pedalhound

@andrewmajor: The issue is new riders, cant afford 2 grand for a bike...that is a lot of money in todays money. It may not seem like it compared to the high end bikes that are usually on PB, but to someone who is not numbed to the crazy prices that we pay for our gear...it's a big ask. The bike industry is suffering a bit right? So, wouldn't pushing their profit margins a bit to get someone into the industry now pay off down the road when they are hooked and will pay more for their next hit of mountain bike goodness...lol. Get more people back on bikes, a no nonsense, plain ol' mountain bike that just works...is easy to maintain will pay off in the long run IMO...and if they do it right, the brand loyalty will be off the charts. If the tariff situation get's a bit better (not holding my breath there) it would do a lot to help...I did some super basic research for post I made for my blog and it seems to me that shipping and tariffs are really eating into the bottom line...but you would think that someone like Giant with how huge their buying power must be could get pretty close to pulling this off. But COVID has made companies pretty gunshy about carrying large stock. Maybe getting rid of model years will help too...new products just to make new products seems a bit crazy IMO, release a new product when there is actually enough of a jump in performance to make a difference...this would also reduce costs. I know...it's not the reality of the situation...but whatever the bike industry is doing now is not really working...so maybe it's time for them to try something else. 30.5" wheels isn't going to save it...lol.

This is great, and a good start...but I want to see the major players get a good hardtail with external cable routing, good suspension, disk brakes that don't use shitty stamped resin only rotors, good tires and a dropper post for $700. I know it's a big ask, but if someone like Giant or Polygon can't do it...then who can?

I read your BRAIN post too, and I agree...I too would like to see all this tech and innovation go towards making bikes more affordable and available for more people. I wanted to know why we don't see more manufacturers making decent sub $1000 CAD mountain bikes, with droppers, good geo, good disk brakes with real rotors and pads and decent forks...so I used AI (so who knows how realistic it is, but at least it gave me an idea) to cost it out and wrote a post about it...It opened my eyes to the reality of it and how much tariffs and shipping costs really kill things. I think a decent alu hardtail at a super competitive price point would really do well, and I know Polygon and Marin and a few others do have some options, but I think more option are needed.

Love posts like this.....thanks Brian!

The Deity Supervillains weigh 20g less than the SL and cost over $100USD less and are the best pedals I have used. I am sure these are great, but that is quite the price jump for an already pretty expensive pedal.