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You are 110% correct. The lil company that could, for sure, but needed deeper pockets to really reach their limits. I'm just stoked they didn't succumb to the PE buyout that has plagued many an industry the last 20 odd years. Having someone with the smarts, passion, and especially capital to help both brands grow sounds like a game winner to me. (And not all us Yanks share in your sense of all of our overt 'patriotism'. A lof of us folx think that the more flags we see someone displaying the less likely they are to understand the depth...

I mean, I don't think it's unreasonable to be proud that WAO products are made in Canada and (were) owned by a Canadian and kinda bummed that it's now owned by an American. We may not have the overt patriotism that Americans do, but we're still pretty damned proud. How many Americans would stop buying or supporting distinctly American brands like i9 or Profile Racing if they were bought by someone outside of the US? I'm not sure it would be massive, but I'm sure there the sentiment would be similar. If it has to be someone, it sounds like...

Big PP and bigger PP lol

In a weird moment of luck, I got to go to a party/bbq at Clint's house once. How he came off in that pinkie interview is exactly the person I met and blabbed with for an hour plus. Jovial, convivial straight shooter, lights are on, everyone's home, and they're having a great conversation type of guy. Certainly, someone on a forum somewhere is bemoaning WAO getting gobbled up by a US co, but I'd be hard pressed to think of a better person to acquire their business.

So WaO will be carbon stuff and i9 will be alloy stuff made in the same factory? Will be interesting as i9 can use their machining to make moulds for carbon components.

The Industry Nine and We Are One merger is official: https://industrynine.com/we-are-one-acquisition https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKuJ60nyBZT/?igsh=MWJjYThld244a205dw== The full interview over on the pink site is pretty cool. Dustin from WAO and Clint from i9 seem to really mesh well and the relationship may prove fruitful for both. Clint even half jokes about eventually transferring ownership to Dustin one day.

Maybe. Could also just be talking about the amount of time and effort that riders/mechanics/companies put into training, tuning, & testing.

I'm at Leogang this weekend and wanted to get a sense of how widely pedal kickback devices have been adopted by World Cuppers, along with all the other wild accessories like TMD's/shakeweights, electronics, gearboxes, and more. So out of curiosity and as a service to my fellow nerds, I stood at the top of Q1 today and counted all the devices I could. Note that certain devices were almost certainly undercounted, like shakeweights, added mass, and fancy chainring devices like Ochain or Rimpact (drivetrains were facing away from me in the starting lineup). There were 20 bikes total where I...

I’m currently loving the Kryptotal Fr/Xynotal combo for the bigger bike, but I’ve had such a good time with the Spesh Eliminator/Butcher in the past that I’m curious to try the new-ish version of the treads. We just got our first bikes in with the new Butcher, and in addition to having larger tread blocks, the distinct lack of siping on the cornering knobs stands out - I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like it. Anyone have time on the new versions to compare?

Temperature stickers are not the reason I posted this pic 😉

Completely not important but I feel the need to say that the etching of the knobs is pleasant. Gives me some De Tomaso super car dashboard vibes.

A friend of mine has worn through 3 t type drivetrains this year...... But his name is Ben Hildred, so he's a bit of a special case.

Really good video BTW. A little long for the world we live in, but this gave a lot of really good info. Appreciate the work

Cool to know. The change to cartridge bearings blew my mind because I never thought that would change. I thought cockroaches and Shimano cup-and-cone hubs would be the only things left after the nuclear apocalypse.

Anyone want to take a shot at explaining the lack of a clutch on the new shimano stuff?