englertracing

Yes

@pisgahgnar: have you ever considered slightly unloading the bike over the big sharp things? Or are you riding straight thru these things? The WAO is a relatively heavy rim, providing durability rather than weight savings....

I don't put them on my DH bike (my trail and enduro have carbon rims), because... when I ride the DH I want to ride it absolutely mercilessly, without any consideration of what my line may do to my rim. Where as with carbon i might "pull some punches".

so we raise the front and also need big riser bars?

@jomacba: the vertical stiffness of a wheel is on the order of 25-35,000lbs per inch. with vertical load to buckle of around 800lbs on a strong rim, a soft 25,000lb/in wheel can deflect 0.032", and a stiff wheel with 35,000lbs/in can deflect 0.022". 0.010" of rim travel or 0.030" doesnt mean much on a bike with 2.5" tires and and nothing when compared to 140-200mm travel at something like 40-60lbs/in for spring rate. Rim lateral stiffness varies significantly more.

@2supple: imo all bikes should come with big CS adjusters, felt like it was coming and UDH stomped it out....

Because ray Charles didnt weld em? Idk I dont like either.

@HeatedRotor: if you have to move your upper body and "plank" to load the front end you cant shift back out of that any where near as fast as if you only need to move your hips slightly fore and aft. This difference is observable both ways (fore and aft) when a bike is way too big for a rider, takes dramatic movements to shift your weight that take much longer, where appropriate sizes take appropriate movements, and sizing down can take small movements you can accomplish much faster..... going huge on a front center and short on rear, means larger forwards weight shifts and smaller rear ones are required generally. Now I will disclaim people do have different perportions and weight distributions, abilities to adapt, and skill levels so whats someone finds as home isnt necessarily right for someone else... but yeah physics do apply. It was pretty enlightening to spend a few days with a bike with reach adjust & angle sets, and chain stay adjusters that will take you from 445 450 455 and 460 Long bikes poor switch back perfeomance can be mitigated by nosewheeling into and around the corner, gets lots of cheers from hikers and riders following.

@jeremy3220: it can be like talking to a brick, people that are stuck thinking that longer chain stays are stable therefore less maneuverable or nimble, where they are in fact lengthening a cs moves weight forward, (to the effect of 1.6x-2x as much as shortening the FC would) and therefore makes a bike potentially capable of turning better

Those mondraker boys came debuted those stems, ate it in qualifying, and they were never seen again.