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I’ve said it a couple times so apologies if it’s a broken record . The problem for me isn’t 150nm, or 1500watts. It’s 800% assist . Humans fundamentally make different choices when things are easy vs. hard . I can maybe go 20mph uphill on a trail on my meat bike , but only for an instant, then I’m gassed . So I never do that . When there’s suddenly no disincentive (it being exhausting) the total time spent of people going 20mph on blind single track is going to be much higher, thus the probability of isssue increases. At...

Thanks for the background. Imagining composites companies venturing towards motorsports, especially if they can get some kind of a foot in the door, is not hard. I'd be wiling to bet the margins are a lot better than they are in the bike world...

A bit delayed, but you can find my analysis of Fox's Q4 results here. Outside the obvious, the big news is the moderate amounts of restructuring the brand is undertaking.

As someone who was there from the very beginning (okay EWS #2), I think the story arc of EWS/EDR is a bit more complex that people think, and that Chis Ball is not the boogie man some make him out to be. EWS was not just Chis Ball, it was a run by a board, with Chis as the most public facing member of the organization. Keep in mind that in 2013 enduro racing was seen as an exciting new sport (yes I know, it wasn't new in France and Italy) and the timing was perfect with new wheel sizes...

A lot of companies have been trying to absorb as much as possible regarding the tariffs to avoid pricing themselves out of the game... But that can only last so long..

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...

$6,666 x 15% = $1,000. i.e. at the low range what was $6,666 became $7,666. $1,538 x (15% + 50%) = $1,000. i.e. at the high range what was $1,538 became $2,538. Many, perhaps most businesses operate by borrowing money, converting it into products, selling those products at a gross profit, using that to pay interest, salaries, leases and other overheads, and then hopefully leaving a net profit which might be reinvested (or be the reward of capitalism, but the reward hasn't existed in the bike industry recently, it's been negative). Borrowing 15% more requires paying 15% more interest, which...

Apologies if this is too far off topic, but Escape Collective just announced they're now cash-flow neutral (they've been running a deficit since they launched). Pretty impressive when you consider how much high-quality content they put out and and doubly so that it's funded entirely by member subscriptions.

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...