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When we first went independent, I didn't know what would happen. I actually thought it would take a few months, if not a full year, for any of our content to gain traction. I also did not think the website would be a very crucial aspect of the next chapter of our life. We live in a short form content era where it seems like algorithms show favor to quick 10 second pieces of content and I personally didn’t think anyone would be too interested in longer form written pieces. I also wasn’t sure if I would be able to provide a unique perspective given the saturation within the bike content space. Hannah was actually the one who really was pushing for our website, and so we ran for it and I started typing. Quickly we realized some people out there still prefer to read longer form written content and luckily for me I was somewhat decent at it. Every day when I sit down to type these articles, it’s just my thoughts and opinions on paper, or a computer in this case. There is no malice in my pieces. If you talk to me in real life you know i'm very opinionated as well as passionate about bikes. Well some of these pieces, as well as content I have shared on instagram, have created somewhat of a controversy. You see, I'm passionate about bikes, so I write about bikes. This same passion for bikes has allowed me to make many friendships with other riders who also share a deep passion for bikes. Their passion also runs deep allowing them to make a career through that love as well. However, I'm starting to realize that some of those careers include working for brands whom I share my opinion on, making things somewhat complicated. Once again I go back to the having no malice aspect. I'm not writing any of these pieces from a place of ill intent. All of the things I share I truly do feel passionately about. I hate SRAM Transmission with a passion as I do the elitist attitudes that are emitted from Shimano North America. I also feel like SRAM has been the greatest innovators of the last few years in mountain biking and Shimano has the best e-bike motor currently, as well as XT brakes. I genuinely do not like my Yeti SB 140 that is in for testing, even though I believe it is the fastest 140mm 29er on the market. I also think Yeti is screwing over the local bike shops in favor of a quick buck when it comes to a hybrid direct to consumer approach. I feel very passionately that the Pivot Switchblade is hands down my favorite 29er on the market currently and the Pivot Shuttle LT is the best e-bike I have tested yet. But I also truly believe they need to move away from superboost, even if it allows them to achieve their shorter chainstays. I think Ibis is about 2.5 years behind when it comes to new bikes and this is a "do or die" year for them. There are only so many times you can re-sell someone the same bike, just with a different paint job. I also think that if they release a Ripmo this year that is in line with the HD6, they might just win bike of the year! I think Specialized has lost the patent somewhere along the lines to “innovate or die”. Currently it seems like they own the patent to “blow out existing bike inventory and destroy the used bike market”. However, I also truly feel that they have some of the best bikes on the market when they are able to not think about inventory levels and market strategies. They also make the best bike equipment on the market. I believe Fox apparel feels cheap, and Rapha is overpriced. However I think the marketing from both of these companies is amazing, and I like what they do for the bike community. I think Bentonville is not the capital of mountain biking but I also think Bentonville is paving the way for other cities to develop their own MTB infrastructure. I used to be anti e-bikes and then I rode a Chinese city electric cargo bike and something clicked in my head, showing me the potential of battery powered bikes. I thought Shimano was dead and then I tried Shimano freeshift and realized they just might be ahead of SRAM in the wireless space. I don’t think anyone needs double-down tires on a enduro bike and I also believe 18t engagement hubs should be criminal, punishable by running tubes for the rest of your life. I could go on for days sharing each and every one of my opinions and I just might do that here on our website and on my Instagram. But before I do I just want to make one thing clear. I apologize to anyone I offend with any of my content. These are just my opinions and how I feel about whatever I am talking about. And you know what they say about opinions… -Mo Awesome

The year is 2024 and you are in the market for a 130-140mm 29er do it all bike? In my opinion, that is the sweet spot travel wise for a bike that pedals well and descends confidently.  What are your options? I feel like I am going to have to do two of these lists this year as most brands not included on this have current 130-145mm bikes set to be released later this year. But later this year is not now so with that being said here are my TOP 5 bikes in this travel category you should check out! And if you need any bike buying advice or have any questions, feel free to reach out here: 1.Pivot Switchblade: This bike is hands down one of the best bikes I have ever ridden and I can not recommend it enough. Pedals extremely well, descends like a precise monster, and has a suspension design that seemingly defies physics. This is currently the best bike in its  travel category in my opinion. 2. Revel Rascal 29: I haven’t ridden this bike but if I was in the market to buy a bike tomorrow it would be on my list for sure of bikes to consider. CBF suspension is tried and tested with the suspension wizard minds of the Canfield brothers behind it. The bike itself also has a very “I will be the most fun” geometry layout, and I could see myself falling in love with this bike. 3. Rocky Mountain Instinct 29: This is a bike that might just be the most aggressive in this travel category, especially considering the headangle comes down to 63.5 degrees. However this is also what seemingly makes this bike so appealing to me on paper. The level of adjustability it has, backed by how much I already love the Rocky Mountain Slayer, a 180mm freeride bike I'm currently testing. I mean if they can get a 180mm bike to pedal the way it does, what on earth are they going to be able to do with 140mm? In the market for an Ibis, Pivot, Yeti, Enve, or Rocky Mountain? Hit up N+1 Bikes and tell them "Mo and Hannah" sent you and they will take care of you! https://n1bikes.com 4. Ari Bikes Delano Peak: This is probably going to be the shortest travel feeling bike in this category, coming in at about 135mm of efficient suspension. However, having spent a considerable amount of time on this platform when they were Fezzari, I can say this bike has a stiffness and aggressive nature feel to it that allows you to push it past what you think a 135mm travel bike can take. On top of that they go with a slightly shorter reach which gives the bike a very “jump me off every root you can find” feel to it and I remember some of my most playful sessions being on this bike! It’s also the most affordable option on this list as well! 5. Yeti SB140: I have said it a million times now. I hate this bike, it's not for me. However with that being said, this bike is hands down one of the fastest bikes in this travel category and after speaking to so many SB140 owners I can tell that some people love this bike with all of their hearts and I can appreciate that. So I will include it on this list. There you go, that is my top 5 list of enduro bikes for 2024. List most likely will change soon! Let me know if you have any bike buying questions at all here: https://www.awesomemtb.com/contact -Mo Awesome

