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I think for most brands now the addage of "there are no bad bikes" is quite true. But as a 5'10 (177cm), I am pretty sure my favourite reach is in the 460-470cm range, so I get pretty bummed out by the amount of brands these days that have a 450mm M and a 480mm L! One thing that drives me crazy is how innacurately BB drop is measured/reported/guessed by many brands, and how rare it is that brands give a target BB height (assume 2.4 tyres) even if it is probably innaccurate. My last 2 bikes came in 10-20mm...

Yeah, I go up for 4-6 days of riding every year and have for the last 5 years, so I have a decent idea of what to expect. From the sounds of it, conditions are worse this year then all of the past years I've been up there. Last year I was running a 180mm 38 with a v1 smashpot with a 45lb spring and I was pretty happy with it... but I had been riding a bunch before hand and was feeling really good. That will not be the case this year... I already realize I'm going to have...

Let me say more clearly what was implied in my previous post: those old road bike rolling resistance tests tell me that our own internal rolling resistance gauges in our brains are not very trustworthy. I'm not convinced that radial tires roll slower because the only evidence we have is that they feel like they roll slower. 21mm tires pumped up to 120 psi feel fast as hell on asphalt. As you go faster, you get more and more vibration feedback from the tire, giving the sensation of greater and greater speed. A 32mm tubeless GP5000 pumped up to 60...

Slow clap. Part of the reason why road bikes came with 19-23mm tires pumped up to 120+ psi is because they felt faster than bigger or softer tires, and because of flawed test methodology (testing tires on smooth steel drums in a lab vs. testing on real asphalt). I've heard a lot of people in the tire forum say that radials roll slower, and they certainly might. But until I see actual test results using a methodology that makes sense, I'm going to assume that no one knows the answer to that question.

It never even occurred to me to wash or that people wash their shoes. I wear them and toss them in the back seat on the floor. If they are muddy they go inn the back of the truck until they dry then I bang the mud off and back to the back seat.

They were top tier when they first came out, but now after all the updates from others, they are more middle of the pack of those I've tried. For powerful brake options when the Dominions came out, the Codes were the best of the SRAM options, MT7 from Magura, and Saints from Shimano, not much else to speak of. There are a lot more options now. The lever feel is great, power is good, etc but they aren't anything to write home about in any category, but they definitely were when they came out. My biggest beef is the length...

Excuse my French, but could we fucking please stop calling bikes "analog", "acoustic", or -the worst I've heard- "bio"? Bikes are bikes. Ebikes are something else. Now get off my fucking lawn you punks!

Yeah I feel like this post is a setup for average dudes to admit they’re afraid of the DHF! I am afraid of the DHF.

Damn I consider the Assegai as ann all-lean angles mega gripper, have you ridden a DHF?

sorry, it's not ebike talk, but here are pit bits photos from leogang https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/pit-bits-2026-leogang-world-cup-dow…

Great question. To your point, I think the cannibalism is worse than that, because instead of wanting multiple pedal bikes for different sorts of pedal days with granular differences between each model, one ebike is pretty much fine for everything. In the past, as a MTB pedaler, I would have loved to have at least three mountain bikes: a long travel enduro bike, a shorter travel trail bike, and maybe a hardtail or XC bike. Maybe more. If I wanted to give up on pedaling and get an ebike instead, I don't need two ebikes. For ebikers who want to...

Details forthcoming but looks like the Ride Companion crew are going to do a watch along with Rob Warner.

Did you see Myriam in the background…. 😂

Brosnan gonna show up with donuts

8:30 practice? All the dad's in the WC field will be eating it up.

Yes! It’s great the men will have to practice in that first session! Just like the removal of protection and the euros having to deal with Korean jet lag, it’s nice to switch it up. The women’s racing is definitely the best it’s ever been, they deserve the spotlight. And it’ll be interesting to see how the colder wetter shorter (?) less dialed practice affects which men how…

based on interview w/ amaury in wyntv, didn't realize elite men have the first practice at 830am local time tomorrow. that's SO early LOL. curious if the "cutting in the track" strategy works. also vali at around 32:30 discussing rider field #'s and team expenses etc is interesting. she implies that she and andi kolb as rider reps are pushing for bigger finalists fields but that request is falling on deaf ears.

Fresh B Practice chit-chat for ya! We recorded this morning and chatted a bunch about Dak's ongoing search for comfort this season, his outlook heading into this weekend's race, plus a bunch of bench racing about tracks, poles vs. tape, head-to-head DH racing, and a few other topics that I can't remember 🤓 YouTube is still uploading, but I'll drop it here as it should populate once it's done -

Ghoul it is!

Looks like Yeti ended up with the YT race truck. The railing and curved awning give it away.