The most frustrating trend is making videos about "bad" trends in bicycles (and other industries). Are you running out of things to be frustrated about?
@@bikeradar I bought a medium bike that had 175 mm cranks and they were way too long. There wasn’t a ground clearance issue at all, but I switched to 165 mm and they feel a lot better. I’m just saying it doesn’t make any sense for a guy that is 5 feet tall to be on the same size cranks as someone that is 7 feet tall.
agreed, I'm not into the wireless thing but even mates who have it take a cable derailleur and shifter away with them for multi day bike trips just incase
When you watch a video like this, explaining just some of the extreme problems integrated into the bicycle industry you realize why the bicycle industry is in financial trouble. The only way to solve these problems is for the consumer to just stop buying the newest versions because the manufacturers seem to think they have to continuously change everything (redesign) every few years simply because they know consumers love to spend money on innovation. I'm glad i didn't fall for the idiocy of having to buy the latest innovative gimmick. I still ride the bikes from the 90's and 00's and can switch the components between ten bikes, and i could care less about the new bicycles or latest trends.
It must be interesting not to know what it's like to run modern suspension, slack geometry, dropper seatposts, 29er wheels and disc brakes. I remember my mountain bike from 2001....
@@malcolm777b With you on that. However, beyond 2018 only suspension and disc brakes brands have continued innovating and giving really meaningfull new products for consumers. Beyond those 2 products, changes on the rest were only gimmiki at best, unnecessary at worst.
6. Headset cable routing 7. Pressfit bb 8. Plastic headset parts 9. Cheap bearings. I understand the industry is in a tough spot but please don’t try to scrape a few bucks in places like these. I’d happily pay a few hundred more for a well built, durable bike, as would most serious riders. Having a shop replace prematurely worn stuff is way more expensive than spec’ing quality parts right away.
I HATE the use of headset internal routing on any bike that's not a road bike. Bikes that are ridden in dirtier conditions have a shorter headset service interval, so there's no way I'm going to take hours just to service two bearings.
You beat me to it. Plastic headset parts. My Spectral creaked like crazy when I first bought it, turned out to be the plastic headset spacers. How much more profit are you getting my not speccing aluminium spacers? Absolutely ridiculous
@@sbccbc7471 It is one bearing (the top one) and how long does it take to bleed a rear brake (5-10 mins) and by the time you need to replace the top headset bearing it is time to bleed the brake. I have just fitted a new dropper in my bike and only had to feed the new housing through the headset without stripping it at all. Bike is Scott Spark RC. I also fitted a newly serviced shock as well and it is easily and quickly done. That is my personal experience and I am just a home DIY person.
The thru axle thread and pitch is very very annoying. They don’t realise by doing that they sell less products because consumers have no idea if a replacement product will fit.
Well I own 2 Nukeproofs & a Kona. So I'd like to see an end to the trend of bike manufacturers going under. And please standardise everything, bottom brackets, headsets, hubs etc. And stop pushing riders into 29". I, along with probably lots of other people still like my 27.5.
I've seen lots of new bikes come out with 27.5" options. From full 27 to mullets with flip chips that can go full 29. Matt Jones was riding one in his last video. They're out there. 29" is just easier for people getting into riding because they roll over more stuff.
Pressfit bb, cable management through steerer tube, hidden shock like in scott frames, short duration time of shock service, o-chain cranks, skinwall tires, low quality suspension bolts and spares. All this looks ridiculous.
The other trend that needs to stop and in some cases reverse back to what was before is reach length and head tube angle. Many bikes are getting way too long and slack. Keep that trend to DH and Enduro bikes, but stop making trail and XC bikes with these extremely long reaches and slack head angles. Most riders buying trail and XC bikes are not pointing downhill and gnarly technical terrain that often. I am happy with the progression made up until a couple of years ago, but now they just keep making them longer and slacker and have gone way past the sweet spot!
@KlintonSilvey I feel like the sweet spot for head angles is 66 degrees. 65 is pretty slack and there isn't much need to go slacker than that. The reach options are good now they just need to adjust the size charts because for shorter people they need to adjust the charts to show shorter reaches. A 460mm reach is not good for a 5' 7" rider...at all!!! 430mm is about right.
@@ShadLife idk . I would say 64.5-65 is the sweet spot for a trail bike. I have run the range from 63.5-67 and 66 is ok but that little extra makes a big difference descending and doesn't hurt climbing if the rest of the bike is right
Sram just "bought" these manufacturers. By creating sram only frames, they pushed owners of those to buy sram products without any choice. And manufacturers are 101% get some benefits from sram for doing that. Probably super low prices for their oem products.
After a few years away from owning a MTB, I’ve definitely noticed the component spec issue. Spending double if not more to achieve a broadly similar spec to my last few bikes.
Absolutely, prices have gone up for a given specification level. But then the lower level stuff now is as good as better stuff from years ago, so maybe its not the same label, but performance is as good, if not better?
Give me HD or death! 31.8 handlebars forevermore. Threaded BB or nothing. The bike industry may not care, while simultaneously wondering where their customers went.
E-motor mount and battery design evolution and pace keeps me from purchasing a $10,000 bike that will be worth what on the used market? The price of it's parts when the motor and battery becomes obsolete. I'm not willing to pay to loose money like that.
Agreed, price is irrelevant here, the motors use different mounts and bikes use different batteries. Standardised fitments for both would help both during ownership of the bike and with resale value too
fwiw. I have a friend who still regularly rides their 2016 KTM eMTB - yes it's not as up to date as more modern designs, but they still have huge fun on it... As long as the motor and battery remain reliable, there is nothing wrong with keeping an older eMTB indefinitely (just like many people still ride an older regular bike) - unless you're constantly chasing the 'latest thing', which is always going to cost you.
E-motor mount, battery design evolution and pace keep* me from purchasing / the price of its* parts (it's = it is) / when the motor and battery become* obsolete / willing to lose* money - otherwise completely agreed.
Your buying a frameset because you want to spec your own favourite brands on it. To be only able to fit Sram AXS on it is like buying a computer that you can only use Google on. Smacks of Anti-Competition which is illegal.
One issue not mentioned is that very few eBikes motors are properly sealed and fail if they get to much moisture inside. The cost to rebuild them is only complicated more when with each new motor series, nothing is back compatible. Ultimately this infuriating “The only thing standard is that nothing is standard” mentality bled into MTB from the roadies because they use their bikes more for status and one-up man ship. So a Kashima coated fork has to be better than a performance because it’s blingy. $1000 titanium cranks… $50 titanium screws. Blame that one on the weight weenies. I’ve got my 2017 DB Mission 2 mullet improved with all new parts, which I might add was a pain in the ass. Non-boost rear made for some fun learnings. I upgraded my old bike because new bikes are too expensive and literally seem to go back and forth on what’s best and then repeat after a few years.
I don't understand why it's such a big deal with bikes sold with crap tires. Here in Australia, they are the first thing we replace. Manufacturers may know about tires, but they have no idea where each bike will be ridden. I'd be happier if the shops gave us a choice of tires.
The thing is that crappy tires are useless everywhere for everyone. Yes, everyone will replace the tires as first thing to upgrade, but what happens to the stock tires then? Probably laying around in everyone's garages until they are thrown away. A huge waste of resources and material to no ones benefit. Only reason being to squeeze out a bit extra margin, because you can be sure that they don't pass the cheaper price on to the customer. And in the meantime newcomers to the sport will find it much more challenging than what it should be, eventually loosing all interest in the sport. Tires are wrong place to save $ and under-spec.
They should just supply them without tyres. Then the customer can choose what suits; they always have to be remounted anyway, as they are never shipped tubeless.
lets see how they are gonna do, i mean they should have a lot of money, thats because when they sold Kona back then they sold it for a couple million i think, and they just bought it back for like half of what they got back then
I agree with most of this, but what about sustainability I have a shed full of wheels and tyres and other parts put on high end bikes not fit for the type of riding the bike is designed for, surely this industry should be held accountable for such a waste, from now on I’m not going to buy full bikes if I can help it.
Trends - Manufacturers selling Emtbs that arent fit for purpose, motors that can't handle months of uk wet weather use without some kind of failure. Weak wheels, even weaker brakes on bikes priced over 6k.. the biggest bad trend of all.. is them ripping us off. 😂
The industry will always push for more expensive components because they want to force higher margins and need the novelty to sell to us. Electronic components are not better to any realistic degree to require that huge price differential. I mean you can get a Deore XT derailleur for about ~$85, while an electronic derailleur is ~$600. Is the performance THAT much better? No, not at all. In fact, they force you to manage charging of multiple components which is a PITA and can lead to failed rides. I know because I added an electronic derailleur as an experiment. It worked fine, but the charging monitoring is annoying and adds more needless work. My derailleur also failed from sticking battery contacts (loss of connection) and had to be warrantied. I also ran into a guy on the trail whose battery was dead and was going around asking people if they had a battery. Luckily I had one and lent it to him. Does that sound like an improvement in riding experience? No, it isn’t. Again, this is mostly to push higher margins using the mesmerizing magic wand of “high tech” electronic parts. As an FYI, I am the kind of rider who likes to try out new tech and add upgrades, but I add things that improve my riding experience, not make it worse or add complexity. Lastly, let’s consider that an $85 derailleur replacement is far easier to digest than having to replace a $600 one.
Yes they aren't exactly comparable but IMHO these top-end groupsets for >1000 bucks (derailleur, shifter, cassette, crank at least) are crazy compared to something like a Rohloff Speedhub or Pinion Gearbox, yes, these are on the heavy side and also rather a choice for bikepacking/travel bikes (on which you cross entire countries and continents) than super sportive Mountain/Road biking, but these are really built to last, the mileage record on a Rohloff now has 500 000 kilometres, I'm sure you can wear out >5 XT sets. IMHO these electronic shifters aren't completely wrong, especially that these SRAM seem to shift at the exact right moment on the shifting ramps of the chainwheels and also communicating together with a electric motor that may do a short interruption in powering to let it shift without load. But obviously there's that issues with charging these batteries, it feels like tubeless, isn't wrong, but if you don't use your bike regularly, the sealant kinda seizes etc. that maintenance overcomplicates it for casual riders, have a 11 year old hardtail MTB with 3x10 XT and it still works fine, just had to adjust it the cable tensioner a little and that's it. Of course inital adjustment and fine tuning is a pain in the butt at first for inexperienced DIYers but then it just works for years to come...