It’s a tough life never being wrong about anything ever in my life. Lots of stress placed upon my shoulders that I didn’t ask for but have happily carried. They say “he who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good” so modest I shall become. Here are the only 5 things I was wrong about for the month of March. 1.Shimano might not be dead: For a while now it feels like Shimano has been dying a slow death in the US market. SRAM seems to be beating them to every punch and while we all turn our heads towards Shimano to see their response, they are seemingly nowhere to be found. I have talked about how recent trips to Japan have made me appreciate the Japanese heritage of the brand more so than their North America marketing teams' elitist brand strategies. However, what worked the best in shifting my perspective on Shimano was actually a recent test ride of the Pivot Cycles Shuttle LT with Shimano Di2 free shift and an EP801 motor. In both of these systems, I re-felt what flawless shifting was and how a very well thought out component enhances the ride quality. It also made me ponder whether SRAM had gotten me with “smoke and mirror” marketing strategies? Maybe, just maybe, I might choose Shimano again on a future build? 2. E-bikes are actually kind of fun: This one I am still trying to formulate my personal thoughts around. Most people who know me know that e-bikes have not been my jam and neither is Phish music. However in the past, even between those two, you were more likely to find me following that band around like a true obsessed groupie than personally owning an e-bike. The month of March brought lots of e-bike testing in a wide variety of situations. From city e-bikes, hardtail e-bikes, chunky desert-singletrack filled ride e-bikes, and more, the variety in the last few months has me questioning my stance and wondering if e-bikes were pitched to me wrong? Oftentimes, marketing ruins a concept, and I wonder if part of the reason I was hesitant to accept e-bikes was that the first ones that I rode were mountain specific? I feel like city commuter e-bikes shifted my perspective the most, seeing e-bikes true potentials. Combine this with me currently riding 2 if not 3 times a day and most of my friends that I want to ride with being in winter shape, them having electric mountain bikes has allowed us to ride together even though they haven’t been on the trails in months. The Aventon Ramblas we tried the other day was an electric Hardtail e-bike, another category with so much potential to do both single track as well as commuting. The Nebo Peak showed me the potential in lightweight electric mountain bikes. It’s been an interesting month. 3. I hate the Yeti SB140: I really thought I was going to love this bike. I had such high hopes and when we first went independent, was even slightly bummed out that the Pivot Switchblade was going to be my first bike when the Yeti was delayed. The Switchblade on paper seemed somewhat conservative geo wise and the Yeti SB140 had a very cool appeal to it. Well after a month of testing both, the Pivot Switchblade ended up being one the best bikes I have ever tested, and the Yeti SB140 has become most likely one of my least favorites. Is it a bad bike? Absolutely not. In fact, just like I tell everyone, it is the fastest 140mm 29er on the market and also that they will probably love this bike. I just don't. Sometimes you don’t jive with a bike and in my case that’s what is happening with the Yeti SB140. 4. 180mm is not too much travel: When Rocky Mountain sent over the Slayer 29 in for testing, I was so sure I was not going to like that bike. The last thing I need right now with no bike parks open is a 180mm Freeride bike. However they sent it, and even threw in some Cushcore and Maxxis double down tires to make sure I got the full park bike, outside the bike park experience. Well after testing that bike over the last few weeks I can say that 180mm of travel might not be the end of the world. The Slayer has proven to me that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. The bike climbs insanely well and the 77.5 degree seat angle allows me to put so much power down that sometimes I even forget the bike needs to shed at least 6 lbs. Well, my heart rate doesn't let me completely forget that one but the weight would be so easily shed simply by ditching the alloy wheels, cushcore setup, and double down tires in favor of some 3C Minion DHf’s, carbon wheels, and no cush core. Throw on an air shock instead of the included coil and you have a bike that would be a blast to ride on enduro style trails. Going back to travel. You have not truly smiled until you ride 180mm of travel down chunky trails. The bike poses a level of confidence that at times would make me feel like I was training for rampage. The footage has been reviewed, and while I don’t think Rampage is in my future, I also don’t think I will rule out 180mm travel bikes as options for future enduro rigs. 5. Evil Bikes: I still feel like I ruled Evil bikes out a bit too early. I never really considered testing many bikes from them in recent years as it seems like they had been slow to release updated versions of bikes. But I truly feel like Evil might be the sleeper company of the year 2024. Something is telling me that they might just have some tricks up their sleeves to make us stoked on new bikes. Maybe a 2024 new Evil Following with a 64 degree head angle, 28lbs bike weight, low BB, Delta suspension, and a short chainstay to match? We will see… That is all. I wasn’t wrong about anything else. Just don’t confirm that with Hannah… -Mo Awesome

About 2 months ago we got dropped by all of our sponsors. Well, at least that's what people were saying. We actually didn't get dropped, but that's something someone who got dropped by their sponsors would say right? Wait, did we get dropped? Possibly. I feel like I have heard those rumors enough at this point that I am starting to ponder if we did? Doesn’t matter, I have a trust fund, we will be okay… In the case that we weren’t dropped, this is how the series of events went in my reality, which could be different from yours, or any reality for that matter. Around October of last year, my now wife and at the time girlfriend Hannah and I went on a trip to Florida with my parents. It was an amazing time and in it we both realized they are getting old, time is slowing down for no one, and if there are any steps we want to take in life we should probably start taking them. In a sane, level headed, and rational style that we make most of our decisions with, we decided to b-line straight to Nashville, Tennessee to get married in our van by a woman named Zelda, curbside like a Burger King drive through, vegan van life marriage edition. In the market for an Ibis, Pivot, Yeti, Enve, or Rocky Mountain? Hit up N+1 Bikes and tell them "Mo and Hannah" sent you and they will take care of you! https://n1bikes.com After getting married we took off to Asia for our honeymoon, riding road bikes in different countries, as we hopped around some of our favorite spots. During that trip we started to have more conversations about what we wanted from our future. We had been doing social media for more than 6 years now and traveling full time during the whole thing. We had been to 38/50 states, 12 countries, driven hundreds of thousands of miles, and experienced so many epic adventures. And to be honest with you, we were both a little burnt out. We noticed on that trip, that as much as we loved adventuring, it was starting to feel like maybe we were ready to slow down a bit. There are only so many times you can bribe a random mattress delivery truck driver in Mexico to take you to the airport or experience a 7.2 earthquake from the 28th floor in the Philippines needing to run down 28 flights of stairs in the middle of the night. The straw that possibly broke this traveler's back was most likely when I got food poisoning in Malaysia this last trip, a country we had randomly chosen to visit. The food poisoning occurred the day we were visiting the Batu Cave Temples, which had a huge hike up mountain stairs to get too. Adding