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I now see what people were warning against in regards to @Dougal - SC...

Can we just cut to the chase and pre-emptively ban Dougal? I thought this place was the last safe haven from his bullshit. The schtick of poo-pooing everything on the planet is old as dirt and he ruins every conversation he butts in on. Doogs, you spend an awful lot of time on forums for someone who claims to be so busy. Go farm downvotes somewhere else.

Commencal quietly dropped the Tempo "V2" with the only revision being they got rid of the headset cable routing. (praise be!)

Comment from another site: "I wonder if the real reason that Sinyard's back is that he's not getting enough law suit action to feel good about himself."

The machine is basically a motor that turns a shaft, which is turned in to linear up and down motion. The software runs the machine faster and faster, and measures how much force the damper is producing at every point and speed in the stroke. My machine is a CTW "rotary" type dyno with 2 HP and one of the more basic, lower power machines on the market (I think about $15,000 USD today). CTW was born out of a company called Roehrig who pioneered workshop damper testing in the early 90's - many of the older racecar and motorcycle...

[edit: quoted, but this is not meant in response to any previous post or user in particular] As someone who designs and manufactures aftermarket components to upgrade 'big suspension' put me on the record in their defense. I think they actually do a remarkable job at what is really an impossible task. Imagine designing something within the small confines of an MTB fork and the accepted dimensional standards. Make it light enough and cheap enough for what the market demands at retail and OEM. Manufacture and assemble it at massive scale to acceptably high QC standards, align dozens of critical...

100% Honestly, we have a really good thing going here. We have amazing contributions from people doing amazing work across all aspects of mountain biking. We've had multiple owners of companies, other engineers, product testers and designers give incredible feedback on a wide variety of topics. Giving their time and their knowledge in constructive ways to help foster a level of bike nerd and discussion that you just don't get elsewhere, and they do that because vital isn't a cesspool of negativity and combative complaining. I'm sure everyone working on the hard part of designing, engineering, building, testing, is doing...

Dear Dougal, I know your favorite past time is to shit on the hard engineering work of people and then yell at them when they try to engage you in good faith arguments. I get that you are also trying to be helpful, and probably mean less malice than it comes across over the internet because, frankly, the internet is a shithole of everyone yelling at each other. But Vital has been a space that seems to have remained a refuge of reasonability despite everything else falling to click and rage bate. I am glad Vital is not the pinkbike...

It looks like the French courts have given Lapierre the green light to pursue an independent future outside of Accell. They have two months to prove they have the financing in place and a six-month observation period under court supervision to continue operations. Cycles Lapierre SAS generated €99.1 million in revenue in 2025. Between 2024 and 2025, its operating loss fell from €46.3 million to €27.2 million, an improvement of €19.1 million, or more than 41%, in one year. With its own industrial and technical site in Dijon, the current organisation brings together “the functions needed to build an autonomous...

Stole this pic from the other site, but Cube’s got an interesting spoke flange system that allows tuning more compliance by moving the flange inboard or stiffer by moving the flange out. Haven’t seen this approach before!

Elite Men highlights from Les Gets:

So does the Fox 38 on the Ransom

First up, thank you to the Vital team for presenting our product here! Since a few questions came up, I wanted to chime in and clarify a bit what we mean by the Tune Adjusters. As @Slavid666 analyzed pretty much spot-on, the High-Speed Tune Adjuster changes the port configuration underneath a non-preloaded tapered shim stack. With each adjuster position, one additional port is closed off, changing the hydraulically loaded area of the stack. The shim stack itself stays exactly the same, but the way it is loaded changes, which therefore changes the slope of the resulting force-velocity curve. That is...

Cube just released a bunch of new bikes, the new downhill bike looks good (especially at the price) and it has a very interesting feature, it seems like the BB position is adjustable! It's a bit cryptic from their text but this is what I understand from their text and photos. It's the first time I see this https://www.cube.eu/fr-fr/cube-two15-slx-deepteal-n-clouds/1174600

Introducing the ZETA Damping Cartridge by SIMONS.LAB Externally adjustable compression and rebound tunes, Hydraulic Bottom-Out packaged in a drop-in cartridge design: ZETA is now available for FOX 38, RockShox ZEB and Intend upside-down suspension forks. Many riders know the situation: changes to the compression or rebound damping do not produce the desired effect on the trail, or an improvement in one area comes with noticeable compromises elsewhere. This is often caused by the predefined internal base tune found in conventional suspension forks. External adjusters can fine-tune this base tune, but they cannot fundamentally change it. If the tune does not...

Lapierre have issued a statement on their farcebook page regarding the Accell situation, sound like they may be looking to go independent again?

Continental has extended its grippiest compounds—Soft and SuperSoft—to its gravity tire line. This includes the Argotal, Kryptotal Front, Kryptotal Rear, and Xynotal models in 27.5- and 29-inch. Many riders have long requested softer rubber options for Continental’s trail and enduro casings. They’ve introduced a few options over the years, but this latest change should give you every casing/compound combo you could want. Pricing: Enduro SuperSoft RRP: €86.95 / £74.99 / USD $104.95 Trail Soft RRP: €73.95 / £63.99 / USD $88.95 N ew tire options: Xynotal 27.5” Xynotal Enduro SuperSoft 29” Xynotal Enduro SuperSoft 27.5” Xynotal Trail Soft 29” Xynotal...