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As someone who is never wrong at all (ever) and always completely right (always) I feel compelled to make others who might not have this talent feel more comfortable. That is why I am starting the “5 Things I Was Wrong About” monthly article so that I can relate more to the common person. All jokes aside, as someone who is very opinionated, I also know when to fold them. So this is what I was wrong about in February: Super Boost: This is one of those things that is still hard for me to fully say I was wrong about because I still don’t completely understand what super boost spacing exactly does, or why it makes things better. Any research I do leads to so much tech terminology that goes completely over my head about chainlines and Q factors. My issue with Superboost has always been with how much I travel and how annoying it is not being able to use a friend's wheel in a pinch. I have to say though, I love the new Switchblade I've been testing, and I can't help but feel like some of that is due to Pivot knowing a thing or two about short chainstays. So I'm going to say I was wrong about this one, but also can we please get the spark notes “Dummy’s Guide” version on what superboost does. Shimano: This one we can thank Japan for. As you guys read in a previous article, visiting Japan made me realize how functional Shimano is. After the trip, I started to look at Shimano in a new light and realized why they don’t make huge sudden changes, or have the flashiest drivetrains. They make things that work, and unfortunately, their North America Marketing team with their elitist attitudes were what was preventing me from seeing how cool Shimano is! So if I am ever in the market for Shimano, I'll probably hop on a plane and buy some in Japan, because it doesn’t feel like things are changing in North America. Trucks as MTB Vehicles: As a full time vanlifer this is a tough pill to swallow, but I am starting to get truck envy. The amount of bikes you're able to carry and rough roads you can access is starting to make me want a truck shuttle rig. I feel like our recent visit to Rig’d started this and who knows, maybe a truck is in our future. I like being fully enclosed in a vehicle while camping but I also like not feeling as if the vehicle is going to flip while off-road. While I would like our future vehicle to be the Ford Raptor R, my financial advisor/manager has veto’d it (im looking at you Hannah) so who knows what the future holds in store for trucklife. SRAM Transmission: I was wrong when it comes to the new SRAM Transmission drivetrain. I actually don’t just hate it. I now think that it's one of the worst inventions in all of mountain bike history and it actually makes me almost resent the bikes I'm testing with it. It shifts insanely slow and I am now starting to see clutch issues with it. On top of this the more SRAM doubles down on this being the future of drivetrains, the more I want to take a rock and smash it against my derailleur. But that won't even do anything for me because they spent all their time making it rock proof and not actually making a functioning derailleur Double Downs: I used to think double down tires were overkill and only for downhill racers. Well, after our recent test trip to Tucson and riding La Millagrosa on my HD6, equipped with Double Downs, I now see the extra rubber light! The added confidence in being able to pick whatever line I wanted combined with the sidewall cornering support and ability to run lower pressures made me feel almost invincible! Will all my bikes have double downs? I'm still a weight weenie so most likely not, but I will say, I now understand the hype! So there you have it, those are the only times I have ever been wrong ever. See you guys next month! -Mo Awesome

There has been a lot of rumblings about a new Specialized Epic on the way and after a weekend of racing it looks like Specialized Athlete Sina Frei was on something interesting in Baynoles for the Shimano Super Cup. Scouting Instagram a few photos popped up of her on a bike where the down tube looks a little beefier and the head tube looks different (see below), overall it definitely looks like it has potential to be a new Epic?

As someone who spent a pretty significant amount of time in their 20’s working in bike shops, I remember the direct to consumer boom clearly. The typical avenue to purchase your mountain bike had been a standard bike shop. You would find a shop that fit the vibe you were looking for and they would have product on the floor for you to browse. If they didn’t have your size or a specific model you were looking for, they would make a special order, normally with some form of a deposit, and the waiting game would begin. As soon as the bike arrived they would build your bike up and get it tuned to your exact needs. Upon pickup, they would help you set up the bike and answer any of your follow up questions. Your local bike shop would also be your connection to the brand itself, fulfilling warranty claims and assisting with any recalls. Then YT came along and things got weird. I remember when the YT bikes craze first happened in the US and hearing about their bikes as well as their new models. It seemed like I was seeing them everywhere, and now looking back at it and understanding how the bike industry works, I realize it was a very aggressive marketing campaign. It seemed like everyone had heard about the bikes, but no one really had seen them on the trails yet. These bikes were supposed to be just as good as what we were selling in bike shops but for thousands of dollars off. Instantly the talk amongst shop employees became about how ridiculous direct to consumer was and how we were going to now have to help service bikes that people weren’t going to buy from us. This was going to be the death of the local bike shop and possibly the end to all of our in person sales careers. Then they started popping up in person and things got worse. The bikes actually looked rad and had this very core look to them. We as bike shop employees were seemingly in trouble. Things got even worse when Canyon began really making their US push following YT’s footsteps. It seemed like you couldn’t escape either of these brands marketing campaigns no matter where you went. Canyon seemed to be going for a little more of a posh style look, while YT kept things seemingly rock and roll. Both of these brands started to become more prominent on the trails and it seemed like they were growing very rapidly, with big HQ setups being opened in Southern California, somewhere where retail space definitely isn’t cheap. So if things had went this smoothly for both YT and Canyon, the story should end happily correct? Afterall, if 2 brands with a business model of creating high end bikes while changing the way they are sold to decrease the costs are growing so rapidly, they should have taken over the market correct? Well turns out going all in and focusing on growing as big as possible in the quickest amount of time comes with its own logistical nightmares. These nightmares have already been addressed by traditional bike shop brands. Issues with warranties and replacement parts began to plague both of these brands for good periods of times, almost