to this, we didn’t realize that it was one of the biggest Hindu holidays. So just imagine me super nauseous after throwing up all morning, hiking up near vertical stairs , surrounded by thousands of people who are barefoot and have traveled all over the world to visit this temple while it was a 100 degrees with lots of  humidity. All this while trying to not get attacked by wild monkeys who were very aggressive. This was the moment where I told myself, “I'm ready to slow down just a bit, we have flown a little too close to the sun”. So burnt out of full time traveling and recently married we started to think about what the next steps of our life would look like. We had been talking about going independent bike sponsor wise and getting back into bike media again. For the last 5 years we had been sponsored by bike companies (3 years with Ibis and 2 years with Fezzari) limiting how much work we could do on the bike review side. We saw a huge void in the bike review world that we felt like we could fill, afterall, we met working in bike shops and love getting people on the right bike. Around the same time Fezzari had called us to let us know they were planning to rebrand as ARI bikes. At the time, this threw us off a lot. Rebrands are an insane amount of work and as much as we really loved the company and the people working there, we also knew that if we wanted to take the next steps in our personal life, we needed to take a step in that direction soon. That is when I came up with the idea of launching Awesome MTB early. There is no better time than the present and it seemed like the universe was giving us a sign. With Fezzari rebranding to ARI this would give us a few months during their transition period to get a head start  so that it would feel like a natural transition. The end to both of our chapters and the beginning of a new one for each of us. At least that seemed smooth in my head. When I pitched it to Hannah, one of her first concerns was that it would look like we got dropped. This never even occurred to me and I thought she might be overthinking it. Then I pitched the idea to Fezzari. They were insanely supportive and wanted to help us however they could. Those guys had become like family to us. Which is probably why their first concern was also that people would think we were getting dropped. This was my second warning that I would disregard entirely. There is no way people would think that. The internet is a very sane and rational place full of level headed people who appreciate facts, not rumors. Right? Well turns out the internet is a more wild place than I thought. As soon as we announced our new plans, the rumors of getting dropped exploded. It got so crazy that at one point I heard some people at bike companies were calling around trying to figure out what happened to us. People who I thought I was cool with were laughing at us to our friends, and this was all getting back to me. Overwhelming is an understatement. Any time you hear someone talking about you behind your back, it's weird, no matter how used to it you are. The funny part during all  of this was not being able to say anything about the ARI bikes rebrand and how we had plans to continue working with them in the future. They say “luck is when those who are prepared take advantage of the moment” and that is just what we did. The first thing I did was video my friends Specialized Levo and post it to my instagram with a vague caption. This riled up the internet and had a few people, some of whom actually are in the bike industry, trying to figure out how we scored a Specialized sponsorship. The next day I did the same with a friend's Yeti bike. The day following I did it again but this time with a Ford Raptor Truck that belonged to Rig’d. Each post started to generate an insane amount of traction for our new website and chapter of our life. During all of this I was working like crazy trying to get things up on the site to take advantage of the traction. Shaun with N+1 Bikes was actually the first supporter of us going independent and wanted to be a big part of it! He sent over a bunch of bikes for us to review and I got back into the swing of things with testing. And just like clockwork, we were right back where we started 6 years ago, reviewing bikes and offering opinions on what bike is for what rider. Along the way we started to reconnect with lots of old friends as well as new ones! Awesome MTB was growing fast and we wanted to keep fueling the fire as it grew. Bike reviews, HQ Tours, variety in bike content, festival coverage, anything and everything that involved 2 wheels, we have been getting after! Bringing passion and soul back into bike media, something that I personally think the corporatization of our industry has slowly started to corrode. This new chapter has also reignited a passion in me for creativity and originality, something I pride myself on. We live in a day and age where originality seems like a lost art, and people would rather imitate what they know will get views and likes, rather than create something unique. Don’t get me wrong, inspiration is necessary for the further advancement of many aspects of life. However inspiration without passion and creativity lead to content that lacks energy needed to ignite a fire in those who are consuming it. They also say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and we have been very flattered in the last few weeks as well. So how has getting dropped by our sponsors overwhelmed us? Once again, we didn’t get dropped. I think. Or did we? I don’t know. But I do know the growth of Awesome MTB has been wild to see and I am so thankful to everyone who has reached out and said they have been loving the new content. However this growth has also come with a few logistical issues. Right now we are operating at max capacity. We are the filmers, editors, photographers, marketer, creative directors, reviewers, web developers, mediocre surfers…okay well that one is just me. We didn't think we would get this far into the new chapter so quickly and doing this while still living in a van full time has been a logistical nightmare. But we love it, and we wouldn't want it any other way. They say be careful what you ask for, and this is exactly what we asked for! Unfortunately my trust fund payment doesn’t kick in again for a few more weeks but rest assured, we have some huge things planned that we think will not only help with this new chapter of our life, but also most likely confirm the trust fund theory. We are just getting started. -Mo Awesome

Every now and then a bike comes along for testing that makes us seriously re-evaluate things. The Aventon Ramblas is one of those bikes. In the year 2024, it feels like your dollar isn’t going very far, and in the bike industry most would argue prices have gotten a bit out of control. Push Industries actually just released a fork for $2600. For $99 dollars more you can get the Aventon Ramblas, a complete electric mountain bike. Now do you need the Aventon Ramblas? Maybe, or maybe not, but just wanted to start this review out with some perspective on price. Now what is the Aventon Ramblas? The Ramblas is a $2699 electric mountain bike offering from Aventon, a brand known primarily for their city commuter e-bikes. The Ramblas is their first dedicated mountain bike in their lineup that can also be used for commuting. You might be asking yourself, how can it be used for both? Well for one, the motor which they have created themselves, is fully customizable and you can control power output in each setting. This allows you to fine tune the ride based on what you will be using the bike for. Let's talk about mountain bikes though. The Ramblas comes in 1 build. Similar to the expression “you can have any color you want as long as its black”, with the Ramblas you can have any build you want as long as it's a 1x12 SRAM NX drivetrain, Rockshox 130mm fork with 35mm stanchions, a dropper post, SRAM