What's going to get really interesting is when people realise that as soon as SRAM stop supporting the phone app for setting up their electronic junk then it immediately becomes e-waste. Without an open communication standard (This doesn't mean unencrypted communication between components) to allow 3rd party software to set them up, SRAM literally own their customers - and that's exactly how they like it. Same story with e-bikes.
@@kuchenblechmafiagmbh1381 3x10 XT with the first gen Shadow+ clutch derailleur is the best drivetrain I've ever used, and I've ridden everything from 3 speed to 12 (Skipping 4 as there's no 4 speed drivetrain I know of). That groupset got a clutch derailleur for silent running, instant upshifts with double release in both directions of the release lever (It only works in one direction on the newer stuff), as well as extremely light downshift action, clean front and rear shifts and affordable chainrings. It's still sold as XT touring thankfully, but the chainset is a 48-38-26, so swapping the rings is required for off road use. I will give credit to Shimano 2x12 for having even better front derailleur shifts than 3x10 XT, but the rear derailleur downshifts are shamefully heavy. Most people don't even believe 2x12 exists, and finding a MTB frame that'll take a front derailleur so they can try it out is becoming near impossible, but for a 600+% gear range and decent chainlines across the whole gear range it's excellent.
The industry collapsing and their choices on how to run their companies are correlated. You can't keep marginally improve your product, then proceed to pass on that cost to the consumer. If you look at the car industry and computing industries, there are standards that are kept for several years if not longer. Bike costs are insane. Components costs are insane. Sure have those things for the F1 Racers of the bike world. The rest of the world just wants a affordable reliable bike with standardized components. You did not even mention the anti-repair practices of modern components.
@@Jaze2022 The anti-repair practice is system wide not just confined to bikes. Technology has improved to the point that they can’t really make money by genuinely improving the product, it’s just too good already. You have to invent silly trends and lock people into an ecosystem if you want to keep selling stuff.
@@chadwells7562 I agree anti-repair is wide spread. But which was the chicken and which was the egg? I know so many who make the calculation that it's cheaper to buy and throw away a product 2-3x then it is to buy a better product that can be repaired to last potentionally a life time. If consumers prioritise price over repairability, no wonder companies would capitalize and push that trend. Another example is many years ago in my area, people complained about grocery plastic bags were wasteful. Supermarkets quickly agreed and started charging customers in order to "help reduce waste". Guess how people bag up their garbage? They have to seperately buy boxes of thicker plastic bags. All because they could not upcycle their end of life ultra thin grocery bags. It's all so ass backwards, it makes my head hurt.
@@Jaze2022The issue with bike stuff is that you can't buy better more expensive components and believe that you can keep them for a lifetime (on a new frame for example) because within a few years time ALL "standards" are changed so they don't fit new frames anymore. With electronics all have USB-C as standard for charging except for Apple. In bicycling industry all should be able to use one standard too for wheel axles, derailleur hangers etc. (Maybe with the exception of Cannondale, being the cycle industry's Apple with their own "Ai", "lefty" and so on.)
@@jonathanwallin2861 I think the bike industry has been getting away with not standardizing because of all the money flowing into it especially during covid. Enthusiasts are spending thousands on a bike like it's nothing. The companies have money to keep redesigning to remaking the moulds and pass that cost to the end user. When people stop forking out that cash to eat the inefficiency, they'll be forced to streamline and standardized or die. Speaking of expensive components. I just serviced my second hand hope 2 pro evo hub. I was going to just clean and relube the bearings. But was surprised to find a hairline crack on the aluminum freehub all the way thru. A quick search showed that this was a common problem and Hope replaced these freehubs years after the warranty expired. Clearly they knew this had been a design problem. There was absolutely no reason to make that freehub that thin walled. Just pointing out the obsession with a few g of weight reduction is unhealthy for the industry/end users. High end components are literally sacrificing years of durability just so they can say they are a few grams lighter. And people are paying for it.
I thought the sram UDH and the transmission are inter changeable. So of you don't like the transmission you can pop on a udh and a derailleur of your choice.
True, but probably lacks proper cable routing. That is the manufacturing aspect they save on. You could strap it outside with zip ties, it would be tricky and sort of ugly.
Yes, but there is no cable routing in/on the frame for a mechanical derailleur, that is what he was saying in the video... you have to use a wireless electronic one.
That is true, but again, even if a derailleur hanger is fitted, there's still no way, aside from crudely tying the cables to the outside of the frame, to run a cable drivetrain
RUclips Video Trends That NEED To Stop: Cranking up the volume of the music / interludes and muting down the volume when people are actually talking. If there only was something like audio normalization that they could use to bring the audio to the same level. Must be some unknowable technology from the future.
Don't you realize just like wireless cars it gets rid of mechanics.. and also they can turn your car off if they want to same with your bike.. also something that takes a battery you have to keep coming back to them for problems.. because a standard mechanic can't work on electronic so it forces you to work them them instead of fixing the bike yourself.
Long story short I still have my 90s steel mountain bike it can carry more than 50kg of my luggage and the only thing I spend on it is some tires every several months I didn't even grease it for years and this old machine is still going like a charm, yeah it's not as fast as the new ones but it's more durable indeed and I don't wanna give my hard working money to greedy manufacturers yeah and I won't even exchange it for a new one because they intend to be money consuming stuff, with my steel old MTB I can go anywhere and I went lots of States and provinces and I don't even know what is maintaining or greasing hell I don't even know what is disk brakes because I don't need to 😁😁😁😁 it's ugly but durable and that's what matters, that's it you all have a great day or night
The used market is full and very good prices, or go old school and upgrade parts. These companys are effing the market, and for most you can have as much fun on much cheaper options... If your not a pro... You don't need it , and if you are... You probably got it for free....
@@bikeradar yes, they bring a lot of stuff half developed because next year comes a new one and it doesn't matter getting it to work properly. Yes, they are here just for the money, selling things ever more expensively and with a lot less parts, or parts a lot cheaper to make but not better engineered. Yes, they were a breath of fresh air in the beginning but today we could do without them no problem! Brands, my friend if there is one thing that the cycling industry does not lack is brands! Yes, I'm not young anymore and this the 18/25 industry, in other words, ignorant industry but what SRAM is doing to the sport it's the worst it has ever happened.
@@bikeradar What innovation? The only thing I can think of that was truly innovative for the bike industry is how much they charge for poorly made, poorly toleranced parts. The worst crime SRAM have committed is that they ruined Shimano as well because from late 10 speed into 11 and 12 speed, Shimano started making their shifting overly heavy and clunky to match SRAM's instead of realising that there were a load of people happily enjoying light precise Shimano shifters and derailleurs but they weren't replacing them because they didn't break and took a long time to wear out. The other innovation goes to SRAM/Rockshox and Fox, where they normalised ridiculously short suspension service intervals. I'd love to hear them explain how most cars can do 200 000 km before the suspension needs anything done to it and yet 50-100 hours is about as long as a modern suspension fork or shock can last? Marzocchi 20 years ago were making stupidly plush forks that ran literally for years with no servicing thanks to coil springs with air assist keeping internal pressures low and open bath oil damping - there is a few hundred grammes extra weight involved in those features, but most regular riders would be more than happy if they got reliable suspension that didn't waste their free time with servicing. Marzocchi was the only company keeping the other suspension manufacturers honest, but they bankrupted themselves in the same search of more profit the rest of them are at, so everything got worse once they were gone - now Fox own the brand name but they're just Fox forks now 😞.
It’s been going on for years. I was staggered when the bike industry started to put front suspension on bikes, then, unbelievably, they started selling bikes and frames that only took front suspension. What a rip off ! The trend I hope stops is vacuous videos like this one.
A bike that comes with a suspension fork can have a rigid fork swapped onto it. It's not difficult to get at all. Like, you picked the worst example to try and make your point.
@@douglasalexander4348 I'm not the guy making a dumb comment trying to illustrate a point that doesn't make sense because I didn't like a video. Go touch grass, ride bikes and be happy.
It's quite simple: Stop buying the latest and greatest gear, know your true requirements rather than the latest trends and force the industry to do it right.
You demanded that we set a single standard for all bike parts? That already happened. 26" wheels with rim brake surface. front 110x9mm hollow axle with quick release. rear 135x10mm hollow axle with quick release. BB shell 68mm BSA threaded. BB with internal bearings and square taper axle. Seatpost 27.2mm Steerer 1⅛" top and bottom, but threaded at the top for the top bearing, with a quill stem. Brake mounts: 2 cantilever posts on the front of the forks and on the seat stays. You get the idea. If you want bike tech to progress, then there will need to be changes. Some will become new standards, others will become unfortunate pains for the people who can no longer get parts. Just be happy that pedal threads will always stay the same! (for now)
Chainline offsets / Q-factor. There is a standard on BB size, so why on earth the offset needs to vary in millimeters, giving issues on alignments or component spacing...
Unpopular opinion - eMTB motors and batteries and control units are an integrated package, and ought to be considered part of the frame - you wouldn't expect to fit a Santa Cruz rear triangle to a Specialized main frame, so why would you want to mix and match motors and batteries between different frames? Note. that is not to say manufacturers should not offer different size batteries to fit the same bike frames, or even have an element of physical cross compatibility (to make it easier to travel abroad and rent a battery at your destination), but the motor/frame combo is what help to set one bike design apart from another - otherwise we'd ultimately end up with a dominant motor brand in a bunch of generic frame designs...
Very true, you wouldn't expect to fit different brands front and rear ends together. But then as its not the brands themselves (for the most part) that are making the motors, then why not have the option of changing the motor/battery, or at least having the fitments standardised so you can buy replacements anywhere. I consider them more like derailleurs/cranks etc; they're consumables that should be more readily interchangeable and easily replaced
@@bikeradar yes, I get what you're saying, but I think that fundamentally the motor ought not to be considered a 'consumable' - they are essentially integrated with the frame so really ought to be lasting the life of the frame - the onus being on the motor manufacturers to concentrate on reliability, and not chase bigger torque numbers... fwiw. I agree it would be nice if newer motors did follow the same profile/bolt mounting as the previous generation so owners could potentially upgrade to a more powerful/more reliable version - but then whether that is in the financial interests of both the frame and motor manufacturers is perhaps the crux of the matter - like car manufacturers, they probably would prefer it if you simply bought a new model every three years...
