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unless buying their cheapest option, i still fail to see why people are buying Lewis copy paste brakes instead of higher quality Hope with their own engineering, for basically the same price!

Question for @jeff.brines, are some of these over capitalization bankruptcies just really short-term money making schemes for the owners? I.e. you keep raising capital for as long as you can all while paying yourself very well. Then, if or when it all comes crashing down you just walk away but your cash is already in the bank.

This is correct. Don't forget, every company or industry that had a growth coefficient looked frothy and fun so risk capital went way to the outskirts of common sense to find a return. When interest rates moved up and the sport normalized - poof, the money and the investors were gone.

Wet chains could well be quieter. Good theory.

If they are pumping up on rapid pulls but work consistently otherwise, as a general rule, it could be due to 2 different causes. 1. If the pumping up is taking you from an excessively long lever throw to a normal one, that is usually due to a poorly maintained brake that is low on fluid and/or has excessively worn pads, and/or has stick caliper pistons. Basically, the system is at a point where a single lever pull can barely generate enough fluid volume to activate the brake fully, so you need to "stack" multiple pulls on top of each...

Yeah, looks dry in the images...

Maybe rebranded Pütoline HPX R but it seems to be the new OEM shimano oil as this picture in the pit bit part 2 seems to indicate

Couldn't help but notice they're using a different oil for Shimano brakes, i'm wondering if that's something already in the market and will be stock on the new lineup or if it's a new Shimano recipe

Your story is the exact reason I wear a full face on almost every ride. If your a reasonably fast rider your approaching or at dirt bike speeds, maybe exceeding. No one would ride a dirt bike with shit ass mountain bike gear. They wear proper protection. The “I don’t like it” or “it’s not trendy” argument is stupid. Head trauma is what is stupid, broken jaw bones are stupid. I’m baffled by this every time I ride. I’m more baffled when I see pros sending it in half shells, I get it your really good, but when you crash...

I consider this a win, a statement from the Propain man himself on the other site regarding cable routing

Agreed with Primoz. Thanks to the automotive industry, DOT fluids are compliant with international (ISO 4925) and national standards and it should be the same regardless of the brand label on the bottle. You can pick this stuff up from gas stations. There is no such thing for mineral oils. Each brake manufacture recommends their own concoction of a colorful mineral liquid. They can differ in viscosity, thermal ceilings etc. etc. I don't know why people complain about DOT fluid. If you are a half decent non-clumsy mechanic, you don't have to worry about splashing it around on paintwork or...

The Cotic built frame used 38.1 mm of tubes for tt/st/dt. The dt being the same one they used on their Rocket Max. This new front end was built by Adam Prosise (formerly worked for Reeb now building stuff out of his own shop under Prosise Metal Works). I would guess that he used the Velospec 44.5mm tube with a 1-.7-.9 butting or Fairing also makes a 44.5mm .9 straight gauge tube. That is the beefiest commercial available tube of reasonable weight. Next bigger option would be to internally relieve a 50.8mm 1.2mm tube on a lathe. I would expect...

I haven't actually tried the 612 brakes, I was very close but ultimately decided I there just wasn't enough info out there. I listened to some podcasts and interviews with the founder/owner of 612, I got the feeling they are basically a re-sculpted Maxima. He aimed for the same leverage, piston sizes, and mc sizes as the Maxima and ran with that on the 612s. They are obviously aesthetically very different and I'm sure they are functionally a bit different, but I gather not by much. I could be wrong. You can select hose types/material, they use Hope pads, mineral...

Serious question: what makes you think that the same ownership that made Kona go from a very well-known go-to brand in mid 90s-00s to decline during 10s/20s (with some outstanding models nonetheless) a better company now?

I was under the impression that after a while most E13 hubs have a disnengaging /disintegrating ratchet system.