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Andrew Shandro's kid makes up a third of a Factory Team for next year too. Shouldn't too hard to guess which. Also, Brayton won't be on Nukeproof Trail bikes...

A bike working good and it bitch slapping the field are two very different things. If you really believe the bike is the reason Amaury went on a tear through the season, i really don´t know what to tell you other than you´re wrong. The guy has a lot of talent, the field was kinda struck by injury as a lot of top guys were battling some drawn out injuries for the whole season and he´s on a program that seems to be doing a lot of things right in developing their riders. All these factors come together to make...

I don’t think the Commencal bitch slapped anyone. A young, capable and fearless rider filled the void Gwin left due to injury. I don’t think suspension design, or wheel size for that matter, had anything to do with Pierron’s success. Also, I don’t think anyone can say how good or bad the YT 29er is/was. Gwin was clearly fighting his injury and struggling to find the limit of the 29 tires. The frame can’t help either of those things.

Looks like the stock XO1 build from the website.

CNC'd halves bonded and bolted together. Using 7075 aluminium, which is stiffer than 6000 of 7005, but cannot be welded. Awesome concept enabling carbon-like control over where the material is put, with high tolerances. In addition, there are possibilities for alterations as required, as they are not bound by molds. Want a Machine myself, but it is unfortunately priced like a premium carbon frame, which I am not too happy about forking out. The geometry is awesome, as I have an Evolink (normal welded, similar geo) myself. Leigh Johnson had some great results on his Machine the last season.

The mos interesting thing in the answers is that Sven knows of another Honda's location!! How much of the Honda hype is the brand and the professionalism around the whole operation back in the day? I mean the bike might have been really good back in the day, but the technology has moved so far forward it's ridiculous.

Goodbye Velosolutions

When brands win in racing, it's not about selling the specific product that was used on race day but about selling the brand as a performance brand and the more commercial grade products that are actually sold. Think F1, Moto GP, or even something more tangible like alpine ski racing- you know how many FIS-level race skis are sold? Very, very few. Ultimately, those races aren't used to sell the products of the moment, they are used to sell the brand and the more commercial products that they influence.

Not too sure about influential, and giving me too much credit to recognize riders, that are out of their gear, in a side profile shot, lo-res, dimly lit, hallway photo, on the internet....And, I also recognize Richie, because I knew he won that race and I don't remember what the podium was there. Anyway, i'm glad we have shifted the focus of the thread to my nationalism hahaha.