@@bikeradar IMO standardised mounting bolts would hold back innovation. Physically smaller motors like the ZF allow bike manufacturers to orient the motor and design frames for optimum suspension performance. If mounts are standardised it would be detrimental to developments like this.
for info. Santa Cruz still offer a cable mech option (with internal routing) with their lower-spec Bronson C frame builds - it's only the higher spec CC frame builds (including the frameset) which come wireless only... So in that instance, I suspect anyone buying a frameset to build up themselves is going to be speccing it with a T Type [electronic] transmission anyway, and fwiw. I suspect in future you'll also see the C spec frames for sale aftermarket as you do now - even if it is only clearing excess inventory.
@@bikeradar Must be a lot of margin considering my local bike shop had a $8,000 MTB brand new on sale for $3,500!! They also had a brand new $15,000 road bike on sale for just $6,000!!! Those prices were agreed to sell them at from TREK!! And you know Trek has fixed pricing, so for them to authorize bike shops to drop the prices that much for all bike shops just shows how much margin they have, and I bet Trek did not lose any money on that sale. And no one is going to convince me that a $15,000 bicycle has more technology than a $15,000 motorcycle! LMAO!!!
@@Valentin359are you seriously claiming that there is no production cost for the tube in tube construction that Santa Cruz does for cable routing? Or did you even know it's not just a few holes in the frame?
i hate the way companies sell bikes with spec, i will only buy frame only or used in the future because of it (unless the price is good enough to not care about getting the parts as spares) there's so many such as the norco fluid that come with loads of different spec models and most of them are missing the mark in a place or two (noticeably for me the model i would have wanted because of the components and frame came with AXS t type and i have no interest in electronic gears) . I'm surprised more brands and retailers don't offer the option to build your own spec like small independent brands do, cotic and Bird for instance you can pick and choose what you want from a frame only with some parts to a full build with a choice of parts
Paying as much as a motorcycle has got to stop..comparing the 2 it’s not even close to value for what you get. I personally own a 2023 Honda cb500x, $7200 usd, also own a 2024 Revel Rail…frame up build…not positive dollar about but probably pushing 5-6k
None standardisation is dumb. I am less likely to buy a new bike now than I ever was. Thanks for showing how the bike industry isnt that arsed about customers and compatibility, repairability and updatability. Duly noted
Buying a bike that costs as much as a car but yet having to replace components right away because they aren’t good enough is a joke. I can get an awesome motorcycle cheaper than a mtn bike now. Fail
Tires are trail, not bike, specific. So your choice for what you want as a tire is only specific to the trails you're riding. There are probably a load of riders who would change the tires you recommended to other tires because they do not fit the trails they ride.
Price difference depending on size needs to stop. I always see sales where only the small or XL items (bikes, gear, etc) are on sale or they have a different base price.
Lol. These are the rules of the market, this is how the economy and demand work. The smallest and largest sizes are bought much less often than others in the middle, that's why they often remain in warehouses and needed to be sold, so discounts appear on them.
+1 on that! Just because it is a hobby we're loving, the industry believes they can charge whatever prices, and lock us into whatever proprietary ecosystem they like. The truth is that the strategy works, but also excludes all with low and middle incomes, and makes everyone dissatisfied with what they have and can afford. In the end, what counts is smiles on the trails, but far too many don't have either time or money to get the opportunity to experience that! It's a moment 22 if you're not well-paid and have a flexible work - you can't afford bikes with these price tags unless you work 50-60 hours a week, but then you don't have time for riding anyways. 😢
It is all about the riding and just having fun. The best bike in the world is the one you own, because its one you can grab right now, and go for a ride.
Adding more standards to a bicycle makes me NOT WANT to assemble a bicycle. Total waste of time finding the right parts to fit in. These days, finding the right parts are more difficult than actually assembling the bike.. I guess people who are engineering bicycles have LOW IQs.
To be honest e-bikes are a bit new and still looking for optimal solutions so compatibility is not on a table yet. They are so expensive that I'm barely could think about that day when you be able to replace the motor from one brand to the other it's not guarantied that even after 5 year the will be the same motor in production.
. *Add wide AF handlebars to the list.* *Do that and maybe they can stop chopping down trees on trails to accommodate the "Wider is better" knuckle draggers.*
Good question! I guess it will depend on what they have in stock to replace older models, but potentially, they could only have the wireless only CC frames for warranty...
As if the cost of Sram Transmission was an issue if you are getting carbon Specialized or Santa Cruz. For instance, YT offers them for sub 4k€. Easily best drivetrain i've ever had. No limit screws or cable tension to worry about.
He didn't mention costs, snubby bird 😈 It's not costs for a lot of us, I got my TRP drivetrains for a bit more than GX AXS, I tried it in 2023 now I know I just don't want or need that, neither a battery operated dropper.
They can be found on cheaper bikes, Canyon offer a Neuron with an alloy frame for under £3k, but if you don't like it, you can swap it out, as it has routing for cables. SRAM Transmission is great, we're not doubting that, but it is expensive and not everyone wants it
I understand some things such as seat tube diameters being different between steel and aluminum frames. But it is total BS to have so many different shapes or splines for cranks to spindle or cassettes. Why do I even care about the splines on our cranks? Because sometime in the past three decades all of the bikes have been shipped with cranks that are disproportionately long for the SM and MD frame sizes. I can’t fix this on our bikes without also replacing entire bottom bracket assembly.
Ridiculous high prices for components (especially electrical) - Reason: Not enough competition. No one mentions the obvious - if there are only two companies ruling the market completely, Shimano and SRAM, both have the same incentives to keep prices and margins high. The one raising prices worst is SRAM with their "transmission" system, none-compatible with anything else. No surprise it is the American one that pushes prices through the roof. Seems like the authorities who should oversee competition and prohibit misconduct of dominant position don't care when the other company is Asian (Japan). They're allowed to acquire whatever competitor they like, always. Most expensive overpriced brands of complete bikes are also American (and Italian...). Coincidence - I don't think so... 🤑😢🤮
The only hope for cheaper stuff is Chinese competition. Perhaps, the shift to electronic drivetrains might provide a chance for a newcomer? They're manufacturing the top high tech smartphones, so a drivetrain shouldn't be too difficult to build. 🤞
I buy use from now on, I just recently purchased a Santacruz Hightower v3 with GX AXS AND FOX FACTORY COMPONENTS for 3200, the original buyer probably payed 8k.
You can get bargains second hand, but it of course comes with risk. You have no idea if the bike has been crashed, and you'll likely have no warranty. But if you're cool not knowing a bikes history and having less manufacturer support, you can get a serious amount of bike for not a lot of cash 💰
GOOD-Cables suck suck suck suck. Yes they "work" and have "worked" but after removing the front derailleur and going tubeless, cables were the number 1 failure point.
In the under specced cathegory i want to focus your attention to the newly released Canyon Spectral:ON fly, it comes in 4 models and the CF9 which is historically an high level model does have a Fox rithm 160 mil fork and the rear suspension a DPS (yes the one designed by fox for cross country) performance shock, the nearly top gamma model the CLLCTV does have a Grip2 performance elite (which is a damn good piece of hardware) and a rear shock which is the float X performance (the base model without the low compression adjuster knob) while you have a grip 2 in the front, this is something deeply ridicolous. Also if you want Shimano brakes (which are the best on the market for many riders) and Shimano drivetrain which personally i do prefer much more than Sram you need to buy the CF9 model with a crosscountry shock and the lowest fox fork on the market. Under my point of view this is unacceptable.
They do seem a little under-specified in the suspension department, though it is actually a 36 Performance on the CF9, not the Rhythm. We would expect piggyback shocks on all the bikes, however. Worth noting on the Float X, for £30/$30, you can add the low-speed compression dial yourself, so its not the end of the world on the CLLCTV model. We'd still like to see it standard though!
@@bikeradar In the base float X shock you can add the jnob yourself, but the hidraulic system is different compared to the perf. elite and the factory: Me and a friend of mine, tested it for a day long i've got the performance elite on my bike and they weren't working the same,
One thing I've realized. Did you take in account that prices in US are always without tax? Comparing them would only work if you deduct your local taxt first. Mostly I forget this little fact when comparing prices, just now this was the first thing that came into my mind.
Yes, we note in the video that US prices are before sales taxes are applied, if there are any. Even so, if a bike costs more in £ than it does in $, tax/VAT doesn't come into it, £4000 is more than $3,500, even taking away 20% VAT
It'll be heavy, caliper designs would be complex with tons of added parts and in the end provide no performance gain. Brake by wire has existed for years. Not sure one that's blue tooth connectable from lever to caliper exists however. It's far too complicated and pointless for a fkin bike.
I’ve seen spy pics of a SRAM UDH cable driven RD, entry level bikes should still have cable on this direct mount standard, but honestly, electronic shifting is as progressive as 1x drivetrains were when they arrived. (Even Shimano road has abandoned cable on Ultegra)
Worst Trend: Bike companies paying BikeRadar for good reviews. Another bad trend, UK companies purchasing USA media groups. BikeRadar? ...used to be good.
Under spec equipment! Last year I bought a Cannondale LT2 e-bike £7250 retail, First ride I thought my rear hub bearings had collapsed, Got home to find it had cones and balls. Adjusted them greased them etc, second ride same again. I bought new wheels but then found out the brake rotors were different spec, front 6 bolt rear centre lock so more expense. I can't understand why they would spec such a crappy back hub on an enduro type e-bike. ££££ ?
That's strange, I run several bikes (no really expensive ones) and all have cup and cone. Some of the hubs are M8000 XT, others are very simple ones. They never showed such a behavior. What I once had was a broken axle shaft where the cone sits on the front wheel, I later upgraded this hub to XT since these are different constructed
@@simonm1447 I'm impressed you've had no trouble with XT hubs - when I ran them a few years back the freehub broke every 6 months or so. XTR is the only level of hub Shimano make that I'd actually trust to last well under regular off road use (I got about 20 years out of one of the 16 click freewheel ones), but I just stick Hopes on everything these days. The rims on Hope's XC wheelsets are particularly prone to cracking along the spoke holes, and their enduro rims fail this way too eventually though, but the hubs are reliable - only issue I've had in thousands of km on a few set of them was a cracked microspline freehub, and that was one of the very first they made for the Pro4, so I suspect it's been improved since. I have a Hope Pro2 front hub that's been running for over 20 years (It's gone from being my main XC bike for over a decade to daily commuting use now) and the original bearings are still running smooth on no servicing whatsoever.
