Tech From the Pits - EWS Round 2, Tasmania

 What with all the old santa cruz?

 It's a B vitamin deficiency

 wrinkles for days...

 Lots of bikes would look really good chrome'd out but manufacturers tend to listen to market analysts instead and use whatever color came out as "That's rad!" from the last focus group (i.e. neon everywhere).

 Shiny object syndrome

 GT needs to bring back the ball burnished option...it's classic GT and never gets old.

 I was thinking exactly the same haha.
Maybe it's just special because it reminds of the legendary old GT Zascar hardtail frames? God was I in love with those bikes. Pictures of Hans Rey with his statue of liberty stand on a chrome Zascar come to mind. Couldn't get any better than that.

 @mazze: My mate still has one in mint condition with the Judy SL and Smoke/Dart tyres. Flite saddle too. He never uses it but says he'll never sell it either.

 Had a similar thought with the wheels on that thing. Not a huge fan of those new Flow graphics but those look mint on that bike.

 I wonder why he runs float x over the x2? I see a lot of guys are doing that

 Nah my vote for the best looking is the Rocky Mtn Altitude new model, looks sic as, hope they offer it in 29"

The Chrome Gt does look good though, Wyns better than Martins lmao!

 @b-mack: the reverse sceme custom carbon zaskar gt had the other year with carbon black frame with crome logos and stickers should be standard on carbon gt:s imho.

 @b-mack: Fell in love with Konas ball burnished HeiHei back in the day. Thought I was getting the same on my Abra Cadabra. Turned out to be chrome paint :-(

 Its like, Nineties are back .

 @Verbl-Kint: Trek Remedy 9 in 2014 was chrome'd

 @b-mack: The ball burnished Zaskar was awesome.

 I love the way GTs Look, but every time i have ridden one with their rear suspension, i have been sketched out by the way the bb moves underneath my feet... #justsaying

 @Verbl-Kint: Chrome Dazzler in Quezon City FTW!

www.pinkbike.com/photo/14334614

 @mazze: Couldn't agree more *reminiscing*, those were the days. Hardcopy, dog eared magazines with a few teaser shots of the bike. Have a retro ball burnished Zaskar frame in the garage, original in mint condition. Refuse to throw it away!

 Super sweet looking! Any more news on this? Seems to be the most complete shot of it I've seen so far.

 @thepwnstar39: Rumor has it the full launch for the bike will be at Sea Otter. I've heard the specs are 150mm rear/160mm front, and it will be available in both carbon and alloy frames.

 @adrock-whistler: alloy frame would be rad. looks pretty sick. Hope the rear is a bit stiffer than on the previous model but I'll happily have one again

 wouldn't you?

 Yup, I want that bike

 Tha f*ck is davinci?

 @rmgcr: I ment devinci

 @christillott: meant

 @turns-matt: nope...definately ment

 @christillott: defiantly ment

 Lol I love pinkbike comments

 @christillott: meh

 You mean the artist?

 @dh1stan: thought at the time the artish and bike company were spelt the same...goes to show I should read before making a comment

 @christillott: hahah. It's ok. Everyone makes mistakes

 @dh1stan: exactly...I did notice the grammar police making an appearance

 It's going to be 50:50 between coil shocks and air shocks next year I'll wager

 Very, suspension is getting so hot right now!

 I want that grip shift lockout so bad

 @tblore: how bad?

 @tblore: Isn't it just a grip shift initially intended for a front mech? Shouldn't be too hard, just connect the grip shift cable to the lockout.

 @CaptainSnappy certain legend would not be Tippie...he was was selling all his Rockys on Instagram today . But maybe the Godfather has somethin special lyin around????!

 @sospeedy: lol pike with sr suntour stickers!

 Looks like he's using the side loading cage on the Ibis website.
This:
store.ibiscycles.com/arundel-carbon-sideloader-bottle-cage--21oz-bottle-bundle-p333.aspx

Problem is, that thing is 60 clams. I'm personally not that desperate for a water bottle.

 My Nomad has a very tight fit cage as well, I use the Specialized side loader and it works very well. I can just barely fit a 21oz bottle.

 @IamZOSO: quite a few companies make cheaper versions..I got a lezyne side loading cage for 20 $..composite material, cheap and light...on a nomad , so not much room, but with the side loader works well

 Spec side loader is tits.

 Zefal side loader works to get a small bottle on my jeffsy. The cage is a separate piece and you can use it alone. And it is cheap.