DB8 4 piston brakes, and a burly set of wheels with Maxxis Rekon tires. As mentioned, the bike itself features their own motor which puts out a max 750 watts of power and can be adjusted settings wise via an app on your phone. Once again, you get all of this for the prices of $2699 or a push industries fork and $99 dollars. So how does the Aventon Ramblas ride? We were lucky enough to be invited to Aventon to pick up the bikes for testing. Their HQ is in Brea, California which makes picking up any bikes or warranty support easy if you live in Southern California. After loading the bikes up, we headed to San Clemente singletrack to put the bikes through the paces. This would be both of our first time trying out an electric mtb hardtail, so we were very curious how they would ride. Immediately the first thing you notice with the Ramblas is a little bit of extra pep in the step with it being a hardtail and not a full suspension. The bike accelerates very well, and even with it being heavier than non e-mtb hardtails, the basics of hardtails feeling more efficient than full suspension bikes still applies here. The motor itself also felt very powerful in each setting. We tried to put the Ramblas to the test climbing wise almost immediately, finding whatever steep, rutted single tracks we could on our way to the first downhill. It did take a little bit of time to readjust, as all of our ebike testing has been on full suspension bikes, however the Ramblas was very easy to figure out how it wanted to be climbed. The first downhill came up and we started ripping through some ocean view singletrack. One thing that is apparent is the slightly longer chainstay, which is very nice given the e-bikes weight. It's clear that Aventon spent some time refining the geo and not just taking a normal hardtail non-emtb geo design and slapping a motor on it. The bike feels very composed at speeds and the Rockshox 130mm fork is both stiff as well as plush even given the fact that it is a little more on the basic side in comparison to some of the other higher end offerings in the RockShox lineup. But once again, $2699 for the entire bike, that is insane. We really tried to put this bike in a wide variety of situations on the downhill, not really holding back in our line choice. The Ramblas rode with a degree of confidence we weren't expecting from a hardtail. Some of this is due to the bikes weight, which the slightly longer chainstay does compliment. Where the bike felt a bit out of place was actually tire choice wise. The bike is very capable descending but I did notice a few times where the stock Rekons had a bit less traction than I felt comfortable with on steeper, dry sections. If this was a more long style review, I would probably swap these out for some Maxxis Minions, as the bike really does have a degree of downhill prowess to it that makes it seem like the stock tires are holding it back. The Ramblas is upgradeable as well, as you can see from one of the employees at Aventons personal Ramblas, which really has us thinking about the bikes potential. After a few more ups and downs trying to figure out what the Ramblas was made for, we decided to take the journey to the beach to check the surf. This was a paved road ride to link the trails to the ocean, and that is when it occurred to me why this bike is so awesome. For $2699 you get a capable mountain bike that shreds, but also a bike that you can easily take on long commutes or cruising around town. The hardtail nature of the bike doesn't make it feel overbearing on the road for longer commutes, but the build itself still is able to tackle challenging downhills with ease. And I know I keep stressing this bit but $2699 is the price point of this complete e-mtb! What do we wish the Ramblas had? Like I said, some meatier tires would be nice but not everyone prefers steep terrain. The brakes were awesome so nothing to change there but maybe a more comfortable saddle and possibly tubeless wheel set up would be a nice thing to see in a future build model. Also there is a lot of frame space, a second water bottle cage mount would be nice to see in the front triangle as well. So yeah the Aventon Ramblas is an awesome bike for those looking to get their foot in the doors of the e-mtb world. It shreds down, rips up, and is capable of taking you to the beach or to the trails all in one day. And once again, all for the cost of a Push Industries fork and $99. What a time to be a mountain biker! Check out the Aventon Ramblas here: https://www.aventon.com/products/ramblas-electric-mountain-bike?variant=42879809913027 -Mo Awesome

I hate my Yeti SB 140. It has been about a few weeks of testing at this point and I'm starting to realize things are not going to get better for me. You can normally tell if I am enjoying a bike by if it has a specialized Mirror saddle on it. That is my favorite saddle and I normally reserve it for bikes I see myself keeping for a long time. Unfortunately for the Yeti SB140, its time in my quiver of test bikes might be short lived as I find myself struggling to choose it in the morning. I still have been taking it out on lots of big rides to make sure I get as much test time on it as possible, but it almost seems as if every ride further cements my thoughts on the bike itself. Now is the Yeti SB 140 a bad bike? Absolutely not. It is hands down one of the fastest mid-travel 29ers on the market that I have tested. It carries an absurd amount of speed and only gets more comfortable the harder you push it. It generates speed seemingly out of nowhere, with every small bump in the trail becoming another opportunity to pump off of and launch yourself forward. In the attack position, this bike inspires a level of race confidence I never even knew existed in me. In the market for an Ibis, Pivot, Yeti, Enve, or Rocky Mountain? Hit up N+1 Bikes and tell them "Mo and Hannah" sent you and they will take care of you! https://n1bikes.com Pedaling wise, this might just be one of the most efficient climbers as well. The bike sits a tad higher in the travel on climbs making the lockout almost seem like a good place to shave weight by removing it, as I can’t see myself ever locking it. The bike itself also is absurdly light, and if I had to guess I would think it is possibly one of the lighter 140mm 29ers on the market. Everything about this bike screams efficient and pedaling out of the saddle in sprints is no different. Well then what is not to love? Afterall, I am a big advocate of bringing back extreme adventure rides, with huge days in the saddle being my preferred choice of riding. Normally efficient bikes are my preference, so you would think the Yeti being the most efficient pedaling bike I have tested in its category would be my style of bike? Well the truth is, the Yeti SB140 has an aggressive nature that just currently is not my life vibe. As sedona hippy-esque as that sounds like, it's true. The stock Yeti Sb140 wants to be ridden as a race bike. It’s lower stack height by almost a full inch if not more than other 140mm 29ers on the market, as well as lower rise stock Yeti bars, clearly want you in the attack position. This is also exagerated for me as being 6'2 with a high saddle height puts me that much higher on the bike, making the lower stack height feel more exaggerated than say someone shorter would feel on the same bike. The bike's longer wheelbase and longer chainstay also support you in that attack position, giving you the stability necessary to go the speeds the bike wants you to go. I don't want to go those speeds. I don't want to race. I don't want to choose straight instead of up, down, and all around. I have a much more playful nature right to my riding style currently and soul rides have been my personal go to’s. Sure I can get out there and hammer it with some fast riders, but I much prefer the “go anywhere and jib off anything” feel the Pivot Switchblade or my Ibis Ripley give me. I also love crawling down steep tech, something that I feel isn't the Yeti Sb140’s strongest area. Is it bad at slow speed tech? Not necessarily, but it's also not its preference. The bike wants you to let off the brakes and let it eat, even more so than the 180mm Rocky mountain Slayer I'm riding. The Slayer at least lets me feel like Im in control, where the Yeti almost barks when I tell it what to do. It wants to go fast and I feel like I am holding it back. They say if you love something, you need to let it go. And I think I just might do that. -Mo Awesome

