sharkus

@bman33: Who cares if they are stepping up the game, changing the game or whatever the game. Gosh, people really need to argue about everything... Great edit, insane riding and the crew looks so cool and supportive to eachother that I want to ride with them (just not on that track maybe :D) More of this!

As I am a designer for backpacks I can say that the material price / yard makes a huge difference. There are farbics available for 3 USD / Yard and fabrics for 20 USD / Yard or even more. From what I can see from the picture the USWE pack uses very much a standard fabric for their packs which might be more on the cheaper side (which doesn´t mean it´s bad or sth). Country of origin of course also plays a role... The amount of labour costs mostly is not as big as material costs.

Super cool edit and some cool music. Fits perfectly !

Riding the aluminium version, I found a nice deal on the internet and in terms of price / weight / stiffness they work really well for me!

@Vemunddh: yes maybe. i was just wondering from a sales perspective about that blue because it seems quite special. but anyway, black one is looking good :)

have to agree. that blue is so out of time! which bike should it match?

i´m a product designer and i have to say that if you build something that will cost above 4000€ you just have to make sure people will like not just the function but also the design. and if the formal language is just not up to date then you will have to accept people who will tell you that. i dont like the agressive bashing on here as well but it is sadly true that the look of the bike is not contemporary! i know it from myself: if i work on something for a long time i sometimes loose an objective view on it. if i then ask a colleague and he tells me that this and that should be changed to make the function or design better you simply have to accept it. on this frame it just doesnt seem that the guy (and i have full respect for him building that frame) asked many other people for their opinion on the design. and design gets more and more important nowadays. to round things up: if i pay that much money for something it has to be perfect. and i expect from someone wanting that money from me that he made sure that also the design is up to date and that i will be able to look at this bike for the next 5 years at least and thining "wow, that things works well and looks sick". but i think for most people thats not the case with this bike. if the frame really works good and from reviews i think it does, then i guess the best thing they can do is get a industrial designer involved to make it look sick. i just hope the guy gets even more motivated now to show us what he is able to do!!

i really wonder why they did not hire a talented industrial design student. it would have been cheap and good for both. but sometimes you need to learn from your mistakes.