crippling the marketing hype they had created. It seemed at one point, everyone knew someone waiting for a replacement something from either of them, something that is an easy fix traditionally at your local bike shop. I still remember when a part on my first real mountain bike, the Kona Mahuna, broke and The Path Bike Shop let me borrow one of their rental bikes as they normally do with repair services, to make sure I didn’t miss out on any riding. That is what makes a local bike shop so special. Also it seemed as if issues with who was going to be fulfilling warranty requests started to ensue at both of these brands. The aggressive marketing techniques combined with being the first to really disrupt the market didn’t help win favors with local bike shops, and shops were reluctant to work on them. Another issue started to arise during the bike boom and all of the rapid growth that followed. It was at this time that these 2 companies began to lose their soul, with outside hires of non-traditional bike industry corporate executives being brought in to a sport that requires passion to thrive in. Fast forward to today when that bubble has burst, the lack of soul and passion can be smelled a mile away. YT’s founder being brought back in to help try and restore that stoke that first helped launch this brand within the US seemingly confirms this. Canyon is still trying to find the vowels they lost in the CLCTV Now is direct to consumer a bad business model? Not at all, and I think if you look at where the industry is going with more brands seemingly wanting to give it a try it seems like it’s here to stay. And this is where Propain Bikes and Fezzari Bicycles comes in. Unlike YT and Canyon, Fezzari and Propain both seem to have taken a little bit of a back seat initially, learning from the initial struggles of YT and Canyon in the US market, while making sure they don’t repeat some of those mistakes. Fezzari actually has been around for quite sometime too, but unlike YT and Canyon, have taken a much more long game strategy when it comes to what they are trying to accomplish. Slow and steady growth has been crucial to them, with an emphasis on the steady part. The same can be said for Propain as well. In regards to Fezzari, I recently had a chance to ride for them for 2 years and got a good look under the hood of their operations. What struck me as different was how efficient the company is ran. The founder, Chris Washburn, is still the man in charge running day to day operations, something I think is crucial to a company’s success in the bike industry. Passion sells bikes and his vision for starting the company is still the ethos they run the company with. They don’t have any crazy corporate executive they poached from some shoe brand, everyone at the company is passionate about bikes. They also realized the goal isn’t to just sell someone a bike. Afterall, if that person ends up with a horrible warranty experience, you lose that customer forever. So they were one of the first direct to consumer brands to really dial things in on the logistical front and make sure you felt taken care of, just as you would through your local bike shop. And I would argue, in my opinion, they have the most professional direct to consumer business model in the bike industry backing bikes that ride great! As for Propain? They are a bit new to the US market, but have executed things perfectly. First off, the person launching them in the US wasn’t some corporate CEO from an industry that couldn’t care less about mountain bikers. It was actually a guy named Victor Sandrin, who is also the man responsible for bringing IXS and Spank to the US market. Vic is very passionate about bikes and the sport of mountain biking as a whole, and that passion, as well as care shows in how effective they have been growing Propain here in such a small time period. The athletes they work with also aren’t just insanely talented, but are heavily involved in the community, like Ryan Radriguez, everyones favorite free rider. Logistically, they seem to also be taking their time growing rather than expanding rapidly and not being able to take care of their customers, which in my opinion is what handicapped YT and Canyon. So how do you disrupt a market and grow a successful business? Well, it looks like you have to have a solid product backed with amazing customer service and a strong marketing push. This isn’t a pick two of three game either. Missing one of these qualities will handicap you and bring all of your growth to a halt. And if that happens? Well, you probably are going to be spending a bit of time looking for your vowels while waiting for the quality missing from your business to catch up. -Mo Awesome

The Sedona Mountain Bike Festival is the BEST mountain bike festival out there, period. Bold statement? Possibly, but I am standing by it. In a day and age where it feels like corporations are starting to suck the soul out of anything that once had a pulse, it's refreshing to have a festival as big and successful as the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival on the calendar. The actual festival itself still possesses that grassroots energy that goes hand in hand with the sport of mountain biking. There isn’t some motor oil company’s logo being shoved in your face or a cheesy auto tire brand company pulling up in an 18 wheeler marketing setup. Both of those categories clearly provide an insane support marketing dollars wise to whatever festival they attend, but that's not what the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival is about, and I appreciate that. We're cyclists, this isn't a car show, it’s a mountain bike festival. Also unlike most other major bike festivals throughout the year, there is not some gigantic mega corp financially backing the festival or putting it on. The Sedona Mountain Bike Festival actually started through a bike shop putting the festival together for the mountain bike community. That same owner that put on the first Sedona Bike Festival 10 years ago, Michael Raney, still puts it on today, and also still owns that bike shop. He is involved with all of the logistics, from coordinating with the town of Sedona to talking with sponsors. No corporate CEO from some unrelated industry was brought in to “sell” this festival to people or sell the “people” to that CEO. This is still a grassroots mountain bike festival filled with soul and passion, not greed and analytics. Now what makes this the best mountain bike festival out there besides passion and soul? Well for starters, the riding is off the charts. If you have ever been to Sedona you know that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. So many amazing, world class level trails, with picture postcard views everywhere you look. Combine this with an endless amount of single tracks, this 3 day festival can easily turn into the best 3 days of mountain biking in your life. On top of this, the festival has a crazy amount of demo bikes so that you can test out whatever bike you want on some of the most natural mountain bike trails, giving you a very good sense of what a bike is capable of. There is also a shuttle provided to the trails as well, so just get to the festival and have a great time. A great time can also be found