Mircea88

well...those are exclusively for xc.

For me, it's not the cost of THIS bike that's mistery. That fork alone sells for about 1000 $. And then there are desing pattents... I'm thinking really, how many people actually spend more than 2K $ on a bike nowadays. There are a lot of options in that price range, why not pick such a model once in a while ?

Well, at the end of the first paragraph there is a little mention of an Al option for "just " 2850+ $. But yeah, i guess the Carbon version is three times better, given it's price.

Yeah.... those are gonna sell like crazy. I mean, how often do you get the chance to spend on a trail bike twice the money you would spend on a decent sh car ?

Totally agree that the average biker should stick to whatever he can afford / likes. Sea Otter seems like more of a "show - off " event, where the riders go and relax, and show some prototypes to the masses. Racing comes second, or third or whatever...the atmosphere is most important. But when it's about racing for points and GC, there have to be standards. Wheel size seems to be a huge factor and there should be a standard for the rider's techinque, fitness and bike quality to become obvious. It's not like comparing handlebar lenghts or suspension settings, those are variables that help the rider to show his stuff. Some bike spec's have to be regulated, others must be left to personal choice so that ( both ) skill and bike craftsmanship to surface. Being liberal about wheelsizes within the World Circuit , i think, would bring only hazard.

Man, get a Prius or build an underground home if you really want to go eco...frames will be built wherever it's cheaper and ships will still sail, carrying a lot more stuff other than bike frames.

Damn girl, wash those feet ..

As i understood y'day, he also broke his collarbone. Either that info is wrong or the man is a Terminator.

I don't get it. How can one be judged by the helmet he's wearing ? How does a WC XC helmet look like?

The same sh*t happened in my country last year, with our national cycling federation. As you can imagine, the local bike scene isn't massive, with just 30 - 40 mtb events per year ( which are 90 % aimed at amateurs, with no UCI clasification ) and way less in road cycling. Furthermore, the federation is run by some incompetent dudes who are not interestesd in developing cycling, but use their position to serve certain obscure interests. There are , obviously, just a handful of pro's who have a UCI license but used local races for the prizes and training. Now they are left without solution and have to look outside Ro for races, and amateurs are left without examples to follow on the trail .