Anyone who knows me also knows I have a love-hate relationship with e-bikes. I love to hate them and deep down inside I probably hate that one day I could possibly love them. Over the years, mountain bikes have brought me so much joy and relatively free therapy (okay maybe therapy would have been cheaper). I can't help but feel some part of this is the natural aspect of mountain biking, something I have never been able to feel with e-bikes. In the market for an Ibis, Pivot, Yeti, Enve, or Rocky Mountain? Hit up N+1 Bikes and tell them "Mo and Hannah" sent you and they will take care of you! https://n1bikes.com When I first started testing e-bikes about 5 years ago, they were big, cumbersome, and more importantly very unnatural. The older motors would kick in abruptly, leading to bursts of unhuman-like power transfer into the bike, taking away any natural feeling to the ride. On top of this, almost every other aspect of e-bikes only contributed to that unnatural feeling. The drivetrains were clunky and cassettes sounded like they were being destroyed. The bike weights and that weight distribution made e-bikes have no trail personality, to the point where I was begging to wonder if e-bike weights even mattered. Now the first positive experience I had on an ebike was a few weeks ago on an ARI bikes Nebo peak, a lightweight SL e-bike with a Fazua motor. The bike itself has the Delano Peak’s geometry, which is a trail oriented style bike, and the overall weight of the e-bike was 39lbs. The Fazua motor gave the bike a very subtle power transfer initially, leading to a much more natural feel while out on the trails. After that testing, I was beginning to think maybe that was the answer, lightweight e-bikes. So when Pivot Cycles invited us to test out some e-bikes on our trip to Phoenix AZ, I was really hoping that it would be on their Pivot Shuttle SL, another lightweight e-bike. When they told me that I would be riding the Pivot Shuttle LT, an electrified full power Firebird e-bike, and that it would have Shimano Di2 Freeshift, I thought this would be another experience taking me even further back on my journey to one day accept an e-bike in my quiver. I was more wrong than the world waking up on January 1st, 2000, realizing Y2K did not in fact require all of the panic buying that occurred the nights before. So let’s start off with the Pivot Shuttle LT and what it is. On paper, it is an electrified Firebird with 160mm of travel, 29in wheels front and rear, a 64 degree head angle, and 600 watts of peak power. It features Shimano’s EP801 motor and the build I tested was equipped with the Shimano XT DI2 with freeshift. I'm 6'2 and I rode my standard size XL bike with a 510mm reach and it felt perfect sizing wise. The bike had a Fox 38 up front as well as a Float X2  in the rear, a shock I normally do not prefer over its smaller sibling the Float X. This is a first ride impressions article so keep that in mind, I am hoping to have more test time on this bike throughout the year. We headed straight out the front doors from Pivot Cycles HQ and luckily for us we had a very good resource for questions on this ride! The man himself, Chris Cocalis the founder of Pivot Cycles, was joining us and it was nice to have someone who knew the trails like the back of their hands guiding us on a bike he knew just as well! The first thing I noticed right away was how comfortable I felt pedaling while seated. The reach felt perfect on the size XL as did the seat angle. The next thing that stood out to me was how smooth the power transfer was when I turned the motor on. It definitely felt more powerful than past Shimano motors, however the initial kick in was much more natural feeling than I have felt in the past, including the previous generation Shuttle. After playing around with the settings a bit we made it to the entrance of South Mountain. Chris had jokingly told me he was going to take us on a route to show just how painful e-bikes could feel and I was slightly terrified. The first climb of the day was a very chunky, loose, rock covered singletrack that had steep pitches of near vertical chunk moves. I kept the bike in the trail setting and tried to keep up with Chris, who clearly knew the trails like the back of his hand. The bike had endless amounts of traction and the tech climbing nature of the bike made those steeper, chunk pitches way easier than I thought they could be. We were clearly climbing sections of trail that even at 31 and in the best shape of my life, probably would have had me walking on my normal bikes. The scarier part is we were doing it at a pace where I was starting to question if I would be able to keep up with Chris, who is 55 years old, for much longer. Move after move I was continually impressed with how non-overbearing the power transfer out of the motor was feeling and also how comfortable the bikes design felt. Pivot has clearly spent a lot of time on both the bike design aspect of the Shuttle LT, as well as tuning the motor. Judging by the 55 year old man who was currently dropping me, I was fairly certain he was heavily involved and it was an awesome thing to see. After every climb we would have a very steep, chunky, and loose descent. The Shuttle LT displayed large amounts of Firebird energy each time I pointed the bike downhill. The bike had a very composed feel to it inspiring an insane amount of confidence, however the Dw-link suspension design still gave the bike the ability to have a playful feel. The bike also felt very precise line choice wise, and I was able to play around with the bike putting it exactly where I wanted it, even given its 48-49 lb bike weight. I keep going back to the geometry of the bike because I feel like this is where the magic happens. The bike clearly is designed to be capable downhill but when the downhill finishes the geo numbers are still relatively conservative making climbs feel fun! With lots of ups and downs on our way to the infamous waterfall section, I kept experimenting with the drivetrain. What I was noticing from the Shimano Freeshift was so subtle, that it took me a bit to catch on to why I was enjoying the ride from it. There was no grinding feeling during shifts, and even when I would try and trick the drivetrain by quick dumping or speed shifting right before heavy efforts, I could never get that grind I have noticed on most other ebikes I have tested. Most people know I am not a fan of the new SRAM transmission and miss the older AXS setups. The Shimano DI2 feels like what the transmission was supposed to be, SRAM AXS speeds with smart technology. I was very impressed. After making it to the waterfall section it was time to make our way down some serious chunk. The Shuttle LT made easy work of anything in its path! Traction over the chunk waterfall sections was plentiful however the bike also had a very playful feel. When wanting to hop in or out of a line, even with the Float X2, a shock that normally tends to mute the ride characteristics of bikes I have tested in the past. I still was able to get a lively personality out of the Shuttle LT. The rest of the trails we rode were filled with more ups and downs with lots of high speed tech sections. My favorite part of the ride was seeing how stoked Chris was to be out there riding. It's clear the passion he has for bikes runs deep and it made me very confident on the Shuttle LT I was riding knowing that lots of passion went