at the festival itself, with live music, food trucks, and lots of festival activities going on throughout the day. Now why am I writing this article again? Well let's talk about the elephant in the room, the weather. It has been a running joke that the weather has been an issue the last 2 years, and that is a fair point. Some people argue that the festival should be moved date wise to something later in the season and others make a case that you shouldn’t buy a ticket until we get weather confirmation, both of these points I want to address. In terms of the dates, I don’t know too much about what goes on in the chamber of commerce in Sedona, but I can only imagine how interesting it would be dealing with a town that seems to sometimes emit the energy of the final destination boss in the game of HOA. Have you ever been to Sedona and seen the green McDonalds logo? That is actually the beauty of the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival. Somehow, Michael Rayney and team have been able to put on the biggest mountain bike festival in a town that doesn’t seem like it would want to be home to that. Now I can’t speak for the City of Sedona, even though I'm sure my mom would be happy if that was my job (sorry Mom), but I can’t help but feel one of the reasons this festival gets the green light is the soul it has. Sedona is one of the most energetically vibrant towns, filled with some very passionate, sometimes too passionate, people. And if you have ever met the founder of the  festival Michael, that passion and caring energy sums him up, and in my opinion is how he has been able to make this happen, year after year. In terms of holding out to buy tickets? Now, I don’t benefit whatsoever financially if you purchase a ticket, but I will say this. I do benefit from this festival. I feel like over the years I have gotten so exhausted by the soul of mountain biking seemingly being sucked out of our sport and sold to corporations. And each year after attending the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival I realize that there is still some hope out there for our sport and that there are still some rad events out there being put on by awesome people. Don’t get me wrong, things like the Hurricane Bike Festival are awesome and passion driven as well, but the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival has somehow managed to put itself up there with the other biggest attended bike festivals, while remaining for the people. This makes companies see that passion and soul is still worth investing money into. And even in years where the rain hasn’t helped and we might not have been able to ride as much as we wanted, Mike and his team have always gone above and beyond to make sure people are having an amazing weekend so that they leave feeling like they are more than just some analytic that will be presented to companies. So with all of that being said, I am excited to once again be going back to the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival. And if you want to support the biggest grassroot mountain bike festival in America and keep the soul of mountain biking alive, all while testing bikes in the most beautiful place in the US, you can buy your tickets here: https://sedonamtbfestival.com -Mo Awesome

There is nothing like new bike day or the emotions it emits! For me personally, I have had 100’s of these at this point, and yet every single time I get a new bike, I still feel like a kid on Christmas! I can still look back and vividly remember my favorites and the trails I rode that day. I also remember the ones I hated right from the start, the moment of realization that I made a mistake impulsively ordering a certain model (coincidentally one was a Pivot Mach 6 that I would replace with one of my favorite bikes I've ever owned, the Pivot Firebird). That is why I feel like it's so important to document some of your first thoughts after the first real ride on a bike. These thoughts help people in the market get a sense for what that bike is like. Once again this is not a review or a longer first impression write up, this is my thoughts after one ride. 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 Pivot announced the newly updated Switchblade, a 160/142mm 29er “super enduro” bike and within one week of its release N+1 Bikes had it on my doorsteps. Now if anyone knows me at all, they know exactly what color I asked for. Pivot released the Switchblade in a bright neon pink limited edition colorway, an ode to one of their first models. It looked insanely awesome on a computer screen and I was immediately sold. And let me just say this, if you are trying to blend in and not bring too much attention to yourself, this is not the color you should go with. Stick with black! The build I went with was the X01 Transmission Pro Build with Carbon wheel upgrades. While unboxing the bike, it was very clear to me that Pivot was making a statement with this color scheme. The neon is so awesome in person, and I couldn’t help but feel like they made this specifically for me (yes, I do feel that important sometimes, Hannah keeps me in check). Now a little of that excitement turned into nervous curiosity when I saw a warning label on the bike that said “Neon Color May Fade” and I'm still trying to process how I feel about that. I feel like that should have been a bit more disclosed on the website, in my opinion, right next to the color name. Will they warranty it when it does fade and is this just a disclosure? Good question. I probably won't have to deal with that with my bike turnover rate, but it might be something that you would want to look into. Now my first ride for this awesome beast would be in Laguna Beach, my old stomping ground! I know this place like the back of my hand and steep downs followed by even steeper ups is the name of the game! After tinkering with the suspension and getting the saddle height dialed in, I hit the trails to see just what this bike was about. Almost immediately I noticed the bike felt different than other models I am currently testing, specifically the bottom bracket felt a bit higher and the chainstay felt a bit shorter. The other thought that came to mind instantly was “wow, this is a real XL”. Im 6’2 and the reach on the new Switchblade is amazingly long and feels more spacious than previous iterations. I had the bike in Low mode. The first trail of the day started fast and flowy corner wise followed by some serious chunk. Almost immediately I could tell this bike was about to be a lot of fun as I found myself popping out of those top corners with some serious speed. The bike is very playful suspension wise and combining it with the shorter chainstay allows you to really have fun throwing the bike around on flowy sections. Then when the chunky bits came, the stability from the longer front end felt amazing. The bike tackled our rain rutted steep tracks with no issues whatsoever. In fact I would actually say this is where I noticed the slightly higher bottom bracket to be somewhat of an advantage rolling over steep tech bits. It felt like my pedals had a tad more room to navigate the terrain. At the bottom of the trail it was all smiles and I made my way up the first real climb of the day, an extended steep fire road. The Switchblade cleaned the entire climb with ease and with little help from the lockout of the Fox Float X, which seemingly doesn't really feel like a lock out at all. This is something that some riders might not mind, but I do. I do a lot of commuting to trailheads and having the ability to fully lock out a rear shock is nice for the road. Given how capable and pedal friendly this bike feels, it would be a nice feature to have. The bike itself has an extremely comfortable pedaling position, and you do feel in the bike on climbs!   