In a world where incremental improvements are the norm, who has actually brought something new and worthwhile to the bike world? Who has taken a leap …

By stwhannah

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Vote Now: Most Innovative Mountain Bike Product – Singletrack Reader Awards

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Sorry…none of the above.

Just a thought, these are some very short shortlists?

Innovative or desirable?

sharkattack
Sorry…none of the above.

Sorry STW, that’s probably my thoughts too. None of those are really innovative? Two are evolutions of stuff already out there, and the other appears to have been heavily influenced by some old technology that never really caught on (even though it arguably should have?)…

Don’t apologise to us. The nominations were open for three weeks. Who did you nominate?

Just a thought, these are some very short shortlists?

I’m confused. These aren’t shortlists – these are the finalists. The nominations were open for three weeks last month.

curious how many people voted for the Lal Bikes Supre Drive, to bring it onto the list in top three places.
Out of curiosity Mark, can you confirm that these lists are the three most nominated items in each category, and that they’ve been nominated by punters, not industry/staff?
Not having a go or anything- I can understand if you guys have chosen them due to lack of input from the community- tbh I hadn’t even noticed that it was nomination time.

tbh I hadn’t even noticed that it was nomination time.

That +1?

curious how many people voted for the Lal Bikes Supre Drive

Odd you picked on that, it’s the only one on the list I’d think of as innovative

@vinnyeh We asked for nominations back at the end of August, and there were a few weeks of opportunity to put nominations in. We go through those and suggestions by the staff too, and look at where there are clear multiple nominations and/or persuasive reasons given. Sometimes the same nomination comes up in a few different categories so we’ll take a view on which category suits it best. We also look back across the year and take note of things like relevant forum threads and comments sections on stories. That gives us the finalists. From here, it’s all down to you to vote. No staff discussion or debates on the merits of different candidates. It’s a straight vote from here on out. Same process as it’s always been, no money changes hands or anything like that! Hope that clears things up a bit.

As derailleurs have only got better and more reliable as my cycling career has progressed the Supre drive just looks like a lot of faff to solve a problem I don’t have. AXS seems like a nice thing to have to have but I can live without it. I’ve haven’t got an eBike but one that’s light and quiet appeals, Trek/TQ it is then!

Innovative – I’ve gone for the lal
It’s seen a problem with the status quo/ current standards and fixed it.

Although it’s the one on the list I’d least want to own. It just fills a niche I’m not interested in.
However cool the TQ motor is, and yes I do kind of want one, that is an ebike product not a bike product.

I think the Lal drive goes part of the way to fixing arguably the only remaining problem with mountain bikes (while punctures still cause problems on DH and Enduro races I personally haven’t had an issue in years unlike derailleur problems and lets not get into the compromises that have to be made to suspension design to make a derailleur work).

Saying that, I still think the Phaser would be a better solution for single high pivot full suspension bikes but I’m not sure if STW would’ve accepted nominations for a company that went out of business in 2007.

Saying that, I still think the Phaser would be a better solution for single high pivot full suspension bikes but I’m not sure if STW would’ve accepted nominations for a company that went out of business in 2007.

Perhaps not, but one for next year…
Williams Racing Products Gearbox

I think that TQ motor needs a bit more proving before it will be widely adopted.
On paper it’s very impressive, and launch reviews sang its praises. However, many earlier adopters seem to be already experiencing problems: grinding noises and replacements already. If it proves reliable, then I agree it will move the light(er)weight e-bike market in the right direction.

I just placed an order for an E-MTB this week…at the last minute I bottled it and swapped the EXe for an Orbea Rise. Maybe next time!

Same process as it’s always been, no money changes hands or anything like that!

No intention of implying anything like that!!

I’d not been aware of the lal  (although don’t really follow news closely), and wondered how, what seems to me a pretty obscure and unpublicised thing ended up in the top three.

Given my time to nominate again, I’d probably have gone for the Fillmore valves, though not sure whether they’re from this year.

I just placed an order for an E-MTB this week…at the last minute I bottled it and swapped the EXe for an Orbea Rise.

going through this at the moment, and if I push the button, I think I’ll be following you.