phops

@Mtbdialed: It takes significant amount of time and money to repair a carbon frame. Its not as simple as a weld+grind+paint.

@EvolutionMTBer: Cause you are from New Zealand, and I love that place, you get a pass for now :)

@spencer81: There is Hardline for that. You already see analogs to motorcycle racing, where all the Moto GP athletes are contractually forbidden to compete in any of the TT races.

@Mtbdialed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zto62OypjUk Starling Sturn is like 36-38 lb depending on the build, and thats with 2 chains. Its not also about just the warranty, its about the resistance of steel to impacts (unlike carbon), and its repairability.

Finns back!!! Until next rounds when he messes up or crashes or iust doesnt score high, then someone else will be "back" like Goldstone and so on. Amoury can be leading the overall and be "back", then have a bad crash and sit out a lot of races. DH Racing is just too RNG at this point for me personally. The skill level is so high that everyone baically risks it all every single time to be in contention, and athletes get hurt way too much these days. Not to mention that with fust or mud, the track can change significantly to where if you have the muscle memory down for a sector, that exact line can be blown out and cause you to crash. i think with a series format, there needs to be an analog to lap racing where there is more strategy involved. Something like scoring points per sector individually in how fast the rider is for that section only, and having 2 runs to account for track changes. And maybe some form of pit board display that shows how the rider did compared to previous recorded time. That would be way more interesting to watch because then you get strategy in where to prioritize performance.

@Mtbdialed: Yes, but making it right involves lots more labor than what anyone invests into, because its much cheaperr to slap more layers on for a factor of safety, and deal with any defects through warranty. And as for steel dh bikes, lol. You couldnt be more wrong.

@naptime: Aluminm tube stock is first cast, then extruded. This leaves you with no chance of irregularities due to the high compressive pressure involved. Then you just need to make sure your welds are done proper (usually robotic welding is the way to go) and you do a post weld stress relief.

@Mtbdialed: Alloy frames don't really need to be x rayed, just make them proper with enough thickness. You also don't technically need to xray carbon frames - Atheron bikes makes them the right way with carbon tubestock which is made in a very reliable manner, and 3d printed lugs that have double lap joints. Or better yet, just make the DH bikes out of steel.

Is that a 4 speed DH drivetrain on the Nukeproof?

@Mtbdialed: In the moto world, any manufacturing defect is treated very seriously (unless you are KTM), because a failure like a frame crack or another issue can result in a crash and liability. In the bicycle world, somehow its perfectly ok to tell consumers that their frame, handlebar, or cranks may crack and they may get hurt in the subsequent crash, because the bike has a warranty on it, and somehow people buy that bullshit. Contrary to popular belief, you can make a bicycle frame that does not break with regular use. Canfield does this, find anyone with a first gen jedi on 26 wheels from 10 years ago that has been abused plenty. In the modern days, companies like Starling make fully steel bikes that will still be just as solid as they day they were made 10 years later.