MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation

Yep, I think Neko mentioned trek was testing a high pivot enduro bike at kanuga or rock creek in some podcast he was on (not sure which one, listen to way too many of them at work)

Definitely Bruni. And agreed, it looks like a Fuel EX to me blocked out in the still shot for being sponsor-incorrect. 

That’s a current gen Enduro. Theres nothing to glean one way or another about what geo adjustments, suspension format, dropout configuration, or anything else that the next gen will have (Of course it’s going to have UDH though, because duh).
 

Also, Specialized’s execution of the chainstay flip chip, as on the Stumpy Evo and the Kenevo SL, is fine for UDH, as it’s based at the Horst pivot in front of the dropouts. The kind of chainstay length flip chip that Santa Cruz had on the first Megatower can’t work with UDH, but that’s a different configuration. 

Bit more info here

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/dvo-previews-new-onyx-38-fork.html

Do we know anything about an updated version of the Reverb AXS? I’ve seen some heavy discounts on the current model this week.

There's bound to be a 200mm version coming. Unsure what other changes will be coming along with that, but the controller pods have 2 distinct buttons on them, so it seems probable that there's more than just the addition of a new length to the lineup.

With the Trek on the non-drive side, and the Nomad in soft focus, there's not much detail to see, but Miranda's bikes in today's SRAM announcement are clearly set up with the new stuff. You can tell the crankset is different than current models, you can see that the controller pods are the new shape, and—I could definitely be wrong about this one—the amount of exposed stanchion on the droppers has me thinking those miiiiiiight be 200s. Maybe.

Link taken from WW forum. https://twitter.com/AshinChina/status/1633112176952061952

Any day now! 

Could be this bike?

Looks like SRAM switched from the dub direct mount (3 bolt) to the road direct mount standard for the new cranksets. Probably to prevent people from using the current, flat-top chain incompatible, chainrings.

Probably to be Quarq ready, that uses 8 bolt pattern.

I feel that the overlap of people who will be running a bash ring and a power meter is very small. But true, now they won’t have to make a separate quarq compatible crankset like they currently do.

Instasram posted this, the same gimmick as the original AXS I think? Launch is probably a week away.

It was for GX. they released a similar picture 14 days before they announced it.

Anybody else here who just couldn't care any less what nonsense SRAM is up to or am I the only one?

I'm just not at all excited about electronics this, wireless that - but that is what SRAM seems to have focused on these days. None of that stuff is gonna get anywhere near my bike.

I'm in the same boat electronics wise, as I've made it clear many times, but I'm also very interested in what is happening for precisely this reason.

If you want a mechanical grouoset that is worth peanuts on the road, for any "new" stuff you have to go Campagnolo. Both Sram and Shimano have gone fully electric, 105 and Rival included. With Campagnolo only the Super record is electronic, but is is also available in mechanical form. 

While Di2 12spd mountain groups are nowhere to be seen, all the murmurs are that Sram will only have a gx mechanical group coming up. If Shimano does a road move on the mountain as well, there won't be many mechanical groups to choose from. That is my worry.

If electronic groups actually added something to the experience, I'd be all up for it. In current form I really fail to see any benefits from them. 

A plot twist in usability would be a 6 or 7 SPD group with large jumps between gears (say 30 percent jumps) with something like a classified hub to fill in the gaps between those jumps, giving 12 or 14 gears in total. In my opinion it can't be something similar to 2x systems, it would have to be more seamless. No-one will deal with throwing the chain across the cassette in the middle of the gear range unexpectedly, therefore the gap filling approach to it all. The way I see it this system could realistically only be handled electronically.

Edit: or with a gearbox. Apparently pinion is force/power limited when it comes to shifting and with enough power you can shift even under full load (without letting up on the pedals like with the gripshift). Plus you get rid of the gripshift. 

If you are stuck with headset cable routing, then every cable you can avoid, is a win on maintenance side.

The thing with that is... The cycling industry sold the unknowing consumer on something, that is more or less more expensive and more cumbersome or complicated, that gives little to no benefit, but looks cool. And because of one of these something, another something was implemented.

It's up to you to decide did the wireless drivetrains enable through-headset routing or does through-headset routing necessitate wireless drivetrains.

I'll be here in my corner with external routing and mechanical drivetrains.

It’s the word we live in now… people find it easier to ‘pair’ something than run a cable. 

I don’t mind an old cable set up, I like just leaving the phone in the van for short ride to just get away from technology all together. I’ve never used AXS so no idea if it’s good or bad. But if you don’t have to make frame with cable ports then surely that’s a good thing? And no cable in the rear swing arm would allow the suspension ever so slightly better…. 
 

either way… we will always have something to charge up. 

I'm with you on this one - the whole build up with all the MoiMoi TV videos and Craigslist BS is driving me nuts!!! Jsut show the SRAM Fanboys the goods already. I personally (do care how integrated) will never go wireless..probably will be the future but for now, workhorse Shimano XT everything.

Rumor has it that the new SRAM stuff will be revealed March 21,

That date has been thrown around before, yeah, and it fits the two week narrative from the gx release. 

You are not alone don't worry.

Workhorse Xt till the clutch wears out.  I’d argue the deore derailleur is actually better performing.

personally the drivetrain that I’m excited to try is the new cues line.  Quality 11 speed with reliability/longevity being sought after over percentage points of weight, range, and shift speed sounds pretty fantastic.  Perhaps if my passion for bikes was more driven by my personal performance on them opposed to having fun in the woods I’d be more willing to pay for the benefits of wireless shifting.  All of my racing friends who have switched seem very stoked on it (other than cost).

Been running full XT (3rd season with 5-6 rides per week) without issues..gotta bend it straight now and then but got the habit of maintaining and cleaning the chain and gears after a couple of rides. Servicing the clutch now and then helps to with wear and tear...

jesus wept,

The amount of whinging from you lot on a forum specifically about tech rumours and innovation is astounding to me.

Primoz, man, like I said, theres tonnes of brand new XX1 out in the world, go buy it so you no longer have to worry.  I can only assume you have tried AXS on your mtb, strangely everyone Ive spoken to that owns it, absolutely loves it.  Ive seen many online complaints, but I dont put too much stock into that, cause often its people weirdly expressing opinions about something they know very little about

those of you who are getting annoyed with the hype of new SRAM kit, may I suggest unfollowing any of it on social media, and maybe stop visiting a webpage dedicated to new tech and innovations.  Whether youre into SRAM or not, we can all agree, its prolly one of the biggest new releases in quite some time right?

Not that deep bro

I mean, I'll be interested to see if there's anything new that we haven't seen already or didn't anticipate, but it does feel like sram may have overdone the whole spy shot marketing thing a little. It does feel awfully protracted. But, in the past sram has taken a lot of flack (often justified) for releasing new stuff that had hadn't been thoroughly tested and had issues they should have caught in testing. They seem to be getting better about this in recent years. So if them getting their stuff out in the wild with their athletes (and resultant spy shots) for a long time before they release a product is a consequence of more thorough real world testing, then who can fault them for that? Personally I'm not interested in anything battery operated, but it's likely the trunnion mount will trickle down to cable units eventually. 

Just finished the John Hall podcast (3+ hours goes by fast!).

He confirmed the production Intense DH bike will be aluminum.  Potentially more aluminum Intense frames in the future?