Something to note here though is that even though the bike climbs insanely well, the seat angle did feel slightly slacker than expected in the low position, but not to the point where I was bothered. I'm 6'2  with a very high saddle height and prefer steep vertical climbs so seat angles feel slightly more exaggerated to me. Looking on paper, the high setting would get me to where it would feel perfect and like I said it’s barely noticeable and not a deal breaker as some other models I have tested (im looking at you Intense Sniper). The next downhill was another super steep chunky one and the Switchblade made me smile more than a vegan buffet! The bike is so stable from the front given its reach and I feel like Pivot really nailed the head angle. This front end stability balances the rear end of the bike's shorter chainstay length and you don't fully  notice how nimble the bike is until you go into a corner. At that point you get the biggest smile on your face and realize this bike feels like magic. There were a lot of deep ruts on this trail that we tried navigating at speed, showcasing  another benefit to the slightly higher bottom bracket as I was able to keep my pedals from clipping. After another long and brutal climb that the switchblade handled with ease we were at an even faster down hill trail with lots of chunk and some rock rolls. The entire time I was thinking, “wow, this bike is so different and so fun”! It’s interesting in a day and age where most bikes are starting to feel like each other, the Switchblade stands out. It's tough to describe on paper but long reach, short chain stay, and slightly higher BB is a combo I didn't think I would appreciate as much as I did, and then that appreciation grew tremendously when we entered this very steep part of the trail. With lots of tight switch back and corners, I found myself nose pivoting at speed a majority of them, being able to whip the rear end of the bike around effortlessly, something surprising for a bike with such a long front end! I also found myself popping off any bump I could find with the bike's playful suspension design. And at the bottom of the trail I found myself disappointed that the trail was over. So first impressions of the Pivot Switchblade. It's a bike that feels very different when you first hop on it. You can tell Pivot does things their way, and whose to argue, the bike rips. I feel like I am really going to appreciate this on rockier trails, especially those with good tech climbs. That is no surprise either, look at where they are from. The reach is amazing on this bike as is most of the geo numbers. Paint wise, I think putting that label is a cop out and I would have liked to see a paint used that didn’t require a warning label, after all this bike is going to be ridden. And if the paint does fade, I feel like it should be warrantied. Overall thoughts? This bike rips, is insanely fun to ride, and I'm excited to put more time into learning about it, because that's what it feels like it wants me to do. It feels like a bike that wants you to figure out just how awesome it is and when you do, you will be a Pivot fan for life. Or in my case, until a new test bike shows up or the paint fades. Whichever happens first, I'm hoping for the first one. -Mo Awesome

I woke up this morning and after a little bit of coffee started reading up on bike industry news only to see that Evil Bikes had announced company layoffs. It feels like this is something I have seen a lot of in the bike industry lately but this one struck me a bit differently. Don’t get me wrong, you never want someone to lose their job, but for whatever reason when I have read about bigger corporations doing this it doesn’t feel as severe as when a smaller company has to. I don’t know much about Evil, other than they had one of the most game changing 29ers with the Following followed by the Wreckoning. I would assume they are a smaller company staff-wise, doing big things in the bike world. Brands like this are normally more passion based and have more of a family dynamic within the company, which I'm sure made this even harder on them. The layoffs  made me think more of what is happening in the bike industry. I'm sure you have heard that it is hard times, and it is. Covid was somewhat of a bike selling bubble and popped when people had less time and a job to go to. However, talking to my friends that own bike shops, people are still buying bikes. Sales for the most part don’t seem to be down on the bike shop end and in fact one could argue that more bikes are being sold now than pre-pandemic. What’s the difference? People want a deal, and not just any deal, insane deals. And why would they not? With companies like Specialized doing 40% off bikes, Knolly just running a promotion for almost 60% off bikes, Ibis with 25% off their entire lineup, Kona at one point seemingly doing a buy 1 get free promo, and an endless amount of other promotions, you don't want to be stuck with a bike at full price. But does it have to be this way? Will bikes only sell at this price? In my opinion, the bike industry is currently taking a wound and making it deeper and more infected (sorry for the graphics). I feel like the longer companies try to blow out their inventory, the harder it's going to be to recover from this period in the bike industry timeline. I understand that for some companies that might be sitting on close to a billion dollars worth of inventory that might be tough, but long term, aggressive discounts are not the answer. What blowing out this inventory is doing is absolutely wrecking the used bike market. After all, why would you want to buy a used bike for 60% off when you can get a brand new one for 50% off? So if you have an older bike you have been meaning to upgrade, you missed the boat, and you can't buy anything. This leads to even fewer sales which prolongs that inventory moving even further. This affects everyone, from bike shops to employees at bike companies. While I know that bigger bike brands have to do this to keep their doors open as well, in my opinion that is what is prolonging all of this. And if you are a brand that can’t match some of the pricing of these bigger corporations? That is what’s going to be the interesting part. Specialized, Trek, Giant, and any one of those big corporations are not going to go out of business. They are way too big and also, I would argue, the bike industry won’t let them. Can you imagine how many companies and bike shops would be taken out if say Specialized went out of business? Imagine all of the suspension and drivetrain orders SRAM has that is allocated for them in the next few years. And imagine how many bike shops exist that are dependent on Specialized being their brand. No one is going to let this happen, it's not a possibility. But who's going to stick up for smaller companies that still play a crucial role in our sport and arguably make better bikes because they can specialize in a few models? That’s going to be the interesting part and I think where you will start to see brand loyalty playing a huge role in this. I think if you are a brand that is able to continue to innovate and make cool things while maintaining a lower overhead, you are going to make it through these next few years. People want good bikes and if the bikes themselves have more soul, the better. What do I think should happen? I think bigger corporations blowing out their inventory should have to pay a fine for absolutely wreaking havoc on the bike market, and those fines should be pooled together and split amongst other bike brands that are fighting to just keep up. Does this make any sense or have any degree of practicality? No, but it's Saturday morning and these are my thoughts regurgitated onto my keyboard, why would you think that it would? -Mo Awesome

