Slack Randoms: Audi's $10,000 eMTB, Top Gun Musical Bike Builds, the Fall of Rollerblading & More

 The Asics shoes made me instantly think of e bike riders for some reason

 Lol. That was almost exactly my thought too. Pasty white computer programmers who have the bike set up like it's a beach cruiser. I can already just envision the trail conflicts where the Audi is coming down and doesn't yield to the climbers and his defensive excuse is how much money he/she makes.

 @WillDoesMTB: I was drawn in by the rail-trail-hybrid-rider's helmet.

 Running shoes, death grip, look of being in over his head…

All he needs is some cargo shorts and I could relate 100% to that picture

 The model name is the most German thing ever.

 You mean that joey rollin knee pad-less with asics on? Yes, yes they did

 Looks like those asics are a few sizes too big, over consummation

 Two fingers on the brakes

 Slaying the gnar on route from the boardroom to the golf course

 Perfect for anyone looking to ride an e-mtb to the pickle ball court.

 At least they are honest about it :-). The same guy could be buying a top of the line Santa, Trek, Specialized emtb.

 Yup. Y'all still feeling "core" about riding e-bikes?.....

 He’s too fit actually LOL

 @WillDoesMTB: 90° riding position, Aisics shoes, and 2-finger braking.. lol screams performance

 @scott-townes: actually "etron" means turd in french... glad they put a - in that name...

 @cmi85: Just wait til BMW make a ebike.

 The kind that are happy to use African slaves to mine their batteries so you can be lazy af??

 @solf: Chances are your car, cell phone, pc/laptop, camera has capacitors in them which are mined in DRC, probably by child slaves.

 @wbro74: yeh but do we need another huge battery for something that doesn't need a battery, and hasn't had a battery prior to the last decade?

 @solf: So it's ok for some, and not others? It's subjective. My old man (73) would argue yes, we do. If it wasn't for ebikes he would have had to quit the sport he loves doing, still, years ago.

 @wbro74: They did in 2018. Oh….they did not. It was a specialized Turbo levo with a BMW sticker.

 PB-Saturday Fails Again!

 That Audi shot looks exactly like almost all the dudes that come down on e-bikes and roll over the lips of my builds.

 @wbro74: you can always PEDAL a bike around the park, I am not there yet but that is the plan.

 @wbro74: to be fair, he probably has an important job, not to mention family responsibilities. He’s getting the same amount of exercise as anyone, just in the time he has available

 indeed

 @Justfucnsmash: I don't think that anybody has ever claimed feeling "core" on their ebike! hahaha

 I honestly did not even notice the rider at all as I was looking at the bike.. had to scroll back up to even see what it was lol

 You won the internet today my friend.

 I thought that was a pink bike reviewer

 @VtVolk: this made me chuckle

 @wbro74: it won’t be very good in the snow apparently!

 @taskmgr: thanks, I've learned a new word today

 This guy embodies every major bike manufacturers demographic to be honest. This is exactly the kind of customer Specialized, Trek, Scott, Giant, Santa Cruz, etc want to reach out to. Why? Because these are basically the only demographic who can actually afford spend upwards of ten grand on a mountainbike.

 @wbro74: ah, maybe when I'm old I'll get battery assist. Been using gas on the dirt bikes and super motor for years.

 All the gear, no idea. I welcome all newcomers to our sport whether analog or not but this is just Sad.

 @taskmgr: good chance the dude on the Audi bike works for Outside.

 @bermdweller:
I'm pretty sure that every time somebody calls a bike an 'analog' bike, a baby seal dies somewhere.

 What does the Swampfest Attendee + Audi Eeb Owner venn diagram look like?

O O

 @Dem628: two fingers on the brake.

 @du4photo: I checked this on Google translate, because I couldn't believe it. That's even worse than the Mitsubishi Pajero :-D

 @taskmgr: Nope, that was the Outside+ reviewer.

 this thread here is exactly how pity most MTBers are. Who tha f*ck cares who rides what and what sneakers they wear?

I know why all of you decided to go here and pour this bucket of shit your comments are - you are small people and this shit talk made you feel better

 At least they took the reflectors off

 I bet that agency that ran that Toyota ad a couple years ago is like "whew, Audi thanks for taking the pressure off of us"

 is no one going to mention the elephant in the room? what self respecting cyclist doesn't wear socks?? i mean come on we have collections of socks bought for riding alone.

and where is the Quattro sticker??

