All

Good question and as always, thanks to everyone who reads anything I write! The next 18-24 months depend almost entirely on two things Vail cannot control. How much it snows and how the consumer feels. Everything else is downstream of those two variables. But here's how I think the scenarios play out: The dividend gets cut or eliminated entirely. This might be the single most important near-term decision. I don't expect you to notice any difference at the bike park this summer or on the mountain next winter. Where you will see a bad year is in the stuff that...

Really interesting podcast about/with Rose bikes from Escape Collective; I'd heard of the brand but never knew much about them. https://share.transistor.fm/s/8910c296 Some key stats: Been around for 107 years Have never taken a loss (like, what!?) ~€205M annual revenue ~650 employees "Family owned, management run" Managed to pull off 2% growth in 2025 AND migrate to an ERP at the same time (would love a deeper dive on that alone!)

Yeah, I didn't know they'd released an "EVO" model, either. Apparently "We're not releasing an EVO model for this Stumpy, ever" means "We're not releasing an EVO model for this Stumpy anytime in the next 2-4 months."

Finally finished "The Greedheads Work Eight Days a Week," and as always it was a great read. It was interesting to read all of the long-term trends working against the Vail Resorts business model (stock by-backs, lack of reinvestment in capex, customer fatigue from Epic and Iconic overcrowding, etc) in light of the HORRIFIC snow season Vail properties have just endured. For a company that has been historically obsessed with quarterly numbers and habitually unwilling to look at their assets, employees, and customers with the long lens, it makes me wonder: what does the next 18 months look like for...

norco DH prototype pics from rock creek

Wonder what will happen with that product. Joe Breeden himself seem to be doing some product development with Wolftooth. Picture from MBUK

15 years ago we had an athlete turn up with their fit numbers all out of whack, old bike gone back to sponsors etc etc, BUT: they had a sticker prominent on seat tube that was identical to one on my tool box. I managed to print an a3 image of the old bike and translate all the measurements with a pencil and ruler. It took quite a while, but ended up bang on. Saddle height, offset, reach, bar height, stack. All this by hand…

some mega squishes and unique setups in g-out project from pro DH series https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/g-out-project-2026-monster-pro-downhi…

Back at it again with my horrendous image measurements, this time something actually bicycle related. I took the shock eye to eye of 225mm and zoomed in super close to align it to the centre of the shock bolts and scaled the image until the measurement was exactly 225. I drew a line to the middle of the shimano crank spindle and the middle of the rear thru-axle (also zoomed in until my eyes were bleeding to estimate the centre as best as possible). I then measured the horizontal distance between the two points (used construction lines to make this...

mitch ropelato on dunlop tires at rock creek (from g-out gallery that'll launch in the morning

fuck sake just spat coffee all over my monitor lmao

We could use our powers for good... Here's a full spreadsheet of every WC DH athlete and what phone they use

crazy what a little bit of undiagnosed autism can do

Going from this instagram post - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUWtTSCko0O/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link… I'd say its a desert titanium iPhone 16 Pro Max. I'd agree its a Pro Max and not a standard Pro given the percentage of the rear that the camera bump takes up (see https://img-prd-pim.poorvika.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=500,height=500,qua…) Also appears to be using an Apple clear case given the MagSafe ring.

Okay detectives. Who can get a positive ID on the lip pillows Remi is packing?

Vital forum detective level just hit a new high...

I’ve actually noticed the same thing before too. Maybe the tighter kits just make it visible easier, but it’s funny seeing pro atheletes competing at the highest level with a giant phone crammed into their tiny pocket.

Unfortunately I'm an idiot, so I'll answer your question even if it is sarcastic. I found a known value that's easy to measure, the rear brake rotor. I set it to 203mm (as mentioned in a bike check from my memory) 16.2cm = 6.377 inch, rounded up however the app used rounds things and also not a perfect angle. Closest match for phone size would be a Iphone 16/17 pro max at 16.3 cm or a google pixel 9/10 at 6.3 inches. I'm going to go with the iphone 16/17 pro max. I should touch grass. I'm also either going...

Just visited my parent’s house and I’m going home with some early 2000’s MountainBike Action copies. Looking forward to the 2005 buyers guide and early day gearbox ideas. Print is fun.

Paragon Machine Works is gone. Very sad for the custom-built crowd, including all the thousands of people out there who are running their sliding dropouts. Those parts aren't going to come easy! I personally have two bikes using PMW parts, although one of them is currently getting it's rear triangle redone. Perhaps I'll be asking for them to change from sliding dropouts to standard based on this announcement? Link to Radavist article I had a really good chat with a friend of mine over dinner last night who is pretty involved in the industry. Knolly is not the only company...