All

A couple of seasons back I watched Stevie race at the Hafjell world cup. The conditions were dry for practise but rain was forecast for race day. Stevie sessioned his wet lines for both practise days, displaying his unique, loose but powerful style. I watched as he hit the exact same lines, time after time with military precision. Race day came and the heavens opened. Whilst other riders were changing their lines and getting their heads in a mess, Stevie was on it. I watched his finals run as he once again hit his lines to perfection with amazing accuracy...

Indeed. the point was it seemed weird to highlight a brand's entire product range with a frame that makes their vector product (chain guides) inconsequential.

Blatant advertisement?

That's been said before. . I have a set of TRS+ rims on my hardtail, had them four years now, light, tubeless, stiff, gorgeous. Really, really good rims, laced to King Hubs because the E13 ones crapped out, got replaced under warranty, crapped out again, got replaced a second time, crapped out again. The King hubs are a decade old, one freehub bearing and new axles to fit the bike when rebuilt are the only spares in that time. . The rims are fantastic quality, but if you buy some do yourself a favour and lace them to Hope, DT...

Gwin broke a bunch of spokes at the last race. The difference in drive/non-drive spoke tension and the extreme spoke angles might not be working together so well. You don't see broken spokes at a world cup often. E*thirteen needs to crank up the forces on their wheel tests.

Only this season homie!

The greatest players are the ones you can always count on.

It's a shame they haven't solved the problem of terrible sealing on their hubs. Every set of TRS wheels I've seen (including the ones gathering dust in my shed) have had the freehub fail.

I have very mixed feeling towards e*thirteen. I have respect for their problem solving ways, and anytime they release a new product, it always seems like a good idea; it agrees with my armchair engineering and I normally say "hey, that's a great idea!" On the trail, or in person - different story. Yes I had a pawl break in my TRS+ wheels that wrecked the hub, but that's been a non-issue now. Their bearings were terrible though. When the hubs are laced up to a rim with a thicker extrusion that doesn't let the nipples sit at a bit...