@@peglor which Generation of XT hubs did you use? I use the older M8000 gen, with the older HG freehub body made of steel. The 12 speed micro spline one is known for making trouble, but I do not have a 12 speed system. Before I put them into my MTB wheels they had TX 505 Tourney hubs, which still worked quite good for XC until the axle bolt of the front hub broke (and all Shimano cup and cone ones use the same one except for XT and XTR). The rear hub however never made problems, the rear axle is 10 mm and 1 mm thicker than the front axle with 9 mm. XT hubs use a different construction and can't break here
@@simonm1447 The 8000 series hubs are exactly the ones I kept breaking. I'd given up on Shimano hubs completely by the time microspline came out. I should mention I can easily weigh 90 kg with my backpack on, and any half decent spin I do involves climbing at least a km, mostly on trails that weren't built for bikes, so my hubs don't get an easy life.
@@peglor i use these hubs on 2 bikes and another front hub on a 3rd one. At least until now they work fine. I also do a lot of climbing here. With the original Tourney hubs (Scott Aspect 7 series bike) I did XC in the Himalayas (Khardungla, Ladakh) and also on Mount Kosciusko, NSW, and in the Blue Mountains. The rough trails in the north of Sydney finally broke my front axle on the Tourney hub.
I can't imagine there are many people who buy the S-works version of that frame who are not also speccing a wireless transmission and dropper as part of their 'dream build'...
The only advantage cable set ups have is cost, and the only bikes not offering it are the higher end ones, so what's the issue? If I'm sending 5K plus on a bike I don't want cables on it anyways.
Full respect for your skills. Fixie is too much for me but I was single speeding before it was ever cool and I'm still doing it. 135/100 QR, BSA threaded, mechanical disc, flat pedals......almost Stone Age.
27.5" wheels literally serve no point but to make 30+ years of everything being 26" with parts being easily interchangeable obsolete. They're barely 1" bigger in diameter than 26" wheels, so more like 27" in real terms. The absolute weasels in the bike 'journalism' industry who fawned over it pretending it was better rather than just screwing over customers are the real offenders here.
You're not alone. 29ers outside of XC or racing just suck, they're weaker heavier and boring AF. 27.5 is my limit, but a modern freeride bike with 26s would be drool worthy
@kiloyardstare often you run into bottom bracket height issues, or may need a different shock eye to eye length to compensate, different fork travel, etc... and you need to figure out and test clearances or geometry, all of this on your own because the frame manufacturer is not going to assist you (maybe not even warranty you) with a frankenbike... it quickly becomes cost prohibitive for the average person to build out
unpopular opinion here but a a 6 foot 3 inch human I actually want a shorter dropper post. the 120mm dropper I have just goes to far down. yes I want to lower my seat for descents but I still want the seat up under me so I have to feeling of support idk. when I get that low my knees are basically in my chest and I hate it. 80 mm or 100 would be great just something to get the saddle out of my way on descents but still there.
Personal taste is a big part of it! I'm intrigued by Merida's and Eightpins designs that are integrated and adjustable. In theory, you can have whatever drop you want then
@@jordanhanash I’m 174 cm and ride medium yt Jeffsy with 175mm cranks if I ride in low position I would get pedal strikes, hurt my bad knee and struggle to stray in a good neutral attackpostion. Changed to 165mm ✅ now all those issues are gone
@@bikeradar currently its only the CC version of the frame (that is wireless only) which is available as a frameset - I suspect in future you'll see retailers offering the C version of the frame (which has the internal cable routing) too, even if they are just left-over stock.
Tom references this in his hate for different size stems bolts. If all bikes came one or two sizes of hex head, the world would be a better place! 5mm for everything expect pedals and cranks, with could be 8mm as a lot are now for example
Hit the Nail on the Head. I won't buy a bicycle that does not alloy me to run the brand and type of components I choose. I also won't buy one with out any cable routing or headset routing only.
In the same video, we moan about the price of bikes, but at the same time point out that the website that tried to sell everything cheapest went bust…unless everything is sold direct to consumers the price will be higher, because businesses have running costs, and they have to sell their goods to cover those costs and make profit, ask someone who works in a bike shop what car they drive, they aren’t at home counting their millions 😂
If you're talking about Chainreaction Cycles, they went bust because they stopped being a competent shop. Bike Discount, Bike 24 and R2 bike, to name 3 of them have been doing a much better job and selling cheaper than CRC for years. Better yet, they actually have parts in stock rather than slapping a low price for parts they don't have to make them top the web search. When CRC was new they were absolutely fantastic, but they sold out to a bunch of money loving MBA types who paid themselves very well while running it into the ground.
which MTB trend do you hope stops?
Fox transfer neo, $849 in USA, $1481 UK
S-works stuntjumper, $3500 in USA, $5250 UK
1x cranksets need to back off. They don’t have the low gears that I need these days.
Headset routing. It’s terrible!
@@bikdavDude, if you can’t spin a 10x52, you need to take up running. 🤣
The most frustrating trend is making videos about "bad" trends in bicycles (and other industries). Are you running out of things to be frustrated about?
The old saying - The best thing with standards is there's so many to choose from...
The old sayings are the best ones
... there are* so many
There should be called "BRAND STANDARDS". Only way the word STANDARD makes sense.
Crank length should match frame size. As in:
Xs= 155 mm cranks
S= 160 mm cranks
M= 165 mm cranks
L= 170 mm cranks
Xl=. 175 mm cranks
Maybe on road bikes, but why should taller riders have less ground clearance on an MTB?
@@bikeradar I bought a medium bike that had 175 mm cranks and they were way too long. There wasn’t a ground clearance issue at all, but I switched to 165 mm and they feel a lot better. I’m just saying it doesn’t make any sense for a guy that is 5 feet tall to be on the same size cranks as someone that is 7 feet tall.
Oh hell no. 175 is too long.
@@dantindley5181 175s and spiky pedals on a low bottom bracket enduro bike is a great way for a new rider to get a collection of permanent scars.
or just give them the choice, but with these suggested sizes, I've seen a small bike come with 175mm and its a joke
New trend is coming on high end bikes, external cable routing, not by choice 😂
"They give no option of routing cables!"
Ummm. The outside?
I don’t understand why anyone would want to have a cabled derailleur. There is absolutely no advantage whatsoever!!!
@@asifitmatters1WHAT! A lot of disadvantages in electric components on a bike, cable actuated is just there ready to go, no faf and no worries 👏👌
We'd be soooo glad to see this! Especially if it involved no zipties! 😂
@@asifitmatters1 cost. A cable GX mech is around $100, the electronic version, $400.
Deleting cable routing for drivetrains is huge mistake.
No it is not
Its clearly not for everyone!
Until somebody hacks your bike on the trail sending you over to handlebars @@Lenser
@@Grizzlar15you must be paranoid. Nobody cares enough, or is capable of hacking your bike.
agreed, I'm not into the wireless thing but even mates who have it take a cable derailleur and shifter away with them for multi day bike trips just incase
When you watch a video like this, explaining just some of the extreme problems integrated into the bicycle industry you realize why the bicycle industry is in financial trouble. The only way to solve these problems is for the consumer to just stop buying the newest versions because the manufacturers seem to think they have to continuously change everything (redesign) every few years simply because they know consumers love to spend money on innovation. I'm glad i didn't fall for the idiocy of having to buy the latest innovative gimmick. I still ride the bikes from the 90's and 00's and can switch the components between ten bikes, and i could care less about the new bicycles or latest trends.
I could not* care less ("than not at all") is' how the saying goes. Otherwise completely agreed.
Amen 🙏
It must be interesting not to know what it's like to run modern suspension, slack geometry, dropper seatposts, 29er wheels and disc brakes. I remember my mountain bike from 2001....
exactly what i think and i do
@@malcolm777b With you on that. However, beyond 2018 only suspension and disc brakes brands have continued innovating and giving really meaningfull new products for consumers. Beyond those 2 products, changes on the rest were only gimmiki at best, unnecessary at worst.
6. Headset cable routing
7. Pressfit bb
8. Plastic headset parts
9. Cheap bearings.
I understand the industry is in a tough spot but please don’t try to scrape a few bucks in places like these. I’d happily pay a few hundred more for a well built, durable bike, as would most serious riders. Having a shop replace prematurely worn stuff is way more expensive than spec’ing quality parts right away.
I HATE the use of headset internal routing on any bike that's not a road bike. Bikes that are ridden in dirtier conditions have a shorter headset service interval, so there's no way I'm going to take hours just to service two bearings.
You beat me to it. Plastic headset parts. My Spectral creaked like crazy when I first bought it, turned out to be the plastic headset spacers. How much more profit are you getting my not speccing aluminium spacers? Absolutely ridiculous
Cheap bearings are the WORST!
PF BB is amazing
@@sbccbc7471 It is one bearing (the top one) and how long does it take to bleed a rear brake (5-10 mins) and by the time you need to replace the top headset bearing it is time to bleed the brake. I have just fitted a new dropper in my bike and only had to feed the new housing through the headset without stripping it at all. Bike is Scott Spark RC. I also fitted a newly serviced shock as well and it is easily and quickly done. That is my personal experience and I am just a home DIY person.
Santa Cruz has gone through a disasterous increase in prices that have not come down. I refuse to support that for such a big brand.
The thru axle thread and pitch is very very annoying. They don’t realise by doing that they sell less products because consumers have no idea if a replacement product will fit.
It is infuriating!
Well I own 2 Nukeproofs & a Kona. So I'd like to see an end to the trend of bike manufacturers going under. And please standardise everything, bottom brackets, headsets, hubs etc. And stop pushing riders into 29". I, along with probably lots of other people still like my 27.5.
I've seen lots of new bikes come out with 27.5" options. From full 27 to mullets with flip chips that can go full 29.
Matt Jones was riding one in his last video. They're out there. 29" is just easier for people getting into riding because they roll over more stuff.
Yep, here's hoping no more go under!
