One Last Walk Through the Biggest Bike Show in California - Sea Otter 2018

 I like the guys who swear by carbon rims and then drop cush core and another 1000g grams into their tire liners. Just buy alloy bud.

 @raditude: right

 @raditude: It really depends if the point is to finish the race/event or save an expensive rim.

 @opignonlibre: Na i just think it's hilarious that dudes are taking stock 30lb 170mm bikes and adding carbon wheels and choochcore and ending up with a heavier bike. $1,500 upgrade to carbon only to add weight.

Spending $500 on a carbon rim only to add a bunch of weight in with cushcore seems pretty counter intuitive. I get it if you don't want to keep rebuilding wheels, but it just negates the need for carbon all-together, get an alloy rim with cc.

But the fact that we have Nomad 4's is god damn ridiculous. 170mm 27.5 wizard bikes that hold water bottles. bikes are so far beyond rider needs. my iron horse 7 point weighed another Nomad more and was intended for the same type of riding.

 the stiffness of a carbon rim is what i liked. same with carbon frames. there are ride quality benefits. and only each individual can put a value on that for themselves.

 That rim protection is for the kool Bros who are riding around on flat tires trying to convince themselves - and anyone who'll listen, that's what tire engineers had in mind when they developed the tire.

 If you're going to destroy your rims anyway a few times a year and can afford some carbon hoops, carbon takes way less ongoing maintenance until it explodes and you have to rebuild vs alloys death by a hundred dents, constantly having to bend dents out of the rim lip, or one big one that won't seal tubeless or bend back right, along with alloys excessive retruing requirements. I wouldn't consider 28 to 32 psi low on double down tires but if you're a heavy hack rider and ride where its rocky the inserts make a lot of sense.

 @raditude: The dudes putting carbon wheels on their 30lb bikes probably just like a good stiff wheel for shedding their 170mm of suspension. Carbon isn't 100% about weight.

 @speed10: i saw that pivot said something like that. intriguing for sure. i stil think carbon wheels are stiffer for the same weight.

 @raditude: I think you have completely missed the point of cushcore if you think its there to protect your rim. Maybe a bonus of their product, but not its intent.

 @warmerdamj: I don't disagree. 230lbs pre-gear, I like stiff wheels and still can't complain about alloy. Then again, i check my spoke tension often and I don't think everyone does.

 @H3RESQ: Yea, silly me. It isn't like rim protection is one of the four main selling points on their homepage or anything.

 @raditude: It depends of often you put alloy rims out of true.
For me...
Carbon rims : almost never
Alloy: once a month
The only reason I have carbon hoops on ( some) of my bikes.

 @raditude: But at the end of the day, its up to that individual rider to decide what they want to run. I agree, a good set of aluminum wheels can be completely bomb proof!

 @raditude: @raditude: Clearly you have never ridden an N4, because if you had then you would know that Santa Cruz nailed that bike. If you don't like carbon rims don't buy them. Carbon rims are only partially about weight savings, they are mainly about ride quality and feel. By using carbon rims with cush core you are getting great ride quality and rim/flat protection.

 @pierson100: Then you read that incorrectly because I was sharing how impressed I am with it

 @treekilla: Your mom goes to college.

 Those "Joe's No Flats" are unreal!

 @raditude: I haven't heard anyone mention the IH 7Point in years! I slacked out the head angle by 3 degrees and use mine as a park bike. And it still pedals great, as long as you're not in a hurry....

 29" We Are One rims with Cushcore combo here ($1200). I've damaged 4 alloy rims to the point of not being able to true, running 30+ PSI in the last 4 years. I made the switch not for rotating weight, but to run a secure setup with 0% chance of pinching the sidewalls and I can run 26 without worrying about damage. The Cushcore insert is unique in that it literally locks the tire on the wheel, meaning when you turn, the tire doesn't squirm AT ALL. Also, if I do happen to damage the rim, they have a lifetime warranty. The biggest surprise so far is how well they track around turns due to being super stiff. One of the best upgrades I've made in years.

 @ryan83: +1 for this. I just bought a pair of We Are Ones with Project 321 hubs 27.5 Agents. They dropped 1/3 of a lb from my bike (mostly in the hubs), and the ride quality is absolutely phenomenal. Much stiffer laterally, equally as compliant, and much more precise in steering and have given me the confidence to go faster. Other upsides include less maintenance truing the wheels and a more robust rim. Downside is that cracking one does scrap the rim vs aluminum, but given their lifetime warranty, I couldn't be happier with them!

 @ryan83: Well, i will commend them on their warranty. It is impressive. They either have very large margins, or they are going to fold due to sending free product out. I hope they are around long enough for you to not be out of luck.

 I'm betting that they make well-designed and durable products, using tight QA controls (made in-house) and know that their methods make a super strong rim. The Cushcore serves as an additional buffer/insurance but having already slapped them around (first ride was UPS/LPS/Porcupine Rim) I'm hopeful that these will last as they haven't even needed to be trued. And if I do the math, they only need to last 3 seasons to pay for themselves compared to the cost of alloy. I'm a 200lb rider and my other bike has EX511's, 32h (already gone through 1 rear rim).

