alexdi profile

Tom's crash colors everything about this event for me. When the penalty for a missed trick is to destroy your body, I can't applaud taking the risk.

I'm with Justin on this one. I was impressed by AXS, but I still end up second-guessing the shift logic. Any press-and-hold with a delay while the system determines if you're holding the button is a nonstarter. With mechanical, I can upshift three times (or two times, or four times, as determined by my brain on the fly) in less than a second and end up in exactly the gear I want. With AXS, I press, hold, and guess.

More like parallel development. Cell Cycling is selling an updated XShifter, a Kickstarter product that was already prototyped by mid-2016. I believe Archer's D1X came later. They both fill the same niche, but XShifter appears to a better product (though the original Kickstarter backers would argue that Archer is a better company. Despite the logo on the site, however, Cell Cycling is not affiliated with XShifter's Kickstarter campaign.)

Can you try this out?

https://cell-cycling.com/shop/

Wireless, relatively cheap, light, uses any random mechanical derailleur, and appears to perform with similar accuracy and speed. I haven't impulse-bought the thing yet because I'm too happy with my XX1/11 MTB drivetrains, but given the cost of AXS and both SRAM and Shimano's predilection for abandoning older electronic products, I'm very keen on the notion of a derailleur-agnostic system.

Do you know if the RD is compatible with SRAM or Shimano 12S shifters? People have successfully mixed and match those two, I wonder the same of TRP.

I've got at least four years on a 185mm Revive 1.0. Wouldn't pick any other brand.

The e-bike cannibalization is inevitable to me. Human-powered bikes continue to creep (or leap) up in price and weight, while the electronics become lighter and cheaper. It's gotten to where $7K is upper-mid-range, and that's for a second-tier mechanical group. When you're throwing down that much coin, why not pick something that'll still be fun even if you're out of shape? (And aren't we always out of shape relative to our friends or some previous version of ourselves?)

I see this going the other way. They'll keep the weight and cheap and/or capable parts and just add a motor. It adds what, about seven pounds to electrify a bike these days? That sort of modest kit won't be an everlasting moped, but even 100W transforms the riding experience far more than the weight savings would. (Weight savings often go the other way; if you just swap to a light frame and fork, you've just screwed up the unsprung weight ratio.) It might also be cheaper. The price differential between carbon and aluminum alone would easily cover the electric BOM.

> As an aside, I don't know when we're going to start seeing climbing trails aimed at e-bikes, with steep and extremely technical pitches and crux moves, but I can't wait.

If it can't be done with pedals alone, you might as well ride a motorcycle. Which you are, frankly. The difference between this and an electric dirt bike is that the pegs move. I'll be keen to see the justifications for "ebikes" in five years when the battery capacity is 3X, the stanchions are 42mm, and the limiter is 40 MPH.

Indeed. I'd be interested in a comparison between this and a DT hub with an 18T ratchet.

Excellent review, thanks for taking the time! I particularly appreciate the assembly notes.

I've made a worksheet of a potential build that brings the bike just under 27 pounds, though the bigger question is whether to go full-29 or take the plunge to a 69er.* How much flexibility did you have on the color scheme and logos?

• I just realized the 34T thing could be a problem with a 69er. I run 32T with a 29x2.5" and a 10-42. If I downsize to 27.5 in the back, the ring has to come up to 32 to keep the top end. Hmm.