enjin9

@venturavin: I dunno. I think my comment contributes something meaningful. I stated my reasoning, Jacks0n0 stated their own. As a result people can make a more informed decision about a risk. Seems like a positive to me.

@jacks0n0: While you may be aware of the risk, this article may inspire someone to try bonding carbon to aluminum without knowledge of the risk. They might skip the primer. I'm going to guess that a failure between 2 bonded pieces of a bike frame might be more dangerous than a spoke failure. Yes, it might take years, but I'd be nervous about a weakening bond that's invisible to the rider. In addition, sometimes your frame ends up somewhere you didn't predict years down the line. Many years ago, I bought a road bike at a garage sale that had carbon fiber tubes bonded to aluminum lugs. On my first test ride, the frame snapped in half under me. The tube / lug bond had corroded, and that put stress on another part of the frame that snapped. Sometimes a weakened bond one place can cause a dangerous failure elsewhere. I'd be curious to hear from someone with more expertise evaluate your risk assessment. The bike industry has tried bonding carbon to aluminum in the past, and it seems like they stopped. I'd hate to see someone get hurt because they didn't know the risks.

This article should include this disclaimer: Do NOT try bonding carbon to an aluminum frame. This could result in galvanic corrosion and catastrophic failure. Over time, the 2 parts will be bonded by nothing but loose white powder, oxidized aluminum. It's not intuitive, but carbon fiber is an electrical conductor. Hence the galvanic corrosion.

@mattwragg: My guess is that athletes will increasingly rely on people they trust to help tell their story in the future. Many successful "vloggers" have hired crews to shoot and edit their content. While athletes will naturally maintain some editorial control, they will also allow some uncomfortable (vulnerable) moments to become public because they trust their media people to tell a good story (and increase their popularity as a result). In addition, society's expectations of vulnerability will change over time. For example, athletes openly discussing mental health issues have become more common with Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, Naomi Osaka and others. Their admissions have become perceived as empowering to many while in the past they would more likely be perceived as "weak". I'm not sure how much editorial control Gwin had over the YT team videos he was in. I suspect that the impactful Pinkbike Racing Ft. William Video had less to do with Cathro's direction and more to do with the vision of other people behind the camera than most think. Maybe you could ask him?

@MT36: Heh, ok Michael Jordan. I'm certainly not saying Gwin should focus on his vulnerabilities. It's natural for an athlete to focus on winning. It's a misconception that the athlete is the storyteller, and we see a true reflection of them in videos. The filmmaker crafts a story, and they choose how to tell it. Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, and even Michael Jordan, came across as focused and stoic their prime. That doesn't mean they didn't have their vulnerabilities, conflict, and flaws at the top as we discovered later. Some people like their heroes to be Clint Eastwood-like silent killers. Others like to see a more vulnerable side. Depends on how you tell the story. Could be the same person.

Ben Cathro is so likeable in the Pinkbike Racing Ft. William video because he's so vulnerable in that story. He f*cks ups as team manager, he confesses he probably won't make a podium in a world cup, and he cries when his team mate does. Those are intentional choices by a great storyteller behind the camera. Contrast that to most world cup team videos which contain a stoic rider who says, "I didn't qualify for finals, so I'll take what I learned and do better next time." Where is the chair throwing, fights with team managers, crying into a towel? Probably intentionally left out of most videos. Athletic prowess and stoicism are probably emphasized in most team videos because of masculine ideals,so it's not accident that Rupaul's advice gets highlighted in the article. Riders are complicated like all of us. Some of our misunderstandings of riders comes down to crappy storytelling in mountain bike videos.

Here some footage of the rock garden on stage 5 of Richie Rude, Sam Hill, Martin Maes, and Jesse Melamed. https://youtu.be/R2gy6csG-50