 @chantalfelten: I have a zefal side loading cage that cost 5 euros... that's msrp. It's thermoplastic, light as they come and if it breaks I'll just go and get another. Works fine with my 500ml elite waterbottle and my 750ml podium big chill.

 @justwan-naride: ha nice, the lezyne was all I could find round here ...when I was looking all the " bros " were recommending the crazy expensive arundel ...I was like yeah nope , rather get a new tire or something for that extra cash ?? That arundel is the best example of how cyclist often don't look at function and focus on Shiny.

Love riding with a bottle for so many reason, but one unexpected side effect Has been that I love buying bottles from local shops in places we visit to ride...give back to a local shop for beta and have a great little useful memory to take back home

 @WAKIdesigns: If you ride slow and or smoth trails trails. Buddy finally had to ditch the Spec cage after 3 bottles went missing on the shore.

 @2bigwheels: That's the biggest complaint I have against bottles on mountainbikes. At least back in the day it would annoy me to see lost bottles on the side of the rougher descends, apparently rattled loose from the bottle cage. Either riders were too lazy to hike back up and find it, couldn't find it or didn't feel like interrupting the flow of these fun descends. Either way, it is a chunky piece of litter. For the rest of course, it is a personal choice that doesn't affect me or the environment.

 @2bigwheels: never lost a bottle from spec side loaded cage. Happened from top loaded Bontrager and Topeak. And my trails are not smooth. And if I rode Shore I probably wouldn't use water bottle... And at least 99.999% of mountain bikers in the world will never ride the shore, and 90% will not ride rough trails fast. Which may bring us to a conclusion that water bottle is an attribute of riders that are not as good as an average Pinkbike big mouth. Which I guess was the point here. Skill signaling. Salute the heroes. There is still enough money in Water Bottle adaptation for a frame maker to make room for one

 @WAKIdesigns: I don't dare to go into the statistics of it. Riding rough terrain fast is often smoother, so that 90% is more likely to lose a bottle (if you sport any) than the other 10% on that same section of trail.

In think more than enough frame manufacturers build frames with room for a bottle. But this room created sacrifices how low the frame could be. And this low top tube (or actually the unnamed difference between standover and bb height) is what makes it fun to corner. So it is a compromise. Either have a low top tube, or have room for a bottle. I don't mind bottle-cage-compatible frames being designed and build for those who like them. But I'd hate to see bikes like the Kona Process and the Alutech ICB2.0 disappear just because they don't accept a bottle inside the front triangle.

 @vinay: how is low frame making it easier to corner? That's a stretch... go through some older pictures from World Cups on grassy off-cambers, like LaBresse or Les 2 Alpes, this is where bikes get leaned most if the foot doesn't come out. Or that Red Bull vid with Finn Iles (which is a must Watch) Check their body position. Where does frame and their outer knee come in conflict? I ride 17" HT frame with straight TT on pumptrack. Never ever had an issue with knee slamming into top tube. Spec tried to sell this BS about lowered center of mass of a frame thus lowered standover and frame designs inspired by Salvadore Dali's paintings. I have utmost repect to Jason Chamberlain (I ride pedals with his Nickname on them, love the guy) but that theory is a stretch too...

 And fast over rough terrain, boooh... that's a blurry guey chasm of reference. The most times I lost water bottle was on chatter on fireroad going 40-60 km/h, or on a road ride with top mounted cage when I rode onto some bigger bump I didn't notice. At 60 or more.

 @WAKIdesigns: Ha, I can't get too scientific about this. That is, I haven't done research on the level of: change one thing and leave everything else the same. Also, it's been a very long while since I've ridden with a bottle. I don't spend too much time riding fireroads but when I do find a bottle, it is on a rougher descend. I was done with these when the bottle drops in front of you when riding down a staircase. It is uncomfortable having these in the way. The only thing that comes close to "science" or "proper comparison" is when riding down an escalator. It just feels much smoother when the (empty) escalator runs up compared to when you ride down a stationary escalator. It is not necessarily your speed being higher of course, but your velocity relative to the steps of the escalator is higher when the escalator runs up.

