kain0m profile

Just buy something like an ABUS bordo. You can get them in a similar weight and much more compact format. And I'd guess they are more secure as well, and they won't nick your frame.

https://mobil.abus.com/unterwegs/Highlights/BORDO/Faltschloesser/BORDO-Lite-6055-60-black

I think the main problem is SRAM. They are so happy to swamp the market with proprietary tech and they have the OEM share to force it down our throats. Combined with over-zealous marketing lingo, this makes for a toxic combination. Fool me once, fool me twice kinda thing - I don't trust them with any promises anymore.

I'm in love with this thing, but man, oh man, it's far outside my financial comfort zone for a "bicycle".

Well, your link states the obvious about recycling: Aluminium is terribly easy to recycle, and it saves a ton of energy and money. I don't know how this works in north america, but here in Europe aluminium waste is a common target for theft - because it is so valueable. This just does not compare to carbon at all, which is quasi-unrecycleable. Yes, in theory you can. But the product are short fibers, which are only usable as a filler for plastics. It's just waste - aluminium can, and to a large extend is, be fully recycled.
And trust me, I've worked with CF - the whole process is nasty from front to back, not just the recycling part. The resin, the chemicals used for mold separation, CF sanding dust - all quite toxic or harmful to the environment.

I have one fundamental issue with E-(Mountain-)Bikes. It is that for most people it simply is a way to "ride more". As in, "further in the same time".

A friend of mine bought a Levo this summer, he loves it. It allows him to do three laps on his home trail instead of one.
So he says he's riding more than ever, he'll get super many miles under the tires and couldn't be more pleased about it.

For me, though, mountain biking is a stress relief. I go out in the woods to shake those spirits from work that keep haunting me - be more productive, work harder, be more efficient. It is an ever-repeating cycle. When I am on my bike, I am slow, because in all honesty I've turned pretty fat over the past decade. But I love these moments where I slowly inch up a climb at snails' pace - because I am going at MY pace. I spend hours in the forest, and if I can fit another lap in that time that I have, it is great - but if I can't, its equally as good. It is my time to be non-productive, inefficient, to be my own boss. Why on earth would I want to speed up this process, allowing me to fit in more riding, in order to be more productive with my climbs? If I want to have a ton of downs, I go to some place with lift access or shuttling (which I do quite frequently).
This trend of being more efficient with your free time is quite worrying to me. It's a clear sign that all the corporate BS is slowly sinking into our brains. Oh, and of course, I want it all, I want free, and I want it NOW!

They look nice. I might consider them for a future build, thanks for the heads up… I was looking for some high quality hubs, but I don't like noisy hubs (and kings were a bit too expensive for my liking…)

Never thought of that, lading footage with a gimbal is a great idea! Needs a better gimbal than the FeiYu though, still too shaky…

Yeah, just swallow the pill. 650 is .2% quicker so you're furtunate that your nice wheelset doesn't fit anymore. At least you can now upgrade to carbon wheels without feeling guilty about leaving that perfectly fine 800$ alloy wheelset behind!

This industry is all kinds of fucked up.

So cool! Sad it's so short, almost feels like a trailer for a longer movie.

I'd like to add one: The "I really shouldn't go for this, but I'm gonna do it anyway". Not many things are worse than going for a jump with reservations in the back of your head. You'll got too slow, and it'll send you flying a second time. Here's me demonstrating that technique: