Sobieski

@MikeGruhler: Just relax pal... bikes never grew on trees, some were made by great welders in the US, and other in Taiwan. Now they all get made by carbon fiber gurus in China... wonder if these people got paid the same. The closer you are to the industry the more cool-aide flows through your veins, and many forget how many small manufacturers there were even 15 years ago, did they get paid for their effort back then? Today bike companies are owned by investment companies with the means and expertise to market the heck out of their products, and manufacture them more efficiently. You clearly have no clue how normal economy works... effort given has nothing to do with what the prices are... the price is what the buyer is willing to pay - and that's that. If you trick people into thinking that they are getting an incredible value - they will pay crazy prices - and that's that. Marketing at it's best... open your mind and really... be happy.

Ever since the days of the purple anodized, CNC-ed RS Quadra Fork brace, that did nothing for the fork, we the mountain biker bunch have been an easy prey for the marketing departments of the bike industry. Back in those days, we could count on bike magazines to call the BS and uncover the truth... but unfortunately, that is no longer the case. When I read any magazine it's a virtual love fest - everything is great - the bigger the industry player, the better their stuff is. Then you have the army of influencers out there who will rave about anything really. And we are the ones paying the price - literally. The biggest effect of the big wheel "revolution" is that the prices of bikes have gone through the roof, yet the basic bottom line is the same - the bikes ride the same, at least since the full suspension became the norm. The changes are incremental, but we're being duped into thinking that the 26ers are un-rideable and the bike's weight doesn't matter. But then they charge $5-8K for a bike that's 27lbs, where in the past you could get something comparable for $3K. Also the industry has been a lot better at manufacturing the right amount of OEM equipment since the days of great prices on OEM stuff are long gone... it's all about separating us from our money now.

Been mountain biking for 25 years and Fox full finger gloves used to be my go to gloves... in the pat it was usually the synthetic leather that would tear through and that always meant a set of new Fox gloves. Recently though, there are 2 problems for me: 1 - under wrist closure (always opens on its own), 2 - poor stitching - gloves coming apart at the seams. Giro DNDs have been good and long lasting... in general I like the Giro gloves now more than Fox. NEVER buy leather gloves for mountain biking - can't wash them... well guess what happend when you get caught in heavy rain while riding - the gloves are never the same after that.

What the Luxottica owned Oakley is trying to do is to separate you from as much cash as possible without giving you much in return. I love Oakley sunglasses - been wearing them for more than 20 year exclusively. Recently though, they changed their policy and they will no longer fit prescription into your older frames - anything made pre-2018, and they don't support the majority of their sport glasses for prescription. Also, the lens selection for prescription has gotten very narrow. So... yeah great company getting destroyed by a behemoth that is Luxottica.

$6,000 for a bike? Is everyone on here rich? 8 years ago you'd pay that much for top of the line titanium bike, made in the US by seven or someone like that, and here is a carbon bike made in China costing 6K. I'm amazed no one even reacts to this pricing. Not to mention the weight of 27lbs.

The problem with this shifter is that the battery will die eventually, it won't hold charge, and then what? By then, this company will no longer exist, and this little gizmo will be just a paper weight. Bikes are analog, bringing digital to them just messes with perfection. I get that bikes are no longer about passion and are now strictly business, but the past 10 years are the perfect example why you should not jump on every new gizmo that comes out. Heck I never got an XTR crankset because they retired their standards so much. My bikes need to last...

Agreed about the mess with the standards, but what is more upsetting is the seeming planned aspect of this "obsolescence" I'm cool with the new standards, but there are old standards, out there where there must be millions of bikes that still use these parts, and to see that there are no major manufacturers supporting that part of the community is disturbing to me. I used work in a bike shop 19 years ago, and what I see now out on the market is just a mess for a mechanic to work through, but even bigger mess for a hobbyist mechanic. The way I see it, is that all of these rapid changes are a result of industry collusion - yeah - forks, wheels, frames - in order for them to be compatible there must be some sort of conversation occurring. Consolidation in the biking industry only helps this trend, and I think we as riders fall for a lot of the marketing... because let's face it we always did - first it was all the anodized crap that didn't work and broke, then it was all about the platform, now stability. The truth is that we are the ones who ride and bikes don't become obsolete, unless we stop riding them. I wish there was a company that made top end obsolete everything, so that no bikes were "retired" because "I can't get my hub to work with a fork, and the fork doesn't fit the frame".