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I have to admit, I do not love the side profile of some of the 32" bikes that are coming out. They end up looking like XS bikes with cramped triangles and kinked bottom/top tubes. Hopefully more progressive geo will enable these things to look like something other than a 2010-2012 era niner.

I think there's a business case to be made for lower-cost park bikes now that many peoples' primary bikes are eMTBs. Back in the day, my cohort of friends had a trail bike and a DH bike. Later, I feel like it became an enduro bike and a lighter trail bike (aka downcountry). Now, I imagine a lot of mountain bikers' pairings will either be a park bike and an eMTB, or a XC bike and an eMTB.

Vital's Torrent take - https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/new-bike-norco-torrent-dh-bike-deta…

Man… this forum is screwed. Everything is turning crab, each new product launch is 1.25% better than the shitty unusable last generation, and now we are discussing solar capabilities on an ai bike that will more than likely be a kickstarter scam. The future looks great! 😃

Translation: drone warfare is popping off and we want in on that bag 💰💰💰

Check out the Taken Encounter for a counter example; High pivot 4-bar CBF.

I'm a moron. I'm so used to short travel bikes being Flex stay, I completely forgot that the CBF is a completely different suspension design that doesn't/can't use a flex stay.

My gen3 optic + dvo diamond 36 is the same weight as the status 160 + fox 38 it replaced lol. I wouldn't call it a useless bike. It's niche as fuck, but it's excellent at what it does. It's super jibby and the suspension performance is incredible for only 125mm. It's quite stiff and very burly, and rides like it's meant to be ridden at enduro bike pace on enduro bike terrain if you can hold on to it.

🙄

Stumpy 15 aftermarket rear suspension shootout coming soon? Cascade vs MKlinkage..

Yep new Optic later in the year, more like Gen2. Gen3 idler version was cool in theory but kinda a useless bike in the real world. It will be interesting to see what they do with the Fluid as it would bring those platforms closely aligned again. Noting that the Revolver also has more travel now, their short(er) travel space is fairly congested.

Me: Can we stop and get a 6-bar suspension from Yeti? Mom: We've got 6-bar suspension at home: For older Amflows, but I suppose the new ones might be supported as well: https://www.mklinkage.net/

The Pope reads Vitalmtb forums confirmed

"Speaking to the eBike riders I see on the trails here, they're all shifting to lower-priced bikes as they've realized that they can without sacrificing performance." This lines up with a hypothesis I've been thinking about for a while, which is that I think so much of the weirdness of the bike industry and bike customers (obsession with grams and weight, obsession over granular differences in tire feel and suspension tuning, and willingness to spend enormous amounts to customize and upgrade a stock bike) comes down to the weakness of the human motor and the human mind. We only generate...

I bet there's a link between the GoPro's decline and the soul crushing boredom of all the videos that our buddies made us watch.

It seems like a case of being the first doesn't make you the best..

As I noted a few posts back, GoPro disclosed they are now a "going concern". I dug into what exactly happened and posted it to my substack for those interestd. The short version won't surprise anyone in this forum... -DJI kicked their ass from the top -Smart phones kicked their ass from the bottom -They never really were a technology company, more of a lifestyle company masquerading as a technology company -There was some arrogance, especially when it came to their tangle up with DJI in 2013 (which you guys will hear on VitalMTB pod soon) -They became memetic as...