I was the biggest carbon hoop hater until I added up the cost of my previous alloy setups.

 @ryan83: but you need to factor in the bike consumer who will want new rims each season and with a wide open policy like that it will just take one person to ruin it for everyone. People try to do nice things, I won’t fault them for trying.

 I need one but shorter travel please.

 If I had the bike I would tell it in my anchor man voice "that thing is good I want to be on you"

 I see what you did there...

 That's what she said

 @vitality: I spoke to a guy at their tent at SOC and he'd said they've got 3 or 4 more models on the way. Gorgeous frames in person.

 I was there on saturday... they realllly need to check their bikes before an event. The rebound was fast as shit. Tried compressing the suspension to see how it felt and the shock bounced like 5 times before staying still

 @Chingus-Dude: I'm glad that you visited us and noticed the fast rebound As we designed the bike's geometry from a clean desk, we did not stop there. We use a lot of effort to engineer the suspension accordingly to the geometry. It's not a surprise that we found something out of the box there as well. The suspension design is entirely different from the norm. The shock has a "high rebound" compression, what means that the shim stack is built to damp the high-speed rebound more than standard shocks. What this means is that when you use all of the travel the shock's first rebound is damped tight but when the big hit is taken care of the shock returns to its dynamic SAG position fast because we leave the low-speed rebound reasonably open. As you thought that we did not check the bikes, the bikes were just how the bike should be tuned. On Pole bikes, low-speed rebound can be left fast so that the bike's geometry holds high in the travel in small chatter and tracks the ground. If you need more convincing, there are first ride tests where you can read more about the bike and how it rides on a setup like this. We are organizing Pinkbike a test bike for them for long-term use but in the meanwhile, you can take a look at the first ride reviews found on our website from other big media. -Leo

polebicycles.com/machine

 @polebicycles: I’m glad to see this tune on the rebound coming from a manufacturer. I’ve had to take all of my suspension elements in for a custom tune for years. Maybe we can get the fork producers to make a similar tune.

It is surprising at first, the bike feels so “alive”. When you first head into a big hit you get worried that you will get bucked to the moon; then you don’t. Life is good.

A good friend of mine is getting a Machine hopefully in a week or 2. Can’t wait to try it out.

 @polebicycles:
Chingus-Dude. Killed by words.

 @polebicycles: I hear there may be a Demo day coming to the SF bay area.... any info on that?

 Especially if you are riding a Scott bike with the levers for front and rear suspension adjustments.

 I can't believe they expect riders to adjust those manually. Where's the goddamn remotes? Come on bike industry, sheesh!

And 35mm diameter bars!? Come on, isn't that like so 2104? Where's the 38mm bars that are 7.234% stiffer? (you just know it's a matter of time)

 @gtrguy: No stop they will actually take you seriously. Then we would be screwes

 Forget 35mm bars, 33.99mm bars is the future!

 @Endurahbrah: I have a Spark with a dropper and twinloc and can confirm I refer to it as having a cockpit. I struggle to fit race plates on the front of it.

 @gtrguy: you mean 37.99mm bar clamps

 "Tight jersey! Is that a spacecraft?" Looks over to buddy> "That dude must work for Spacecraft"

 @laxguy agreed. kind of lame to copycat like that.

 i literally bought a breakout two weeks ago. pretty sure they are still around.

 I've got the Aggressor on the back of my bike (2016 Canfield Balance). It's a great tire, rolls quick and solid cornering bite. 100% confidence with it riding the San Diego kitty litter rocks and dirt. Grips well in the loose stuff while climbing too.

 Hopefully WTB comes out with more wet weather options, Vigilante is sick but needs to be 2.5 too, we don't all ride in Cali dust!

 @Bobbyd82: excellent choice in bike. i had an aggressor DD and blew it out in like two weeks on my balance. i really like the griffin from maxxis, super underrated tire

 I totally read that as "handshake" when I was skimming the article. Oops.

 Same in danish. Might buy them just for that

 Thanks for noticing guys!
Literally the first person to walk into the booth on Thursday was Danish.
I'm working on my pronunciation at the moment :-)

 Sick paintjob tho

 Yeah, why no pic of the outside tho?

 They did in the last post about sea otter. @Endurahbrah:

 @Endurahbrah: cause it is ugly as balls!

 Looks like a Rock Razr, which isn't a bad thing. I was going to go with Bontragers SE4 2.6 for front but they don't have a rear specific tread, yet. Are these a true 2.6 or are they a touch smaller? I will be mounting to a 29mm internal diameter.

 Reminds me of Jaroslav Kulhavy seat angle.

www.todomountainbike.net/images/articles/2017/detalles-specialized-s-works-epic-2018-jaroslav-kulhavy.jpg

 That’s because it’s disruptive.

 @twozerosix: Disruptive to reproduction

 I demand retribution!!!!

 @whattheheel: punishment for propagating WTB’s tire awesomeness? I think I need more coffee

 You know that's a race truck... right.... just saying.