That’s the one! Insane compared to the rest, a few others look to have tried it, but most failed! Could be a real dark horse. Brits could dominate, though Finn Iles also looked pretty quick.

Will be carnage! VitalMTB posted their RAW vid this evening, makes some of the best look a little scared! Reece Wilson looked pinned though, the line he takes and speed he carries through the stumps section half way down is nuts! Visually way, way quicker than most others through there, he gaps a huge section when most a just struggling to ride through it!

And yet the average speed for the race was approx 21kph. How do you explain that?

Given the conditions, I dare say they were quicker on the climbs than descents! But even so, 21kph (13mph) average is nothing for these boys. They could ride at that pace comfortably on their regular XC bikes. But it’s like saying an F1 car can do over 200mph, so why are the average speeds for F1 races below that?

The difference an e-bike makes to top XC racers is way, way less than an average joe. An e-bike will allow an average rider to effectively double (if not more) their own power, for these guys like Piddock, it’ll likely give them 50% more. I just don’t get the point of e-bike racing, I really don’t!

All those that ‘can’t see the point’ clearly mean ‘I hate ebikes’.

Do I hate e-bikes? No. Do I think they are misused by some? Yes. As an enabler to let older/less able folks out on the road/trails, they’re great, fully behind that idea.

What gets me is people that misuse them or insist on being an entitled moron as soon as they get on one. Yes these people would be morons if they were on a regular bike too, but at least they’d be so slow I’d never have to see them, rather than have them barge past you with their saddle set far too low while fully body armoured and full faced up on the climbs, only to then bimble their way down the trail like a pensioner.

As a professional sport though like this, it is purely to sell bikes. The fact they are electrically assisted is pointless, these guys are athletes that can easily ride at or beyond the limiter anywhere.

Are the bikes de-restricted or do they run regular speed limiters? Because if they do have the limiter on still, they might as well just strap extra weight on their XC bikes. I’m not super fit (above average – can hold 200-250 watts pretty comfortably for extended periods) and when I’ve ridden e-bikes I’m constantly on the limiter when climbing. A beanpole like Piddock is just going to be riding a 25kg bike by the time he takes two pedal strokes. Completely pointless.

I swear by Craft for baselayers, reasonably cheap, fit well and seem to work extremely well and last ages too. I’ve got a sleeveless, 2x short sleeve & 3 long sleeve (including the frankly excellent Gore Windstopper fronted one) and have them in rotation throughout the year. Can often been found pretty cheap online. Not cheap cheap, but cheap enough!

Yup, OneUp has 3 holes, mounted mine to a Hope Tech 3 lever with no issues :)

Another vote for stupid weather, hate those days when the weather decides be blazing sunshine one minute then pissing down the next. BBC Weather also seems to just put every symbol under the sun most days, so basically they don’t have a clue.

Car heater controls being included in a touch screen rather than physical buttons. Not only is it annoying, but also downright dangerous. Just give me a big f-off dial for my A/C, Climate or heater please!

COVID. Simple as. Manufacturers just don’t have enough to meet demand and many are actually telling dealers what they can have, rather than dealers placing orders for whatever they want. Parts availability isn’t helping production, I understand Fox are having issues with stock at the moment which is holding up a lot of bikes, I dare say Shimano and Sram are struggling to keep up with demand both OE and OEM too, which leads to more delays. All it takes is for one part to be delayed and the whole shipment of bikes is held up.

The bike industry. It gets worse and worse. I get there’s a pandemic going on and cycling has literally exploded, but what the hell is with bike manufacturers not being able to stick to delivery dates, or worse, even launching new products knowing full sodding well they either don’t have enough to meet demand or even have a single one to actually sell?

Just feels like every brand is just a giant kickstarter project at the minute. Case in point, if the info I’ve just been given is to be believed, the bike I ordered in June (before it was even released) will not be in my hands until February of next year… Heard of a friend of a friend who wanted two identical kids bikes for Christmas, could get one, but wouldn’t have the other until July 2021!

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1A-3PRzWC2QJ:https://www.bike-magazin.de/mtb_news/mtb_neuheiten/specialized-stumpjumper-evo-2021/a45160.html+&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

This the link?

Squamish or Downieville I think, just for the trails. Squamish is probably a little too like the UK weather wise, Downieville would have a better climate…

Just swapped out my Reverb for a OneUp rather than service it. It still worked, but the OneUp looked good value and I could get waaaaay more drop than I had. New bike comes with a OneUp post too so if one goes wrong I can sling the other on sharpish. Only had one proper ride on the OneUp but impressed so far, drops pretty smoothly, the lever is great and it pops back up at a nice pace. It perhaps doesn’t feel as refined as a Reverb/Fox/Bikeyoke (when you drop it straight to the bottom its a pretty hard bottom out rather than kinda damped feeling?) but for the price it’s hard to fault and seems easily serviceable at home.

