Bike Check: Zakarias Johansen's vs Greg Callaghan's Cube Stereo

 +1

 +2

 +4

 +8

 =15

 +3x11

 = 48

 42!

 Treeeeeee fiddy!

 420

 weight reduction bro

 Yeah I was thinking something was incongruent

 His surname ends with "sen" though. Thats how Danish and Norwegian surnames end. Swedish surnames end with "son".
However, 15 days ago Zakarias Johansen narrowly won the Swedish Enduro Championship in front of Robin Wallner.

 Oops, Got that city/country info from the EWS. His Cube Bio says he is Norwegian-born. I can fix that, now that I know. Thanks!

 @RichardCunningham: He is from Norway, but moved to Sweden for high school and have lived there since.

 same thinking here!!! thats a lot of pressure difference

 the lighter one also is the one with 45 psi more...

 Animal!! That thing must be impossible to bottom out for use mere mortals

 @sprocker1 that's only half the story. Maybe one likes a more linear feel and has a different shim stack than the other.

 the one with higher shock psi has lower rear tire pressure. Actually quite a bit lower if it's not a typo. Also compression settings are a bit lower on higher psi shock. Again, different shim stack makes all this speculations bananas.

 Callaghan used to be about the 2x drivetrain too. Not sure whether he's on a different sponsor program than Johansen with Shimano. So now that they released the wider range cassette, they need him to use it.

 @vinay: they still have 2x for the new 9100 groupset

 but but but bike companies said that 1x and wider rims were better

 @Chingus-Dude: they also said that v-brakes and 3x rings were the best

 @Tr011: v-brake or did you mean to say u-brake?

 @PNdubRider: u-brakes are the shit

 I wouldn't mind trying the 2x di2 setup, big range and if you're using syncroshift you really don't need to worry about the front derailleur. I'd never use one on a mechanical setup (except on a road bike)

 @Tr011: they were much better than cantilevers ,

 You see this over and over again, bars get wider, soon everyone is riding 800mm+ bars at the trails on the weekend, the pros settle at 760-770. Tyres get wider, amateurs need 2.6"+, pros still running 2.4". Travel getting longer, I totally need a 180mm enduro bike. Maes' bike was 150mm. Now again with rims. Again with how long and slack bikes are getting.

Not saying any of those things are right or wrong, but once a trend comes in amateurs and weekend riders will just push it further and further, since pros need to actually win they're more likely to test it against the clock and often settle on something wider/longer/slacker/whatever than before, but not as extreme.

Brands are happy to push bigger and bigger numbers because it sells new gear.

 @markinator: Rude is pushing some bigger numbers on the items you listed. May be skill, the physics of it all or cherry picking. These two guys plus Hill are relatively normal sized riders...oh plus they are smoother than the rest of us.

 @Loamhuck: yeah no argument. At the very least they're more skilful so can, for example, run a faster rolling tyre over absolute grip. I just do think there's this thing of marketing pushing bigger numbers, and we always end up over-shooting and then coming back a bit. The experimentation is good, bikes are improving at an incredible rate, but I do think lots of people end up riding stuff that is less good for them and their trails as a result. One obvious example being the people lugging enduro bikes around my local XCish trails.

 @markinator: Part of the enduro bike on xc trails is people only able to have one bike but wanting to ride everything (aka me). I'd rather ride an enduro bike on the xc loop with some extra pressure in the suspension than take an xc bike to the local shuttle-able downhill trails. Plus riding the enduro bike for everything makes you stronger.

 @casman86: Riding DH on your xc bike makes you stronger too.
If it doesn't kill you or your bike.

 Higher pressure front means only cushcore in the rear

 But they are running the same stems front and back hmmm

 @makripper: it says his front tyre is a lower pressure now, might have been an error.

 @dingus: that make more sense

 I think the push back to narrower rims may be driven by riders trying to make DH casing tires stuffed with inserts flex a little in the turns.

 @RichardCunningham: wait...what?

 @RichardCunningham: Only they aren't running DH casings...

 @RichardCunningham: I thought the idea was that you don't need a DH casing with an insert?

 @SonofBovril: tyres still get shredded and cut. Casing and insert mostly so that you can run lower pressures and not tank your rims or get slashed. The "not needing dh tyres" thing was IMO a marketing sham for those not riding mega tech & gnarly trails like these guys do.