Pressfit bb, cable management through steerer tube, hidden shock like in scott frames, short duration time of shock service, o-chain cranks, skinwall tires, low quality suspension bolts and spares. All this looks ridiculous.
Many good points, but you lost us at skinwall tyres... on the right bike, they are 🔥
@@bikeradar onza porcupine looks great. Other one looks like tire from 50's for retro cars.
The other trend that needs to stop and in some cases reverse back to what was before is reach length and head tube angle. Many bikes are getting way too long and slack. Keep that trend to DH and Enduro bikes, but stop making trail and XC bikes with these extremely long reaches and slack head angles. Most riders buying trail and XC bikes are not pointing downhill and gnarly technical terrain that often. I am happy with the progression made up until a couple of years ago, but now they just keep making them longer and slacker and have gone way past the sweet spot!
Things are slowing down on this front, and many bikes are coming with adjustable geometry so you can tailor them to your taste.
As long as they don't go back to making all entry-level bikes with steep HTAs, that's fine. XC geo is the least beginner-friendly.
@KlintonSilvey I feel like the sweet spot for head angles is 66 degrees. 65 is pretty slack and there isn't much need to go slacker than that. The reach options are good now they just need to adjust the size charts because for shorter people they need to adjust the charts to show shorter reaches. A 460mm reach is not good for a 5' 7" rider...at all!!! 430mm is about right.
@@ShadLife idk . I would say 64.5-65 is the sweet spot for a trail bike. I have run the range from 63.5-67 and 66 is ok but that little extra makes a big difference descending and doesn't hurt climbing if the rest of the bike is right
Sram just "bought" these manufacturers. By creating sram only frames, they pushed owners of those to buy sram products without any choice. And manufacturers are 101% get some benefits from sram for doing that.
Probably super low prices for their oem products.
You can always fit a UDH. But you need routing options
@@guillaumequevy418 they are sram only, because there's no other completely whireless options, except of chinese shit.
Build your own bike, or stay away from the big names mentioned in the video. We decide where this is going
After a few years away from owning a MTB, I’ve definitely noticed the component spec issue. Spending double if not more to achieve a broadly similar spec to my last few bikes.
Absolutely, prices have gone up for a given specification level. But then the lower level stuff now is as good as better stuff from years ago, so maybe its not the same label, but performance is as good, if not better?
Which bike trend do I want to see disapear? THE EXPENSIVE PRICE! 💯👎
They certainly aren't getting cheaper!
Give me HD or death! 31.8 handlebars forevermore. Threaded BB or nothing. The bike industry may not care, while simultaneously wondering where their customers went.
E-motor mount and battery design evolution and pace keeps me from purchasing a $10,000 bike that will be worth what on the used market? The price of it's parts when the motor and battery becomes obsolete.
I'm not willing to pay to loose money like that.
Ummm....then buy a cheaper ebike. There are many choices under 5k
Many e-bike choices@@joehoeper4648, however all suffer the same obsolescence issue.
Agreed, price is irrelevant here, the motors use different mounts and bikes use different batteries. Standardised fitments for both would help both during ownership of the bike and with resale value too
fwiw. I have a friend who still regularly rides their 2016 KTM eMTB - yes it's not as up to date as more modern designs, but they still have huge fun on it... As long as the motor and battery remain reliable, there is nothing wrong with keeping an older eMTB indefinitely (just like many people still ride an older regular bike) - unless you're constantly chasing the 'latest thing', which is always going to cost you.
E-motor mount, battery design evolution and pace keep* me from purchasing / the price of its* parts (it's = it is) / when the motor and battery become* obsolete / willing to lose* money - otherwise completely agreed.
Your buying a frameset because you want to spec your own favourite brands on it. To be only able to fit Sram AXS on it is like buying a computer that you can only use Google on. Smacks of
Anti-Competition which is illegal.
One issue not mentioned is that very few eBikes motors are properly sealed and fail if they get to much moisture inside. The cost to rebuild them is only complicated more when with each new motor series, nothing is back compatible. Ultimately this infuriating “The only thing standard is that nothing is standard” mentality bled into MTB from the roadies because they use their bikes more for status and one-up man ship. So a Kashima coated fork has to be better than a performance because it’s blingy. $1000 titanium cranks… $50 titanium screws. Blame that one on the weight
weenies. I’ve got my 2017 DB Mission 2 mullet improved with all new parts, which I might add was a pain in the ass. Non-boost rear made for some fun learnings. I upgraded my old bike because new bikes are too expensive and literally seem to go back and forth on what’s best and then repeat after a few years.
For sure, even though the technology is improving the reliability still has room for improvement!
I don't understand why it's such a big deal with bikes sold with crap tires. Here in Australia, they are the first thing we replace. Manufacturers may know about tires, but they have no idea where each bike will be ridden. I'd be happier if the shops gave us a choice of tires.
The thing is that crappy tires are useless everywhere for everyone. Yes, everyone will replace the tires as first thing to upgrade, but what happens to the stock tires then? Probably laying around in everyone's garages until they are thrown away. A huge waste of resources and material to no ones benefit. Only reason being to squeeze out a bit extra margin, because you can be sure that they don't pass the cheaper price on to the customer.
And in the meantime newcomers to the sport will find it much more challenging than what it should be, eventually loosing all interest in the sport.
Tires are wrong place to save $ and under-spec.
They should just supply them without tyres. Then the customer can choose what suits; they always have to be remounted anyway, as they are never shipped tubeless.
Cable Routing through Headset should be illegal!
Its neat, but its a pain to work on for sure!
The collapse may have a direct correlation with continual price rises 🤔. How they cannot see this is staggering.
Kona's been revived by its old owners!
lets see how they are gonna do, i mean they should have a lot of money, thats because when they sold Kona back then they sold it for a couple million i think, and they just bought it back for like half of what they got back then
I freakin' loved my Process 153. Seriously underrated bike.
@@the510wagon you know whats good, dont you
Yeah but sadly didn´t worked out, and now the brand is out of business AGAIN!
@@jcam4071 True?!
I agree with most of this, but what about sustainability I have a shed full of wheels and tyres and other parts put on high end bikes not fit for the type of riding the bike is designed for, surely this industry should be held accountable for such a waste, from now on I’m not going to buy full bikes if I can help it.
Its a price consumerism doesn't often take into account.
Trends - Manufacturers selling Emtbs that arent fit for purpose, motors that can't handle months of uk wet weather use without some kind of failure. Weak wheels, even weaker brakes on bikes priced over 6k.. the biggest bad trend of all.. is them ripping us off. 😂
The industry will always push for more expensive components because they want to force higher margins and need the novelty to sell to us. Electronic components are not better to any realistic degree to require that huge price differential. I mean you can get a Deore XT derailleur for about ~$85, while an electronic derailleur is ~$600. Is the performance THAT much better? No, not at all. In fact, they force you to manage charging of multiple components which is a PITA and can lead to failed rides. I know because I added an electronic derailleur as an experiment. It worked fine, but the charging monitoring is annoying and adds more needless work. My derailleur also failed from sticking battery contacts (loss of connection) and had to be warrantied. I also ran into a guy on the trail whose battery was dead and was going around asking people if they had a battery. Luckily I had one and lent it to him. Does that sound like an improvement in riding experience? No, it isn’t. Again, this is mostly to push higher margins using the mesmerizing magic wand of “high tech” electronic parts. As an FYI, I am the kind of rider who likes to try out new tech and add upgrades, but I add things that improve my riding experience, not make it worse or add complexity. Lastly, let’s consider that an $85 derailleur replacement is far easier to digest than having to replace a $600 one.
You conveniently picked the most expensive wireless derailleur.
Yes they aren't exactly comparable but IMHO these top-end groupsets for >1000 bucks (derailleur, shifter, cassette, crank at least) are crazy compared to something like a Rohloff Speedhub or Pinion Gearbox, yes, these are on the heavy side and also rather a choice for bikepacking/travel bikes (on which you cross entire countries and continents) than super sportive Mountain/Road biking, but these are really built to last, the mileage record on a Rohloff now has 500 000 kilometres, I'm sure you can wear out >5 XT sets.
IMHO these electronic shifters aren't completely wrong, especially that these SRAM seem to shift at the exact right moment on the shifting ramps of the chainwheels and also communicating together with a electric motor that may do a short interruption in powering to let it shift without load.
But obviously there's that issues with charging these batteries, it feels like tubeless, isn't wrong, but if you don't use your bike regularly, the sealant kinda seizes etc. that maintenance overcomplicates it for casual riders, have a 11 year old hardtail MTB with 3x10 XT and it still works fine, just had to adjust it the cable tensioner a little and that's it.
Of course inital adjustment and fine tuning is a pain in the butt at first for inexperienced DIYers but then it just works for years to come...
What's going to get really interesting is when people realise that as soon as SRAM stop supporting the phone app for setting up their electronic junk then it immediately becomes e-waste. Without an open communication standard (This doesn't mean unencrypted communication between components) to allow 3rd party software to set them up, SRAM literally own their customers - and that's exactly how they like it. Same story with e-bikes.
@@kuchenblechmafiagmbh1381 3x10 XT with the first gen Shadow+ clutch derailleur is the best drivetrain I've ever used, and I've ridden everything from 3 speed to 12 (Skipping 4 as there's no 4 speed drivetrain I know of). That groupset got a clutch derailleur for silent running, instant upshifts with double release in both directions of the release lever (It only works in one direction on the newer stuff), as well as extremely light downshift action, clean front and rear shifts and affordable chainrings.
It's still sold as XT touring thankfully, but the chainset is a 48-38-26, so swapping the rings is required for off road use. I will give credit to Shimano 2x12 for having even better front derailleur shifts than 3x10 XT, but the rear derailleur downshifts are shamefully heavy. Most people don't even believe 2x12 exists, and finding a MTB frame that'll take a front derailleur so they can try it out is becoming near impossible, but for a 600+% gear range and decent chainlines across the whole gear range it's excellent.
Gotta love the new bikes that dont even have drivetrain cable routing lol some of us don’t like batteries on a bicycle
Zip tie those cables to the outside for awesome external cable routing instead of e-derailleur
Not neat, but it'll do the job!
@@bikeradar I'm old school & function over form. I don't care about internal routing & find it annoying anyway. External cable bosses for the win.
