NickB01

FWIW my Mallet 2s are coming up on 12 years old with one bearing replacement and one axle replacement (snapped on a massive flat landing in Whistler which was fair), and my Mallet DHs are coming up on 8 years old and haven't had any service work done on them, so in terms of reliability I'd say mine have proven to be quite reliable.

@truenorthsimon: I haven't come across 533d before so had to Google it, it did not disappoint #PEES

@mtbtrekracer: I'm coming from a Capra Pro Race which was carbon everything and very stiff and quiet, so the more mid-level alloy A2 was always going to be an interesting change. I think the flex I'm feeling comes from the independent rear seatstays and 29er rear wheel - it's not too bad just noticeable by comparison. My plan was to get inside the frame and foam it up nice and tight to get rid of the cable movement, however there aren't any easy ways to get into the downtube on the alloy model so no easy fixes unfortunately. I spent a few days in Whistler with a rental Fury and got along with that very well, so quite interested to try out the new Force. Ideally I'd love to spend a bit of time with both options to see which one works best, though based on the current market I'd be lucky to see either in the flesh any time soon!

Not to take away from your from your bizarre one man rampage against YT bikes, but if you're going to go down that route it's worth noting Ferdinand Porsche was quite literally a decorated member of the Nazi party... Just sayin'

You'll also notice on the Race model the lowers are from the Boxxer 29 and photoshopped on poorly - if you look carefully you'll see two rebound adjusters.

@b45her: I call bullshit on your statements, having previously dealt with all service and warranty issues for YT in Australasia over the past 4 years - which covers thousands of YT bikes - I never dealt with half the issues you're talking about. I saw one alignment issue, a couple of threaded bolts which isn't abnormal for any brand, and I can assure you the carbon frames had a miniscule structural failure rate. And fyi, no YT frame uses Torx heads anymore, and hasn't done since 2017. The only thing that is even remotely accurate is the e13 droppers were less than brilliant, and the recent TRS+ rims were a bit soft, but otherwise completely talking out your arse.

FFS - Gwin was far from 'ditched'. YT offered him a contract extension at his already high rate, but he tried to jack up his price and when he found out YT wouldn't pay it he left to go find a team that would. When he found out no one else would take him he tried to go back to YT after their offer had expired, who told him to take a hike. Why do you think he had to make his own team?

That's alright, show them with your $$$. If you don't buy it they might bring out a 27.5 version that we actually want to buy...

@zyoungson: all 3 of mine have been smooth as butter, and given my job in a previous life I know the failure rate like the back of my hand - any QC issues were no worse than I've seen from many other brands including Specialized. Capra's are good bikes, I'd still recommend them to anyone.

@mikekazimer: The wheel size debate is silly as I don't give a damn what others ride, but it's no longer about which is better but rather a fight to remain relevant as the industry seems keen to push 27.5 out of the picture. Don't mistake, I've really enjoy riding a bunch of solid 29's, but the 27.5 equivalent has always been better for me and I'd like the option to keep it around. When every review of new bikes only pushes 29ers, and you list traits of 27.5 bikes as being a negative for simply not being a 29er of course the uninformed public are going to steer in the that direction, and just based on the above comments there's no denying the bias recently. Do you know the amount of customers I've spoken to recently who thought they should buy a 29er but had no idea why, in many cases being the complete opposite of how they actually liked to ride? But here's the main point: you can't say 'pick the bike that makes you happiest' when you don't have that option anymore.