Let me start off by saying this is not a bike review, it's simply my thoughts on a bike after the first ride. You never get a second first impression so I feel pretty obligated to write these thoughts down. I do feel like first ride impressions are very important, especially when it comes to trying to figure out who a bike is for. The one thing that always has remained the same throughout my years of testing is that if I hate a bike on the first ride, that normally doesn’t get better. It’s kind of like the corny saying, it was love at first sight (Hannah if you are reading this, it really was). So did I fall in love with the HD6? I did but I also didn’t, it was very weird. But also very interesting! So let’s start off with what the Ibis HD6 is. The Ibis HD6 is a 165mm mullet enduro bike, with a 64 degree head angle, dw-link suspension design, and a beefy build to match its aggressive geo. If you are familiar with Ibis bikes, then it's basically as if the Ripmo and the HD5 had a baby. The build sent to me for testing is their SRAM GX build kit with upgraded carbon wheels. I actually have a few issues with the build itself, primarily how heavy certain parts are and where I would immediately make changes if this was my own bike. But once again the purpose of this article is not to go into detail about the components on the bike, but rather try to write the thoughts and feelings I had during my first ride. It’s been raining an unusual amount in SoCal and most of our local tracks are closed so I made the drive to San Juan trail in San Juan Capistrano. San Juan is a big, switchback filled, out and back trail in our national forest. Now surprisingly, this would actually be my first real ride on a dedicated mullet bike, the mullet being 29 in wheel up front and 27.5 in wheel in the back. After getting the bike setup for myself, I started the climb up what would be a long 6.5 mile climb to cocktail rock. If you have ever climbed San Juan trail you know the trail is filled with sharp 180 switchbacks and almost instantly I felt like I was no longer on a 29er, even though the front wheel clearly was. The 27.5 rear wheel made a lot of these switchbacks much more manageable than usual, something I was worried would be an issue due to the 64 degree head angle. One at a time I cleaned each switchback with ease and actually felt like I had more traction and ability to put power down on a smaller wheel than with my traditional 29ers. Another thing I noticed is that this was clearly an Ibis, pedaling efficiency was insane, and it was climbing amazingly for a 165mm travel bike that weighs a ridiculous amount with the build that was sent over. I'm actually scared to weigh it, Maxxis double downs and a Fox 38 aren’t exactly my style. But even with this overly beefed up build kit and a Fox X2 with seemingly no climb switch, the bike pedaled so insanely well it had me very confused in how they always seem to make their bikes climb amazingly. Traction was also plentiful especially on the techier climbing bits and I'm stoked to put some more time on this bike uphill! Now after getting to the top and contemplating life (it's a pretty big climb from the parking lot) it was time for the fun part and where the HD6 bike specializes in. And just like what I expected from a bike with so much travel and such beefy suspension, the bike did insanely well on the tech. The top part of San Juan is extra spicy right now, and the HD6 made those chunky, sharp-rocks filled sections feel almost as smooth as the bottom straight-aways. I felt like I could roll over anything and the front end of the bike definitely felt like a 29er. The bike is insanely fun downhill and I found myself so stoked to be out on the trails, ripping corners and having an awesome time hoping we beat the sunset! What was interesting was the mullet experience. Pretty much the entire downhill I could tell I was on a mullet, it never really became second nature. There were a lot of benefits here including being able to quickly whip the rear end of the bike around for tight corners and throw a little bit of steeze on certain off chamber sections. But there was also a bit of awkwardness to where I felt like my body was struggling to find the sweet balanced spot when in a downhill position. If I had to use one word to describe how I felt on the bike I would say “unbalanced” comes to mind, something that I am sure goes away with time…hopefully. I also noticed a bit of confusion from my body in regards to the bottom bracket height. My eyes and upper body felt like I was on a 29er, but my pedals miss-timing their positions and clipping a few rocks clearly were on something more in line with a 27.5 bike. Looking on paper the bb height difference doesn't seem as drastic in comparison to some other 29ers, however I think suspension set up is going to play a big role in getting this bike set up for myself in the future. So with that being said, first ride impressions. It pedals insanely well. It’s very capable downhill. It needs to go on a diet and shed some weight because it’s rider is not entering any world cup enduro races any time soon. And finally, it's going to require a bit more fine tuning with the suspension set up than other Ibis’s I have ridden in the past. Full review coming soon! -Mo Awesome