into the bike I was testing. Towards the end of our ride I was getting more comfortable with the downhill speed the LT provided and found myself in situations where it was clear to me that it would probably take a bit of time to readjust to the speeds possible on an e-bike. The confidence the Shuttle LT provided is pretty mind blowing and there were more than a few moments where I would realize how fast I was going only by how far I would jump certain sections. Making our way back to the HQ I had a lot of time to digest what had happened. The Shuttle LT has further confused me on my e-bike journey. Am I sold on e-bikes yet? The answer is still no. Even though the Shuttle LT transformed my thoughts on the potential of e-bikes, I still at the end of the day was very stoked to get back on my pedal bike the next morning. However, what the Shuttle LT did is make me realize is that maybe lightweight e-bikes aren't the only answer. The Shuttle LT clearly has so much thought behind its numbers, weight distribution, and motor tune, that the ride quality is similar to test driving a high end car. Every detail has been clearly pre-thought out in advance and you feel that while out on the trails. In the list of bikes I have tested, the Shuttle LT has hands down been one of the best e-bikes I have tried and if I was to buy one tomorrow that one would be a strong contender. Weight wise, it's still an e-bike and I think I personally would enjoy the Shuttle SL, the lightweight offering from Pivot. However the Shuttle LT made it very clear to me that for e-bikes to be successful, they need a very high level of thought put into their design, something that is very apparent with the Shuttle LT and me enjoying it so much. I'm excited to hopefully put more time on one in the future and also continue this e-bike journey. It seems like I was “marked safe from converting to the dark side” for now, however I have to say, thinkin about that Shuttle LT makes me smile, and that's a scary thought. -Mo Awesome Check out the Pivot Shuttle LT here: https://global.pivotcycles.com/bikes/shuttle-lt

The year 2024 was supposed to be a catch up year for most bike brands. Model updates that had been delayed due to the chaos in the bike industry over the last few years were set to be rolled out and we were all cool with that. New bikes are fun, and after a pretty uneventful 2023, we would take anything we could get, regardless of how subtle changes were. What no one saw coming was Fezzari bikes going into full extreme overdrive-mode and choosing this to be the year they would do a full rebrand to ARI Bikes in order to take the next steps of growing the business internationally. Unfortunately for them, part of the excitement of doing a rebrand was slightly tainted by allegations of “astroturfing” in a press release which were seemingly disproven upon further investigation. Professional mountain biker Kyle Strait would share his sentiment of the situation, mowing down his “astroturf” in support of ARI Bikes in a recent Instagram post found here. Why in the world is Kyle Strait commenting on the matter? Well that is because shortly after announcing the rebrand to ARI bikes, which is a big enough investment on its own, ARI would go on to announce the signing of Kyle and Rachel Strait, another very impressive move in a year where most companies seem to be taking a more modest approach. Clearly their new downhill bike has them feeling inspired to further enter the freeride space in addition to their current rider Kurtis Downs. Now one can say a full company rebrand while also announcing 8 new bike launches in 2024, as well as the signing of an athlete set to compete in Red Bull Rampage would be enough food to put on your plate, but ARI bikes clearly has the hunger of a young Michael Phelps this year. In a year where racing seems to have taken a back seat when it comes to most companies marketing budgets, ARI bikes is saying “hop in the front, we are going racing”! They recently announced a full factory racing program with some very fast athletes and an impressive list of brand partners. We get press releases all the time and you can read the press release at numerous other sites. Wanting to give you more than just another copy and paste, we reached out to the ARI bikes race team and spoke with team racers Nik Nestoroff and Justin Fierro on more info about the team and their thoughts on racing! Interview Starts: Mo: Hey Nik, so awesome to see this race team come together! I know this has been a long time in the making, can you let me know a bit more about ARI Factory Racing and how it came to be? Nik: Thank you. Yeah! It’s been a long time in the making. Everyone from myself to Joey, Jordan, Chris, Tyler and everyone else at Ari has helped out in more ways than one to get this thing rolling. After the success I had last year racing independently for Fezzari, we decided that with the new rebrand and everything going on with Ari we just had to create a full factory team! Mo: You guys have some super awesome talent. Who picked everyone for the team and what does each person bring? Nik: It was a mix between myself and everyone at HQ. We definitely wanted a fast woman so my girlfriend Kailey being a two time national champ was perfect for that spot. We also wanted a younger pro that I could help mentor and compete with and I’ve been good friends with Jakob Snow for quite a while now, so he was perfect for that position. Justin Fierro is going to be racing e bikes and completing a four person team for us which we’re pumped about! Mo: Were you guys all pretty involved in choosing brand partners for the team? Are there any partners that stand out the most to you guys? Nik: All of our partners stand out to us and we’re super pumped to be working with them. Our title sponsors ( aside from Ari ) are GoPro and Sram/Rockshox which are obviously massive heavy hitters in the cycling world. So that definitely gets us all pumped to race! Mo:  Is racing dead or alive? What does racing mean to you guys and why do you think more companies should invest into it? Nik: Racing is alive and well. Here in America we are pushing hard to bring it back to where it was in the 90s and in the NORBA days. The Big Mtn Enduro Series and the Monster Energy pro downhill series are doing massive, massive things in the space. There are so many big MTB brands in North America and I think they should keep pushing it because racing in my opinion is the best way to develop and validate product. Mo: I know each one of you guys is pretty active on social media. Do you guys have content plans for the year and how important is social media in racing? Nik: Social media is huge! Your guys’ channels showcase how important content creation and influencing is in the sport. I think if you can not only be a racer, but also content creator/influencer it provides such a massive amount of opportunities for you and the brands you partner with. Mo: If you had to give every person on the team an award, who would win what? Nik: Kailey is Team Mom for sure! She’s alway cooking, cleaning, and taking care of us. Jake is Team Grom! He’s always smiling, eating way too much food, breaking things and making us laugh haha. Justin: The Glue to our team! With his years of working in the action sports industry and competing. He’s always there for advice, guidance, and keeping us rolling! Mo: Anything else you would like people to know about AFR? We’re a team of positive individuals dedicated to racing and results while still having a good time at the races!! Athlete spotlights: Name: Nik Nestoroff Years Racing: 16 of the 24 I’ve been on this planet. Home Town: San Diego, CA Favorite Type of Trail: Steep and Deep! Favorite Race: Crankworx Whistler! Least favorite trails: Anything that requires as much pedaling on the way down as the way up haha. Fun fact about you: I dig and build trails as much as I ride them! I feel like I create a deeper bond with the sport and Mother Nature when I build trails. It’s cool to give back and see people stoking when they ride a trail I worked so long on! Why is Racing important to you: It gives me something to dedicate my life to and something to strive for each and every second of the day. I honestly feel it helps all the other aspects in my life. Name: Justin Fierro Years Racing: 10 years Home Town: Riverton, UT Favorite Type of Trail: my favorite type of trail and super fast, rough trails, with some fun corners and jumps. Favorite Race: US Open Least favorite trails: steep climbs! Fun fact about you: I’m a type 1 diabetic. There’s not many of us out there in the MTB racing world and it’s cool to be able to share my knowledge and experiences with other diabetic athletes. Why is Racing important to you: Racing is important to me because it motivates me to be the fittest and healthiest I can be. I also love it because it’s almost like meditation for me. When I’m pinning it on a race run, I’m not thinking about anything else in the world besides riding my bike as fast as I can. For more info on the team: www.aribikes.com

