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Fox Factory reported earnings this evening. I'll do a deep dive post later, but here are a few takeaways. Q4 Results - Came in about as expected (overall). 2026 Guidance - Lighter than expected, but there are talks of divesting in certain assets (like Marucci) SSG (the unit bike components live in) lagged about 5% in year over year sales. Management described bike as "slowly stabilizing" but explicitly acknowledged "disruptive market entrants" forcing legacy brands to "consolidate or cease operations". Maybe they have caught onto this thread? Lol. Stock is flat in post market trading, down 4% prior to the...

Trojan?

but Dow is at 50k!

The Alrans quietly enter the chat

I can speak to clothing as I run a tiny MTB apparel brand, Abit Gear. The short story is that for USA brands, tariffs are making it a royal PITA and covid saw a glut of inventory that isn't yet cleared. Sure, margins are good on paper, but you have a SKU problem with apparel do to size and color variants, you have to carry a lot of aged inventory, and fight discounting from competitors more than with hard goods. For technical apparel, China is, by far, the best quality. Most of the technical apparel factories are in China. They...

I wonder (and I'm just thinking out loud) if there is a chance that two wildly different places in the world might have different soil conditions that are affected by weather differently?

Her girlfriend is Mathilde Gremaud, a Swiss freeskier (defending Olympic champion). So it makes sense that she is present at the event.

The Mille negs are shit. Crashes all the time? This was her first broken bone. A clavicle. Amaury jacked his and was racing soon thereafter. I can’t think of any of the top female DH racers from last year that haven’t spent significant time off of the bike recovering. Tahne, Miriam, Camille, Anna, Marine, Jess, etc. Jackson skrewed himself up in ‘24, Ronan in ‘25. Don’t invite them back? ”Read the Room” is the operative phrase here.

Sort of off topic, but something I’ve been pondering: Has anyone developed a good service writing platform similar to what a lot of car mechanics in the US are using now that basically texts you a link to all the different issues they’ve found, item by item, with recommended next steps and costs. Then you just approve each line item that you want to have done? A lot of the garages will even include videos/pictures that show the issue in action to demonstrate the “need.” One garage I use also flags items as red, yellow, green, letting you know level...

Yeah communication is key. Many shops are smaller crews but having a competent service writer would be huge for most shops. I always found that taking the time to measure chain wear/rotor thickness/pad thickness in front of customers did a few things. 1. It shows you are measuring and not guessing which helps build trust 2. It gives you the time to explain why these things wear and how they affect performance, which again helps build trust. If a customer sees you do a a check over I always found they are more likely to trust your assessments in the...

Since Gwin is attending (what appears to be) his first ever extra curricular RB event, I wouldn't be totally shocked to see a Hardline Windrock in the next ~2 years

DragonSpeed is doing sportscar/endurance racing since about 15 years. 24 Hours of Mans (1 class win), 24 Hours of Daytona (3 class wins) and other major races (+ 3 participations at Indy 500). European Champion in Prototype, doint World Endurance Championship, last year runner-up in GT Pro (USA) with a Ferrari, this year with a new Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Why MTB DH. The team principal (former pro driver) and myself, we are passionnate about MTB DH first (I did at low level when I was younger). Then, of course, all the technical aspects - suspension, brakes, tires... - and all...

That would be diabolical lol. Though I am interested in seeing how they incorporate the local north shore freeride legacy into the course. Wales has raw rock and mud. Tasmania has jungley ferns tunnels and stuff. I hope we see some elevated skinnies or something in the course to reflect the local area.

Hey. I am the team manager of DragonSpeed DH. Happy to answer your questions :-)

How is the mood in the team regarding Daprelas allegations and departure from other teams in recent seasons? do you feel comfortable having younger female racers around someone with SA accusations?

Huh?

I always had that impression too. But more recently I've seen monster sign whoever they can who is fast/winning. Cabirou, Balanche, Vergier, Pinkerton, Luca Shaw plus others. Are all pretty clean cut, pro athletes. But I do agree monster still has a dirty/grimy/weird fake t*ts vibe 😂