What is it like to be a Middle Eastern mountain biker in the United States? After all, when you look at the sport itself, Middle Eastern is probably not the demographic you will run into on the trails here in America. As someone who is Lebanese, in the 12 years I have been riding mountain bikes (9 of those years in the bike industry), I have met maybe a handful at most and have never found myself using my Arabic on the trails. I would argue that Middle Eastern mountain bikers might be one of the smallest demographics out there, most likely because if you tell a Middle Eastern mom you want to ride your bicycle down a mountain you would be met with a very concerned “yallahteef” (oh my gosh!) and not much encouragement. This would probably be followed by a loud explanation on how mountain biking is a crazy white person sport and you would most likely be driven to soccer practice after, rather than your nearest trailhead. So for those of us that defied the Middle Eastern American odds and are pursuing our dreams of mountain biking, what's it like? My parents were born and raised in the Middl Eastern country of Lebanon, and are both muslim. My dad decided to escape a civil war and come to America in his 20’s, in search of a better life. When he first immigrated to America, he knew very little English and had no money. He was pursuing the American dream and also knew this would lead to a better life for a family he wanted. He would later go back to Lebanon and meet my mom, and after getting married to her, bring her to America. A few years after that they gave birth to me, followed by my sister. I was the first ever person in the family to be born in the USA, otherwise known as a first generation Lebanese-American. Arabic was the first language I learned, as at the time that is still primarily what my parents spoke. In fact, I am still able to speak Arabic today. I was raised muslim, attending mosque for a small period of my life, before eventually losing faith in my teens only to refind my faith in Islam when I turned 30. We moved back to Lebanon for a short period of time before finding ourselves back in the USA, a move that would eventually lead my parents to realize this would be the place my sister and I were raised. After high school I went straight to college and this is where my mountain bike career would begin. When I got to college I realized I didn’t want to be there. College was actually the only path really presented to me in high school. Being raised as a first generation Middle Eastern American, at 17 I didn’t think there was any other path I could take. I couldn't blame my parents for this either, once again they immigrated to this country to raise me, this was all new to them. All they talked about in high school is how you are getting ready for college and not much is spoken about other paths in life. My parents faced so many challenges after immigrating to this country too, so in their eyes college would make my life easy, or at least that is what they thought. I chose to attend the University of California, Irvine and soon found myself struggling to find anything that interested me, but dropping out was not an option. And for anyone reading this with Middle Eastern parents, you know exactly why (nervous laughter). Disappointing your parents is not an option and there was an insane amount of pressure for me to finish. Not helping my situation was the fact that I hated attending classes, almost as much as I detested the entire college process. This was also around the time I first discovered mountain biking. In fact, up until I was 18, I never even knew mountain biking existed. I had never even seen a video of anyone mountain biking as this was pre MTB YouTube. But UCI is about 2 miles away from some of the best mountain biking in the world, and what would later become my favorite trails. After starting college, I was soon in the market for a new commuter bike, and this led me to finding a hardtail. Bike shop employees would tell me that this was perfect because I could commute to class and maybe try mountain biking. And as someone that was looking for any excuse possible to skip class, this is what I did. Mountain biking would soon become something I would get insanely addicted to, primarily fueled by a desire to find something to do instead of going to class. I was a very fast learner when it came to school and even though I was skipping a majority of lectures, I could cram a semester amount of info in one or 2 nights and managed to crawl my way to a Bachelor's degree. Now unfortunately this skill of learning quickly did not apply to mountain biking, and here I struggled. You have to keep in mind, I never even knew you could ride your bike off-road growing up and now all of a sudden I was going down mountains. I was also learning most of this primarily by myself with no coaches at all. A few people would give me advice along the way, but this was an addiction and I wanted to get better at this sport. Now during my time at UCI I also found myself beginning my journey into the bike industry. I got a job at a bike shop and I would continue to work in bike shops for a while after that. I spent so much time mountain biking and by the time I graduated I was very good at it, to the point where I bought a van so that I could travel all over North America. This would allow me to ride different mountain bike destinations, further improving on my skills! The next step for me was coaching mountain biking and this is around the same time Hannah and I started dating. That then transitioned into YouTube and content creation, with lots of brand partnerships. Throughout this entire journey, I met so many people and worked with many brands. However, never once did I ever meet anyone else who spoke Arabic. So what's it like being a Middle Eastern mountain biker in the bike industry? Well, it's pretty interesting. I feel like I “blend in” really well, most people don’t even know I speak Arabic, let alone that I have Lebanese citizenship. But every now and then my Lebanese side comes up and it's been a learning process in how to deal with a lot of the cultural differences. Lebanese people are very loud and passionate, and I 100% have both of these things. It's taken me a few years to realize that in American culture, that comes off very aggressive, when to me it shouldn’t at all. I know I grew up in the US, but my parents raised me Lebanese. When I talk, I am passionate and I’m just trying to get my point across. But seeing Hannah's look of concern when she first came over to my parents house and saw my parents and I just having a normal conversation made me realize the expression that exists in my culture is very different from non Middle Easterns. The same can be said with conflict resolution. In Lebanese culture, if you have a problem with someone they will know it because you aren't letting it go. It's very normal to get into a heated argument with someone and be okay within a few hours. But in an industry that is so interbred it has been interesting experiencing a few moments where I thought I was okay with someone, only to hear they called some of our friends behind the scenes to discuss some issues they have with me. That concept is very foreign to me, if you have an issue, express it . Sure Lebanese culture can be filled with gossiping, however we are not avoidant people. The other weird thing for me has been not knowing when a brand wants to use me as a diversity token or because they like who I am and the business I've built. There have been a few times where I get pretty excited that a brand wants to work together and then something slips where I start to get the feeling that it might be a little less to do with me and maybe a little more to do with the fact that I'm brown. That is an instant deal breaker for me, especially if a brand isn't up front about it. Don't get me wrong, every now and then I look around at group rides in the US and it does strike me as kind of odd that there aren't more brown mountain bikers. But then I also remember how that wasn't even an option for me growing up. If I had told my mom I wanted to mountain bike, once again a loud “Yallahteef” would be heard