The industry collapsing and their choices on how to run their companies are correlated. You can't keep marginally improve your product, then proceed to pass on that cost to the consumer. If you look at the car industry and computing industries, there are standards that are kept for several years if not longer. Bike costs are insane. Components costs are insane. Sure have those things for the F1 Racers of the bike world. The rest of the world just wants a affordable reliable bike with standardized components.
You did not even mention the anti-repair practices of modern components.
@@Jaze2022 The anti-repair practice is system wide not just confined to bikes. Technology has improved to the point that they can’t really make money by genuinely improving the product, it’s just too good already. You have to invent silly trends and lock people into an ecosystem if you want to keep selling stuff.
@@chadwells7562 I agree anti-repair is wide spread. But which was the chicken and which was the egg? I know so many who make the calculation that it's cheaper to buy and throw away a product 2-3x then it is to buy a better product that can be repaired to last potentionally a life time. If consumers prioritise price over repairability, no wonder companies would capitalize and push that trend.
Another example is many years ago in my area, people complained about grocery plastic bags were wasteful. Supermarkets quickly agreed and started charging customers in order to "help reduce waste". Guess how people bag up their garbage? They have to seperately buy boxes of thicker plastic bags. All because they could not upcycle their end of life ultra thin grocery bags. It's all so ass backwards, it makes my head hurt.
Sadly, its just the world we live in
@@Jaze2022The issue with bike stuff is that you can't buy better more expensive components and believe that you can keep them for a lifetime (on a new frame for example) because within a few years time ALL "standards" are changed so they don't fit new frames anymore.
With electronics all have USB-C as standard for charging except for Apple.
In bicycling industry all should be able to use one standard too for wheel axles, derailleur hangers etc. (Maybe with the exception of Cannondale, being the cycle industry's Apple with their own "Ai", "lefty" and so on.)
@@jonathanwallin2861 I think the bike industry has been getting away with not standardizing because of all the money flowing into it especially during covid. Enthusiasts are spending thousands on a bike like it's nothing. The companies have money to keep redesigning to remaking the moulds and pass that cost to the end user.
When people stop forking out that cash to eat the inefficiency, they'll be forced to streamline and standardized or die.
Speaking of expensive components. I just serviced my second hand hope 2 pro evo hub. I was going to just clean and relube the bearings. But was surprised to find a hairline crack on the aluminum freehub all the way thru. A quick search showed that this was a common problem and Hope replaced these freehubs years after the warranty expired. Clearly they knew this had been a design problem. There was absolutely no reason to make that freehub that thin walled. Just pointing out the obsession with a few g of weight reduction is unhealthy for the industry/end users. High end components are literally sacrificing years of durability just so they can say they are a few grams lighter. And people are paying for it.
Appreciate the intel-you're like the C-3PO of MTB trends! 👊🤘🚲
Maybe SRAM is trying to exclude Shimano from mountain bike components.
Standard chainrings interface would be amazing
Absolutely!
I thought the sram UDH and the transmission are inter changeable. So of you don't like the transmission you can pop on a udh and a derailleur of your choice.
True, but probably lacks proper cable routing. That is the manufacturing aspect they save on. You could strap it outside with zip ties, it would be tricky and sort of ugly.
Yes, but there is no cable routing in/on the frame for a mechanical derailleur, that is what he was saying in the video... you have to use a wireless electronic one.
That is true, but again, even if a derailleur hanger is fitted, there's still no way, aside from crudely tying the cables to the outside of the frame, to run a cable drivetrain
RUclips Video Trends That NEED To Stop:
Cranking up the volume of the music / interludes and muting down the volume when people are actually talking.
If there only was something like audio normalization that they could use to bring the audio to the same level. Must be some unknowable technology from the future.
Noted and we'll work on it, thanks for watching!
Wireless frames, agreed! Underspec’d bikes, agreed! (My Hightower 3 came with 180 rotors)
Yep, 180mm rotors, at least up front, have no place on bikes with 150mm travel!
Don't you realize just like wireless cars it gets rid of mechanics.. and also they can turn your car off if they want to same with your bike.. also something that takes a battery you have to keep coming back to them for problems.. because a standard mechanic can't work on electronic so it forces you to work them them instead of fixing the bike yourself.
Long story short I still have my 90s steel mountain bike it can carry more than 50kg of my luggage and the only thing I spend on it is some tires every several months I didn't even grease it for years and this old machine is still going like a charm, yeah it's not as fast as the new ones but it's more durable indeed and I don't wanna give my hard working money to greedy manufacturers yeah and I won't even exchange it for a new one because they intend to be money consuming stuff, with my steel old MTB I can go anywhere and I went lots of States and provinces and I don't even know what is maintaining or greasing hell I don't even know what is disk brakes because I don't need to 😁😁😁😁 it's ugly but durable and that's what matters, that's it you all have a great day or night
The used market is full and very good prices, or go old school and upgrade parts. These companys are effing the market, and for most you can have as much fun on much cheaper options... If your not a pro... You don't need it , and if you are... You probably got it for free....
Sram, if SRAM disappears we can all go back to normal!
A little harsh! They bring a lot of innovation to the sport and don't forget, they own a lot of other brands too
@@bikeradar yes, they bring a lot of stuff half developed because next year comes a new one and it doesn't matter getting it to work properly.
Yes, they are here just for the money, selling things ever more expensively and with a lot less parts, or parts a lot cheaper to make but not better engineered.
Yes, they were a breath of fresh air in the beginning but today we could do without them no problem!
Brands, my friend if there is one thing that the cycling industry does not lack is brands!
Yes, I'm not young anymore and this the 18/25 industry, in other words, ignorant industry but what SRAM is doing to the sport it's the worst it has ever happened.
@@nelsonsilva6842 they don t even know how to make good front Derailleur.that why they try to move to rear derailleur
@@bikeradar What innovation? The only thing I can think of that was truly innovative for the bike industry is how much they charge for poorly made, poorly toleranced parts. The worst crime SRAM have committed is that they ruined Shimano as well because from late 10 speed into 11 and 12 speed, Shimano started making their shifting overly heavy and clunky to match SRAM's instead of realising that there were a load of people happily enjoying light precise Shimano shifters and derailleurs but they weren't replacing them because they didn't break and took a long time to wear out.
The other innovation goes to SRAM/Rockshox and Fox, where they normalised ridiculously short suspension service intervals. I'd love to hear them explain how most cars can do 200 000 km before the suspension needs anything done to it and yet 50-100 hours is about as long as a modern suspension fork or shock can last? Marzocchi 20 years ago were making stupidly plush forks that ran literally for years with no servicing thanks to coil springs with air assist keeping internal pressures low and open bath oil damping - there is a few hundred grammes extra weight involved in those features, but most regular riders would be more than happy if they got reliable suspension that didn't waste their free time with servicing. Marzocchi was the only company keeping the other suspension manufacturers honest, but they bankrupted themselves in the same search of more profit the rest of them are at, so everything got worse once they were gone - now Fox own the brand name but they're just Fox forks now 😞.
Bottom bracket sizes and chainrings for e-bikes
Yep, more standards to boil the blood!
It’s been going on for years. I was staggered when the bike industry started to put front suspension on bikes, then, unbelievably, they started selling bikes and frames that only took front suspension. What a rip off ! The trend I hope stops is vacuous videos like this one.
A bike that comes with a suspension fork can have a rigid fork swapped onto it. It's not difficult to get at all.
Like, you picked the worst example to try and make your point.
@@dvs620 Get a life and a sense of humour.
@@douglasalexander4348 I'm not the guy making a dumb comment trying to illustrate a point that doesn't make sense because I didn't like a video.
Go touch grass, ride bikes and be happy.
Vacuous is harsh, we had Tom tested and he has at least 3 brain cells...
@@bikeradar I had more than that until I bought a Kona in the 90’s with P2,s. That got rid of most of them.
It's quite simple: Stop buying the latest and greatest gear, know your true requirements rather than the latest trends and force the industry to do it right.
It stops when people stop buying this stuff, which are people are starting to do!
Bike pricing between us and uk has always been off. Back in 'the day' I just did a trip over and bought a bike, simples.
Those were the days! Back then it was mainly exchange rate though, rather than odd discrepancies we're seeing now
Totally agree with Sram T type wireless, I dislike it and was at the shop the other day pricing up to replace it on my Levo SL.
You demanded that we set a single standard for all bike parts?
That already happened.
26" wheels with rim brake surface.
front 110x9mm hollow axle with quick release.
rear 135x10mm hollow axle with quick release.
BB shell 68mm BSA threaded.
BB with internal bearings and square taper axle.
Seatpost 27.2mm
Steerer 1⅛" top and bottom, but threaded at the top for the top bearing, with a quill stem.
Brake mounts: 2 cantilever posts on the front of the forks and on the seat stays.
You get the idea.
If you want bike tech to progress, then there will need to be changes. Some will become new standards, others will become unfortunate pains for the people who can no longer get parts.
Just be happy that pedal threads will always stay the same! (for now)
Chainline offsets / Q-factor. There is a standard on BB size, so why on earth the offset needs to vary in millimeters, giving issues on alignments or component spacing...
Non-compatibility by design.
All good points well made. 👍🏼
Thanks!
Unpopular opinion - eMTB motors and batteries and control units are an integrated package, and ought to be considered part of the frame - you wouldn't expect to fit a Santa Cruz rear triangle to a Specialized main frame, so why would you want to mix and match motors and batteries between different frames?
Note. that is not to say manufacturers should not offer different size batteries to fit the same bike frames, or even have an element of physical cross compatibility (to make it easier to travel abroad and rent a battery at your destination), but the motor/frame combo is what help to set one bike design apart from another - otherwise we'd ultimately end up with a dominant motor brand in a bunch of generic frame designs...
Very true, you wouldn't expect to fit different brands front and rear ends together. But then as its not the brands themselves (for the most part) that are making the motors, then why not have the option of changing the motor/battery, or at least having the fitments standardised so you can buy replacements anywhere.
I consider them more like derailleurs/cranks etc; they're consumables that should be more readily interchangeable and easily replaced
@@bikeradar yes, I get what you're saying, but I think that fundamentally the motor ought not to be considered a 'consumable' - they are essentially integrated with the frame so really ought to be lasting the life of the frame - the onus being on the motor manufacturers to concentrate on reliability, and not chase bigger torque numbers...
fwiw. I agree it would be nice if newer motors did follow the same profile/bolt mounting as the previous generation so owners could potentially upgrade to a more powerful/more reliable version - but then whether that is in the financial interests of both the frame and motor manufacturers is perhaps the crux of the matter - like car manufacturers, they probably would prefer it if you simply bought a new model every three years...