 Seriously.

I’d like to offer my armchair expertise to literally any (German) automaker to assist in the design of an inoffensive if not outright attractive e-machine. The current offerings are inexcusably AWFUL. (Spare me the anti-ebike rhetoric. They’re here to stay.)

Also, why isn’t the Audi bike called “e-Tron”? That’s the four-wheeled branding, and it even appears on the battery pack/downtube of that monstrosity.

 Yeah, and let's revolve that luxury bike around a bargain basement Sun Race cassette so it can experience the same type of catastrophic drivetrain failures as our overpriced automobiles. That way, the consumer gets the true Audi experience!!!

 I was going to crack a joke about how it doesn’t cost enough for an Audi owner.

 Ahh,the luxury of GX and Sunrace cassete,only for $10000!

 @cerealkilla: Are these SunRace cassettes prone to failure then? I thought the abuse a motor can dish out will destroy/wear a 10t sprocket (which would fit a microspline or XD body) faster than it would wear an 11t sprocket. The other cassettes I can think of with this kind of range and a 11t smallest sprocket are the SRAM SX and NX cassettes. Would you suggest these are the better options? I honestly wouldn't know as I'm using neither.

 @vinay: I will take NX over SunRace any day! SunRace has by far the worst shifting I have ever experienced!

 lel they'll be good game for downhillers to put to shame

 So pretty much right on brand for Audi then

 Don’t forget that boss stance

 @intlhouseoffun: ...At least 90% of your weight on the saddle. And also don't forget to take both your feet off the pedals when it gets rough.

 @IluvRIDING: Forgot about feet off the pedals! Boss Wheeeee! Stance.

My $10 to their $10000 says that dirt spray is photoshopped in

 Nailed it!

 Rollerblading coming back any minute now any minute soon nope

 Did you see the size of the wheels? Not even close to 29", absolutely unrideable.

 No I became a regular mountain biker because I'm too old to run from cops, get kicked out of street spots, or throw myself onto concrete.

 Ohlins suspension front and rear. That's over $2k of the price right there.

 Don’t forget the Sunrace cassette, lol.

 ..or a Mazda ebike powered by a 13b rotary wankel

 @threesixtykickflip: the cops used to ride norton motorbikes with wankel engines when i was a teen. Oh the fun we used to have pointing and shouting ‘wankel’

 @threesixtykickflip: wouldn’t that just be a Norton f1 motorcycle

 @kebabroll: honestly, a wooden Morgan bike sounds awesome

 @therealnobody: lets design it for them for a on a 50% of profits deal, might as well do a 3 wheeler whilst we’re at it. Those are the best morgans.

 Don't want to be pefantic, but it's spelled Fantic. Oh, and it's definitely electric.

 i skated very with eito and takeshi when i was an instructor at woodward in early 2000s. they were so far beyond skilled. couldn’t speak english for shit though haha. their dad was a serious role model for them. awesome family

 Yes, as a rollerblader in my teens who regularly got into shit with skateboarders and BMXers, I look back now and think how stupid it all was. All of the "extreme" sports were cool in their own ways and mountain biking to me is just an extension of that.

 Was one of his records "Highest Ever Number of Consecutive Epic Days"?

 Not a Photoshop, it explains his awkward position on the bike and the 2 finger braking. He's entirely focused on creating a giant roost for the camera.

 @DoubleCrownAddict: This. He looks like he needs to press out a big fart. What actually came out was a tiny roost. Who knows what else..

 I had one as my first car. (And second car actually) We call them a 'brumby' here in Aus.
Fond memories if my brumby! Wish i could jistify buying another

There was a bloke in Adelaide (south australia) some years ago running a wrx twin turbo conversion in his brumby/brat.

 It can't be as casually cool as skateboarding because you gotta take the skates off when you're done

 I used to be like that about scooters, but that shit has evolved into something pretty insane in it's own right.

 Every single one of these sports can be taken to impressive levels. Look at us here, on a forum for people with two hands on some comfy grips (often wearing comfy gloves), two feet on the pedals (sometimes securely connected), occassionally even the bum on a saddle (as it is really tough to balance and support yourself through these four contact points), expensive tunable suspension front and often also rear, claiming that inline skating is easy.