As for cornering. I'm about 6ft tall (182cm last time I measured, but that was with shoes) and I currently ride a 16" hardtail. When I started out (as an adult), I was advised to get a 19" frame. When I was done with that one (spent too much on replaceable mech hangers, and the dropouts were bent too) I got a steel 18" Voodoo Erzulie. I loved how I could move it underneath me in corners. Felt much more fun, never said it was easier. But more fun, definitely. When I bent that one in a crash (not broken but the head tube must have gotten steeper than a BMX, Joe Murray said it was still good to ride) I got my current steel 16" DMR Switchback. Surely even lower must be even more fun. And I felt it was. Of course low frames from that era (I got the DMR back in 2008 or so but it was already old then) are short too, so that was my compromise. Reach is about 585mm and I'm running a 40mm stem. I'm definitely tempted to invest in a one of these modern frames that is still low but gets me some more length.

That said, of course when you're coasting with the inside pedal up, most of the time the top tube isn't much in the way. Though sometimes (I feel) it is leaning against my calf so apparently I would still enjoy having some more room there. Same with pumptracks. Corners are typically banked so usually you can stay centered. Where it is in the way is when you do have to pedal on a level corner or tight uphill switchback. You want to lean the bike towards the hill so there is the crank you want to have pointing up. Of course ratcheting is going to help but still, a lower top tube there would give more room for a longer stroke. Not sure whether uphill switchbacks are covered in Ryan's Cornering Continuum, still need to look into that one.

But long story short, whether it is easier or not I cannot confirm. But the low top tube feels like more fun and to me, that's what matters.

 Nevermind. I just didn't recognize the new SE4 tread.

 If the front mech causes these scratches there, adjustment (aka attaching it to the frame properly) goes a long way.

 Oh Waki, obviously you don't need Eagle to climb. But for someone who isn't a superhuman like Graves, wouldn't an easier gear be nice to have over the course of a 57km, 1700m vert day?

 Eagle would have been massively beneficial at whistler ews. Better for the pedal across the courtyard to the gondola liaison.

 #doyouevenclimbbro ?

 @rewob: "Get OFF your bike!"

 Yes tires dd ,but Nino has to climb real steep trails

 I've not detected sarcasm at certain times in my life, but c'mon guys, that was an easy one.

 @sexley: proceeds to scooter along with one foot*

 @rewob: I think 2X is the way forward for climbing days. 1x leaves too big gaps between gears, especially if you're using 10-50

 @mikekazimer: agreed, nobody ever did 1700 m vert in a day before eagle was released. SRAM is our savior

 @jaame: I think 2x10 is pretty great. It's the cheap and cheerful option.

 @jaame: That's something I agree with, although I love 1x for "normal" rides. If budget was not a problem I'd certainly try Shimano's single shifter 2x Di2 XTR. Seems like a best of both worlds approach.

 The issue with Eagle is that if Shimano would make a 9-54 cassette, some journalists and some people would still find it useful... off course it would have to be Shimano or Sram, because only a huge company can make Emperor's New Clothes... if E13 or OneUP made one, people would laugh at it, but a big company that makes a press camp inviting journos from all over the world, pays for their flights, hotels and food, will totally make an impact. I mean for fks sake they sell electronic shifting... rear mech costs 500 bucks. Some people want to ride bikes, not competitively, that are lighter than an average dumb bell used on the gym. They will go through an hour of excruciating high intensity circuit training with 20kg dumb bell in each hand, yet they are prepared to spend 3k to take 11kg 140 bike to 10kg. ooooooh pedalling is sooo hard. Oooooh, I have 1700m to climb today, let's check if there's a Strava segment for this fire road climb, perhaps I will be able to get into top100. Oooooh I wish I ordered the 20g lighter LB rims. Snake oil FTW.

 @WAKIdesigns: I love your trolling waki!

 Liv actually does women's specific geo for their frames that is distinct from the dimensions on the equivalent bikes produced by Giant. Cool enough in my opinion that I bought a Liv for my wife.

 I'm waiting for the geometry to come out. That thing seems like human-kind's greatest creation

 As they say - big hands, big... tires?

 @ulis: dick, say it

 I really hope they launch a new / updated DH rig and call it the Chainsaw.

 @ratedgg13: That'd be incredibly cool.

 Episode V111!! A new Hope!! May the force be with you HB111

 anyone know what rims hope have put on their own enduro bike? I wager not their enduro rims??

 @the-barn: could be their newish 35W rims.

 @ashyjay: could be, just interested as I run their dh rims on my 'duro rig

 @the-barn: Was riding with Matt when he had one of the prototypes, he was running the 35W back then, pretty sure he's carried that forward...

 Nah he's just riding around looking like he's racing!

 Your Hightower looks like his 5010!