All

Wouldn't be surprised if the novelty of bonded frames is a marketing/sales benefit over welding frames... A factor of standing out from the crowd and a possible justification for a higher price (thus possibly a higher margin).

Both of you…

name checks out

Washing tri bikes before I would touch them was the role of the youngest kid in the shop.

We had to introduce a "piss charge" of $100 for hosing the tri bikes down before the techs worked on them. IYKYK.

even back when i was a shop mechanic in the mid 00s, dealing with triathletes was the absolute worst. i can't imagine how insufferable they are today.

Stay on target boys! We are drifting into Weight Rumors and Innovation territory.

Don’t be that guy ”I’ve got a secret… tee hee hee” It’s pathetic even for 7 year olds

Looks like he has an AXS controller on the left side and a mechanical shifter. Could he be controlling/adjusting the forks damping? Take that Loic

They are doing their testing VERY publicly. Given they put their most prized 'possessions', the factory WC team riders, on the prototypes, says they must have quite some confidence in the product. That it failed is neither here nor there, as I recall there was somewhat recently a case of a GT's headtube snapping off, wasn't that a production bike? Guessing what went wrong based off some blurry videos and pictures won't solve the issue in any way, I'm sure Pivot received tons of pictures of the failure and it's likely the frame has been shipped back to Phoenix for...

An oxide layer on aluminium forms in the range of picoseconds under barely any (oxygen) atmosphere if I remember the graph seen at work quite a few years ago correctly.

I doubt it’s galvanic corrosion, I would bet money on it that the aluminum oxidized and wasn’t treated before they applied the adhesive to the substrate. There could be saponification happening, but usually that only happens with some amine compounds when interacting with a substrate containing zinc, so I highly doubt that’s the case. A common misconception is that aluminum doesn’t oxidized, but it actually oxidizes (depending on the alloy) within minutes when exposed to oxygen. Anyone familiar with bonding aluminum should be well aware of this. We glue exotic road cars and race cars together all day with no...

Not sure if this is the right place to share but here's a couple thoughts/rumors on random bike stuff after attending the Sedona bike fest 1. All the guys that brought their DJ and bmx bikes lost to a guy that was on a demo yeti sb135 for the bunny hop contest. It's the rider, not the bike. 2. Always wondered what gearbox bikes felt when you tried to shift underload - it doesn't shift! I was climbing a not very steep road to get back to the venue on a (demo)Zerode and was stuck in gear 4 all the...

This works on some non-dual crown forks too. Pull the lowers- rotate 180, re-assemble.

Here are links to new Epics and XC Flight Attendant: https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/bikes/specialized/epic-evo-48446… https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/rockshoxs-xc-flight-attenda… Disclaimer: I grew up racing downhill, and like most folks on Vital, I prefer gravity-focused bikes/riding. I pedal, but usually as a means to access descents, and I'm typically on 140mm+ bikes. Showing up at an XC press camp with flat pedals and a trail helmet was pretty comical. I figured I'd like the EVO more since I enjoy pushing bikes on descents. But turns out, I really underestimated what XC bikes are capable of, as the Epic blew my doors off. It was fun to check out...

CAN WE MOVE ON FROM BRAKE LEVER FEEL PLEASE?

I’m not saying I’m well traveled in this world, but there’s something about doing 15 minute Whistler runs on pure brake bumps that require you to hold on a little bit extra. I’ve never really experienced it anywhere else. Most of the time my fingers weren’t on the brake levers if I could help it. My point was that when your hands hurt that bad, pulling on a stiffer than usual brake lever isn’t awesome. Whatever the circumstances…

Spoken like someone who’s never had to “declaw” their fingers after multiple Dirt Merchant to A-Line runs… There are just some instances where you don’t want your brake levers to feel like a clapped out 80s ATV...

As someone who has iterated full suspension bikes with Dave Weagle before- the design matrix he shares with his customers to iterate kinematics is more sophisticated than a few graphs, there are a few more integrative rider-focused parameters that I don’t usually see people talk about on message boards he likes to use to relate feel and function. Dave will tell you those unspoken variables are actually the things to look at to compare bikes. Dave’s customer service Special Sauce, if you will…

Hear what you're saying but I respectfully disagree that the widespread adoption of public kinematic graphs has been a net negative impact on MTB or even on brands. Yes, there are tons of people who suffer from confirmation bias while bike shopping or bike testing. Most people, in fact. But I think public kinematic graphs have helped make bike design better. Suspension designs are converging in a big way in the last five or so years, corresponding to the same timeframe when graphs have become widespread in product launches. We're mostly in agreement that wild curves in a kinematic graph...