I think inline skating is valid and doesn't necessarily compete with these other sports, just like the existence of snowboarding doesn't necessarily imply ski sports don't make sense. The hucks and gaps we've seen in that video were impressive and will be hard to beat on a skateboard, simply because it will be pretty hard to get up to the speed required. They can do stuff different to skateboarding. Mountainbikes will never be as impressive in the skatepark as the BMX bikes yet I don't expect BMX bikes to surpass the mountainbikes at Rampage or Hardline anytime soon.

What we did learn from the video is how sports can suffer from egos, images (cool/uncool), envy and an over-reliance on corporate money. It is kinda weird how the butthurt skateboarders would actively try to discredit the inline skaters and how that clicked with the big audience. People can be influenced that easily, apparently. As The Offspring said: It is cool to hate.

What is a bigger thing I see is that often something is declared "dead" by people who like to talk, just because it is no longer in the spotlight. Rock is dead, metal is dead (music, not the materials), inline skating is dead too apparently. Yet maybe, this "dead" stage is maybe the best stage. Those who really love it will keep doing it anyway. It is way more genuine and it will develop at a much more healthy pace. People get into it because they love to ride, not because they want to fit into something. Mountainbiking may have never seen those extreme highs in popularity but therefore it has also not seen such a dip. We now seem to be on a bit of a rise in terms of coorporations taking over. Discovery money into DH racing, yet riders have to stick to clothes that are officially marketed as DH or BMX specific. I can't wait for this shit to balloon, burst and to be back to the riders to develop the sport and their image.

 @vinay: mtbing is easier to enter into than both bmx and skateboarding , Iv done all three . You can ride a simple trail with relatively little practise. Learning to Ollie is unnatural and difficult so is even a simple 180 on a bmx. Riding ramps and stair sets takes years of practise to even attempt , which is the very beginning of the game. In-line is well easy , so it suffered from ppl zooming round skateparks with ease and it was annoying as they didn’t know the culture or mindset which competent skaters and boxers
Possessed. Similar to children on scooters dropping in on ramps. It’s annoying . I ant saying don’t do it , but it’s not in the same league of prestige because it is very easy to ride a rail on inline skates , risky yes , but a lot easier.

 @vinay: 10000% I am honestly really looking forward to when mtb is "dead" again, and we can all get back to riding bikes cos it's fun.

 @gabriel-mission9: you guys craving some counterculture kudos. More money In cycling means better bikes. If you want to see less ppl riding stop riding trail centres. In-line is shit ! So are ebikes !

 @chamy: Yeah I've heard that argument and I understand where you're coming from but how hard is it to just not let that bother you? I put it under "ego" and "envy" in my previous post and maybe these are the wrong words. But I feel in a way it is a discussion similar to assisted bikes vs unassisted bikes. "I worked so hard to be able to climb this hill at this pace and the other one is doing so without all the hard work". Or "I worked so long and hard to be able to drop into this bowl and this new kid can do it now already." The thing is, if it bothers and pains you what someone else is doing or able to do, whose problem is it really? What would happen if you just don't let that bother you? Is it better to let it bother you than not? Yes, sure it is easier to get rolling on inline skates as it is on a skateboard, let alone jump. Same with mountainbikes vs BMX, ski vs snowboard. But do you let your sense of accomplishment depend on what others are doing or can you relate it just to yourself or your own sport? I think it is very important to not get frustrated by what others are able to do. Yes it is easier to get rolling on inline skates. But these people are also utilizing the potential their sport has. Higher speeds for bigger gaps, different ways to play with your inertia so more rotations in the vert ramp. Just because it is hard if not impossible to get to that point on a skateboard doesn't mean those who can should hold back or stop. Sure the shallow audience who'd only watch who flies highest and furthest may be less impressed by the skateboarders but those with a genuine interest in sports will be able to appreciate everything the right way.

It is not about "counterculture kudos" really, more about sustainable growth or just sustainability full stop. Did you watch the video in the article (and I'm often guilty of not bothering with videos so no shame there)? What happened with inline skating is that it got picked up by the corporations, hyped, pushed into the mainstream before it got a chance to find its feet. Then when the hate campaign turned out to strike a note with the general public, the corporations dropped them cold turkey. And that's harder for everyone than if it just thrives on people and companies who rely on the sport and actually love it. Seen the huge inflow of German car companies sponsoring the sport and even bringing out (branded) bikes? Yes money is money but I wouldn't be too surprised if this is just to support a loophole. As quite a while ago I read something that car companies were supposed to produce vehicles which on average produce a certain max CO2 emission per kilometer. So you can make your gasguzzler, but then you also have to make a super efficient car to offset that. German cars typically are fast and heavy. So I wouldn't be too surprised that they're just pumping out e-bikes to compensate. They may not even become popular or do well on the trail, they don't care. Yes it is money into the sport. Until the loophole gets plumbed and they drop the sport, Discovery pulls out too, non-bike-related sponsors pull out as they worry they may not get the promised exposure and where are we then?