Recently there have been rumors circulating the internet accusing me of having a trust fund. I wasn’t going to address this as I believe my financial status should be only the business of myself and my trustee. However a friend of mine asked me the other day if this was true and I now feel inclined to comment. I will admit, things look pretty bad on my end. Some would say the Ford Raptor R was the straw that broke this Lebanese-American trust fund supported back, while others would argue the Mercedes Sprinter land yacht I drive around daily filled with high end mountain bikes didn’t help my case either. For those on the side of the trust fund theory, clearly my extravagant taste in anything high end while supporting this lifestyle through riding bicycles shows explicit proof of nothing short of a trust fund. However others would argue, as I have also heard, that that same extravagant taste I have, including a potential future gold wrapped Mercedes G-Waggon, indicate deep ties to middle eastern oil money (i'm not joking about either of these things, I’ve heard that oil money rumor multiple times and yes at one point I did contemplate a gold wrapped G-waggon). Now I want to address both of these rumors and clear the air in regards to the source of a majority of my wealth in whatever currency applies to you. Currently, I am vacationing in the United States so I will maintain a US Dollar approach to this explanation in regards to the financial details. Before I get into these details I would like to first set the stage as to the main categories that I will be talking about. Before I get into it I just wanted to mention Shaun with N+1 Bikes in Louisville, Kentucky. He is one of the largest bike shops in America and carries brands such as Ibis Cycles, Rocky Mountain Bikes, Enve, Pivot Cycles, Intense, Yeti, and many more. He has amazing customer service and some of the best prices in the country and takes care of friends of the “Mo and Hannah” so be sure to let him know I sent you. https://shop.n1bikes.com In addition to this I also want to thank everyone for the support for Awesome MTB. This is the new chapter of our life where we are bringing you mountain bike news, bike reviews, buyer guides, and opinion pieces. By riders for riders, regardless of financial status. And lastly I wanted to thank you for your support. Until next time… -Mo Awesome

The Sedona Mountain Bike Festival is the number 1 bike festival in the USA and we were stoked to go again this year! In this video we show you why people love the Sedona MTB Festival and then head to a ride on Hogs trail!

77.5 degrees. That is the seat angle on the Rocky Mountain Slayer that just came in for testing in the neutral setting. As I write this first ride impression article, I want you to remember that number. It’s a number that, similar to the number 33 and the Egyptian pyramids, will stick with me for a long time. Later in this article I'll elaborate more, but I just wanted to set that up early. In the market for an Ibis, Pivot, Yeti, Enve, or Rocky Mountain? Hit up N+1 Bikes and tell them "Mo and Hannah" sent you and they will take care of you! https://n1bikes.com Recently Rocky Mountain Bicycles sent in their Slayer C70 in for testing. Admittedly, when they asked me what I wanted to try out first, the Slayer was the first thing out of my mouth. I then regretted my answer immediately after looking at the bike more on paper, quickly realizing how much bike it was and how far out Whistler Bike Park opening day seemed to be. I tried to follow up with a “the XC Rocky Mountain Element looks pretty rad” but it was too late, the Slayer was already on its way. I wanted to hate this bike when it showed up. I’m in a weird head space with bikes currently. Testing wise, 140mm 29ers have consumed my thoughts as I work on a buyers guide, and almost similar to a method actor who tries to recreate the emotions of a part they are playing, I feel like I am trying to become one with the 140mm enduro bike. I have been studying head angles, bb drops, chainstay lengths, suspension designs, seat angles, reach, and every other small little detail that in my head leads to the ultimate enduro bike. Afterall, 140mm of travel is all you need right? Just enough travel to get yourself out of trouble and more than enough travel to put down some of the most efficient speeds on the wildest terrain. The word “efficient” is permanently etched into my brain at this point, so when a 180mm Freeride 29er shows up, my reality is shattered. So what is the Rocky Mountain Slayer? Well, on paper it would appear to be the opposite of efficient. It's a 180mm freeride 29er with a 63 degree head angle in the neutral position but goes down to 62.5 degrees slack in the slack. Rocky Utilizes a Ride 4 position system on this bike, allowing you to adjust the geo 4 different ways as well as a 2 position chainstay adjustment. The bike itself came with a Fox DHX2 coil shock, Fox 38, Raceface alloy wheels with double down Maxxis tires, and cushcore pre-installed. It also has alloy handlebars. All of this once again on paper would seem to be very “inefficient”. But we will ride whatever shows up at our door here at Awesome MTB. After unboxing and building the bike up, I woke up early the other morning and met up with a buddy of mine for some dawn patrol local laps on some of the steepest trails we have in the area. I knew I would need a serious challenge for how much travel the bike had and wanted to make sure I had trails ready to really put the Slayer through the paces. The original plan was to cruise up at a mellow pace to get in some steep downhills. However, some morning coffee and a bit of nerves had me putting the pace down early while climbing and this is where a lot of the confusion would start to take place. The Slayer pedals way better than a bike with this much travel should. Instantly I felt more comfortable in and out of the saddle climbing than I do on most XC bikes. This is an insane statement but if you look at most XC bikes geometry charts, seat angles are in the 75 degree range. As a rider who is 6’2 with a very high saddle height, this puts me behind the BB while pedaling leading to a very inefficient power transfer feel on steeper climbs, something that I stress to anyone that will listen. The Slayer’s 77.5 degree seat angle puts me right on top of the bottom bracket, allowing me to feel like my energy output is going directly into the pedals and pushing me forward. The first downhill of the day came up and we chose one that was filled with tight, steep rock slabs and lots of aggressive bottom outs. Going into this downhill, I didn't know what to expect. In my mind, the bike was going to feel so overbearing that tight corners would feel more impossible than me successfully bleeding my own SRAM brakes. But unlike my mechanical skills, the Slayer put an enormous smile on my