SimonTC

Easy fix. Hire Rob Warner. Get out of sterile bike parks and back to inspiring global locations with local content. Cover race runs rather than WB art shots of riders going around the same corner. Its a joke Enduro is written off as too hard to shoot, while DH gets it right. Or at least pre WB.

They realised 8 years ago that only about 3% of riders race, so by focusing on racers, especially at non international non elite level, they were just marketing to a very small pool of riders each race weekend who were often sponsored by other brands anyway. That's why they shifted to grass roots ambassadors at a local level who for the most part only received (greatfully) an at cost bike from them. This was rammed home while I was riding with their global brand manager and a former UCI world cup racer. People on the trail knew who I was, and not the racer. Hopefully they will continue to support grassroots riding and riders in other ways for the mainstream recreational community for those that couldn't give a stuff about racing.

@iamamodel: They realised 8 years ago that only about 3% of riders race, so by focusing on racers, especially at non international non elite level, they were just marketing to a very small pool of riders each race weekend who were often sponsored by other brands anyway. That's why they shifted to grass roots ambassadors at a local level who for the most part only received (greatfully) an at cost bike from them. This was rammed home while I was riding with their global brand manager and a former UCI world cup racer. People on the trail knew who I was, and not the racer.

I disagree. "But I think that's bad advice because if your fork hasn't had a service for years, there'll be so much friction in the system that it will dominate the damping. And so the damper settings you'll want after the service will be very different to those that worked best beforehand. Otherwise, the reduced friction will make it feel too soft and too lively." If you find you're wanting to start tweaking a dialled fork or shock on your local trails, don't. A sure sign you need to service it. Especially if you're backing the damping off.

The thing that happened when we all bought bigger travel ebikes, we sold our DH rigs. We're not racers, fun not sport. Never had chair lifts closer than 5hrs drive away, just shuttles. Now we ride up. 2018 Kenevo. And if you ride an ebike until your legs are done. Well, your core and upper body are in a world of pain. No assist there. You get a more whole body work out. But all bikes are getting easier, long, low and slack. For years and bigger wheels. And all the young kids think the old techy trails suck, because the new bikes are too bloody long low and slack for slower tech to be fun. I take my 2010 26" out a bit. Still an amazing fun bike. Twitchy as now. The L is shorter now than most S. 67 HA is no longer slack and the 420mm chain stays means you body position must be spot on. Rode every A line on it same as my 2006 Enduro. Once standard for an AM etc and now Enduro, this is now DJ territory. Santa Cruz Chameleon with 160mm 36s. Enjoying my Status 160 now. Old school back end geo on new school front. Old trails and fun, so are the new. Not a race bike. My goto for me rides when I need to play and chill. Not max the gravity descents in limited time. My Kenevo gets used as a tractor. Hauling 16-25kg kids riding Shotgun from 2.5 years old. Brilliant up to 2 hours in the bush, wheels on the ground to intermediate. Kids picked up the body position, feel and balance riding with me. My eldest, now on a 20" 6 speed Norco and 6yo can't to big climbs, tow her out 100m+ climbs with the ebike while my 4yo is on Shotgun. Daddy time with my two girls. Brilliant.

You need to go there with money. Housing is expensive, so is food and fuel, clothing etc. And wages are low. Most houses are also crap and not built for the cold wet climate and no central heating. For us it is more affordable to live in Sydney. We visited USA in 2013. Chicago to New York. Everything there was cheap.

Pity you still can't get there. Not unless you want to blow at least 7 days of annual leave in isolation qurantining. 6yo and 3.5yo kids not seen their grandparents in 2.5 years. Border keeps being shut 2 days before our flight over.

@highfivenwhiteguy: As someone into my second decade of mtb trail advocacy how about you get into your head that most ebike riders dropping $10+ on an ebike are already mountain bike riders, myself included. The Kenevo just simplified my bike quiver, sold the Enduro and DH rig and now self shuttle. And XC nothingness is now enjoyable at speed while on the way to fun descents. Ebikes are one of our key advocacy tools we use to get National Parks managers out on the trails to see first hand what needs to be done to solve issues. On these we can cover more ground and it evens out the fitness equation on these shorter rides.

@SacAssassin: Marketed towards me. Only get 2hrs to ride between work and family life so prefer to double the miles and triple the feet of vertical each ride. Owning a Kenevo since end 2017, sold the Enduro and DH rig and ended up fitter, stronger and with more skills riding an ebike. Simple reasons, more gravity per ride, more distance per ride, the motor only helps your legs - core and upper body gets hammered on the much longer rides and handling a 24kg bike. Once kids get older I may get an enduro again as well.

I started with a 180mm Lyrik but after 3 months and every combo gave up as it simply needed more HSC and the only adjustment options were tokens, air pressure and the three way switch. I'm 6'3" and ride rocky terrain. Put a Fox 36 RC2 on and had airspring issues and stuck in 3 month backlog for warranty over the summer and needed to ride. But dialled it in in two rides before it stuffed itself. Put a DVO Onyx SC D1 180mm on and sold the Fox 36 when it finally came back as it was outclassed. DVO was harder to set up as everything is adjustable but that is one of the benefits. Out of the three forks the Onyx is giving me the best small bump, best traction on loose, dirt or sketchy surfaces, best midstroke, feels bottomless and makes the Fox 36 feel like a noodle. Closest feel to a triple on SC I've ridden.