@@bikeradar IMO standardised mounting bolts would hold back innovation. Physically smaller motors like the ZF allow bike manufacturers to orient the motor and design frames for optimum suspension performance. If mounts are standardised it would be detrimental to developments like this.
Electric shift only, It’s about maximizing profit! No cable routing frames cost less to produce and the bike did not get any cheaper! 👍
Perhaps, be interested to see what the margins were like on the drivetrains themselves though
for info. Santa Cruz still offer a cable mech option (with internal routing) with their lower-spec Bronson C frame builds - it's only the higher spec CC frame builds (including the frameset) which come wireless only...
So in that instance, I suspect anyone buying a frameset to build up themselves is going to be speccing it with a T Type [electronic] transmission anyway, and fwiw. I suspect in future you'll also see the C spec frames for sale aftermarket as you do now - even if it is only clearing excess inventory.
@@bikeradar Must be a lot of margin considering my local bike shop had a $8,000 MTB brand new on sale for $3,500!! They also had a brand new $15,000 road bike on sale for just $6,000!!! Those prices were agreed to sell them at from TREK!! And you know Trek has fixed pricing, so for them to authorize bike shops to drop the prices that much for all bike shops just shows how much margin they have, and I bet Trek did not lose any money on that sale.
And no one is going to convince me that a $15,000 bicycle has more technology than a $15,000 motorcycle! LMAO!!!
Its cheaper not even for 10$. There's no cost cutting in removing few holes in carbon frame
@@Valentin359are you seriously claiming that there is no production cost for the tube in tube construction that Santa Cruz does for cable routing? Or did you even know it's not just a few holes in the frame?
3:28 me with a 150 x 12 non-boost rear spacing 🫠
We feel your pain!
i hate the way companies sell bikes with spec, i will only buy frame only or used in the future because of it (unless the price is good enough to not care about getting the parts as spares) there's so many such as the norco fluid that come with loads of different spec models and most of them are missing the mark in a place or two (noticeably for me the model i would have wanted because of the components and frame came with AXS t type and i have no interest in electronic gears) . I'm surprised more brands and retailers don't offer the option to build your own spec like small independent brands do, cotic and Bird for instance you can pick and choose what you want from a frame only with some parts to a full build with a choice of parts
Paying as much as a motorcycle has got to stop..comparing the 2 it’s not even close to value for what you get. I personally own a 2023 Honda cb500x, $7200 usd, also own a 2024 Revel Rail…frame up build…not positive dollar about but probably pushing 5-6k
That debate will rage forever!
None standardisation is dumb. I am less likely to buy a new bike now than I ever was. Thanks for showing how the bike industry isnt that arsed about customers and compatibility, repairability and updatability. Duly noted
Love it when someone who didn't own a brand makes pointless statements and demands. Dude start your own company and make profit.
Buying a bike that costs as much as a car but yet having to replace components right away because they aren’t good enough is a joke. I can get an awesome motorcycle cheaper than a mtn bike now. Fail
Bikes are not cheap, but you don't have to buy an expensive one. Modern £500 hardtails are very capable bikes
Not for the mountain bike companies, they count it as a big win! A fool and his money are soon parted is what they’re banking on…
Tires are trail, not bike, specific. So your choice for what you want as a tire is only specific to the trails you're riding. There are probably a load of riders who would change the tires you recommended to other tires because they do not fit the trails they ride.
Want to see an Emtb motor mount/BB alignment standard throughout the industry. The ZF motor mount is interesting.
1x cranksets need to back off. Some people - like myself - need lower gears than what the 1x offers these days.
Then buy old 2x cranks, what's the problem? Or 2x one piece chainrings for modern cranks.
What on Earth are you pushing? With 1x, you can go as low as 28x52.
Nice to see you calling out manufacturers for letting you test models with a spec that wouldn't be sold to the public
Price difference depending on size needs to stop. I always see sales where only the small or XL items (bikes, gear, etc) are on sale or they have a different base price.
Lol. These are the rules of the market, this is how the economy and demand work. The smallest and largest sizes are bought much less often than others in the middle, that's why they often remain in warehouses and needed to be sold, so discounts appear on them.
I know that, but when I go buy a winter jacket or hiking boots, it's not like that.
Why is it for biking? Is it the same in other sports?
That is a very annoying trait on sales!
Hi! For me, the worst trend is forgetting that bikes are for riding and having fun!
What is the cassette at 3:48?
+1 on that!
Just because it is a hobby we're loving, the industry believes they can charge whatever prices, and lock us into whatever proprietary ecosystem they like.
The truth is that the strategy works, but also excludes all with low and middle incomes, and makes everyone dissatisfied with what they have and can afford.
In the end, what counts is smiles on the trails, but far too many don't have either time or money to get the opportunity to experience that!
It's a moment 22 if you're not well-paid and have a flexible work - you can't afford bikes with these price tags unless you work 50-60 hours a week, but then you don't have time for riding anyways. 😢
It is all about the riding and just having fun. The best bike in the world is the one you own, because its one you can grab right now, and go for a ride.
Looks like Ragley is also goin out of business 😭 their website is offline already for a few days
Ragley has been out of business since earlier this year. They're not coming back.
@@CJGrand1 very sad. Then I might have bought one of the last Ragley bikes last year 🤯 good thing that I also bought some spare parts too
Sad times indeed
Adding more standards to a bicycle makes me NOT WANT to assemble a bicycle. Total waste of time finding the right parts to fit in. These days, finding the right parts are more difficult than actually assembling the bike.. I guess people who are engineering bicycles have LOW IQs.
I guess keeping my 10+ year-old bikes in perfect running condition turned out to be a smart move.
What's the great thing about standards?.....Everyone can have their own....
To be honest e-bikes are a bit new and still looking for optimal solutions so compatibility is not on a table yet. They are so expensive that I'm barely could think about that day when you be able to replace the motor from one brand to the other it's not guarantied that even after 5 year the will be the same motor in production.
.
*Add wide AF handlebars to the list.*
*Do that and maybe they can stop chopping down trees on trails to accommodate the "Wider is better" knuckle draggers.*
Will Santa Cruz warranty frames be wireless only?
Good question! I guess it will depend on what they have in stock to replace older models, but potentially, they could only have the wireless only CC frames for warranty...
they sell the C model frame only now as well which has normal routing
@@jamble7k that would suit exisiting CC frame owners better if they need a replacement, crash or warranty. otherwise forced upgrade to wireless.
As if the cost of Sram Transmission was an issue if you are getting carbon Specialized or Santa Cruz.
For instance, YT offers them for sub 4k€.
Easily best drivetrain i've ever had. No limit screws or cable tension to worry about.
The issue is really,that GX T type derailleurs are $400 msrp. If you bust one up it’s 4x more expensive for the budget option
He didn't mention costs, snubby bird 😈
It's not costs for a lot of us, I got my TRP drivetrains for a bit more than GX AXS, I tried it in 2023 now I know I just don't want or need that, neither a battery operated dropper.
@@Mediarahan003on the t type sram offers replacement parts tho
i brought xt 2x12 group brand new like 200$ for groupset!!
They can be found on cheaper bikes, Canyon offer a Neuron with an alloy frame for under £3k, but if you don't like it, you can swap it out, as it has routing for cables.
SRAM Transmission is great, we're not doubting that, but it is expensive and not everyone wants it
Bikes are too expensive for me so i opt not to buy.
And there's nothing wrong with that, you're free to do what you want ❤️
I understand some things such as seat tube diameters being different between steel and aluminum frames. But it is total BS to have so many different shapes or splines for cranks to spindle or cassettes.
Why do I even care about the splines on our cranks? Because sometime in the past three decades all of the bikes have been shipped with cranks that are disproportionately long for the SM and MD frame sizes. I can’t fix this on our bikes without also replacing entire bottom bracket assembly.
Ridiculous high prices for components (especially electrical) - Reason: Not enough competition.
No one mentions the obvious - if there are only two companies ruling the market completely, Shimano and SRAM, both have the same incentives to keep prices and margins high.
The one raising prices worst is SRAM with their "transmission" system, none-compatible with anything else. No surprise it is the American one that pushes prices through the roof. Seems like the authorities who should oversee competition and prohibit misconduct of dominant position don't care when the other company is Asian (Japan). They're allowed to acquire whatever competitor they like, always.
Most expensive overpriced brands of complete bikes are also American (and Italian...). Coincidence - I don't think so...
🤑😢🤮
The only hope for cheaper stuff is Chinese competition.
Perhaps, the shift to electronic drivetrains might provide a chance for a newcomer? They're manufacturing the top high tech smartphones, so a drivetrain shouldn't be too difficult to build. 🤞
Chinese parts manufacturers are coming, so hopefully more competition
I buy use from now on, I just recently purchased a Santacruz Hightower v3 with GX AXS AND FOX FACTORY COMPONENTS for 3200, the original buyer probably payed 8k.
You can get bargains second hand, but it of course comes with risk. You have no idea if the bike has been crashed, and you'll likely have no warranty. But if you're cool not knowing a bikes history and having less manufacturer support, you can get a serious amount of bike for not a lot of cash 💰
GOOD-Cables suck suck suck suck. Yes they "work" and have "worked" but after removing the front derailleur and going tubeless, cables were the number 1 failure point.
In the under specced cathegory i want to focus your attention to the newly released Canyon Spectral:ON fly, it comes in 4 models and the CF9 which is historically an high level model does have a Fox rithm 160 mil fork and the rear suspension a DPS (yes the one designed by fox for cross country) performance shock, the nearly top gamma model the CLLCTV does have a Grip2 performance elite (which is a damn good piece of hardware) and a rear shock which is the float X performance (the base model without the low compression adjuster knob) while you have a grip 2 in the front, this is something deeply ridicolous.
Also if you want Shimano brakes (which are the best on the market for many riders) and Shimano drivetrain which personally i do prefer much more than Sram you need to buy the CF9 model with a crosscountry shock and the lowest fox fork on the market.
Under my point of view this is unacceptable.
