"The sport of mountain biking has come a long way since its humble beginnings, but thanks to constant progress and innovation, and to human nature, it's not surprising that things aren't perfect, or even good. This year seems to be especially prolific with trends and changes, but honestly, it's all cyclical, and a new wheel size, along with absurdly powerful eMTBs and giant leaps in tire construction, have this year feeling like a snowball that keeps on rolling."
"Cable tourism via headset bearings is a nightmare, and this bizarre carryover from road and gravel that no mountain biker wants has already seen a decline in the latter half of the year. We can only hope that this trend is fully put to rest in 2026, save for a few high-performance XC bikes to appease the XC-only crowd who never work on their own bikes."
Mountain biking continues to evolve with innovations like new wheel sizes, powerful eMTBs, and major advances in tire construction, producing rapid change and cyclical trends. Through-headset cable routing creates maintenance headaches by forcing cables through tight spaces, increasing abrasion and complicating component swaps; it has declined recently and should be abandoned except for niche high-performance XC bikes. Many eMTBs are heavy and descend better, but brands continue to spec light trail-casing tires on heavy eMTBs with 150mm+ travel, risking folded tires and torn sidewalls. Prioritizing durability over minimal rotational weight would reduce punctures and damage at the expense of battery efficiency.
Read at BikeMag
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]