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they more or less refused to play the tariff game. I finally took my nsr off my truck and wanted their garage stand so it would match and they basically refused to sell it to me. Ultimately there was other options so I went there. Definitely an example of a small business struggling with ever changing policies between its largest trade partner.

For what it's worth: The Specialized Chisel is still very much in production and for sale, just not in the US. They still sell it here in Europe and the rest of the world. My friends at Specialized Germany have confirmed to me that the bike is still in production and can be ordered by dealers in unlimited quantity. We can only guess, but by the looks of it, Specialized no longer considers it a (sufficiently) profitable endeavour to import one of their best-selling bikes into the US due to the effects of orange man's tariffs.

First off: Thanks @iceman2058 for sharing this tool here. I just sent it to him one day before to have a look, when we had just put it live, and it's an honour to see it shared amongst other enthusiasts (not to say nerds), like ourselves. @thegromit We were thinking about making the frame specs also indepent between the two setups, and it is easily possible. However, the main idea behind this tool was to be able to play around with different spacers, stem lengths, handlebars and handlebar rotation and to understand what happens when you change this or that...

Would be cool if you could compare 2 bikes at once to try to get them to fit similar. also would be nice if you could add reach, hta adjustments, or wheelsize. but would rather use this than AI to figure this math out for me. I use this one quite a bit https://madscientistmtb.com/bike-geometry-compare/

Not exactly a tech rumor, as this is actually real, but worth a post here I think - BikeYoke has just introduced their new "Cockpit Calculator" (do you have a better name for it?), basically a 3D visualization of how changing your geo and cockpit parameters affect your riding position. It's a pretty neat concept, with a few nice use cases that jump out at us. For example, if you're changing your frame and you want to get as close as possible to your old fit, this could help you figure out exactly what cockpit components you need to get...

The tariffs on Chinese-made bikes are substantially higher than those on bikes made in Indonesia at the moment. Insera can do things with Marin, at scale, thanks to the house brand Polygon and decades of experience hitting certain price points.

I'll bite on the "Pardus to World Tour" news. They've been on my radar for a few years as one of the first factories-turned-brands. To borrow Rick Vosper's terminology, this is another sign that Bike Industry 4.0 is coming. Factory-direct brands are the next evolution of consumer-direct brands. I believe this trend will continue, and 2027 might be the first time it shows up big in MTB. It's already happened in road and gravel, as those products are a bit easier to engineer and market. Mountain bikes have had a bit of moat in that suspension performance, efficiency, and geometry...

That's fair, I am not defending talking about political opinions/trolling, but politics are a factor in every aspect of our lives. To say, in a discussion of an industry that depends on global economics, that someone doesn't want any political talk is naive. This forum is certainly not a place for being a shitlord, but let's not kid ourselves. Politics are 100% part of the economic realities facing the bike industry.

One thing I wonder is whether any of the aluminum frame manufacturers are having problems sourcing enough material. I work for a construction company, and we're having a hell of a time sourcing smaller quantity / short lead time beams and pipe because the data center boom is gobbling it all up. We use steel, but I'm sure aluminum is also hit. Ironically, we're building tools like mad to be used to build DCs and rocket launch pads, but we're being told nothing is available for 3+ months out until the next mill roll, and prices are way up because...

Global/international economic discussions cannot be apolitical in our current systems.

Y'all need to stop feeding Colin Robinson.

the problem with your problems is that they seldom stay an isolated american problem but quickly turn into the world‘s problem… the price increases due to YOUR tariffs usually end up in price increases for everyone in the world because the american snowflakes can’t be burdened with carrying those costs all alone so everyone in the world gets to carry some of these prices hikes and i haven’t even touched your iran problem that makes EVERYTHING more expensive. so please, pretty please fix your shit in a timely manner, will you? sincerely the rest of the world…

Lots of people confusing their position on the USA with bikeconomics. Standert has always been most feasible in the EU, even in Australia they’re expensive with shipping and tax. Yes, tariffs are dumb and stuff is more expensive, but if you can call Walt, Steve Rex, Paul Sadoff, Cam Falconer, etc etc and go custom (plus choose your vibe) why would you not? It’s a different level of quality to production line frames too. the point about the micro brand and JIT is that Standert doesn’t really carry stock or debt in the way other brands do, and road bikes...

and? who cares about americans and their self inflicted problems?

Standert is a micro brand who is able to source product J.I.T. from a country that they are seperated from by a line draw on a map, in a tarrif free relationship from a single source vendor using stock tubing and machine parts. Those bikes are neat and priced ok in Europe, but under the current political situation in the USA it’s pretty much impossible for them to do bussiness. In the USA You can call up Paul at Rock Lobster or FTW and have them build you a custom frame using the exact same Dedacai tubes and machine parts...

I'm here in Brașov, Romania. Cost of living is obviously cheap, being the country we are, although some prices line up with the West, where the wages don't necessarily. But it is generally cheaper for most things. Mountain biking? How about FREE shuttle service on state-operated local buses, that take you up 12 km to our local resort? You just pay a normal bus ticket, which is about 1 EUR a ride, and on Fridays it's completely free. From the local resort (Poiana Brașov), you can either ride back down on a plethora of trails (of which some are shared...

Smolyan, Bulgaria. Southern Rhodope mountains, right by the Greek border. Totally off most people’s radar — and ticks a lot of your boxes. Riding: 25+ enduro trails accessible with flexible shuttle (local 4x4 pickups, not resort infrastructure — but that’s what keeps costs down), plus a small bike park nearby with 5–6 chairlift-accessed trails. Season April–November. Proper mountain terrain, up to ~1000m of descent per lap depending on the trail. Rocky, rooty, loamy — a bit of everything. Nothing is crowded because almost nobody outside Bulgaria knows about this region yet. Cost of living: house in a Rhodope village, 20–40k...

Yes, I'm sorry if I was unclear. That was sarcasm, and everything about this news report is the worst. I was being sarcastic and grumpy about the apparent PR desire to frame this terrible news as a win for customers, sort of like "Man receiving double amputation finally sheds the freshman 15 and then some."

With the exception of the covid, every major financial crisis in the US economy in the past 50 years has been directly caused by the Financial Services Sector. They spend oodles of $$ "lobbying" (AKA buying govt policy), to minimize govt oversight. Not foolin us today, Diddy.

Yes, but it is neither taxed nor regulated nearly enough. You sound like Lance Armstrong … “I’m the most tested athlete of all time”… The financialization of the global economy is very clearly a rigged game, and the players in the game are barely, barely, barely accountable in this country.