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I love it. Racing in a far away land, bringing a bit of the mystique we lost from enduro (recent Brazil XC venues had a bit). Experience / “racecraft” will be amplified on this unfamiliar track—a chance for some old dogs to bark?

I think the course looks great. Natural, off camber, multiple lines in the trees. I think it'll break down and cut up great. As others have said, I like to see some janky slow speed corners that will seperate the riders instead of bike park berms. A new venue in a new corner of the world. This is what I was hoping to see. Looking forward to seeing some of the practice footage

Judging by some comments here and certainly on the pink site, it seems there's a serious issue with average Joe MTBers being able to judge the gradient, difficulty and length of a track from watching GoPro footage. This Korean track looks like it's gonna be awkward, tech, blown out and quite steep + off camber. Probably not fun to ride, but it will make for a challenging race.

Looks cool - raw, old school, homegrown feel to it. those woods sections will turn into sniper rock gardens and clever taping will make for tricky corners. Suspect this will be a sub 2 minute course though, and some of those jumps may need to be embigened. But it’s just nice seeing something new.

Late to the party, I had this comment opened in a tab in a browser on my computer and found it now. It's not really a problem, they spec the dimensions of the O-rings as well: 5,5 mm ID x 1,3 mm for the lower case bolt o-ting and 149 mm ID x 2 mm for the cover perimeter seal. The local bearing/seals supplier has 148x2 in stock (149 only comes in a 3mm thickness). 5,5x1,3 isn't in stock, but 5,5x1,5 is, I'm guessing it shoooooould work in a pinch. or a 5x1,25 which is also in stock. What I'm...

For mtb it can be hard to decouple frame flex from wheel flex. the wheel is a complex system (axle, hub, spokes, rim and tire) that influences this a lot. I've got my Megatower V1 frame that I've had for nearly 7 years and after trying 5 different wheelsets on it, each one gave it a different handling characteristic. Rider weight is a huge factor too. I think as suspension and geometry begin to plateau we'll see more brands talking about frame flex and trying to quantify or market it.

I'm also going to push back. One of the biggest problems with ebikes is they are way too stiff in the front triangle. I'd say external batteries that allow for traditional tubing have the potential to ride much better, but let's be honest the most important priority for how an ebike handles is how good it looks.

On the one hand, yes, and also no. Yes, totally, optimal stiffness for any bicycle chassis component is highly contingent on rider weight, riding style, and terrain. So I imagine a bike that's "too stiff" on average will suit some riders at the margins and a bike that's "too flexy" on average will suit others. This is actually a huge gripe I have with the bike industry in general, because products are almost always advertised as a one-size-fits-all solution, and they aren't/don't/can't. On the other hand, I don't tend to think Kiran is bullshitting me, because I've known him for...

That page is on a cease and desist speed run lmao

Consider the source?

For what it’s worth, the rear triangle on Alden’s Crestline e-bike frame that has been converted to a dh is being made stiffer for him. Provided he’s a tall guy riding hard.

I think this is as close to a „for racing purposes only“ bike we’ll get from specialized. Who is the realistic target group for this? A few age groupers, the occasional dentist and maybe some kids sponsored by their rich parents. The ones who want it will buy it anyways, other than that I see it as an engineering exercise and podium representation at the World Cup for spesh. Low production numbers, complex molds and layup, high structural requirements and engineering costs, it was never gonna be price competitive and i don’t think specialized will care about the hardtail dad...

I'm not sure if anybody posted it before

Bad news - Dunne is out. Insta link to his post - https://www.instagram.com/p/DXSQlCNDFuX/?igsh=aGhhZHFvMjIxcno1

The Shredline Eden. Full details coming next week. I'll try to answer questions each evening as I'm at the show and have zero service there. If you are at the show stop by EXT, Spank or Gates to see one or find us walking around. This variant is set up at 164mm rear (170 front) using a 230x60 stroke. The Eden can be set up in six different travel modes, two wheel sizes and high/low settings.

Agreed. The sky-high stack heights stand out as well.