From my perspective, the sport often looks healthier when "dead" than hyped. Lots of kids and people are on inline skates and unlike during the boom, they can actually ride safely. There's been this local shop called This is Soul since early this century and even though the owner still seems to be dreaming about the nineties, they're doing just fine. He always used to have loads of skates ready for the local kids to just borrow and ride. As unlike e-bikes, the target audience can't just buy the gear and then learn whether they like it or not. He has only one shop so it is not like this thing is growing fast, yet at the same time he seems more than busy enough. Which is what I call a healthy scene. Heck, I can't think of a sport where a sudden influx of outside money had a sustainable and good effect.

TL;DR: Yeah sorry I appended one post to the other.

 @vinay: I started skating around 98-99 and even then there were articles online or in skating print magazines talking about how rollerblading was dead. Maybe it was just never alive in the first place.

 You sound like the little skateboarders I used to get into shit with at skateparks when I was a teenager. Did you actually do any of those sports growing up? There's massive overlap in the physical abilities needed to rollerblade, skateboard, BMX, mountain bike, etc. It's all just different ways of conquering terrain. None are "easier" or "harder" than the other...they're just different.

 @vinay: to be fair stopping on inline skates means intentionally crashing or a difficult slide . I think it it died because although it looks easy it’s actually quite difficult like skate boarding. Lightly used skateboards are widely available because people try it and give up. Same with inline skates, one crash and they quit.

 @kingbike2: Yeah, but if something is too easy then what is there to learn? And if you've got nothing left to learn, where is the fun? If you do a clinic at the local skateshop, the first thing you'll learn is to bail on your kneepads. Then there are loads of alternative ways you can learn to safely come to a stop. But the first thing you need to learn is to bail safely. It is funny as I feel something like road bike racing is so much scarier. It is easy to go fast, but there is a lot outside your control and as (compared to mountainbiking) people don't crash often, learning to bail safely doesn't come easy. Yet there are loads of people on these bikes.

 @vinay: lol inline skate clinic at a skate shop

 @Dogl0rd: Yeah agreed, some people think they're naturals and won't benefit from lessons at anything. Buy a rocket, fly to the moon and back. If that doesn't work out, some lessons may be helpful. But you won't know unless you try. Good luck.

 wtf is up with those seatstays?

 @baca262: hard to tell as I can only see those running shoes

 @bok-CZ: all I see is the bend in the knee with the pedal at its lowest point

 @therealnobody: it's a motorbike, dude

 @baca262: doesn't mean it's right to be wrong?

 Out of curiosity, how do they suck? There's quite many of them here but never tried one

 @kanioni: here also full, imho geo is totally wrong, and thing get even worse if you add the weight of ebike to an already jarring bike

 @Alexh1983: that makes selse i suppose. The perfect match for Audi

 That would actually be awesome. I’d grollerblade

 actually it is a thing, look up powerslide suv skates

 I'm glad I wasn't the only one cringing at the lack of helmets mixed with rails

 Okay Brits really are the funniest

 Rollerblading is still great. Attending my seventh Winterclash last month proved me right. We are a big worldwide family.

 But you’d be replacing head gaskets before 100k

 @pargolf8: Just saying, I got 203,000 awesome miles out of my 04 WRX before the head gaskets let me down

 @Chondog94: valid and fair…

 @pargolf8: So true. Never been more disappointed in a car's reliability than my current Subaru. '11 Forester, had the short-block replaced at about 60k (fortunately under warranty) due to oil consumption issues. Barely 40k miles later and I just had to have a complete engine reseal done to the tune of about $4k. Dunno what the short block replacement would've cost me if it wasn't warrantied, but I suspect that's somewhere in the neighborhood of $10k total worth of motor work done in barely 100k mi. Hasn't been raced or modded or anything of the sort (it's not even the turbo engine). Been on a few relatively mild back road excursions to campsites/trailheads, etc. (You know, the reason people *buy* Subarus.), had all the regular maintenance performed.

And now, if the clunky shifting and lurching lately is any indication, the transmission is about to go.

