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I think you missed the last picture in the article where the saddle nose is pointed at the sky. Level = probably good, down = maybe (if steep climbs only), up = psychotic

uh....so what is the actual difference between these other than a bit of cuff height and the gripper material?

I'm at Leogang this weekend and wanted to get a sense of how widely pedal kickback devices have been adopted by World Cuppers, along with all the other wild accessories like TMD's/shakeweights, electronics, gearboxes, and more. So out of curiosity and as a service to my fellow nerds, I stood at the top of Q1 today and counted all the devices I could. Note that certain devices were almost certainly undercounted, like shakeweights, added mass, and fancy chainring devices like Ochain or Rimpact (drivetrains were facing away from me in the starting lineup). There were 20 bikes total where I...

You do realize the timing was working fine, just not visible on your screen? Again it's Crankworx, didn't matter. I have a feeling a lot of fans would be perfectly happy to go back to a great app + free + Warner even with the issues you list, instead of dealing with this mess. https://ucimtbworldseries.com/watch (let's see what they announce for 2025) https://off.road.cc/content/feature/has-the-uci-mountain-bike-world-ser…

Here's a little copy/paste from a mullet-related thread on another site: If you're interested in people who know A TON about designing and riding bikes talking about mixed wheels vs full 29" then you should listen to Santa Cruz's podcast called The Roller Door. They have a few episodes with Kiran MacKinnon in which they talk about the differences, ideas, experiments, etcc. Here's a link to one of the podcast episodes: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/out-to-lunch-kiran-mackinnon-on-m… They have a few other episodes that specifically mention some thoughts and have a discussion around mixed wheels but I think this one is a good one to...

This sounds cheezy so bear with me but I just wanted to say thank you for the great conversations here so far. I’ve already learned some new things and it’s got me pumped. If even one person learns something new from this, then this whole article was worth the effort. With discussions like this, we can spark great ideas and figure out how to make bikes better for everyone, faster. There are so many smart people here and I don’t see any reason why we can’t collaborate to figure out the next big steps for mountain biking progress. 🤘 And...

@Roryb @carlinojoevideo @ earleb you guys are freaking rad. Great work on your bikes! Hell yeah.

@earleb Dang that's a cool ride and cool idea too! Well done. Here are a few places you could buy back some stiffness: 1) seat stay bridge 2) increase the chain stay bridge length 3) add bracing to the swingarm here 4) and if you're really going for it, add a swing link like the older fury. Hope that helps!

I’ve definitely ridden bikes that have rattled my teeth out and bikes that have been too flexy. I’ve really enjoyed the Stumpy Evo’s ride quality, and of course, I like how the Fury rides (but I’m biased). There was focus on being strategic with compliance on the Fury, and I think it shows in how it rides. I can’t say I’ve personally found the best-balanced bike, as the focus on it hasn’t been top of mind when riding bikes in the past since the industry was focused on other priorities. As of late, I’ve not been test riding a lot...

Glad you like it! This is a great question. A lot of people think carbon is always too stiff and aluminum can mute trail chatter but we also often hear people say the exact opposite. The truth is you can make an overly stiff or overly compliant bike out of either material. It all mostly comes down to tube size and wall thickness. Oh and frame lay out. If you make a frame with teeny tiny carbon tubes it will flex a lot, and huge tubes will make it overly stiff. Same goes for aluminum. The key difference is that...

Haha, fair! I think going to extremes in examples helps illustrate points, so you'll see me slipping into that mode a lot so my apologies in advance. Let's compare a single pivot to a short link 4 bar and just look at the chain stay and its stiffness: A typical single pivot has a set of main pivot bearings between the bottom bracket and the rear axle. A short link 4-bar, on the other hand, has two sets of bearings at the link near the bottom bracket. Having two sets of bearings between the bottom bracket and the rear axle...

Great questions, Carlino! Luis is the man and a pleasure to work with, his kinematic knowledge is the best. Bikes like the Commencal and Ari, with removable seat stay bridges to tune stiffness, show where the industry could head. It’s a great way to dial in feel based on rider preference and terrain. Danny’s mods are an example of getting that little bit extra of compliance out of your frame for a lighter rider. Lighter riders often benefit from reduced stiffness while larger riders need stiffer frames to maintain the same feel. Though I don't know everything about the exact...

Good points! The more pivots/joints you add to a bike, the less stiff it becomes. For example, a hardtail will always be stiffer and lighter than a short link 4 bar bike. Adding pivots reduces structural efficiency, meaning you have to add more material (and weight) to maintain stiffness. More pivots = less stiffness and more weight. But suspension is pretty cool to have... so the key is finding the right balance with as few pivots as possible to make the bike perform well. Did that answer your question?

Sam Reynolds - Aon freeride team rider 🤘https://youtu.be/SdzELx3sOtk?si=2_a599N55fCACdJr

Man I'm used to watching world cups at 2am and trying not to wake the kids while troy drops in. 2pm local time for Hardline. I'm getting a carton of beer, a big ass bag of doritos and YELLING AS LOUD AS I WANT!! Leave me alone kids.