ashfanman

Yes, he's Slovakian. Austria does border Slovakia, but still...sort it out PB!

What the hell is that music all about? Anyone else hear the theme from that crappy Mortal Kombat movie? (From 2:40 onwards.)

The look on his face at 1:28 and 6:45. That's why I love Chris Akrigg. You can tell he just gets a real kick out of riding bikes, no matter what type. Has to be one of the most talented all-round riders of his generation.

It's a bit of a Catch 22, really. For most people, the relatively high cost and lack of available frames will stop them from buying a gearbox-equipped bike, even if they would like one. But the cost can't really come down properly unless production volumes go up considerably, and that isn't going to happen until one of the major manufacturers produces a gearbox-equipped bike for the mass market. And that, in turn, isn't going to happen until either SRAM or Shimano start building one. As good as the Pinion system is, the interdependency between the major bike and component manufacturers is just too strong for them to break into that market. It's frustrating that genuine evolution is being stifled because of this. What I'd love to see happen is for either SRAM or Shimano to buy Pinion, spend another 12-18 months tweaking the design with their considerable R&D resources, then work with either Specialized, Trek or Giant - or, even better, all three - to produce a gearbox-equipped bike for the mass market. If that happened today, I genuinely believe that within maybe five or ten years, the majority of high-end bikes would be sold with gearboxes.

Keep it simple: Dartmoor Root Works for both the company's roots, and also the roots that this thing will gobble up on the trail.

Really nice to see a company actually think about the parts they spec on a bike. Very rare that I see a full-build and pretty much wouldn't change a single thing, but they've got this one nailed.

Agreed - gearboxes are the way forward. They haven't got there yet - they're still too heavy and too expensive - but Pinion are getting close. The only thing that's really holding them back is the compatibility issue and the requirement for a proprietary frame. Unless they manage to come up with a new system that can be fitted to a standard frame, which seems unlikely, as there's isn't room in the bottom bracket, then it's probably going to take one of the big manufacturers (Spesh, Trek, Giant, etc) to got on board and produce a gearbox frame for the mass market. I live in hope.

A photo that actually shows how steep a trail is, rather than making it appear much flatter; a berm being absolutely DESTROYED; an epic mountain landscape; an utterly ridiculous scrub; and a really cool sequence. All that's missing is a massive crash with some poor guy's face half buried in the dirt, but otherwise this has to be one of the best selections for POM I can remember. :)

Now who's joking... ;)