Never again. This was my first, and *last*, Subaru.

 @SoCalTrev: toyota or bust my friend

 @SoCalTrev: It's still considered one of the more reliable brands on the market. Lots of people have driven them for hundreds of thousands of km without experiencing those issues. Lots of brands have engine problems, but they have different kinds of engine problems than subaru. I think the boxer engine has its own quirks, but people fixate on them because they're not used to seeing those exact quirks from inline/v engines.

 @jayacheess: I too thought Subaru had a reputation for reliability, that and the reputation of their AWD was what led me to buy a Subaru in the first place. Sadly, "reliability" has not been my experience. I don't care what "quirks" various brands have, but $10k worth of "quirks", over and above the usual routine maintenance costs, in 100k, not-hard-driven miles is unacceptable. I've lost count of the number of people I know driving 200k+ mi Toyotas that have barely had anything but regular oil changes and routine maintance done. I wanted *some* utility off road, confidence on snowy roads for winter driving in the mountains, and didn't want a big gas-guzzling truck 'cause I don't need a full-on 4x4. The Forester seemed ideal for my needs. Turns out I probably should have got a RAV4. Could be I just got a lemon, but I'm still not taking a chance on repeating that experience with another Subaru.

 And make the Brumby/Brat again.
Subaru need to make some form of ute/truck again!

 @SoCalTrev: almost the same story with my '14 Forester. Not sure where these reliability claims come from.

 @SoCalTrev: it’s cause you bought a Forester

 @pargolf8: Depends what year you have. 247k on my 95 Legacy. Never replaced head gaskets.

 @lightsgetdimmer: thats called an outlier

 @pargolf8: I don’t know what you’d call it but I do believe the 2.2L was a much better/more reliable engine than the 2.5L.

 @lightsgetdimmer: cool story. Either way you wont catch me owning a subi everrr

 It's all Roller Blading.......

 I mean Kleenex, band aid, qtip, jacuzzi, etc are all brand names people use for that type of product. Also, how many people say "Google it" versus you should use the online search engine of your choosing to look that up.

 Back in my day we called them fruit boots

 Clever marketing. A bit like the company 'Hoover' which is a brand of vacuum cleaner.

 Velcro, Kevlar, Xerox machine, Walkman...

 Specialized "Enduro"

 Original fantic grips sell for about 50 swiss and are worth 5 max. You're not wrong there...

 So sad. Porsche is so clean and their performance is spectacular… thought that they would carry that with the bike… but they didnt. I feel orbea is the Porsche of bikes so they should team up. Same sleek but fast style.

 @Cooper09: I would've said Liteville is the Porsche of bikes

 @MuddyFoxCourierComp: I would say orbea still. Like their bikes but they give me a Pole vibe and i’m not a fan.

 @Cooper09: I’d say Santa Cruz is the Porsche of mountainbiking. Outrageously expensive for what it is, but nevertheless incredibly well engineered and actually just a little better than almost anything else.

 @Muscovir: this isn't true until the Porsche Boxter does a collab with Supreme

 @Dogl0rd: oooooooooor the 918 spider does something with unno! Oooh. Wow now we just talking sweet Porsches.

 @Muscovir: but the thing is that Santa Cruz is just soooo big. Porsche isn’t THAT big when you think about it. Ferrari is the Santa Cruz of the car world. Lots of models and good performance. Also when you ask a person who doesn’t know anything at all about cars to think of a sports car or a super car they would say Ferrari. Same thing with Santa Cruz and super bikes.

 @Cooper09: Pole? Nothing like each other. If anything, German frames are on the short side unlike the 2 mile reach on Poles.
The Liteville 301 being honed throughout the years is kinda like the 911

 @MuddyFoxCourierComp: turbo or targa?

 @Cooper09: Carrera I guess

 We know what it looks like cause we've all been there lol. When your friend in front is like "yeah it's rollable" and then you die...

 But you can run Ohlins and Asics

 @lightsgetdimmer: true true. Maybe Ultra.

 What's so bad about Asics?

 @lacuna: nothing, mate, except they’re certainly not designed for pedaling or for cycling in general. Do they get the job done? Sure, but the shoe certainly doesn’t help with the credibility of e biking or when trying to sell bikes. IMO.

 @generictrailrider: Fair enough. I've only ever used running trainers for biking. 5.10's and the like seem to have very poor grip off the bike and no real advantage on bike. Each to their own though.