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LePigPen Liked a comment about Feature Racing Four World Cup Winning Downhill Bikes - Vital's Summer of Downhill
10/17/2025 10:53am
Well that's a solid, definitive dub for the Spesh proto as well as the V10. Kind of a bummer the 'winner' here is not a production model we can buy buuut... I'm assuming that will more or less change in the near future? Really blue ballin the Enduro and Demo update to say the least...
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Ryan Burney Added a comment about feature Racing Four World Cup Winning Downhill Bikes - Vital's Summer of Downhill
10/17/2025 5:33am
Those marginal gains all add up! I think it makes sense to run one if you like the feel and for racing even as bikes get better at managing chain movement. When Jackson is riding one and winning as well... ignore all reviewers and just do what he does haha. he defiantly knows/feels more.
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Marcus J Liked a comment about Feature Racing Four World Cup Winning Downhill Bikes - Vital's Summer of Downhill
10/17/2025 4:32am
I run the old V10.7 with ochain and feel it makes a difference. Also most people who race the V10.8 seems to run ochain or similar. But could just be very marginal - marginal gains
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Ryan Burney Added a comment about feature Racing Four World Cup Winning Downhill Bikes - Vital's Summer of Downhill
10/17/2025 3:54am
I wouldn’t be surprised if we were technically a little faster with the o-chain. When riding the Frameworks with the o-chain and the V10 without it on the same day, I couldn’t feel a difference. That’s not to say there isn’t one, it just wasn’t large enough to notice. Most frame companies are working to reduce pedal kick and underside chain growth (which = more time the derailleur cage goes slack = more chain whipping). The V10 seems to be a good example of this, so there isn’t much left for the o-chain to do. Every bike will vary, but...
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TEAMROBOT Liked a comment about Feature A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle - Testing Specialized’s Gen1 Proto DH Bike
10/9/2025 7:29am
So sick that you guys got to test this thing. The sort of hallowed factory prototype that lives behind curtains and locked doors. Kind of like if somebody at a magazine got to test the old Honda gearbox bike back in the day.
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notthatbryan Liked a comment about Feature A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle - Testing Specialized’s Gen1 Proto DH Bike
10/8/2025 5:23am
It would be amazing if you could ride this prototype again back to back with the final production bike. It would be cool to see the progression.
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Ryan Burney Added a comment about feature A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle - Testing Specialized’s Gen1 Proto DH Bike
10/7/2025 12:53pm
I think the shock tune was for this bike and the fork was stock... We didn't get to dig into that much. The fork felt like my stock Ohlin's DH fork for what its worth so I don't think there was anything special going on there.
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Mo(n)arch Liked a comment about Feature A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle - Testing Specialized’s Gen1 Proto DH Bike
10/7/2025 12:51pm
Ah man, the V1 proto looks so much better then the new refined (probably production) bike. I'm actually a lttle sad, that this thing will never hit the market.
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Marcus J Liked a comment about Feature A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle - Testing Specialized’s Gen1 Proto DH Bike
10/7/2025 12:51pm
Again, great review! Did you get all the "factory" options in the shock and fork? (the gold shit, not the electronics
)
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Ryan Burney Added a comment about feature A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle - Testing Specialized’s Gen1 Proto DH Bike
10/7/2025 12:51pm
I hope so too. Got to see the new bike in person at Lake Placid. Looks pretty good. I saw they were playing upper links with and without the bridge/stiffener again too. Wonder what they will do for production.
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jonkranked Liked a comment about Feature A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle - Testing Specialized’s Gen1 Proto DH Bike
10/7/2025 12:50pm
I really hope you both can ride the production version (when it finally drops) and can compare notes on the different versions, as best you can at least. i get it won't be the same as riding them back to back.
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f.i.t.nj Liked a comment about Feature A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle - Testing Specialized’s Gen1 Proto DH Bike
10/7/2025 12:50pm
Anther great review! I really like the roll compliance explanation. Never fully understood that concept till now. I can see how valuable that could be when tuned to work with the kinematic and suspension tune.
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notthatbryan Liked a comment about Feature A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle - Testing Specialized’s Gen1 Proto DH Bike
10/7/2025 12:50pm
And most importantly, the front didn't fall off.
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Jason_Schroeder Liked a comment about Feature New Kid On The Block - Testing Orbea's Rallon DH Bike
9/30/2025 5:12am
Functionality wise, the Saint drivetrain on the Rallon was fine. Noise-wise compared to the SRAM X01 or TRP Evo derailleurs/drivetrains on other bikes tested, it was way louder. Sure, some of it is the bike. But I just don't think Shimano's clutch keeps the derailleur from slapping around super well. That's always been my experience with personal bikes, and watching any RAW from the last few years it's pretty obvious when a Shimano/SRAM bike comes by based on the noise.
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Ryan Burney Added a comment about feature New Kid On The Block - Testing Orbea's Rallon DH Bike
9/29/2025 3:50pm
I think part of it was the heavy chain and the decent amount of slack from the larger cassette making it so you cant run the chain as taught. If you cut the cassette down to 7-speed and use a narrower range, the cage can hold the chain tighter, and a lighter chain would make it even better. I think this setup didn’t highlight Saint’s optimal performance, but those changes would help a lot. It's also a note about how our expectations have shifted over the last decade with derailleur noise. They have gotten quite good (if the clutches actually...
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LePigPen Liked a comment about Feature New Kid On The Block - Testing Orbea's Rallon DH Bike
9/29/2025 5:45am
Dream bike 😍
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dantecusolito Liked a reply to forum topic 2025 Race Talk
9/25/2025 12:40pm
It's not uncommon for the summit of Whiteface to be 10-15°F cooler than the base. The race course starts well under half the way up the mountain, so it shouldn't be affected too much, but it means there might be some cool shots with frost or dustings of snow at the top, and fall foliage at the bottom.
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lkubica Liked a comment about Feature Home Grown - Frameworks DH Bike Tested
9/16/2025 6:03am
This is the same idea Raaw used when developing Madonna, low AR but plenty high stack and low BB.
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f.i.t.nj Liked a comment about Feature Home Grown - Frameworks DH Bike Tested
9/16/2025 6:02am
Excellent review as usual. I particularly found the link between dynamic bar height and anti-rise to be a great talking point. I never thought of lower anti-rise working very well with deliberately higher bars/stack and lower BB. Makes perfect sense but I never visualized it until Ryan brought it up. If only frameworks made a size small
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Tmack Liked a comment about Feature Home Grown - Frameworks DH Bike Tested
9/16/2025 6:02am
Mullet only allows the designers/engineers to not be limited by where they can put frame components etc to avoid collision with a 29" wheel.
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