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This is what's right with The Industry®

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
Good quality shit like the new DT Swiss 180 rear hub I just bought is dirt-cheap because it's not boost.

Not that there's an endless supply, but there's probably enough good stuff in circulation long enough that you can play it out until you wear your bike out completely or snap it in half, while the suckers buy up all the new stuff and standards.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
I have a friend who is making a comfortable living for his family at Giant and gets to own some sweet bikes to boot. That's pretty cool.

But I've noticed he's starting to grow scales and a tail, so I'd imagine soon he'll join the ranks of his lizard overlords.
 

rockofullr

confused
Jun 11, 2009
7,342
924
East Bay, Cali
100mm? Fuck - I'd flat both tires and break the frame in less than 10 miles.

:homer:
Bro. Obviously don't ride it at Losinj. Not every bike has to be a DH bike. And not every rock has to be smashed into.

You can't tell me you've never wanted to ride a short travel bike that doesn't have XC geek geometry. Remember how fun 4x bikes were? Now imagine one that climbs better than your trail bike. Remember how fun aggressive HTs are? Now imagine one with just enough suspension to smooth out the small bumps and save your knees and ankles.

For mellow trails this is the most fun you can buy. I just can't believe it took someone this long to build this bike.
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,375
12,529
In a van.... down by the river
<snip> not every rock has to be smashed into.
That right there is horseshit. I'm calling it.

You can't tell me you've never wanted to ride a short travel bike that doesn't have XC geek geometry. Remember how fun 4x bikes were? Now imagine one that climbs better than your trail bike. Remember how fun aggressive HTs are? Now imagine one with just enough suspension to smooth out the small bumps and save your knees and ankles.

For mellow trails this is the most fun you can buy. I just can't believe it took someone this long to build this bike.
Fuck mellow trails. And fuck that bike.

For the record: I've never ridden a HT in my 30-ish year mt bike life.

:homer:
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
For mellow trails this is the most fun you can buy. I just can't believe it took someone this long to build this bike.
You clearly have missed the times of the Blur 4X or other trail-optimized 4X bikes that folks are running for years now. And yes, they all have/had the right wheel size, not some lizard-pushed roadbike wheels with knobby tires on.
 

rockofullr

confused
Jun 11, 2009
7,342
924
East Bay, Cali
Fuck mellow trails. And fuck that bike.

For the record: I've never ridden a HT in my 30-ish year mt bike life.
I just ran this through google translate and it can't figure out the language. It kinda looks like english but those words in that order don't make any sense.
God damn. You bros are just too hard core! I'd suggest cutting down on the Monster Energy intake.

You clearly have missed the times of the Blur 4X or other trail-optimized 4X bikes that folks are running for years now. And yes, they all have/had the right wheel size, not some lizard-pushed roadbike wheels with knobby tires on.
You have clearly missed the part where I mentioned how fucking awesome the old 4x bikes were :clue:. That was my specific example of why short travel bikes are fun. I was infinitely jealous of my bike shop coworker's Blur 4x.

They weren't set up to use as trail bikes though. Kinda hard to pedal up much where I am with a 1x9. You did a lot of pushing if that was your trail bike. And still, if you compare the geo to a modern trail bike there are some big differences in wheel base HT angle etc. They were good for the time but...
 
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toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
For mellow trails this is the most fun you can buy. I just can't believe it took someone this long to build this bike.
Schmuggler? Brocess 111?

Personally I'm stoked bike manufacturers are finally putting hooligan head angles on bikes with shorter travel though.
 

Lelandjt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2008
2,508
821
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
Last summer while building a XC race bike with Boost spacing I asked DT why the 180 hubset is only available in 100/142mm. They said it's because they consider it a light duty hub for road and gravel (What about older XC bikes?). I was surprised they weren't gonna make it available for the current XC bikes but that says something about their durability.

Anyway, since I don't break much stuff the problem I have with changing standards isn't finding parts for older bikes. It's when I want to get a new frame and my old parts don't transfer.
 

Lelandjt

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2008
2,508
821
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
Bro. Obviously don't ride it at Losinj. Not every bike has to be a DH bike. And not every rock has to be smashed into.

You can't tell me you've never wanted to ride a short travel bike that doesn't have XC geek geometry. Remember how fun 4x bikes were? Now imagine one that climbs better than your trail bike. Remember how fun aggressive HTs are? Now imagine one with just enough suspension to smooth out the small bumps and save your knees and ankles.

For mellow trails this is the most fun you can buy. I just can't believe it took someone this long to build this bike.
I'd argue that Scott built it last year with the new Spark and Spark RC. I've been loving my RC with 5" dropper. Sure it flexes a little and you'd break something if you smash it too hard but it's so fast and fun on mellow to gnarlyish trails. I'm thinking about getting the 120mm Spark with a stiffer/stronger build to complement it.
Don't be weirded out by the remote fork lockout, it comes off.
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
Personally I'm stoked bike manufacturers are finally putting hooligan head angles on bikes with shorter travel though.
:stupid:

Geometry is handling. Just because a bike is light and peddaly doesn't mean I want it to handle like a road bike.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Last summer while building a XC race bike with Boost spacing I asked DT why the 180 hubset is only available in 100/142mm. They said it's because they consider it a light duty hub for road and gravel
Because riding a rigid road bike on dirt roads chattering downhill at 30mph doesn't put stress on hubs.



..........going into kill mode soon

The stupidity.

It burns.
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,005
Seattle
Because riding a rigid road bike on dirt roads chattering downhill at 30mph doesn't put stress on hubs.



..........going into kill mode soon

The stupidity.

It burns.
Yeah, and I break hubs all the time too. It's a serious problem.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,596
5,894
in a single wide, cooking meth...
Personally, I like to refer to the wheel size as "26 Venti", as it nicely describes something that is large and shitty in almost every possible way, but with a faux air of sophistication. Take this for example:

"POTUS Venti"

See, it works for so many applications.
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,696
Champery, Switzerland
I'd argue that Scott built it last year with the new Spark and Spark RC. I've been loving my RC with 5" dropper. Sure it flexes a little and you'd break something if you smash it too hard but it's so fast and fun on mellow to gnarlyish trails. I'm thinking about getting the 120mm Spark with a stiffer/stronger build to complement it.
Don't be weirded out by the remote fork lockout, it comes off.
Check out the Plus frame geo but run it with normal tires and a taller fork.
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
Steep seat angles (that are a good decade overdue), slacker head angles with corrected fork offsets, and integrated tool/cargo storage are about the only things going right with hardware trends in the industry.

Everything else is basically just complicating shit for no real reason. Suspension quality has stagnated in the last few years and not seen any meaningful improvements...but we have a million options, most of which are incompatible with each other in some way, and still have major performance and durability flaws.

Brakes haven't moved much either. Millions of options, all with their own special breed of bullshit.

Tires are still either way too flimsy or way too heavy necessitating homegrown Scooby Doo shit like all these inserts.

Frames, despite being made out of carbon fiber by processes with significant heritage and excessive profit margin behind them, are still being held steady industry-wide at prices that are just ridiculous.


This industry does not deserve a reach-around for doing anything right at all, just to be perfectly clear. This is like giving the class fuckup a cookie for not putting on his pants backwards one time while everyone else's progress is held back for him.