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cleaning? shoes? dirt dries out, dirt falls off. why make your life difficult?

I used to not like DHF style tires but then I got better and prefer them now. The Assegai's problem isn't a no grip zone, it's that it doesn't communicate to you where you are on the side knobs, and it also has too many knobs leading it to float over loose rather than dig in. That float is probably what you're feeling as a "no grip zone." Same thing with a Kryptotal Front for me. They're great for hardpack and rocks, but really struggle in loose over hard, especially if there's small bits of gravel. I am a much...

I've had great luck with the Specialized Cannibal. I know running Specialized tires isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the slightly stiffer carcass means you can drop a psi or two and help with some of the sensation you're talking about (along with a grippy compound). They work great for the summer dirt surfing here in Colorado. Not to mention they're a few dollars cheaper, which never hurts.

I tried an Assegai on my last bike and felt the same way; the cornering grip was a step down from the Minion DHF that I had on before that. I'm still stuck on the DHFs. I like the 3c MaxxGrip ones the best (softest compound).

Try a different headset and/or fork. FWIW, I have had 2 Zeb Ultimate CSU's start to creak. I sourced a zeb select chassis and scavanaged the parts I needed to get a non creaking csu and then sold the creaking/leftover parts in the zeb select on fb dumpsterfire marketplace for 250 bucks. Each time, I've been able to replace a csu for under 200 cash out of pocket.

That "XC tire" conversation from customers and from a shop employee makes me want to walk into the ocean.

It seems kind of crazy right? People seemingly go to a tech site to complain... that there's new tech? Or that the fanciest, newest shit is... expensive? It seems to me a lot of the complaining is around cost, which I get, but I sometimes worry that the negativity can be to such an extent that it can slow progress. For instance I rode the Fox Podium, and came away super impressed. It seemed pretty clear to me that their explanation about friction reduction made sense, was real, and that the performance was clearly next-gen. Like everyone is going to...

I made my last post when I was generally frustrated with life. Sorry about that. Most of you are probably still not going to agree with me, but I'll try again and then shut up. I think it's really, really important our community talks about whatever these two-wheeled machines with 800% assist and enormous torque/power actually are, and I don't want to stifle that occurring in this thread. I hope this thread gets a lot of traction and I learn something about why others feel so differently than me. Finally, apologies for waxing a bit philosophical. Honor, or whatever you...

Cheers for making this thread. I think it’s going to get quite old man shouts at clouds, but there we go. I come at this from a slightly different angle, I’m an elected local councillor. As a result I’ve managed to have meetings with a few of the land owners and managers at my local. It’s a complicated picture, 3 public owners, a few private and 2 main land managers who have different goals and incentives. It’s an intensively used bit of land, 2 million people live within 30km of it in a very nature deprived part of a very...

First generation Avinox bikes were already a foot-throttle compared to everything else on the market. 1000w+ of output with less than 150w of input is no longer a mountain bike in any meaningful way. Doing a sustained 32km/hr up the Blackcomb access road shouldn't be possible without pro-Tour legs and lungs on you. These bikes are going to be an absolute menace on shared climb trails.

There is merit in it to me. I came from Moto. I would set up my enduro dirtbikes bike with sky high bars and lowered footpegs to give a upright/strong riding position for long days. Coming to mtb I always struggled with the low stack heights. My current bike has relatively high stack, 40mm bars, 30mm spacers under the stem and a 462mm chainstay. I'm as close to riding a dirtbike as I've ever been. I feel "in" the bike now rather than on top of it. That security of been centered between the wheels is confidence inspiring. You utilize...

Not enough data points yet to determine if this is good setup or not. Reece's 2025 WC finishes: 6 missed finals and 22nd place average for the 3 finals he made. His best result came from Lake Placid, a new track that all riders had to puzzle over. What we could infer, is that Reece is a quick learner and can dissect new tracks better than many racers but that, eventually when all the racers catch up and learn the track, his avg race speed is still slower than the top 20. I'm stoked to see the puzzling on the...

Pivot Phoenix is using a Dave Weagle’s design, he is prolific at suspension patents. If you look at his comments on the Orion 6 design for the RMU, he is claiming its the best way.

I don’t have any questions but would like you to bring up the café Roubaix situation and make them uncomfortable thanks.

Will we see a new Enduro?

Did specialized experiment with longer rear ends and taller stacks before settling on this geometry? Or is it based on Loic and Finn's apparent preference for shorter reach and chain stay and lower stack (that obviously works very well for them) and they just stuck to that? Was more travel (i.e. 220mm like commencal) considered and/or tried during prototype testing?

I'd be interested to know what lead them down the path to the drive system they ended up with. Was the suspension design and resulting packaging the chicken or the egg. Related to the first question, did they work their way into the idler placement bit by bit with minor refinements or were they targeting a specific location and then some of the other ideas fell into line as solutions from there (like the cog on the crank spindle). Also related, was this the core or one of the core ideas of the design of the new demo or was...

The previous (conventional drivetrain) version seemed to be working for Bruni and Finn, but Jordan mentioned he wasn't as comfortable on it and the new one suits his riding style better, where he doesn't load up the bike as aggressively as Bruni and Finn. What attributes did the design team improve to make it better for Jordan without unsettling what worked for the other riders? Finn seemed to take a while to get comfortable on the new bike, seemingly preferring the older design initially.

I'd want justification for why the frame is $3600 more than a V-10 in CAD, while a crankset retails for well under 500. It looks like a stunning bike, but that pricing really is well beyond the norm. 15k Canadian with alloy rims and 350 hubs. I would like to hear from Specialized what they believe they are bringing to the market to explain that.