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People in Europe have started to receive their flash sale bikes, and they are actually getting the exact models they ordered. There is some speculation that these bikes might legally be treated as gifts from the new investor in order to protect the brand name. This could also explain the no-return policy.

Apple sells a $2,000 iPhone and a $600 iPhone and their premium image is just fine. I'm really not seeing the brand erosion you're talking about with Ibis. What I am seeing is tons of riders, new and old on Rimpos and utterly stoked about them. Every single weekend I'll end up riding the lift with someone on a Ripmo. 1B people have iPhones, so access to the product alone doesn't erode the brand. We cannot ignore the god awful rebrand Ibis did recently, taking their iconic head badge and making it look like a sticker from Costco. The new...

They do, which I think has actually severely impacted their image and position within the high-end market negatively. It has two problems; they have specced them (largely) as lower-end models, which has devalued their higher-end carbon models and brand as a whole, leading to the question we are currently discussing. People who buy a Ripmo AF with Deore do not have the same experience as someone who buys the Carbon high-end spec. I've ridden both versions and can unequivocally tell you the carbon one with better parts is noticeably better on the trail. They also conversely are not that good...

Ibis has always been a boutique brand. Their frames are made in the same Vietnamese production facility as Yeti; they are very direct competitors. Almost as direct as you can be.

https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/e-bike-talk-not-tech-rumor-derailme…

I think if there's ever a chance for standards to emerge it would be now because Yamaha, supplier to Giant, recently acquired Brose, supplier to Specialized and Sram. If Sram remains in that coalition I imaging them remaining in the e-market , I'd imagine them being the standard bearer with Specialized and Giant getting to take liberties "advance the standard". With that said it's only a chance, components from a BMW motorcycle can't be bolted into a Honda. Perhaps the biggest companies with their own dealer service networks thrive on differentiation rather than standardization. @Primoz's comparison to modular PC's feels...

The "only shifts at the ramps" thing is a myth that SRAM isn't going out of their way to correct. There is no sensing of position, torque, or anything else going on -- so it's simply not a real thing. It was just rate limited to make sure us hoons didn't blow up chains too quickly. The existence of Transmission mechanical groupsets is evidence enought that you can bang shifts as fast as you want and things are hunky dorry.

Hmmm, that's a tough one. Should I invest in YT or Pole? Can someone remind me which owner has the best reputation before I start piling the cash in? 🤣

I hope this came across better in the original German. Can anyone confirm their team truck got repossessed?

Kinda bike related, but looks like Woodward West is shutting down as of the end of the month..

when i heard about specialized auburn facility closing, i figured that since the demo is obviously baked and ready for production (based on WC bikes), stumpy15 is out and maybe enduro is done (no idea), that they prob figure they don't need an off-site suspension and long-travel bike development lab for half a decade or more. would have to believe their focus is going to be on motor/battery tech in the future.

I have noticed that some smaller framebuilders who are branching out into batch production are more open about disclosing the factory where their frames are made. For instance, Wilde Bikes says right on the product page for their Dark Star hardtail that it's "made by the fine folks at ORA in Taiwan." Maybe that's a carry-over from the world of custom production, where having a connection to the maker is part of the appeal?

From my shop experience, Trek and Specialized don't mess around with warranty or crash replacements, while the D2C brands took time and cost more on the back end, although I'll says, Commencal is usually better than the rest and answer quickly. Hard to put the hurt on the big guys when they are 5 steps ahead in customer service.