Good Month / Bad Month: New Shoes, Wireless Shifting, Expensive Bikes, & Knife Fights
Lower Priced Electronic Wireless Shifting
SRAM Launches GX AXS
SRAM Launches GX AXS
SRAM's release of their new GX AXS wireless electronic drivetrain brings the price of ditching cables and housing down to $600, which gets you a new derailleur, shifter, battery, and a charger. It still doesn't exactly fall into the 'affordable' category, but the price should make it more attainable, and we'll undoubtedly see more complete bikes equipped with the new parts later this year.
Shimano appears to be working on a wireless group of their own, at least based on patents that the Japanese company was recently granted that show a wireless derailleur, dropper post, and suspension. There's still no news as to when the products might show up in real life, though; at the moment SRAM is firmly in the lead when it comes to leaving those cables behind.
Shimano appears to be working on a wireless group of their own, at least based on patents that the Japanese company was recently granted that show a wireless derailleur, dropper post, and suspension. There's still no news as to when the products might show up in real life, though; at the moment SRAM is firmly in the lead when it comes to leaving those cables behind.
Wild Riding in British Columbia
Spring is for sending.
Spring is for sending.
Yoann Barelli, Remy Metailler, and Steve Vanderhoek seemed to be on the Pinkbike homepage every day in March, dissecting gnarly move after gnarly move in the Sea to Sky corridor. While there's plenty of cringe-worthy YouTube mountain biking content out there, this trio's level of talent makes it much more palatable, and the fact that they're able to ride some of the most ridiculous trails on the planet with ease, even in the pouring rain, makes for some highly entertaining, and sometimes inspiring, viewing.
Getting Nerdy
Seb Stott Brings the Science
Seb Stott Brings the Science
The addition of Seb Stott to Pinkbike's editorial team means that there is a whole bunch of extra-nerdy riding-related content on the way, the results of combining a degree in experimental physics with a passion for mountain biking.
In March, Seb kicked things off by trying to figure out if using a lockout actually made a difference while climbing (in this case it did), and then followed that up with an excellent breakdown of the science behind pumping. If reading the words “conservation of angular momentum” immediately makes you consider taking a nap, don't nod off just yet – Taj Mijelich added in some clever illustrations to make all that science a little more understandable.
In March, Seb kicked things off by trying to figure out if using a lockout actually made a difference while climbing (in this case it did), and then followed that up with an excellent breakdown of the science behind pumping. If reading the words “conservation of angular momentum” immediately makes you consider taking a nap, don't nod off just yet – Taj Mijelich added in some clever illustrations to make all that science a little more understandable.
New Shoes
Yes, really. There were a lot of them.
Yes, really. There were a lot of them.
If you were in the market for new mountain bike shoes, March delivered a bumper crop of new options. There may not have been that many new bike launches, but for some reason there were more new shoe announcements than ever.
Ride Concepts released two flat pedals models, the Hellion Elite and the Vice Mid, Specialized debuted their new 2F0 DH and Rime Shoes, and Fizik joined in with their new Gravita models. Even Brandon Semenuk got into the mix with his new signature model from Etnies, the Semenuk Pro.
Ride Concepts released two flat pedals models, the Hellion Elite and the Vice Mid, Specialized debuted their new 2F0 DH and Rime Shoes, and Fizik joined in with their new Gravita models. Even Brandon Semenuk got into the mix with his new signature model from Etnies, the Semenuk Pro.
Getting Along
"Never bring a bike to a knife fight."- @nychc00
"Never bring a bike to a knife fight."- @nychc00
One of the most read stories in March had to do with a strange incident on a trail in Bellingham, Washington. There are conflicting reports as to exactly what happened, but the overall gist of it is that a 66-year-old mountain biker encountered a group of hikers while he was riding uphill, some sort of scuffle ensued, and one of the hikers, 69-year-old Dake Traphagen, allegedly stabbed the biker in the fray.
The story should serve as a reminder that being respectful and courteous to other users goes a long way, and no matter if you're hiking, biking, or off-road rollerblading there's no reason to stab anyone. Imagining two old guys battling it out in the woods over who has the right of way is a little funny, and a lot sad. It's not that hard to be nice.
The story should serve as a reminder that being respectful and courteous to other users goes a long way, and no matter if you're hiking, biking, or off-road rollerblading there's no reason to stab anyone. Imagining two old guys battling it out in the woods over who has the right of way is a little funny, and a lot sad. It's not that hard to be nice.
Santa Cruz Syndicate
Minnaar recovering from COVID, Shaw suffers back injury.