face as soon as we hit the first slab. The bike has an aggressive nature to it that makes you feel like you have brought your own personal body guard on your ride. The Slayer obviously soaks up compression hits at the bottom of slabs with ease, however it was the bike's control coming into sections that truly impressed me. I didn't feel like I was on a downhill bike when I was crawling into sections of the trail, but rather the bike had a very precise feel to it. After another climb, we made it to our second downhill of the day. This one was an impromptu call for one of the more aggressive trails in the area. Filled with even bigger slabs and a need for intense line choice control, my nerves were definitely on edge. However once again, the Slayer worked with me rather than against me as I made my way down the trail. Don’t get me wrong, I could feel the bike wanting more as I let off the brakes on big hits, but it wouldn't fight me when I tried reigning it back in, something that my Yeti SB140 seems to do. The Slayer had me feeling like it wanted me to be in control, but also wanted me not to forget how much potential the bike had. The following downhill was high speed and filled with big chunks. The Slayer ate all of it and started showing me more of its personality, and to be honest it was slightly terrifying. The amount of control the bike has at high speeds through chunky lines made me question just what could I not roll over? The next climb was a big one and one that most people opt to skip. With an intense grade, this near vertical fire road pushes the limits of what can be climbed. Going into it I jokingly told my buddy, “if I clean this, i'm going to make the Slayer my daily ride”. This was a joke as there was no universe that I thought the Slayer would clean it. Well that day, there was a glitch in the matrix and I cleaned the entire climb. This is where I truly felt I was entirely wrong on what this bike was supposed to be. You see, on the steepest sections of the climb where traction was also minimal, the Slayer’s 77.5 degree seat angle had me only focusing on pedaling. There was no awkward body shift on my end to try and maintain traction. The bike has one of the most comfortable pedaling positions I have felt yet on a test bike. And with the shock locked out, the only thing I felt was limiting my experience on the climb and causing my heart rate to shoot through the roof was how much bike weight I was lugging around. We finished our ride with another steep freeride style trail and the bike made lines that normally would make me question my health insurance coverage feel as if they were just another trail of the day. However, even as I made my way down with ease back to the car, all I could think about was that climb and how a freeride 29er would have the most comfortable pedaling position up it. What is the potential of this bike? What does a 32lb Slayer look like and is the universe ready for that? This is where I want to talk about the Egyptian pyramids. A while ago, after I was done surfing one day, I was changing back at my car and a questionable looking character came up to me and struck a conversation. I couldn't tell if they were drunk or under the influence of something, but he just stood there talking to me about the most interesting topics. He mentioned how we as the state of California breed sharks off the coast, and they escape from time to time. He also mentioned a few other conspiracy theories about what is going on in the world that I don’t really remember well. But the one thing that is still etched in my mind is that he asked me if I liked Laguna Beach. When I told him yes and that Laguna is one of my favorite places in the world, he asked me if I knew why that is? He then proceeded to explain to me that Laguna Beach is on the same angle as the Egyptian Pyramids, 33 degrees. That is why it possesses a special energy, similar to the energy that is possessed by the pyramids. Now keep in mind, I have never been to Egypt and I also have never fact checked this man. I have simply gone about my life as normal and everytime I ride Laguna Beach, I think about the number 33 and attribute any good feeling I have riding there to that angle. I have a feeling everytime I ride a mountain bike and take it on a climb, I'm going to do the same things with 77.5. Stay tuned for more Rocky Mountain Slayer testing. -Mo Awesome

The year is 2024 and mountain biking is a bit more than just a new trend. Companies have had decades at this point to refine how they sell bikes. Stephen Hawking once let us know that “one of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect”. While bikes have come so far over the last few years, there are still a few quirks that bring the stoke levels down on new bike day faster than a Tesla Plaid goes 0 to 60. So here are some deal breakers that the bike industry needs to stop doing on new bikes in 2024: 1. Cheap grips: This is one that for the life of me I will never figure out. I understand in the game of economics, you are going to need to cut some costs somewhere to be competitive. But why would you choose the number 1 contact point to a bike? We are not even only talking about budget brands here. I have been testing and thoroughly enjoying an Ibis Mojo HD6 recently and the stock Lizard Skin Ibis branded grips might be one of the most uncomfortable grips I have tried yet. Nothing kills the new bike excitement quicker than uncomfortable grips, and even if you don’t think people will keep the stock grips, at least give them a chance to enjoy them! Not sure what to go with? ODI Ruffians, safest bet you will make as a bike company. 2. Uncomfortable saddle: This is a tough one because everyone is different. However, in a day and age where it seems like there is more division in the world than in a middle school math class, I think we can all agree that the stock WTB Silverado that most companies seemingly throw on their build last minute is not it. Does anyone actually even like this saddle? Is this what is keeping WTB afloat after the debacle that was WTB Padloc grips? Do you guys remember when they somehow convinced people that cutting a random triangle in the edge of your new carbon handlebars to run $30 grips was a good idea? Well just like Padloc grips are a thing of the past, I think it is time to leave the narrow Silverado there too. And can we please just go wide on stock saddles? Also on behalf of Hannah, an option to pick a women's saddle would be nice because surprise-surprise, women also ride unisex bikes too. 3. Low Engaging Hubs: Honestly, I would argue this might be the biggest deal breaker for me and oftentimes completely ruins the ride. High engaging hubs are probably one of the most important upgrades you can make, because not only are cool points added from the sound of your bike, but it actually is beneficial on the trail as well! Tech climbs in Sedona and a I9 Hydra hub are a match made in heaven similar to peanut butter and jelly. Cost wise, I know Hydras are probably not the most realistic from an OEM perspective, but can we at least get DT Swiss to stop making 18t Stock ratchets? No one wants them. Lets have your 36t or if you are feeling generous 54. 4. No water bottle cage: You probably didn't see this one coming but I am starting a movement. It's a petition to get bike companies to start including water bottle cages on new bikes. This one is very easy. I am one of the pickiest riders out there when it comes to bikes but even I will just throw whatever bottle cage I can find in the garage on my new bikes. Do you know how many times I have built up a new rig and driven to the trails, only to realize I forgot a bottle cage? I think bike companies can probably find a way to make the small cost of a cage work in their price point, saving people the dreaded “no where to put a bottle” vibe on most first rides. 5. Sram Tra…never mind. At this point, im just beating a dead horse. Happy Friday! -Mo Awesome