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Can confirm you can run 65mm stroke shock on the carbon Vala for ~160mm travel. Haven't tried on AL versions. I've done it with a Vivid Air which is about as large an air can as there is, no clearance issues. There's about a half inch of clearance between the seatstay bridge and seat tube with the shock out at bottom out, so plenty of clearance on that end too.

Ebikes erase hills, headwinds, and polls. DH bike and an eeb. Dealer’s choice on the eeb, they’re all better than every pedal bike. Easy peasy!

For sure yes on the carbon vala on the M, L and XL. Not sure on the AL Valas and the bullit you can't as it's already 205/65.

Stacked field and the best-looking DH track I've ever seen. This should be a fun watch, both tomorrow, and in October.

1199 in Whistler is going to be a spectacle. After a couple days of rain the sun has come out. It was still a bit wet in a few spots but generally perfect conditions on track yesterday for first practice, and the weather looks great for seeding and racing as well. A good mix of young rippers, dark horses, and some World Cup riders. Jackson is flying, Asa and Gwin looked good too. Some other fast dudes as well but I didn't have my start list handy so I'm not sure who I was looking at. Great spectator access all...

Whistler 1199 top to bottom:

Is that the rule? Are there rules? Because catalog snaps have happened heaps of times in the OG thread. Obviously don’t lose your job - but these are just brands owned by banks / syndicates / second generation founders nepo kids - and we are the 0.01% who care to see this stuff. newschoolers.com has an epic next year gear thread where everyone is sharing catalog snaps and tradeshow samples. I think this audience is hyper niche and most of the stuff on this thread never makes it past this group of weirdos. I’m sure bike brand product managers lurk...

I think I could count the number of times I have washed any of my helmets ever on two hands...

In seeding for Saturday’s Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series race at Solitude in Utah: Maylei Leaneagh went fastest among Pro Women. Kailey Skelton, current Series leader, had a DNS. (At last year’s US Open Maylei’s belt snapped right at the top of the hill and she still managed a 3rd place finish behind only winner Aletha Ostgaard and Camille Balanche.) Dante Silva finished first among Pro Men, 1.3 seconds ahead of Series points leader Nate Kitchen. (Dante entered only 1 UCI World Cup race last year, qualifying P10 in Q1 at Lake Placid and finishing 16th in Finals.)

Guy who owns bike company trashes competitors bike. Shocking.

Man, it looks like either he almost tucked the front wheel in the last corner, or that USD fork twisted funny. I noticed it on the highlights replay also.

Torrential rain there now. Should make the track interesting tommorow. Won’t be dusty but lots of lines washed away.

I think some of it has to do with both the sport and its participants aging. When I first started riding in the late 90's, I didn't know anything about geometry. I based my bike preferences around what I saw in Mountain Bike Action and on the racks at my LBS. When looking at spec's of a bike, I usually looked at what fork it had and what "level" rear derailleur. Does anyone remember the days when bike brands would spec a bike with a rear derailleur that was 1 level higher than the rest of the drivetrain? There must...

Looks like Mikey Delesalle's weekend is no fluke. What a great 2 days for him.

Frenchie track walk chat - Excited to see Oli Clark back!

I’m also bringing my DH bike and definitely plan on getting out to mountain creek and thunder mountain. I just gotta make sure i get at least one good training weekend in so i don’t smoke myself at downieville.

Will be? I've bought this stuff of aliexpress for years now.