Ask the experts

[toast2266]

Ok, I have one, have any of you experienced any real negative effects from using metallic (non resin) pads on a ‘resin pad only’ disc rotor?
I haven’t experimented, I don’t know.
Just curious.
I can’t really see how the steel would react differently?

I think it's a softer grade of steel / has a lower grade of heat treatment. So they'll potentially wear poorly or warp with metallic pads.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Does anyone have an in at any of the major bike brands? Thought I had a pretty good showing this weekend at BME Big Sky. 10th in expert class. Maybe the most top riders ever at one enduro race in the USA outside of an EWS. Only game in town so everyone from everywhere came to race the legit gnar that is Big Sky.

Been on Knolly for 5 years. They don't make the kind of bike I need anymore. Would love to get a chance to be on grassroots for someone else with carbon long travel 29ers. Got the fire again and going to really put in year round training for next season.

[simple]

10th out of 11. Nice job! Just kidding around but I'm sure it was a good one. The times for the U21 kids are ridiculously fast

[rideit]

Not sure if they have a grassroots program, but I would seriously consider Guerilla Gravity for how you like to ride. Really great bang for the buck, and amazing bikes....

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

10th out of 11. Nice job! Just kidding around but I'm sure it was a good one. The times for the U21 kids are ridiculously fast

While I would normally agree with you, the field was just beyond stacked. I am not exaggerating that an EWS is the only place to find a faster field of riders anywhere than were assembled this weekend in Big Sky. Lots and lots of team kids with custom kits and free bikes were racing in Sport Catergory this weekend. Lots of DNS because several of them did one practice day and then decided it was too gnar to race. People who drove 10-12 hours didn't race.

[rideit]

WG, did they do that silly ramp drop to compression to right hand turn in the race? That thing scared me.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

WG, did they do that silly ramp drop to compression to right hand turn in the race? That thing scared me.

Luckily they took that thing out of the race (which has been in races past and really sucks to ride). The Pro/A line was in play though on Lobo. Unless it's marked you have no idea it's even there. It's basically a shortcut down a rock wall. I raced it last year too. Basically the gnarliest section I have ever ridden on a bike. Instant "WOOOO HOOO!" when you get to the bottom and make the left turn and didn't die.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CEOAa1xhavy/

[jackstraw]

Luckily they took that thing out of the race (which has been in races past and really sucks to ride). The Pro/A line was in play though on Lobo. Unless it's marked you have no idea it's even there. It's basically a shortcut down a rock wall. I raced it last year too. Basically the gnarliest section I have ever ridden on a bike. Instant "WOOOO HOOO!" when you get to the bottom and make the left turn and didn't die.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CEOAa1xhavy/

Right around the 2:30 point give a better view at how steep that really is then add in the chunky rocks and the left turn...yeah, that's rowdy! Nice job whiteroom!

[toast2266]

Does anyone have an in at any of the major bike brands? Thought I had a pretty good showing this weekend at BME Big Sky. 10th in expert class. Maybe the most top riders ever at one enduro race in the USA outside of an EWS. Only game in town so everyone from everywhere came to race the legit gnar that is Big Sky.

Been on Knolly for 5 years. They don't make the kind of bike I need anymore. Would love to get a chance to be on grassroots for someone else with carbon long travel 29ers. Got the fire again and going to really put in year round training for next season.

If you want to be supported by one of the big brands, you pretty much need to be in the top 10 in pro / open on a regular basis. If you want to get a few discounts on stuff but aren't riding at a pro level, a few smaller brands (like Knolly) are still doing that. But even with a lot of those brands, they're going to have expectations in terms of how many races you're doing. By the time you factor in the cost of traveling around the country to race, it's probably cheaper just to pay full price. I don't know of any bigger / more desirable companies that are doing much in the way of grassroots flow to non-pro riders.

Exceptions to that: you're a reasonably talented woman, you're a reasonably talented U21, or you're hot shit on social media.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I did 5 races last season. Have been racing for 6 seasons now. I am not asking for free bikes. But a 9k bike for a decent discount to be raced and pimped on social media is probably a good deal for a bike company. IDK.

I just can't understand why Knolly hasn't put out a carbon 29er. I have been waiting 3 seasons and no rumors around yet.

[simple]

Align yourself with a bike shop or directly with a bike brand. Enjoy it before the drama kicks in. If there is drama on day one, walk away.

Drama isn't worth the 20% discount you might see.

[toast2266]

I did 5 races last season. Have been racing for 6 seasons now. I am not asking for free bikes. But a 9k bike for a decent discount to be raced and pimped on social media is probably a good deal for a bike company. IDK.

I just can't understand why Knolly hasn't put out a carbon 29er. I have been waiting 3 seasons and no rumors around yet.

Most of the guys I see getting the kind of deal you're talking about are getting hooked up by a local shop.

edit - simple beat me to it.

edit 2: I'd bet a shiny nickle that Knolly goes the way of Turner. Used to make good bikes. Still technically in business. Doesn't produce any products that are relevant to the modern market.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

edit 2: I'd bet a shiny nickle that Knolly goes the way of Turner. Used to make good bikes. Still technically in business. Doesn't produce any products that are relevant to the modern market.

