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Yep, don't underestimate those "few" extra pounds... I wrote something very similar in the tech rumors thread (I'll probably be tarred and feathered now for derailing it haha despite this "not derailment" thread existing): To me, there's a big difference between 45 and 50 lbs in terms of how the bike feels on the trail, and in life in general. The 45 lbs bike I just spent two days on really did have me forgetting I was on an e-bike at times. Even hoisting the thing up onto a lift is "OK" (granted, I'm not a small dude and even...

I think the full power, mid 40 pound big travel bikes are the future and not far off.

The Bosch CX motor has the race characteristics that Orbea was looking for on the Wild. For Rise, the Shimano motor is fairly light and Orbea is able to work with Shimano to develop the custom tune that best suits Rise and it allows for short chain stays with a 29 inch wheel.

In my experience, forearm pump is 100% related to brake power. Lack of brake power can come from a thousand different sources, but when brakes start to fade, hands and forearms start to hurt and everything on your body and bike has to compensate. Could be caused by: bad brake design, bad bleed, rotors too small in diameter, rotors too thin (1.8mm vs. 2.0 or 2.3), rotors worn out, old pads, wrong pad material, contamination, and more. Now, I have noticed that "holding onto the handlebars and moving my body around" is harder when my brakes aren't working. Typically, when...

100% disagree with your take, simply because in an ideal scrub the bike is still perfectly in line with the direction of movement. A whip for sure will slow you down, and that is what your "bike on a car rack" analogy corresponds to. Frixtalon + dark googles + scrub is just how I picture myself every ride, despite actually doing a weak turnbar on an ebike wearing prescription glasses in a 3/4 helmet.

From Jure Zabjek: Every journey has its end. I never thought that the sport that my brothers and I grew up playing would become a professional career. Travelling around the world, meeting new people, getting to know myself and competing at the highest level of racing has been a special experience. I will never regret the path I have chosen. Each journey has brought me new challenges, insights and opportunities for personal growth. Thank you to everyone who has been part of this and helped me achieve these results, because even though you are alone on the course, there is...

To me, it sounds more like the current owners just sold the brand in a quick deal and the whole thing with the Sea Otter was just a part of the bad timing. I have my fingers crossed that if there is a new owner, he will put them back onto the map in a proper way.

I like gadgets and tech but I can see definitely see this becoming an issue; I don't think we're far away from a world where suspension (and bikes) are optimized for electronic control. E.g. if you have electronically controlled damping you don't have design your suspension to be good at climbing/pedaling and descending; you can optimize for descending and let the electronics handle the climbing settings. If you want that performance then you're gonna have to buy the AI, micro nuclear reactor powered, LTE 6G connected version.

I think it's fine as long as you can still get the top tier products without being forced to buy an AI, micro nuclear reactor powered, LTE 6G connected version of the component just to get the latest bit of the tech that actually matters.

“Tacky” isn’t just for dirt anymore. The gold on gold is objectively bad. That the dampers fit existing forks is great—an admittedly low bar but that’s what mtb manufacturers have done to us. I’ll put one in a fork and pretend I can tell what’s going on for sure. But if it were only offered in the gold/gold, I’d be rattle canning that thing immediately. No more needs to be said.

Seems like it's less expensive to buy a fork that's currently on sale and a grip x2 damper than it is to buy a 2025 fork that is basically the same.