Giants of Dirt blew my mind when I first saw it. Very sad news, tragic, RIP Dane

Nice video and interview. Been hearing for a while now Manitou were changing, or had changed, its interesting to hear it so straight from a top rider!!

Electric Mountain Bikes..... sorry, sorry, electrically assisted --- Ganbei looks away in disgust…!!

Great series, looked like a great trip. Unhappy that it’s over, however judging on the quality of what we’ve seen already, sure there’ll be more to come in the future. Very nicely done!!

Carbon fiber as the name suggests, is made up of strands of carbon fibers. The strands can be laid up in different cross sectional patterns so different meshes are formed and a glue (aka resin, prepreg) is used to hard it into a formed shape. Super strong and very very light, the ultimate material but with one exception…if the fibers get damaged, say in a crash, or maybe even if the frame is dinged by a rock, they snap, they don’t stretch. When carbon fails it shatters, its immediate and for the most part unpredictable. Aluminums will stretch or elongate prior to failure, you should have some warning that the part is nearing its end of life. Makes a big difference if you are regularly making road gaps!!

would have been a lot nicer if it could be flipped over to allow for a second variations in bar height...!! 100 quid is a lot to pay for 5 mm travel in reach alone.

Its gotta be a dream for most riders to get your own team going and being able to choose your own schedules and sponsors, but its also gotta be a major pain in the a** pulling it all together. Props to Chris and Claire for getting their team off the ground, two awesome riders, lets hope we see the Kovarik Racing team name at many events in the future.

Agreed, nothing manicured about this track…. and it looks awesome as a result!!

6000 series is alloyed with mag and silicon, it's more easily forged and machined and hence used. 7000 series is alloyed with zinc, a bit harder and more difficult to work with. 7000 is somewhere around 20~30% more expensive in material cost alone, it is much stronger after heat-treat. When 7000 is used it's because the manufacturer can dial in the second heat treating cycle for a specific application (-T6, -T65, -T73) e.g. reduce the strength but make it resist fatigue cracking or make it strong and a bit more brittle!! 7000 is a much better material, but you end up paying for it!!

I think working for Unit must be the best job in the world... -"Boss, I've an idea" -"Sounds good, hit me with it...!!" -"Models, booze, helicopters and all the folks we sponsor on boat partying for a day... we'll film a 2 min segi and post it on a few sites as advertising...!!! Gulp - "Lets make it happen..."