Minnaar recovering from COVID, Shaw suffers back injury.
It was a rough month for the Santa Cruz Syndicate. Greg Minnaar announced that he had contracted a mild case of COVID-19 earlier in March following a trip to Europe, and the lingering effects of the virus were still affecting his pre-season training. He said, "I'm now two weeks post-COVID and I thought I'd be back training which isn't the case."
Minnaar's teammate, Luca Shaw, also had a rough month, after a huge crash left him with a fracture on a facet joint in his lower spine. Luckily it sounds like the injury is stable and won't require surgery – Luca was hoping to be back on the bike relatively quickly.
The Fort Wlliam World Cup round was recently cancelled, which means that the first round of the World Cup won't be until June 12th. Hopefully that will give Greg and Luca time to heal up and start the season at 100%.
Minnaar's teammate, Luca Shaw, also had a rough month, after a huge crash left him with a fracture on a facet joint in his lower spine. Luckily it sounds like the injury is stable and won't require surgery – Luca was hoping to be back on the bike relatively quickly.
The Fort Wlliam World Cup round was recently cancelled, which means that the first round of the World Cup won't be until June 12th. Hopefully that will give Greg and Luca time to heal up and start the season at 100%.
Bike Prices
Don't Expect a Discount Any Time Soon
Don't Expect a Discount Any Time Soon
March brought multiple announcements about increasing bike prices. Rose Bikes and Santa Cruz both issued statements explaining that prices would be rising by around 10%. Earlier in the year Commencal, Propain, and Nukeproof announced price increases, and it's fair to say that most bike companies will be following suit.
If mountain biking is suddenly so popular, why are the prices going up? Shipping costs are one of the main reasons – freight prices are at an all time high, and events like the Ever Given ship getting stuck in the Suez canal aren't helping things. Component costs have also gone up, which raises the price of a complete bike, and the growing strength of the Taiwan dollars is yet another reason that companies have had to increase prices, even with the strong demand.
If mountain biking is suddenly so popular, why are the prices going up? Shipping costs are one of the main reasons – freight prices are at an all time high, and events like the Ever Given ship getting stuck in the Suez canal aren't helping things. Component costs have also gone up, which raises the price of a complete bike, and the growing strength of the Taiwan dollars is yet another reason that companies have had to increase prices, even with the strong demand.
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One would think wireless transmitters are pretty cheap off the shelf. Battery and charger quite possibly catalogue items too.
The shifter control is fundamentally two buttons, basic circuit, connectivity to mobile and a waterproof housing, all of which can be found in common, cheap IoT devices.
And there are zero competitors. Sram would have to be insane (as any business would) to price based on the cost of producing the product. You always price based on what you think the market will bear. If Sram thinks people will pay 600 they will charge that regardless of the cost unless the cost of production is too high and then Sram will simply not make the product.
Don't forget that the amount you're being paid hasn't kept up with economic growth anyways
A crash made worse by the fact that he did nothing wrong as a rider, it was 100% due to the defectively engineered derailleur chain drivetrain system he was using. I've edited my derailleur hater blog and strengthened my argument against this awful technology most bike manufacturers are still going with. Nobody had yet to make an effective argument or defense in the comments as to why the industry is still using the archaic derailleur chain system.
www.pinkbike.com/u/DoubleCrownAddict/blog/derailleur-failure-and-why-its-time-to-evolve-beyond-them.html#commview
www.pinkbike.com/photo/20374555
#Justice4Luca
www.vitalmtb.com/photos/member/RACE-REPORT-USDH-Tennessee-National,13354/Aftermath,144086/JackRice,44569
1) Do I sue the inventor of stairs?
2) Do I sue the inventor of stairs and our home builder for putting them in our house?
3) Do I sue my wife for not checking her line choice coming down the stairs?
4) Do I sue stairs and the carpet that covers them because the pile didn't have a high enough coefficient of friction to stop the slippage? Sue just the carpet?
5) Any combination of all of the above?
6) When I lose this civil action can I go after Double Crown Addict for giving me the idea that this ridiculousness was possible?
7) Am I now somehow sue-able for even writing this stuff down?
Side-bar: Will I get suspended before DCA now?
Side-side bar: Why don't you just convince Luca to run a gearbox. We'll be convinced when he wins and is crashless. Unless his pedals don't hold. Or his grips aren't sticky enough. Do you sue God if your hands get scraped up when you crash glove-less because your epidermis is poorly engineered and God knew about it? And we need to progress beyond it asap before other people feel the wrath of the dastardly epidermis?