In Praise of Cheap Bikes - The Inside Line Ride Along 8

Every Vital editorial staffer and some of our best contributors sit down to talk bikes in Reno.

sspomer
12/13/2023 11:37am
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Welcome mountain bikers! We're stoked to take you for a ride along during a conversation we had at the end of October during Vital's budget mountain bike test in Reno, Nevada.

It was a special time because every Vital editorial staffer was present with some of our favorite contributors too. The primary discussion revolves around the bikes we were testing and how great it is to be a mountain biker with so many quality bikes and components. Whether beginner or experienced, it's really hard to go wrong with a mountain bike purchase these days. Eventually, we twist and turn our way onto the topic of Red Bull Rampage, which was fresh in our minds at the time, and ultimately to our favorite subject, World Cup Downhill racing.

Get to know the Vital staff a bit better, give a nod to budget-friendly mountain bikes and enjoy the show!
 

 

 

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8 comments

View replies to: In Praise of Cheap Bikes - The Inside Line Ride Along

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FerrousBueller
8 months ago

I'm sorry but the judges showed their bias celebrating Cam's backflip.

Robbed, Mr. Fairclough got. Invariably.

His line was the most asshole-puckering hyper exposed jaw-dropping maneuver by far. If he didn't come back next year I wouldn't even blame him. I know I wouldn't.

It was a travesty that Dylan Stark didn't get invited after tucking that OG road gap. It's pretty understandable to me why people were upset about the event in general.

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FerrousBueller
8 months ago

"Literally nobody puts the shifter between the grip and the brake levers"

I've always put my shifter between them

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sspomer
8 months ago

pretty sure he mis-spoke. we setup all the bikes w/ inboard levers. but every bike came set up in the opposite configuration with brake levers slammed against the grip lock-on. that put the lever blades usable for pinky and ring fingers LOL.

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FerrousBueller
8 months ago

Gotcha, I was very confused lol. My inner monologue: "Have I been doing this wrong all along???"

I do actually run my Wolftooth ReMote Light Action lever outboard of the brake though, because it's extra long and too cramped if I put it inboard.

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ARonBurgundy
8 months ago

Great discussion! This was one of the most interesting episodes yet. Really enjoyed the discussion about Rampage, racing, and the issues with this year's World Cup coverage. Keep it up!

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hogfly
8 months ago

Came for the cheap bike talk, stayed for the excellent second half discussion about all kinds of random topics. 

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notthatbryan
8 months ago

The main complaints seem to be around brakes and tires, do you guys think new riders are going fast/ hard enough for those things to matter?

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sspomer
8 months ago

new riders may not notice tires or brakes (as long as the brakes are bedded in properly).  there may be up-and-comers who already rip getting these bikes, too, however. locally, there are tons of kids flying off massive jumps on clapped-out $500 hardtails b/c their skills ballooned so quickly with a bike park in the area. a $2000 bike for a jr high or high school kid is still a ton of money, and riders like that would probably notice performance issues with lackluster components once they continue to push.

also, as rick said, in "expensive" bike tests, most often, critiques involve tire spec there or nitpicking about brake spec, too. so it's not just the budget being the factor.

glad everyone is stoked on this one. it was a blast, for sure!

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