RichardCunningham

@FatTonyNJ: I'll send you a pic when it starts looking more like an airplane than a pedestrian bridge ;-)

Bottom bracket...

@bluemonkeywrench: Good question. Mantis was much smaller than Öhlins, of course, but the commonality was that we were development companies. The focus was to innovate and try to stay ahead of the technology curve. There came a point as we grew where it was inevitable that larger brands were going to close that knowledge gap and Mantis would have to focus less on innovation and more on manufacturing efficiencies and gross sales to stay alive. To make the jump (for me) meant doing much less of the hands-on building and design part of the job that I loved in order to manage money and employees. The catch was (is) once you reach that decision point, you must go forward. Going back means downsizing and laying off the people who helped you get there. Selling meant I probably wouldn't make another bike again, but if all went well, the business and my crew had a better chance of success. Mister Öhlin founded his suspension company primarily for racing development and so far, all of his products reflect that high level of perfection. Mass production, however, is all about managing processes and making an endless string of cost vs efficiency decisions. Business people eat that penny pinching stuff for dinner. Innovative perfectionists like Mister Öhlin, however, don't thrive in that environment. For him, taking Öhlins Racing to the "next level" probably feels a lot like starting over. Unless you've built a manufacturing business from scratch, you probably wouldn't know how that feels. I do, and I wish him the best. If the hand-off is done right, Öhlins Racing has the potential to stand with Fox and RockShox some day. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

There is the possibility that Tenneco may have learned a lot from the Marzocchi purchase that could benefit their relationship with Öhlins Racing.

Yeah, bashed on a tree it trying a Sam Hill inside line

@lluvRIDING: Fair point: I did that research and it's not such a simple table. Box Two is 11-speed, but its pricing and weights overlap SRAM GX and NX Eagle 12 speed. Then, the chart grows to include most of SRAM's 11 speed groups, as well as Shimano XT and SLX. Because 11-speed groups have been on the market for years, their pricing is all over the map. So, rather than post a giant comparison chart, I decided to concentrate on telling the the story: Introducing Box Components, the how and why Box Two came to be, how it works, and about the possibility that Box could gain traction in such a competitive and mature market. Your request for a back to back comparison, however, is a great call for a future "Ridden and Rated" feature where we could dive more deeply into the comparisons.