Cane creek cranks made me go wow when I saw them in work, otherwise not much these days! Actually thinking about it when I took my Mk5 Soul (mercury colour) out of the box I was pretty impressed! Chromag make some lovely stems and pedals and the new Transition bikes are stunning, but generally speaking I don’t get that crazy wow feeling on much kit these days. Maybe working in the industry numbs me to an extent? Who knows but I think I find I appreciate well thought out engineering more than simple looks.

Seems like AF frames are December, V2 frames should be mid-October. Ripleys are now February!

Don’t expect a huge weight saving, swapping from an aluminium GX to the Descendant was about 60g from memory. They do look nice though and they don’t scuff up after a single pedal stroke on a muddy ride like alloy cranks.

Pretty much the same bar the graphics as you say. I’ve got some GXP Stylo/Descendant carbon cranks and they’re identical graphics aside, so can’t see DUB ones being any different.

Speaking more generally than just STW in MTB terms, it tends be around the £2-3K full suspension bikes with 120-160mm travel, though the surge in e-bikes I’ve seen around here in North Wales is insane recently. I’ve had rides where regular pedal powered bikes have been vastly out numbered by the number of e-bikes. Most blast past on the climbs and then wobble their way down the descents at a snails pace…

I’ve used Sapin D-lights for my last few builds, well impressed, not had one go yet, despite giving them an absolute pasting over the last 4 years, especially on the Soul. It’s so damn stable I almost forget I’m on a hardtail and only have lightweight Forekasters and 28 spokes but they just keep trucking on. They’re built onto Pro 4’s with Stan’s Arch MK3 rims for reference, but overall they’re pretty light, super tough and quite readily available from Just Riding Along in most lengths and well priced. Only way you could go “better” would be CX-rays or DT Revolutions but doubt they’d be much benefit on a fat bike!

Ardent Race in winter is a death trap! I had one with a DHF up front one summer and was too lazy to change it, I had a huge moment going down a fire road at Llandegla one night in the dark. A mate was right behind me and I moved slightly off line towards the side of the trail so I could see a little better (his lights drowned mine out, all I could see was my shadow), hit a patch of mud and the back end just went completely, to this day how I saved it is still a mystery and the thing group legend! Neither me, the lad behind me or the others a bit further back have any idea how we didn’t end up having a massive crash!

I run Forekaster 2.35’s front and rear on the Soul and they’re not bad, the rear is looking tired though so thinking I’ll go with a Dissector up front and throw another Forekaster on the rear, heard good things about DHR II front/Forekaster rear and the Dissector is little faster. Dissector/Rekon seems a popular combo on some bikes like the new Transition Spur and Revel Ranger too, though not sure how the Rekon would fair in deeper mud, likely fine on the rocks though in 3C compound

A lot of the weight is in the tyre choice, with EXO+ Assegai/DHR II you’ve got the best part of 2.5kg of tyres on there! The frames are competitive compared to modern SC/Yeti bikes. Swapout to some lighter but still tough tyres and you’d knock a fair amount of weight amount without compromising durability.

I thought they got rid of the changing tyres under red flags after the Monaco fiasco in what 2011/2012, but obviously not! Ruined a great race then and had an impact on this one as well. Completely agree with Lando, getting lucky with the timing of a safety to make a pit stop is one thing, not having to a pit stop at all is dumb.

Great race still though, penalty for Lewis was harsh given how close he was to parabolica and the fact the screens are on the right side of the track; these guys are looking so far ahead you’d never see them unless the team told you to look for them, which presumably everyone else bar Giovinazzi did as they were 10+ seconds at least behind.

Slight thread hijack! Anyone know if the extended plus version of the Hatchbag covers the back of the front seats like the Rhino ones? Looking at one of either for my new car, already have one of the rare Duff Monster bags and a set of wheel bags but want to go full belt braces for car protection as I completely blew the budget and want to keep it looking the way it looks now!

Plenty of capable 29ers out there, actually preferred the shorter travel stage 4 over the 5, for me a shorter 120-ish bike is all you need for what most ride, particularly up here in north wales. No bottle mount on the 4 though so I’ve ordered a Transition Spur

yep, works fine!

Most XT brakes since the M785 series I’ve tried have had the wandering issue, sometimes it’s an annoying niggle, other’s its downright scary! I’ve got E4’s on both bikes at the minute and can’t see me changing them, enough power for me at 75kg with 180/180mm rotors and good modulation, they look ace too.

