ShopMechanic

RIP Charlie. You were an inspiration to me.

@Corinthian: lots of middlemen to pay with the big guys. With that said, it still wouldn't surprise me if the big guys still net higher margins than custom builders even when taking the middlemen into account.

@TDMAN: OEM sales are the top priority for them. Aftermarket is a necessary evil/product support (replacement parts) market in their eyes.

@GTscoob: I am right there with you. XXL gloves. When grips are too squishy I instinctively grip harder and get arm pump.

@deadrabbitbike: Reminds me a bit of vintage Alpine Stars and Mountain Cycle. I dig it!

Maybe all the analysis is unnecessary because WB will cancel the series after it gets acquired in the next couple of months. That's when the bigger fish decides MTB didn't offer enough ROI to be worth doing. Especially when investors demand higher profit margins regardless of the long term cost. When those long term consequences occur the investor just sells that stock in WB and simply repeat the process with some other company.

@yakimonti: perhaps SRAM has recently changed policies on having to buy cranks, but it was certainly a requirement for at least a few years. PinkBike even did a story interviewing product managers about that requirement. I only mentioned the shifter requirement part because that’s how SRAM got started, making shifters for derailleurs made by a competitor. So, locking out shifter makers on OE builds now… To SRAM’s credit however, they generally make all of their patented interface standards like XD, chainring/crank interfaces, UDH, etc completely royalty free for anyone to use. They have gone so far as to publicly invite Shimano to make royalty free parts that work with SRAM patented interfaces. Shimano tends to not reciprocate that business practice.

No one needs F1 tech on their street or even track car, doesn’t mean that tech shouldn’t exist or isn’t cool. If for no other reason can we at least be happy as race fans for the stuff ‘we don’t need’ being out there or available to purchase at all?

Love you Hans! You are a big reason I got into mountain bikes in '92. We actually met in '93 at the Rad Challenge Race when I was 16 and standing in line right in front of you for food afterwards. You asked me if I wanted a beer! I kinda panicked and said, "Uh I'm driving so I shouldn't." Haha that whole day was an awesome experience! Descending Telonix on hardtail with 60mm of fork travel, canti brakes, and a saddle that was literally a full foot higher than my super narrow flat bars was a massive challenge! Unreal arm pump at the bottom! I actually finished 10 places behind Hans in the race which was crazy to me at the time. I lost 2 or 3 places at the bottom of Telonix because my arms were completely shot and I was certain I'd crash if I didn't run down the final chute. Brake pads used to actually partially melt back then on descents like that. No idea what tire pressures got up to with all that rim heat at the bottom of a run!

I like to say let’s do a couple more or a few more runs and then I call it quits early and go home happy and healthy