ak-77

@WhateverBikes: Clearly you have better information than me. But my impression of both companies is that at least they want their daughter companies to make them money by selling as many bikes as possible. That is not the same as being passionate about bikes or building the bikes that core riders want, but to me it's miles away from holdings that only buy a brand to sell the assets, load it with debt, get rid of the employees and then sell the carcass for as much as possible. Would you agree with that or is my view too rosy?

Accell is basically a Dutch city bike brand that bought a bunch of other brands. They're not bike nuts with a machine shop in the garage but they are not vulture capitalists either. Same for PON, though they got big by importing cars, they are mostly leaving the bike brands to do their business. These people at Kent though, what I am reading about them sounds like classic "suck 'm dry and sell off the remains" type of holding.

@cky78: I think that is more "specifically" than "generally" speaking. Wouldn't most people optimize fore-aft position of the seat for optimal pedaling position? And if your seat is in the way on the way down, your seat tube is probably too steep, no? So slamming the saddle forward will exaggerate the effect that has on pedaling position. I'm pretty extreme on the leg to torso length ratio scale, so I have my seat usually slammed forward. But getting it far enough out of the way when descending is rarely a problem.

@vtracer: You would need the still highly experimental AXS brakes for that too.

@warmerdamj: The bottles I use are wireless, so I think you have a point there. If the switch was the other way around it would be more like it btw, because when I grab a bottle is usually in a smooth section, but then the switch opens...

I got the SL version of this frame in XL and I have managed to grab the bottle with my right hand, though it is a bit of a weird reach and not so nice. What I find even more annoying, is that my full size (750 ml) bottle more often than not flips the switch on the shock when entering and/or exiting.

I am riding an Occam frame has a very different story. Friend of mine was already thinking of replacing his alloy frame for a carbon one after three years of heavy use, when his frame developed a crack near a bearing seat. He got a brand new frame as replacement, which he sold to me for a reasonable price. No fuss, good service. I really like the frame, both the geometry and the construction. Paint seems a bit fragile but for the rest the finish is high quality.

@tom666: You just described e.g. Giant and Merida, big factories with their own brands and distribution networks. With the not so unimportant detail that these are not D2C brands, so they still have middlemen, and they still need to buy drivetrains and suspension products from others. Either Giant is ran by business morons (unlikely given their track record) or the middlemen don't actually earn that big of a % after deduction of costs. If it wasn't the latter, Giant could corner the market by selling bikes at half the price of equivalents from the companies whose frames they make.

He loved the Cura 2 but did have some negative comments on the Cura 4. I cannot echo those negative comments, mine have been fantastic.

@DizzyNinja: They feel very good to me. Very gradual coming on, I like them way better than Shimano for scrubbing a little bit of speed before a corner. My new bike has Magura, which is better for modulation than Shimano IMO, but I am going to switch the Formulas from my old bike onto them because they are just better for me at precise delivery of the amount of brake you need. And when you need full power, it's there too. Also, compared to my Shimano XT, and certainly to the plastic Magura, the lever feel is just much more premium, a lot smoother, they feel much more like a quality product with lower tolerances. Also, they have been super low maintenance. A bleed after install and zero change after that. It was a bit fiddly to set up but that turned out to be mainly the fault of a slightly wobbly rotor (other brand, not formula). Once that was straightened out, it was set and forget.