DH-BK

Finally someone has made a bike to fit Cathro properly

I visited Kenya 5 years ago. The terrain there would be incredible for running an enduro race. I'd absolutely love to see an event like Crankworx go to the area.

Not every bike needs to be a value option. I agree that the sport is very expensive but no one is saying that you have to buy a bike at this price point to have a good time. There is nothing wrong or "tone-deaf" with what Specialized are doing. They aren't making anyone buy these bikes, they are literally just an option in the range for the very wealthy. Not everyone is feeling a squeeze financially, there are still people who are hugely wealthy. I am certainly not one of those people and will never own one of these bikes and I'm absolutely fine with that. I have alot of fun on the bikes I already own. Some of those super wealthy people are into bikes and want something flashy and expensive. Why can't Specialized have an offering in their range for those people? Why would the price of this bike make anyone feel "unwelcome"? What beginner would feel the need to buy a top of the range limited edition bike as an entry point?

All the best for retired life Eleonora! It's always satisfying to see an athlete retire on their own terms!

@Dario-DiGiulio: I understand the rebuildability aspect. However. I am using the same SLX derailleur that my trail bike came with in 2021. I have replaced jockey wheels (for £6) and it still performs crisply and accurately. I will admit that I do take good care of my bikes and so it hasn't been battered or thrashed by any means. That is a total of about £55 for 5 years of component usage. The replacement of those jockey wheels is obviously a trivially easy job to do aswell. I can't help but think that these products are solving a problem that didnt really exist. Unless they exist as bling rather than a product designed without any real performance gain. I can also imagine that many of the spare parts to rebuild these mechs will also likely be as expensive as full derailleurs from the S-Brands

I look at the price of these and just can't get on board when I can buy a Shimano XT mech for a third of the price. Hell even an SLX mech (I know they are being discontinued, but there are plenty around) is 6 times cheaper than these offerings. I cant imagine how they could be 6 times better.

The track and b-zone will have been taped much much further back, it is the fans that have pushed so close to the track. I absolutely agree that they should be nowhere near that close to the riders. You can put marshals there to try and tell people to stay behind the tape but the chances are they will just be ignored.

@chrismac70: Cube have a benefit over some of the more boutique brands because they also produce a huge amount of general use bikes which have a much wider target audience. I imagine that the bulk of the Cube revenue comes from that sector of bikes. They aren't reliant on the high performance market to cover all thier costs and generate profit. The fact they have so many models across all different cycling disciplines means that they will likely be ordering significantly more frames from Far-Eastern factories and may be able to get more preferential pricing. The fact the frame only comes with a 3-year warranty when boutique brands like Santa Cruz and Pivot and Forbidden are offering lifetime warranties also would suggest that Cube are using lower quality/cheaper factories. I have no inside information, just speculating.

@tom666: to be fair, there are ports beside the head tube for running the cables properly. If I had one of these frames, I would be instantly sorting out the monstrosity that is headset routing

I'm pretty impressed that they have managed to spec up a £3000 bike with a carbon frame, Fox Performance, Eagle 90, and a Newmen wheelset and controls. As always the, proof is in the riding but it seems to be a very solid value offering