gmiller720

I’ve watched this 4 times in a row and it gets better every time.

@FuzzyL: I think you’re right, everyone seems to be focusing on UCI and coverage, but ultimately this comes down to cost and return on investment. I don’t think there’s ever been a huge correlation between enduro results and bike sales, but now with rising interest rates spelling “the end of free money” and bike sales falling back down to well below pre-pandemic levels manufacturers need to save money. Unfortunately, axing an enduro race team that doesn’t bring sales is going to make sense to the bean counters. If the bike market turns around or they find ways to turn enduro racing into sales they’ll be back. I’d say currently for a lot of manufacturers it’s just a development ground for bike tech.

@tom666: thanks for the links! 50% off an enduro expert is worth pouncing on!

@tom666: I am currently looking to replace one of my rides and I’m considering buying new (I usually try to find a good deal on the buy/sell). I hear a lot about over stock and urgency to sell, but I do not see it reflected in prices. Any thoughts on why so many companies or LBSs seem to be keeping prices so high despite all this chatter about inventory and slower sales? Especially in a world where so much can change in a couple years. A 2021 model vs a 2023 model may mean the difference between some things like in-frame storage or adjustable headset cups which are almost standard on new rides.

Just fantastic. Great style from Wyper! Logan is making magic out there on the coast.

Yeah, it’s good when the feedback is well received, but it makes me think of a statement from Ford recently on EV price cuts. All the manufacturers are trying to keep pace with Tesla price cuts, but ford was saying they don’t want to keep cutting prices because you really screw your customers who bought at the higher price, and those customers will likely never buy your product again. Any loyal Ibis riders who bought an Oso previously just lost saw their bike’s resale value tank. This is much more of a concern with cars and trucks I’m sure, as trade ins are much more common. But for the type who buy new every 2-3 years and rely on selling the previous ride to pay for the new one this would be frustrating.

@WaterBear: I am back in the comments section again to argue that looks should matter. My point is that there are so many excellent bikes to chose from now, and it’s not like Pole outperforms them all while making staggeringly ugly bikes (I’ve never seen one in the wild, and to be fair I’ve heard they look mucin nicer IRL). If you have a fantastic trail bike option from Norco, Specialized, Transition, Kona, and Trek all within a reasonable price range why should we not care about looks? Of course there are marginal pros and cons between different bikes, but no one buys a hideous car because it has a .5% better fuel economy or 1 second faster 0-60-0. In fact no one ever argues that looks shouldn’t matter with cars, snowmobiles, snowboards, running shoes, jackets and so on. If a manufacturer were to make an ass ugly bike that is massively better than a WAO Arrival or Commencal Meta then we could have an honest discussion, but I don’t see huge gaps in performance that necessitate the “looks shouldn’t matter” talk.

These guys are fuuuunny

@honda50r: I think part of the issue is that most modern bikes are pretty awesome. You could choose between a lot of bikes that are going to suit your needs and be quite impressed with a lot of the ride characteristics. So if performance is pretty closely matched between two brands it is perfectly reasonable to select based on the aesthetics. No one is going to buy a horrible bike just because it’s pretty, but if you have two excellent bikes and you think one is ass ugly it’s an easy choice.

I used to work in a mill working shop. There were lots of artsy type guys experimenting with CNC stuff after hours. They’d usually show up with a couple bottles of wine and the guy who owned the shop would hang out and have a few drinks. There was one guy who was doing solid works programming during the day and the owner would let him use the table for his “hobby projects” after hours. One guy was machining 4’x8’x3” foam panels and then painting them to make 3D murals. As long as you know someone with a shop, are willing to pay for your own tooling and are flexible about when it’s getting done it’s reasonable to expect this kid could pull it off. Especially around Bend where the shop owner might be a biker himself and willing to eat some of the cost.