ashfanman

The look on his face at 1:28 and 6:45. That's why I love Chris Akrigg. You can tell he just gets a real kick out of riding bikes, no matter what type. Has to be one of the most talented all-round riders of his generation.

It's a bit of a Catch 22, really. For most people, the relatively high cost and lack of available frames will stop them from buying a gearbox-equipped bike, even if they would like one. But the cost can't really come down properly unless production volumes go up considerably, and that isn't going to happen until one of the major manufacturers produces a gearbox-equipped bike for the mass market. And that, in turn, isn't going to happen until either SRAM or Shimano start building one. As good as the Pinion system is, the interdependency between the major bike and component manufacturers is just too strong for them to break into that market. It's frustrating that genuine evolution is being stifled because of this. What I'd love to see happen is for either SRAM or Shimano to buy Pinion, spend another 12-18 months tweaking the design with their considerable R&D resources, then work with either Specialized, Trek or Giant - or, even better, all three - to produce a gearbox-equipped bike for the mass market. If that happened today, I genuinely believe that within maybe five or ten years, the majority of high-end bikes would be sold with gearboxes.

Keep it simple: Dartmoor Root Works for both the company's roots, and also the roots that this thing will gobble up on the trail.

Really nice to see a company actually think about the parts they spec on a bike. Very rare that I see a full-build and pretty much wouldn't change a single thing, but they've got this one nailed.

Agreed - gearboxes are the way forward. They haven't got there yet - they're still too heavy and too expensive - but Pinion are getting close. The only thing that's really holding them back is the compatibility issue and the requirement for a proprietary frame. Unless they manage to come up with a new system that can be fitted to a standard frame, which seems unlikely, as there's isn't room in the bottom bracket, then it's probably going to take one of the big manufacturers (Spesh, Trek, Giant, etc) to got on board and produce a gearbox frame for the mass market. I live in hope.

A photo that actually shows how steep a trail is, rather than making it appear much flatter; a berm being absolutely DESTROYED; an epic mountain landscape; an utterly ridiculous scrub; and a really cool sequence. All that's missing is a massive crash with some poor guy's face half buried in the dirt, but otherwise this has to be one of the best selections for POM I can remember. :)

Now who's joking... ;)

It was more of a joke comment to big up Affy. One of my favourite riders - hoping he has a really good season in the new series. Joking aside, you're almost certainly right. I'm sure the GT would be a bit of a slog for most ordinary riders to have as their only bike - that weight would start to make itself felt on really long rides - but for enduro it probably isn't such a big deal. That said, 31lbs is pretty porky - that's a full 5lbs heavier than the new S-Works Enduro. I'm sure Dan will be able to handle a heavier bike - he used to ride DH, after all - but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be faster on a much, much lighter bike. It may only be a tiny bit faster, but in a race setting, that can make all the difference...

So it's heavy and cumbersome? Just goes to show how good a rider Dan Atherton actually is. Imagine how fast he would've gone on a really good bike...

Like you'd need to watch a video to get stoked to ride Cypress with Wade! That's like saying you'd need to watch porn to make you want to sleep with Megan Fox...