enjoy tinkering.

I've been doing the same thing. Using the shitty plastic SRAM UDH hanger you can just rasp off the plastic axle guide in seconds and it works. Don't need to go all the way down, you can leave a little lip to guide the axle. I'm a fan of the smaller jump up to the 52t and how the Transmission cassette shifts when mashing up a tech climb. But mostly I just wanted to see if I could make it work. Sloppy GX derailleurs: when your GX mech is new, buy (or poach) an X01 B-bolt, they're about $25. The...

I know i finally got some Dominions and daaaaaaayummmm, that control but also they grab like crazy. And my hands aren't tired even on long steeps. This is coming from XT's.

Got on a deal for a Mezzer Exp and added the IRT. Pal recently upgraded from his factory 38 to a Mezz Pro as a result of a couple test rides on my bike. Hayes/Manitou have been on a tear the last 5 years.

I have the new Mattoc Pro and I freakin' love it, best-feeling fork I've ever ridden and yes, Mezzer is due too, been on deep discount for a while now.

New warden is a mullet and 170mm travel, with a max of 180mm in the rear. Also there's a new delirium coming too. Manitou forks are so far ahead of the competition. Can't recommend them enough.

Manitou seems to be producing some great stuff lately. I personally haven't ridden one of their forks in about a decade, but I hear good things. The Mezzer is on deep discount, so I wouldn't be surprised to see an update there as well.

New Warden for sure. I wouldn't be surprised t see a little more change from the previous version than we've seen on the other gen. 6 frames.

C'mon folks, let's get this back on track: New R7 XC fork from Manitou coming on July 4th? Kazimir looks to have it on his Chisel build on PB and the Rockrider/Ford team have (likely) been running it for while. Anyone know anything more? Hoping it'll go up to 130mm...

Joy - this is now a thread about recycling. FFS.

Thats on you then, There has always been, and always be, scrap yards that will happily take your steel or alu bikes, strip them down, and recycle them. Just the same as cars, appliances, construction materials, etc. Realistically, bikes getting sold, and turned over to multiple owners is the best possible scenario. We often forget the hierarchy Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

please keep it tech rumors only and your frame material religion out of here, thx!

I love it! The strange preview vid is perfect too. The sanctity of XC isn’t important to me at all so fuck it up all you want! That wood-to-wood river gap looks like the Athertons designed it, and the flat drops to Dwell flooring are madness. Got that thigh-high vert right hand berm? XCMTB Kasso let’s do it! if anything, it makes me feel better about WB Disco—they’re trying to end XC too. It’s The Producers!