They do seem a little under-specified in the suspension department, though it is actually a 36 Performance on the CF9, not the Rhythm. We would expect piggyback shocks on all the bikes, however.
Worth noting on the Float X, for £30/$30, you can add the low-speed compression dial yourself, so its not the end of the world on the CLLCTV model. We'd still like to see it standard though!
@@bikeradar In the base float X shock you can add the jnob yourself, but the hidraulic system is different compared to the perf. elite and the factory:
Me and a friend of mine, tested it for a day long i've got the performance elite on my bike and they weren't working the same,
One thing I've realized. Did you take in account that prices in US are always without tax? Comparing them would only work if you deduct your local taxt first.
Mostly I forget this little fact when comparing prices, just now this was the first thing that came into my mind.
Yes, we note in the video that US prices are before sales taxes are applied, if there are any. Even so, if a bike costs more in £ than it does in $, tax/VAT doesn't come into it, £4000 is more than $3,500, even taking away 20% VAT
Not into wireless only.. Drops weight from the frame, then potentially intro’s needed to use a heavier electronic Groupset 🤷🏻♂️
That is a very good point!!! If we save weight, we can add it back on again...
Any day now SRAM is going to present battery operated disk brakes. You all laugh now.. but wait an see.
If they function as well as AXS-shifters and seatposts, who, except maybe for the Shimano fanboys, would be worse off?
It already exist and will come because people think its cool to have less cables for their mall crawler princess bike
@@evanm.2300 Oh, don’t cry - alright, there are still plenty of options with mechanical components for true hardcore riders like you.
It'll be heavy, caliper designs would be complex with tons of added parts and in the end provide no performance gain. Brake by wire has existed for years. Not sure one that's blue tooth connectable from lever to caliper exists however. It's far too complicated and pointless for a fkin bike.
Wireless steering
I’ve seen spy pics of a SRAM UDH cable driven RD, entry level bikes should still have cable on this direct mount standard, but honestly, electronic shifting is as progressive as 1x drivetrains were when they arrived. (Even Shimano road has abandoned cable on Ultegra)
We saw that too, excited to see what happens!
Why for rear derailleur and brake/shifter clamps are torx head screws, rest of bike is Allen wrench?
Worst Trend: Bike companies paying BikeRadar for good reviews. Another bad trend, UK companies purchasing USA media groups. BikeRadar? ...used to be good.
Under spec equipment! Last year I bought a Cannondale LT2 e-bike £7250 retail, First ride I thought my rear hub bearings had collapsed, Got home to find it had cones and balls. Adjusted them greased them etc, second ride same again. I bought new wheels but then found out the brake rotors were different spec, front 6 bolt rear centre lock so more expense. I can't understand why they would spec such a crappy back hub on an enduro type e-bike. ££££ ?
That's strange, I run several bikes (no really expensive ones) and all have cup and cone. Some of the hubs are M8000 XT, others are very simple ones. They never showed such a behavior.
What I once had was a broken axle shaft where the cone sits on the front wheel, I later upgraded this hub to XT since these are different constructed
@@simonm1447 I'm impressed you've had no trouble with XT hubs - when I ran them a few years back the freehub broke every 6 months or so. XTR is the only level of hub Shimano make that I'd actually trust to last well under regular off road use (I got about 20 years out of one of the 16 click freewheel ones), but I just stick Hopes on everything these days. The rims on Hope's XC wheelsets are particularly prone to cracking along the spoke holes, and their enduro rims fail this way too eventually though, but the hubs are reliable - only issue I've had in thousands of km on a few set of them was a cracked microspline freehub, and that was one of the very first they made for the Pro4, so I suspect it's been improved since. I have a Hope Pro2 front hub that's been running for over 20 years (It's gone from being my main XC bike for over a decade to daily commuting use now) and the original bearings are still running smooth on no servicing whatsoever.
@@peglor which Generation of XT hubs did you use?
I use the older M8000 gen, with the older HG freehub body made of steel. The 12 speed micro spline one is known for making trouble, but I do not have a 12 speed system.
Before I put them into my MTB wheels they had TX 505 Tourney hubs, which still worked quite good for XC until the axle bolt of the front hub broke (and all Shimano cup and cone ones use the same one except for XT and XTR). The rear hub however never made problems, the rear axle is 10 mm and 1 mm thicker than the front axle with 9 mm.
XT hubs use a different construction and can't break here
@@simonm1447 The 8000 series hubs are exactly the ones I kept breaking. I'd given up on Shimano hubs completely by the time microspline came out. I should mention I can easily weigh 90 kg with my backpack on, and any half decent spin I do involves climbing at least a km, mostly on trails that weren't built for bikes, so my hubs don't get an easy life.
@@peglor i use these hubs on 2 bikes and another front hub on a 3rd one. At least until now they work fine. I also do a lot of climbing here.
With the original Tourney hubs (Scott Aspect 7 series bike) I did XC in the Himalayas (Khardungla, Ladakh) and also on Mount Kosciusko, NSW, and in the Blue Mountains. The rough trails in the north of Sydney finally broke my front axle on the Tourney hub.
The Specialized S-Works Epic 8 frame is also wireless only for shifting and dropper post. :(
Yep, it sure is!
I can't imagine there are many people who buy the S-works version of that frame who are not also speccing a wireless transmission and dropper as part of their 'dream build'...
@@yodapig Not if they want to run XTR. BTW the XCO Olympics were won with XTR. would they have been faster with Transmission?
Nukeproof? didn't know that brand was related to the collapse of Wiggle 😞
Sadly so 😞
The only advantage cable set ups have is cost, and the only bikes not offering it are the higher end ones, so what's the issue? If I'm sending 5K plus on a bike I don't want cables on it anyways.
Great video, hope they listę But the Best is to not buy a bike with suchym silly stuff
Finally downgraded to fixed gear, again. 😂
K
Full respect for your skills. Fixie is too much for me but I was single speeding before it was ever cool and I'm still doing it.
135/100 QR, BSA threaded, mechanical disc, flat pedals......almost Stone Age.
@@andrewblakesley4202 the stone age bike never fails, the most important is keep pedalling no matter the bike is.
You laugh, but people do singlespeed races here in the UK on fixies! Madness!
@@bikeradar personally i am kinda lazy person to maintain my bike. Hence the fixed gear ✨
I know I’m alone in this. But I want to go back to 27.5 or even 26.
All my bikes have 26" wheels w/lever quick release and can be swapped between bikes in 30 seconds.
27.5" wheels literally serve no point but to make 30+ years of everything being 26" with parts being easily interchangeable obsolete. They're barely 1" bigger in diameter than 26" wheels, so more like 27" in real terms. The absolute weasels in the bike 'journalism' industry who fawned over it pretending it was better rather than just screwing over customers are the real offenders here.
You're not alone. 29ers outside of XC or racing just suck, they're weaker heavier and boring AF. 27.5 is my limit, but a modern freeride bike with 26s would be drool worthy
@@bjunk5838 I don't see why you couldn't run a 26" wheel on any modern bike. They do still sell them in the budget category.
@kiloyardstare often you run into bottom bracket height issues, or may need a different shock eye to eye length to compensate, different fork travel, etc... and you need to figure out and test clearances or geometry, all of this on your own because the frame manufacturer is not going to assist you (maybe not even warranty you) with a frankenbike... it quickly becomes cost prohibitive for the average person to build out
Simple, don't buy mainstream bikes (frames) and build your own...
unpopular opinion here but a a 6 foot 3 inch human I actually want a shorter dropper post. the 120mm dropper I have just goes to far down. yes I want to lower my seat for descents but I still want the seat up under me so I have to feeling of support idk. when I get that low my knees are basically in my chest and I hate it. 80 mm or 100 would be great just something to get the saddle out of my way on descents but still there.
Personal taste is a big part of it! I'm intrigued by Merida's and Eightpins designs that are integrated and adjustable. In theory, you can have whatever drop you want then
Long cranks on medium and large bikes 😠 needs to stop
Agreed! 175mm cranks need to go away period!
No way! That's like someone shorter than you saying larger than 165mm needs to go away. I've always used 175 and it's the right size for me at 1.86m
Yep, we have a video coming up on exactly this, stay tuned!
@@jordanhanash I’m 174 cm and ride medium yt Jeffsy with 175mm cranks if I ride in low position I would get pedal strikes, hurt my bad knee and struggle to stray in a good neutral attackpostion. Changed to 165mm ✅ now all those issues are gone
More leverage = more torque! Take your shorty cranks and get outta my way!
Santa Cruz s and r builds still have internal cables
Yep, they still do! Thankfully! But the frame only's don't which is a shame!
@@bikeradar currently its only the CC version of the frame (that is wireless only) which is available as a frameset - I suspect in future you'll see retailers offering the C version of the frame (which has the internal cable routing) too, even if they are just left-over stock.
If you’re buying an S-Works model frame, price probably isn’t at the front of your mind.
While probably true, what if you're buying an S-Works frame want Shimano?
Wiggle should never have been allowed to merge with CRC, what a disaster.
It definitely raised a few eyebrows 👀
The EU needs to step in and sort all this shit out.
You missed the tons of screw types on bikes. Ridiculous. Many can be replaced so you need less tools.
And bottom brackets are a hell.
Tom references this in his hate for different size stems bolts. If all bikes came one or two sizes of hex head, the world would be a better place! 5mm for everything expect pedals and cranks, with could be 8mm as a lot are now for example
Hit the Nail on the Head. I won't buy a bicycle that does not alloy me to run the brand and type of components I choose. I also won't buy one with out any cable routing or headset routing only.
In the same video, we moan about the price of bikes, but at the same time point out that the website that tried to sell everything cheapest went bust…unless everything is sold direct to consumers the price will be higher, because businesses have running costs, and they have to sell their goods to cover those costs and make profit, ask someone who works in a bike shop what car they drive, they aren’t at home counting their millions 😂
If you're talking about Chainreaction Cycles, they went bust because they stopped being a competent shop. Bike Discount, Bike 24 and R2 bike, to name 3 of them have been doing a much better job and selling cheaper than CRC for years. Better yet, they actually have parts in stock rather than slapping a low price for parts they don't have to make them top the web search. When CRC was new they were absolutely fantastic, but they sold out to a bunch of money loving MBA types who paid themselves very well while running it into the ground.