ppp9911

I have a set of A4's that sat for over a year because I had slx 7120's on both bikes (previously had codes and guides) and despite wandering bite point I was too lazy to swap sets over (thanks internal routing). This fall I switched over to the A4's again and wow, so consistent, way more modulation, and now I notice the wandering bitepoint on my other bikes 7120s way more. In terms of power, I would say that the 7120's may actually have more absolute power (galfer pads), but that power is not always usable with the much worse modulation. Overall the Dominions are a fantastic set of brakes

I own an Evo and have not ridden the Fuel, but I generally prefer split pivot/ABP over the feel of FSR and the ability to adjust the progressiveness of this frame without the yoke side loading that the Evo suffers from, would leave me to suspect the fuel is actually the better bike. The Evo is a bit too linear (CC link fixes this) and while the geo is dialed, the rear suspension has never felt all that great (my bike has the dpx2). I like my Evo and think it is a great bike but this fuel seems to improve upon the downsides of the evo (aside from looks maybe)

Poor reliability of Float X2s has been an issue for just about as long as the shock has been around (I had failures on 2017 and 2018 models got maybe 20-30 hours per rebuild). I was just thinking the other day when I was rebuilding my sisters failed 2020 float X2 about how bike media seem to pretend this (and other issues with other products) issue doesn't actually exist. The fact that this is being just mentioned now by Kaz really highlights how bad the problem has become. Some other examples: Fox CTD dampers that almost killed people, media really only admitted they were garbage after new fit damper was released Shimano wandering bite point (literally ignored for 5+ years before media started admitting this was an issue) Sram Eagle-chain riding up on biggest cogs of cassette (only noted 2-3 years after eagles introduction) Maxxis Exo+ casing tires that died rampantly by pinch flats on the rim (only ever noted AFTER the new EXO+ revision came out this year, also will note these tires were used and likely died frequently within all of field tests as control tires with no mention of their reliability issues) Shimano 12spd clutch failures (known issue rarely mentioned) etc. etc. etc. One could argue that some of these issues may not have been picked up during a short-term bike test or review. But, having experienced all of the above, I can tell you that they were all readily apparent rather quickly and thus sugar coating and ignoring issues with products is one of the most ubiquitous problems with Mtn bike media (quite frankly this has been happening since the 90s)

I get particularly frustrated when bike reviewers talk about a bike made in the US, UK, Canada etc as some checkbox or option without explaining why this is meaningful. It doesn't inherently meant he bike itself is better but in general it means the bikes are made where workers receive a living wage and benefits, where environmental and health and safety regulations are followed, and where the $$$ spent stay within the industry. Bikes made in Taiwan generally also have pretty good living wage and health and safety but bikes made in China, Vietnam, or Myanmar (ahem Evil) do not have those same standards and I think that should be important to mention not just as some random fluffy bourgeois check box on a bike.

I remember hearing that Vernon Felton took heat from Evile while at Bike Mag for pointing out Evils dubious past with regard to leaving customers hung out to dry on broken frames and even PB editors previously noting that Evil refused to send them bikes for testing because of criticisms voiced in previous reviews. Now comments made about frame breaks (both a past and current issue) are deleted, seems suspect to me for the entire string to be removed.

It would be great to be able to filter/exclude certain sellers. When I look for components etc. near me 80% of the results are China based Ebay sellers with a distribution site in the Portland area that post 100's of items for sale that are actually not available for local pickup and often not even available for weeks since they are being shipped overseas: Example: seller ronde-sport

is Yoki, waki rebranded?

@sportstuff: hahaha, very nice

yeah, there is a reason that the EXO+ are back now 60TPI down from 120, they were the kings of pinch flats at the bead. I would say we could wait for reviews to see how these perform but...... pinkbike and other media raved about EXO+ until they were redone and now they all admit how puncture prone they were (worse than EXO by far). I would like to try these tires but definitely don't want bead pinch flats or the previous massive casing wobble that all of my trail kings of past developed.

@noplacelikeloam: corporations are not going to save us (DaKine was in HR for years and never did much aside from naming clothing after trails they didn't help build). However, shops like FTF, Cyclepath, RiverCity, etc. should be at the least trying to package NWTA/Evergreen memberships with all mountain bike purchases (this is just smart business sense since a larger mountain bike scene=more sales and maintenance). With a much larger active membership base, NWTA and Evergreen would represent a broader constituency that is harder for metro area recreation planning to ignore and for the small but vocal minority of elitists that want to exclude everyone from their nature parks under false pretenses of environmental protection to malign (Ahem Palatine Hill and Forrest park misanthropes).