Ride flow trails? Fine - go for lighter weight casings and an insert cos there's not much chance of a ninja rock slice ruining your ride. Riding gnar, and want to run slightly lower pressures? You still need sidewall protection or you're gon' get cut, yo. Put an insert in for the added protection.

 @RichardCunningham: interesting Richard I didn’t know about that. I just assumed it was to create the better tyre profile . That’s why I have stayed with25mm

 The typography (spacing) is messed up, but I think the "minus" signs mean backwards from max.

 Thats exactly what i was thinking.. Wasnt too hard however

 Line choice... very good line choice lol

 I ride some pretty full on terrain and the thought of anything over 21psi up front makes my palms sweat. I tried 23/24 up front and it felt horrible. Low pressure and cushcore is the future

 @code26: SUpergravity casing and Cushcore

 @RollinFoSho: ^ what he said ^

on the front that is doable with a strong casing even without an insert

 @howie286: Wow. I too ride some full on DH terrain on my YT 29er and can not fathom dropping below 28psi. Usually ride +30psi standard. Maybe it's time to see what these inserts are all about...

 Zakka's got dual citizenship, lives in Sweden and recently won the Swedish enduro champs, although he competes for Norway internationally. And BTW @RichardCunningham, Falun's situated in Sweden, not in Norway.

 He is the freshly crowned enduro champion in Sweden, and if I'm not wrong he got double citizenship.

 Thank Ross Bell. He 's the photographer that goes the distance with the tech shots and gets the intel..

 There are two big pictures of the grips and you can easily tell what they are.

 @Dustfarter: The grips shown are the ODI Elite Pro (no durometer or diameter options, just color). The other set is Lizard Skins Logo Lock-On (no durometer or diameter options, just color. The pictures answer those questions, just not the 'why'.

 Geo on the 160 is very dated, get the 150 instead.

 Be wise,
don't tell lies,
take lip from
the mothership
look those girls
in the eyes

work out what
make your heart skip
dig deep, get yo sleep
know when to fall,
and when to rise


ring that bell
give 'em all hell,
but know you're
in heaven; how?
because you're alive.

 @spaceofades: Yeah, the geometry looked to be the worst part; it got mixed reviews, but definitely seems short in reach, if nothing else. Thing is, I can get the 160 for 1.1k. The components look awesomely solid... GX 10-42 1x11, Guide brakes, Yari fork, 150mm dropper, etc... better than anything else I can find for that price. Otherwise it's spend a few hundred more and hope to get something with better geo, or maybe a Pike/Lyrik.

 @spaceofades: Plus the 2017 150 is a bit more expensive but with the same geometry. Idk if the 2018 is better, but the cheapest I can find that is like 2k. For that price I wouldn't go Cube... I have much better options... I was just asking about the 160 'cause the great deal. FWIW, it would be the 160 vs a 2015 Altitude 750 MSL, a 2017 Meta AM V3 Origin, or a 2016 Jamis Defcon 3. Other than that the price goes up.

 @spaceofades: Edited: I mean the 2019... the 2018 is the same as the 2017 geo-wise, and at brand new 2019 prices... forget that. I could just get the '17, and if it's horribly cramped or something, use the parts and get a different frame.

 Good value for money, but try before you buy. The geometry is not according to fashion, but some people like it for the playfulness versus stability of longer frames. Try both the 160 and newer 150 and decide which one you like better. The 150 is a fair bit more expensive though. I personally love my 160, but lots of people hate it. It also depends on your trails and riding style. I ride primarily AM type trails, but want to do the occasional bike park. If it were the other way around, I would have bought a more aggressive longer framed bike.

 @Mac1987: Thanks. That sounds like my riding; I have an XC hardtail that I currently use for everything, so I want something for the bike parks/big trails that are still pedal-access. My only quandary ... I'm a bit over 6'3", so I figure something decently long in reach would be good, but then again, my newest bike is from 2011, so what do I know lol. I would definitely love to demo... trying everything previously would be best... but does anyone know how to demo Cube in the PNW? According to Cube's website, they don't even have dealers in the country. And yeah, I'm aware that the new 2019 150 is better... but it's almost 4k. *Slight* difference. Unfortunately, that's nowhere near attainable for me right now. Like I said, just asking because that model was in budget and comparable to some others, so I wondered if one was objectively better... Thanks for the help everyone... keep it coming! @FuriousGeorge, you got anything?

 Born in Norway, lives in Sweden