and it would be followed by “lah, mahfeek” (no you can't). And if a brand wants to get more brown representation, then tell me that and be honest, because there is nothing weirder than beating around the bush when it comes to race, and honestly you shouldn’t have too. Just don't call me a BIPOC when we first meet, that is weird and yes that has happened before. Just say “hey it's so cool that you're Middle Eastern, lets get more brown people on bikes”. And how are my interactions with people in the southern United States or mountain bikers in general? After all, living in a van has taken me all across the United States and we have even spent a considerable amount of time in the south. I bring this up because when we first told some friends about our trips to the south, I was met with “wow that probably was tough for you”. I realized they were referring to me being brown and assuming that my time mountain biking in the south was filled with dealing with racism. When I told that person that actually our trip was filled with amazing people showing us around, and that southern hospitality was a real thing, they looked very confused. And I am not exaggerating either, the time we have spent mountain biking in the south has been insanely awesome, and we have met some of the nicest people. Does racism exist down there? It does, but racism also exists in some capacity everywhere, even overseas. And throughout our travels I have met and talked to so many people in the US, further deepening my love for this country and the places we have been! Mountain biking is filled with some of the best people I’ve ever met, and like I said, the few negative interactions I have had with people have primarily been online and/or are few and far between. When it comes down to our core, we are all just looking to get into nature on 2 wheels and escape the "real world". Do I wish there were more brown mountain bikers on the trails here in the United States? Absolutely, I think it's a pretty rad thing to see people from different cultures mountain biking here in the US. Do I think brown people need more representation? It would be nice to see, but not in a corny way to make marketing managers feel better about themselves. Be up front and honest about your curiosity. Ask me about being Middle Eastern or even muslim. Ask how we can get more Middle Eastern people on bikes (good luck convincing Middle Eastern moms). And if your end goal is more brown people on the trails, then say that. It’s an awesome goal and I think when done right, wields amazing results. But don't throw letters at me, especially when we first meet. Or else my Lebanese side will come out. -Mo Awesome

The bike industry has been losing its soul for the last few years and it shows. The excitement around new model releases is waning and the buzz that once was around the launch of a new bike seems to be shrinking with every release. People don’t seem to get excited like they once did when a spy shot comes out of a new bike, or a leak pops up on the geo chart of a future model. Non e-bikes seem to be most affected here, something that the industry most likely is taking notes on. And maybe they have a reason to not get excited? Afterall, it seems like companies are celebrating 37 lbs enduro bike weights and jamming as many batteries as possible into one bike set up. Shimano is trying to convince people that we need automatic shifting, while Sram has you convinced that you shouldn't know anything about the mechanical operations of a derailleur. Rock Shox and Fox seem to be competing in a race to see who can pre-program suspension to take all of the guesswork out of suspension setup, allowing you to simply hop on your new bike and hit the trails. Plug and play is the new normal, taking any sense of  connection one has with their own bike and throwing it out the window, replacing it with an emptiness that is marketing. E-bikes have shown they are here to stay and more people are seeing what the bike industry wants us to see. You no longer have to pay to play, well metaphorically that is at least. Now you can pay physically at the bike shop for a machine that gives you the ability to skip the grueling part about riding. My thoughts on E-bikes are still mixed, I see a lot of the advantages, especially for those with kids and limited time to get out on the trails, or those with ailments preventing them from getting out there. But we have to ask ourselves, are these the reasons e-bikes have become the priority of most bike companies and is the most crucial reason mountain biking was created being butchered with each watt of power electrically added to your bike? And who is calling any of this out? With the line between advertising relationships and saying your true opinion being blurred at most media companies, where does the responsibility to call out the bike industry lie? Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand advertising relationships are a crucial part of a successful business, and as someone who lives in a country that is home to small business success, I am 100% for it. However, as someone who also used to look forward to reading bike reviews, it's hard to ignore that some bike reviews now seem like a regurgitation of model specs, mixed with an over-analysis of graphs and charts. Sell me the bike, that's what I want you to do. I want to read a review and be stoked by the time I get to the conclusion that this is the right bike for me. Why does it feel like there's an emptiness in some of these reviews that I can't help but feel is attributed to a need to not rock the boat? Tell me how you really feel even if it's in a professional way to maintain a relationship. Sell me the bike or call out those that need to be called out, because if not you then who? This week Apple released the Apple Vision Pro. Virtual goggles that allow you to go about your day to day with 24/7 access to a virtual world to help you live your life. Afterall, without technology how could you survive? Is this the new normal we want? Or is this the new normal we are being sold? The same question can be asked to the bike industry. Why are you doing this? Why does it seem like the most freeing aspect of the sport, a simple machine with 2 wheels and some suspension, needs to be so complex? Don’t get me wrong, I love modern day suspension, geo, and material technology. But when the things that make our sport so special begin to be taken away, I have a serious issue with that. Mountain biking was created to be an escape from the real world and it seems like the bike industry is hell bent on bringing the real world with you on your ride. I don’t want to skip climbing, I want to suffer up a hill and reap the rewards at the top. I want to set my own derailleur so that when it breaks down in the back country I can fix it myself, and not have to rely on big brother SRAM to send me the most recent update to install so that I can get out of there. I want to know how my suspension works so that I can be more in tune with my bike. Now you might be asking yourself, what does this have to do with the bike industry? Well like I mentioned, the bike industry seems to be dying a slow death and I think one of the things expediting this is the lack of connection people are starting to have