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Maybe Leatt can tell us why World Cup riders don't use neckbraces anymore...

That's why they've Pivoted to gear and apparel.

My $0.02 (coming from an American) 1) Don't buy used unless you are a mechanic and know exactly what you are looking at. By the time you price in wear parts (chain, pads, chain ring, suspension refresh etc) and the lack of warranty you likely are going to be upside down. Look at Nukeproof, the new Specialized Status, Marin (not sure if you can get them), Transition etc. 2) If you are asking this question, go for the bigger bike. There are a lot of reasons I say that but the biggest one is you can always ride a big...

noah, this will have to work until lourdes - 12 years ago before whoops and slowmo were a thing (whoops and slowmo) https://vimeo.com/5370280

People love the PB Huck-to-Flat slow-mos, but I'd 100% rather see that whoops section in slow-mo. Can we we crowd fund a high-speed camera for Vital in time for this? Good Lourde that'd be sweet. I could find some MRP budget for that – would love to see what a chain does there!

I can tell you Kenevo SL's are selling without question and mid level trail bikes are selling in January mid week like 800$ hardtails in may. We had a our entire stock of specialized status's vanish in two days. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm getting the 2023 bike I ordered in September. No one's even blinking when I tell them sending their suspension back to fox will be 400$, they just say yes and don't even ask why they need to do it. It's anarchy.

I'm very sad we won't get to hear Loris vocalize this portion of track for Jordie's entertainment.

The laws of nature say: the steeper the track, the higher the chance of rain

How part of the field must be feeling looking at this. Can't wait for March to come around.

Has a spectator been appointed to ride the bike of anyone who crashes through this section yet?

Calling it now, Thibaut Daprela comes out swinging to start 2022.

My first thought was forty too. Re Athertons: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZR-xhWM9Od/ "Their steady hands and meticulous eye for detail spend 16 hours fettling the lugs for each frame to achieve the perfect finish." O_O If I understand correctly, that's just dealing with the lugs, let alone gluing and then final assembling the frame. Google says UK minimum wage is ~9 GBP per hour. Which is 11 EUR. That's a cost of AT LEAST 175 € to finish off the lugs alone, likely a lot more given the type of work. I know I'm a broken record, but, again, HOW do they manage...

It is too bad Trek can't compete on performance/price/delivery, so they decided on the Microsoft approach. That forces all other brands down a less than desirable path.

Looks like I have to set aside a few hrs to listen to some fresh NorCal stories. Glad you made the Inside Line Theo!

You would think this would be all norcal insider-y, but it's a great listen and story about a particular scene, and I've always loved the Allout vids over the years.

I'm listening to the Silca 3D printing podcast. A interesting tidbit, they said a kilogram of Ti powder costs 500 USD. Just the raw material. So each Atherton frame has ~500 USD in raw materials just in the lugs, let alone the manufacturing and finishing costs of the parts, the carbon tubes, the glue, then you need to earn something from the frame over what it cost you to produce to have it developed, marketed and so on... How they are managing it is beyond me.

i'd like to believe this is a prelude to the return of hbcutthecoursein1990 but I don't think we're that lucky