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Arguably, many traditional rightside-up forks could benefit from more torsional flex, which is why the 15mm vs. 20mm axle argument never seemed like the end of the world. Traditional forks suffer from excessive fore/aft flex compared to their upside-down brethren, but traditional forks have torsional rigidity to spare. Fox famously engineered more torsional flex into the chassis in 2014 when they released the air-sprung 40, based on their pro rider feedback. If their World Cup pro's need more torsional flex, to me that says something.

rear is different as there are (for most bikes) 2 supporting members, chain stay + seat stay, thus axle dimension isn't as important compared to a fork. Its more so about the mounting interface being wider on a 20mm axle than the axle itself being stiffer, this is what torque caps tried to address. But as many people much smarter than us, including the Push engineer a page or two back said, it really doesn't matter when including everything else in the system.

Mechanically speaking, nothing is gained with a 15mm axle over a 20mm. What we gained by going with the (mechanically inferior) 15mm axle is the rapid and widespread adoption of thru-axles across all mountain bikes, then road bikes, then gravel and CX bikes. If the axle choices in 2012 (or whenever) were viewed as a binary choice between lightweight XC-oriented QR axles and a heavy DH-oriented 20mm thru axle, I think it would have taken a lot longer for product managers to go out on a limb and spec better forks and axles. 15mm axles gave product managers needed cover...

Full rider line up decision would be nice, but there's too much money for that obviously. (And to be honest there's too much at stake to have whatever panel of judges they probably have now tbh) Can't do a fan vote because then Brendog would take 1st which, while a great run, probably doesn't make sense at least for the entire format. Similarly, I don't think Semenuk should win on tricks with the current scoring format. TVS godziek and Silva had the most Rampage esque runs imo So, somewhere in the middle, a large panel of basically CURRENT riders (not...

So with all the talk about scoring, let me ask a legitimate question. You're RedBull or the organizer. What do you do differently. We've got a judges list of MTB royalty. Their opinions should count. The criteria is defined, and then its left up to judges. I don't think its the organizers place to tell the judges hey this is what we're looking to have win.....and I don't think that is happening. I don't think the judges would accept that. So then it comes down to the individual judges and the scores they give out. I think an improvement would...

With suspension kinematics converging in the Crab Quadrant, I'm surprised that companies aren't touting minimum brakeaway force figures. Force to get everything moving, lateral rigidity, and overall progression would give me a better idea of how a bike really feels vs a bunch of graphs-IMO. Of course you can get more info from all those graphs, but they don't seem super useful at a glance to most people IMO.

He had that mule last year, too, didn’t he? (judged events don’t belong in mountain biking)

Anyone else notice the bike Semenuk rode in rampage wasn’t just a gen 5 slash? Looks nice IMO

I really don’t think a used bike is a good way to go unless you guys know what you’re looking at. Used bikes can be a great deal but also require knowledge to fix things. And in that price range and that type of bike there will be a lot that maybe need wheel truing (or replacement), tires, brake pads, drivetrain, etc. sure you can find good bikes, you can also find overpriced, clapped out deathtraps and spit shined turds. just get a new bike, and then everything will work and you got a shop helping you out if needed...

Thank you both for the feedback. He's already started looking on marketplace, I'll show him the suggestions you've listed. Will have to drive a bit to find something but we don't mind a little weekend trip and if it gets him excited for something, then all the better. I agree that finding a used bike may be a good option for us. Thanks again!

Those are two different things. WRP 0 drag mod is exactly what it was designed for; zero drag free coasting. It was designed to reduce rolling resistance. When you backpedal, it moves the DT ratchets apart so they are no longer dragging. When you pedal forward it re-engages them so you can pedal. WRP themselves mentioned it was not designed around pedal kickback nor is it out there to challenge devices like OChain. Quote from them: " pedal kickback and pedalling are the same thing just inverse; so if you can pedal it won’t eliminate pedal kickback. But we’re working...

I was told soft is OK, but trail/endurance compound is garbage.

Stop reading this for a day, and now it’s seafood rumors and innovation.