Our summer biking season is flying by and we’ve been spending a ton of time on a lot of very interesting bikes and gear — with a lot more to come. So we decided it would be a good time to check in with several of our reviewers to hear about the gear they’ve been most impressed with so far this year; the new products they’re most excited to check out; and along the way we talk about mullet bikes, bike shop pranks, and unveil several genius new ideas that we definitely shouldn’t be giving away for free.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Pivot Trail 429 (1:01)
- Commencal Meta TR, bike weight, & shop pranks (3:02)
- Privateer 161 & tradeoffs in seat tube angles (13:22)
- Flat pedals vs. clipless vs. magnetic + figuring out foot positioning (21:15)
- Shimano Deore 12 speed (30:54)
- Vorsprung Secus & “NOS for your bike” (31:57)
- Pivot Firebird (34:35)
- Mullet bikes (36:53)
- High-pivot bikes: Forbidden Dreadnought, GT Force, & Trek Session (38:37)
- RockShox ZEB (40:50)
- Specialized Status & shady cryptocurrency purchases (41:12)
- Nicolai G1 (45:23)
- Öhlins RXF38 (46:21)
- We Are One Arrival (46:55)
RELATED LINKS:
On the subject of bike weight, I have done a bunch of singletrack bikepacking on my 140/130mm travel 29er, and it is staggering how much smoother the bike rides with an additional 10-15lbs of gear strapped to bike, especially so on very rough sections of trail. I can absolutely see strapping weight to the frame being advantageous on certain DH tracks.
I’ve been tossing that thought around in my head since we recorded, and the more I think about it, the more curious I get. I might have to do some experimenting. So I guess stay tuned, maybe?
Which shoes are you using Luke? I ask because shoe makers have been moving the cleat slots back in the last few years.
Have you tried the new Specialized 2FO DH Clip? I also think I remember some Giro shoes that seemed to have the cleat slot pretty far back.
Luke: “if I were building up a bike right now, I would put a Deore drivetrain on it”
Eh, no you wouldn’t. Because you can’t get one col*
*Crying on the floor out loud