It blows my mind. They had everyone's attention with the Warden and Warden Carbon (which I race now). They seemingly chose to deny their shot and put out an alloy 29er with little press......everyone assumed the carbon 29er would drop soon......then they put out a gravel bike....uh ok.

[Dantheman]

Exceptions to that: ... you're hot shit on social media.

Heh, I was going to say that posting lots of minimally-edited POV of slow hackish riding seems to be the best way to get sponsors these days.

[toast2266]

It blows my mind. They had everyone's attention with the Warden and Warden Carbon (which I race now). They seemingly chose to deny their shot and put out an alloy 29er with little press......everyone assumed the carbon 29er would drop soon......then they put out a gravel bike....uh ok.

I think there were a whole bunch of companies that were run by engineers / guys that knew how to work with metal. When the market moved heavily towards carbon, those guys struggled - they felt like they should be heavily involved in the carbon design process, but that wasn't really their specialty, and the move to carbon didn't go smoothly. Either they weren't willing to give up control over the engineering / design of their frames, or they tried too hard to hack their way through it with poor results.

Knolly, Turner, Intense and plenty of others all seem to fall into that category.

[Roxtar]

Heh, I was going to say that posting lots of minimally-edited POV of slow hackish riding seems to be the best way to get sponsors these days.

Makes sense.
The ultimate goal is to sell bikes, not win races.
Know who came in 2nd at the last EWS?
Me neither.

[Dantheman]

Makes sense.
The ultimate goal is to sell bikes, not win races.
Know who came in 2nd at the last EWS?
Me neither.

Yeah, I don't really disagree, those guys get views and ad clicks. What's baffling is that they get so many views.

[toast2266]

Yeah, I don't really disagree, those guys get views and ad clicks. What's baffling is that they get so many views.

It's a bold new marketing strategy.

"Watch this gaper barely survive down this mildly technical piece of trail. If you buy our new enduro bike, you too can barely survive trails that were originally built by people on rigid bikes."

[schuss]

Heh, I was going to say that posting lots of minimally-edited POV of slow hackish riding seems to be the best way to get sponsors these days.

I highly recommend watching some of the commentary by the car youtubers like Matt Farah and Doug Demuro - basically it's a game of views, so more frequent content=more views. People need a steady drip-feed of you to pay attention, or you fall off. It means that you sacrifice editing and quality in the name of quantity to get better prioritization on most recommendation algorithms. Also, given that many people dive through your backlog, it's self-reinforcing in referent terms, which given that advertising pays for everything, is also prioritized.

[Dantheman]

Oh I get how the game works. What I don't get, as someone who finds most POV of anything short of legit pros going full-send to be unwatchable (very much including stuff I've shot myself), is why people click more than once. "Man, this guy is a bigger hack than I am, better go watch his whole catalogue!" WTF?

[simple]

Watching people drive interesting cars and talk will always have a lot more hits than someone riding a bicycle.

Even the Pinkbike reviews are boring. You just can't make it interesting.

I'll put it this way. Even Nate Hills has to hope that Yeti has room in their budget for him to get his gear every year.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Don't get me started on youtube nerd/gapes.

The only people that should really be doing it IMO are Sam Pilgrim and Nate Hills. Kerr, Neko, etc have been putting out legit stuff as well recently. They can actually ride and aren't super cringe hyper gapes.

BKXC etc is like me doing ollies down a 3 stair on a skateboard channel and getting 50k views per video. Fucking wack.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Oh I get how the game works. What I don't get, as someone who finds most POV of anything short of legit pros going full-send to be unwatchable (very much including stuff I've shot myself), is why people click more than once. "Man, this guy is a bigger hack than I am, better go watch his whole catalogue!" WTF?

Even top pros POV isn't that great. It's not that they aren't ripping, it's that the camera just doesn't do it justice. Most people have not seen real ripping in person so they think a hacky POV is great.

I have taken some of my own POV with a gimbal etc, and even as fast as I can go it looks pretty dumb......especially compared to actual ripping from pros.

[simple]

That is kinda what I am saying. You can't really make riding and/or reviewing mountain bikes look interesting.

Back when mountain biking was at its high point we had TV cameras and helicopter shots...and it was still boring.

Rampage is dope because it is bonkers insane. DH is dope because any little mistake you lose the race. XC....well... without nino and VDP it is pretty dull

Same goes for moto in the woods. Riding singletrack is always a better experience than what is shown on camera.

[mall walker]

That is kinda what I am saying. You can't really make riding and/or reviewing mountain bikes look interesting.

Back when mountain biking was at its high point we had TV cameras and helicopter shots...and it was still boring.

Rampage is dope because it is bonkers insane. DH is dope because any little mistake you lose the race. XC....well... without nino and VDP it is pretty dull

Same goes for moto in the woods. Riding singletrack is always a better experience than what is shown on camera.

I used to really hate the summer instagram shift when people would go from posting pictures of skiing pow in big steep mountains - which IS (or at least can be) awesome to look at - with pictures of bikes laying down next to trails. I get it more now that I do it, but still... not a great social media spectator activity.

I guess maybe the slowmo stuff is as eye-candy as it gets?