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I've had 2 bikes with the di2 and They were noisey asf. lots of chain smack. I thought hey lets try the updated springs in the latest mechanical XT - Yeah still ass. Someone put me onto the new advent mx Pro, Not looking back now, its fantastic & cheap.

The only guy in my area that I know riding the new Di2 has it because it came spec'd on his bike, and had to put on STFU hoops because the chainslap was so bad. I have the exact same bike with Transmission and get no chainslap. Deleting the clutch is such a headscratcher considering how quiet bikes have gotten these days, and how much we care about bikes that don't sound like a shopping cart going down the hill.

Saint drivetrain with 12sp chain and no clutch, now a competing UDH standard. (incoming 13sp MTB drivetrain? *eyeroll *) Can Shimano come out with a single new product without a braindead decision? Maybe the new brake rotors but come on that's not interesting or innovative. Also does anyone give a f about Shimano's new brakes? I've yet to see them in the wild, and have seen exactly ONE wireless Shimano drivetrain. Very sad to me because I've always been a Shimano fanboy because they made simple, sensible products. I woke up one day and all of my bikes have been...

Do I see a smaller range cassette with a full mount derailleur?

Taken from anther website: (Im also happy to see TQ Stuck to 750w instead of chasing the high unnecessary numbers) 2027 Trek Fuel+ Dual battery approx end of jan available. Dealer orders now live Motor TQ-HPR X, 120 Nm, 750w, 700% support Battery Trek 980 Modular Battery System, 330wh 1p battery + 650wh 2p battery Some models coming with new fox RIDGE suspension

minnaar heelclicker at rampage 2003 - no more freeride than that LOL

I love that game plan you describes, with the caveat that I'd like to reiterate the importance of militantly safeguarding equal spoke tension during the initial wheel build process and after riding. If that game plan doesn't fix it for you, then I think we can conclusively determine that you are the problem. Lol.

You are absolutely right that front brake does the heavy braking while rear is for speed control/dragging scenario so it gets hotter than front and stays hot most of the time. That might be the answer for the question why some people run smaller front rotors, they most likely prefer feel of sintered SRAM pads and they need to keep them warm enough to be in their optimal temp range. So they use smaller front rotors that gets hot faster and holds more heat. Perhaps if we had limitless amount of braking power, we could universally apply this logic, where...

A big part of the braking discussion is completely ignoring gradient and suspension performance. On flat tracks you can brake relatively evenly; the front wheel gets load transferred to it and can do more braking. On steep tracks you are already loading the fork a lot, heavy braking causes even more load which on a progressive air spring now means a firmer spring rate and less traction. That is probably even a secondary effect from the increased weight transfer and pitch forward when you start trying to brake heavily on the front. Think about exiting a typical rock roll on...

I'm pretty sure I've never come across anyone wearing out pads in the front twice as quick as the rear, are you riding a penny farthing :-)

Downhill algorithm just released for the astars airbag system!

So theres a few things - Most riders, even the best ones spend for more time on the rear brake so it will get hotter faster, and this only gets more pronounced on steeper/faster tracks. The terrain is a lot more uneven and loose which makes it tricky to apply maximum front brake for every corner, plus a rider can shift their weight backwards much more than a car or motorcycle can. The other thing is polymers have a non-linear relationship between load and friction, which means there are diminishing returns to loading the front wheel under braking. ie if...

One big tech not and one small tech note from World Champs pit bits- As y'all mentioned, Schwalbe now makes a 32" Radial Gravity Pro Magic Mary, which is a big deal because that makes it the first truly heavy duty 32" tire from any brand. Previously Neko was running an EXO+ Dissector up front on his 32" Frameworks DH bike at Mountain Creek. He said the EXO+ front tire felt fine and didn't bug him, which is nuts, and makes me suspect that the 32" front wheel could actually feel really really good with a proper DH tread, casing...

I also would love to see race tape back. Or at least in some sections. Blind crests on the track, sections with trail braiding, hard direction changes all seem like good candidates. You wouldn't even need it on both sides some times, just on the outside or inside of the turn could make the difference. I know Dak said it would be really helpful in places and I doubt hes the only one. Also, whoever marked the course is a coward. Sam's corner at the bottom should have NO marking on the inside. Leave it as open as possible and...