Tweeks have it in Grey – https://www.tweekscycles.com/uk/lezyne-pocket-drive-hv-pump-2012573/

As above, unless you can find any pre-orders that haven’t already sold, you’ll be waiting until the new year. Seems to be the way at the minute, even pre-orders are taking months to come through

Stopped using Fox years ago, the gloves were OK but nothing more, the jackets and shorts were garbage though. I had 3 jackets fall apart within a few rides and shorts tear apart on the first rides, no crashing or anything, just a general bimble. Moved over to Giro for gloves and find them spot on, fit and quality is good and they last really well, just gutted they don’t make the Hoxton merino glove anymore, best I’ve ever owned and perfect for 3 seasons as long as it’s not too wet. 7Mesh have me covered for pretty much everything else. Pricey? Yes. Incredible good and crazy durable. Oh yes. Big outlay initially but worth it in the long run.

7Mesh Revo, mine are going on 3 years old and still just as well put together and waterproof as they were when new. Not cheap but so worth it!

Feeling and being slower are different things, going from a very conservative Trek geometry wise to a bike that is likely the best part of half a foot longer will take some getting used to and adapting too. I have a MK5 Soul and it is one of the fastest hardtails I’ve ridden. Yes it feels more laboured than others, I had numerous 26″ hardtails to compare it too, even an older BFe, but the clock doesn’t lie and it is way, way faster. It likely feels slower because the handling is calmer than the shorter, steeper Trek. I find you just need to ride them more actively; get your weight further forward and accept it isn’t going to “feel” fast and it’ll fly.

7Mesh do two bibs with pockets, the Foundation and the MK3. Got some older MK2’s (no pockets) which are ace and the new Foundation with pockets, can’t notice a difference in comfort from the pad, but the Foundation is significantly cooler thanks to the largely mesh construction. My MK2’s are over 2 years old and are still going strong, it’s lovely kit and well worth the price.

I am sure you would get the stuff given to <span class=”skimlinks-unlinked”>you.not</span> so sure if you would have to give it back.

As journo, yes. For this, probably not.

Not wanting to put the job down, as I say I do something similar myself and it’s OK, just don’t apply expecting to be thrown the latest and greatest parts to go out and “test”!

Sounds like you’ll most likely be writing the bumf underneath the image on the product page of the stuff they sell from how I read it.

Anyway, this sounds like a good job for someone. Can someone find me something similar? I want to travel the world sampling all the different guiding companies, covering events and finding an excuse to visit Whistler every summer. I’d love to write about stuff like that.

Literally none of that.

Sitting in my spare room trying to regurgitate a press release about a turbo trainer sounds like a nightmare.

Literally all of this. Believe me.

Unless they spread the love to other “lesser” folks, the only people that travel in the industry are the full-on journo’s or the people who do the buying and hold the cheque book. Sounds like a good job all the same, but if you want to travel the world and get free stuff to test rather than just testing what you buy, you’d need to get a job a mag/online news/review site.

Similar to what I do now, but I sure as hell don’t get £24k a year! Holidays are what they are, its average and nothing better. Wages in the industry are low, but the discount you get kind of goes someway to make up the difference.

With regards to support for Transition in the case anything goes wrong, I think the main issue is supply, rather than a UK specific issue. The bikes are in such high demand, Patrol’s are basically sold out and the new Scout/Sentinel/Spur are also very hard to get hold of unless shops have unsold stock from pre-orders they’re yet to receive. I think it’s just them being a victim of their own success, like Cotic I guess, if anyone has a warranty issue on a BFeMax or Solaris for example. Cotic are an awesome brand to deal with, but they can’t magic things out of thin air if something goes wrong.

Sentinel. I like what Privateer are doing, the theory behind it at least, but can’t help but feel the 161 is too much a short travel DH bike; too heavy and the seat tube is so damn steep the seated pedalling position on paper looks super short, too short to make it an all-rounder. As a winch and plummet new school freeride bike/enduro monster maybe, but as a do it all bike, the Sentinel is likely the better choice.

Picked up the new Ventana a few months back, loving them so far. Fit is better for me than the Terraduro and the Boa dial is ace, look awesome too, It’s exactly what I wanted after beating my Terraduro’s to death over 5 years, any slight niggles I had have been sorted on the Ventana. Tried both the Fastlace and the Boa before buying, the Boa is well worth the extra.

Not nice to see at all, hope all are ok, no one seems to have mentioned the poor photographer he hit either, could be just as seriously injured but seemingly forgotten about