Hello Vital MTB Visitor,
We’re conducting a survey and would appreciate your input. Your answers will help Vital and the MTB industry better understand what riders like you want. Survey results will be used to recognize top brands. Make your voice heard!
Five lucky people will be selected at random to win a Vital MTB t-shirt.
Thanks in advance,
The Vital MTB Crew
Then go build it. Talk is cheap.
No.
Looks like a dedicated topic (off the bike section) would make sense...
I just recently (think 2 to 3 weeks ago) heard about and got read-in to Tailscale, but it wouldn't add much to me. I've been running a Wireguard instance for years now and have the tunnels setup on my laptop, phone and on my parents PC (system backups to the NAS). Tailscale would add ease of seting up and not having to deal with dynamic DNSs and client management, but I have so few clients and have everything else already setup that it doesn't really add anything. The funnels are a nice feature that would enable me to access self-hosted services form my work PC, but then I would have said services wide-open to the public internet. For me to be able to access photos during work that are hosted on Immich (if I ditch Google Photos) the only realistic option is to run a reverse proxy over a proper domain name... And I just haven't gotten around to getting that to work.
Master thread derailleur at work again...
two-wheel drive is coming for the road world. comedic AI foible on specialized site - https://www.specialized.com/us/en/roval-rapide-clx-iii/p/1000256237?color=1000256245-1000256237 (scroll down)
I think I remember there being a Surly fatbike that used rear wheels front and back because the spacing (due to the fatbikeness) allowed for it. They said it could be a failsafe "get home no matter what" on-bike backup sort of thing.
This...is not that.
On a 1500$ wheel set they should get some slack for not doinng it perfect.
I actually don't think this is that. The image may have been AI-generated (I don't actually think it is) but I believe this was done intentionally to play off "flipping the script" of making the deeper-section wheel on the front instead of traditionally being on the back... so the joke image is that they put a rear wheel on the front and a front wheel on the rear.
I think you’re mostly right but there’s some weird artifacts in this image. Hopefully just a bad edit but the perspective is whack
Revel is making the pivot to AI slop content
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRpqq5-CWf4/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
sheesh, that could be true. odd to put the cassette on the wrong side up front (unless to make it obvious it's a rear wheel up there), but there is a major problem with rotor being inside the spokes, nowhere near the caliper and the caliper being behind a spoke, lol.
Yeah I think it's a bad Photoshop job if anything.
The copy is clunky enough to dispel any doubt. Backwards rear as front wheel as the joke was a stretch, but the vaporspokes gave that away. No way. This is beepborp BS.
(Hyped to use this for my first time ever, hope it’s correct usage)
CLANKERS!
Is the entire product AI generated? The point of a shallower front wheel was to manage the affects on handling from cross winds - the deeper rear wheels were because they need to be deeper to get the same reduction in drag (like they alluded to ) but don't have to worry about compromising handling as much. Going the opposite doesn't make any sense to me.....did I miss the wind tunnel results they included with the press release?
edit - they claim lighter weight increases acceleration, but unless you're doing sick power wheelies up the hill you are always spinning up both wheels......
If it’s “race proven” like they say then it should be easy to find some race results and photos of them in use
Good to know it's proof tested for victory in the Win Tunnel though
Peak torque and I think Hambini as well often say thatvit makes sense to have a deeper wheel in the front. The way I see it is that you get the aero benefits that way while in the rear the aero benefits don't matter much as the frame and, more importantly, the rider, generates a lot of vortices and dirty air so it makes little sense to have a streamlined bike towards the back.
Back in college, when we had a fluid mechanics course, one of the assistants mentioned that having a very streamlined aeroplane makes sense in the front while it doesn't make that much difference if you have a bolt sticking out the fuselage at the rear. An oversimplification, but it gets the point across.
Not sure why it would make sense to have a different depth front to rear in light of this aero detail, maybe it makes sense to have a shallower wheel because it's more comfortable? I.e. if you don't have aero gains, why suffer instead of riding in more comfort approach maybe?
Win tunnel tested.
It's true, Specialized teams weren't the only ones doing it this year.
It's been seen in gravel too, but for aero benefits up front and comfort out back.
And the "Win Tunnel" is what Specialized calls their wind tunnel, that's not a typo – if that's what people were implying.
...because of course they do.
Putting bad in-jokes in ad copy is certainly a choice.
Who says you need ai to be cringe.
Does anyone know what brand the front wheel is ?
Really going for the Trek style branding there
I think they’ve been insisting on this joke for a few years now. It’s clunky and a bit embarrassing, but so is wind tunnel testing so I’m not too worked up about it.
I get where you’re coming from. A lot of AI-written marketing feels pretty obvious and kind of soulless. I’ve definitely started trusting direct digital reviews and real rider feedback way more than polished brand posts, especially when everything starts sounding the same. If companies are going to use AI, at least be transparent and keep some human voice in there.
Sorry Spomer, no favorites. AI thumbnails were never in but they’re certainly out
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/whats-whats-out-mountain-biking-2026
we commissioned sven to get that cover photo.
Amazing that both Sven and the rider were able to remain steadfast and get the shoot done even in the presence of a nuclear explosion.
it's why he's the best.
don't want to completely derail this but... funny anecdote about a scammer using chatGPT prompts to impersonate Seth with bike companies... and it worked (mostly). Transition (among others) had sent a bike out to the guy. I really thought it was just going to be random aliexpress ebike brands (he may have gotten away with it if he did)... But wow he really had the balls to scam Transition and IT WORKED. (Aside from the fact Seth was already on to him by this point and just setting him up for arrest with evidence.)
i understand you don't need AI to do this stuff but, like Seth says... scammers are usually caught out by their inability to write or speak well. or outright use flaws speech patterns to identify vulnerable victims who are naive, and avoid the smart ones who see through it. but AI changes that power balance a bit...
Not MTB, but might as well be.
Was scrolling through some shop’s description of an upcoming ski.
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