to their bike. It took me years to figure out how suspension works and while I'm also a bit ashamed to admit it, it also took close to the same amount of time for me to fully understand how to set up my derailleur. But when I learned both of those things, I felt so connected with the sport of mountain biking. The same can be said for all of the adventure rides I have been on. It took me so long to be able to do my first 10k feet of elevation in a single ride. So many times I had tried and failed, but when I finally got it, once again the passion I had for the sport grew. And the feeling of connection and excitement to the sport is something that is going to keep me mountain biking for many years to come, it's become who I am. However when you take that connection people have to their bike away, and instead you simplify everything for them so that the process is pay then play, you are killing that connection. You are cheating that person out of an experience that would have made mountain biking a deeper part of their life. Sure you might get a few quick sales from the turn key approach to mountain biking, but at what point do we put our apple vision pro goggles on, turn on the wind machine, and hop on our virtual mountain bike and call it a day? Now I don't want to end on a doomsday note. There is still hope for the bike industry and the sport of mountain biking. Pivot Cycles just released the new Switchblade and contrary to what most people seem to think they should do, they kept superboost. Clearly they feel passionately enough about it being necessary that they are not changing their minds, but rather doing things their way, and I respect that. Enve, with a customer base that is most likely to be able to afford a $15,000 e-bike doesn't have an ebike in their lineup at all. In fact they are jumping into the Tour de France with their Made in the USA Mele. The Radavist is doing insanely cool things for a media company, reviewing bikes I never even knew existed and they emit a stoke unlike anything else out there on their website. And after talking to quite a few bike brands, I'm stoked to share that it seems like 2024 is going to be a big year for the sport of mountain biking, with a lot of companies slowly getting back to their roots. So will the bike industry die? I hope not, because Apple Vision Pro goggles are $4000 and look insanely dumb. -Mo Awesome

I think we can all remember when we first started to see Cush Core hit the scene. One of your riding buddies had gotten it and was begging to swear by the product as “the best thing they had bought for themselves in years”. These tire inserts were game changing, protecting their rims, and allowing them to run lower pressure without getting tire squirm. No more cracked rims, this is a downhill rider's dream and slowly you started to see Cush Core grow in the scene. I even knew so many riders out there that would run only one Cush Core in the rear. After all, this is where most impact happens, and if you want some rim protections and tire support that is the place to get it. Fast forward a little bit and we stopped by Cush Core on a road trip on our way to BC. We got to take an HQ tour, and I remember when we were talking with them something they stressed to us was that Cush Core wasn’t just rim protection, it was tire suspension. Rim protection seemed to them as a bonus, but what they wanted stressed to us was that first and foremost, Cush Core is tire suspension and is intended to only be run as a set, not just one at a time. "...Cush Core is tire suspension and is intended to only be run as a set, not just one at a time." Both of these things were news to me as I hadn’t heard any of that from any of my riding buddies who had bragged about Cush Core. Cush Core to them was rim protection and for most of my riding buddies you only needed one. Looking at their website, it seems like this is still the case. Rim protection is definitely not the center of attention on most of the website. In fact, if you go to the “How it Works” tab, most of that page is them breaking down how the inserts work as a suspension performance enhancement, and the main focus is on both impact absorption, as well as suspension testing. Sure there is a bit of a mention of rim protection, however it's very clear here, this is a ride enhancement. There isn't even a mention about no more flat tires, which was probably the biggest thing my buddies who ran Cush Core would always brag about.  Looking at a different tire insert company's website Tannus Armour, who makes tire inserts, it's very apparent, the marketing goal here is no more flat tires. So I guess that takes us to my question of the day. What do you do as a bike company if you come up with a cool invention, and it takes off, but for a reason that wasn’t your initial intention? Do you run with it and change the marketing strategy? Or do you spend more time educating the market to what your product actually is? I think the easy way out here would be to run with the market and change the marketing strategy. After all, if someone wants to buy your product for x reason, and x reason is just an added benefit of why you created it, at the end of the day a sale is a sale, right? But something that I have to give kudos to Cush Core for doing, is not taking the easy way out. Because I remember so vividly that day while meeting them, that misconception really did bug them. And looking at their website, they are still going strong with the education on improved suspension performance through tire inserts. But if you were Cush Core, what would you have done? Check out Cush Core here

In a day and age where it seems like everyone is trying to come up with the next big thing, sometimes something comes along and you realize it actually is that thing! Insert Loam Pass here. Recently, the Loam Pass was introduced to the market as “an epic pass for mountain bikers”, and we can’t believe no one has thought of this sooner! If you are not familiar with an epic pass, it gives you a few days of skiing or snowboarding at a bunch of different ski resorts! The Loam Pass does the same for mountain biking, offering you 2 days of riding at each bike park / shuttle service on their list, which is growing fast! With parks and shuttles all over North America, here are 5 reasons you need the Loam Pass: Reason 1: You Want to Take A MTB Road Trip But Don't Know Where to Go A lot of times, people watch our adventures and always ask us “how do we know where to go and if there will be riding”? After having traveled all of the US, one of the best ways we have found to visit regions is to find somewhere we know we want to go visit, and then build an itinerary around that! For instance, recently we knew we wanted to spend some more time in North Carolina, and knew there were 2 bike parks there (Ride Kanuga and Ride Rock Creek). Luckily for us, both of those parks were on the Loam Pass, so we headed there to check both out and added some fun days of trail riding and exploration outside of those bike park days. We had already gotten 2 solid days of riding in the bike park, so every ride after was a bonus. And since we got 2 days of riding at both of those parks included in the Loam Pass, (it would have cost us $160 each to buy all of those tickets), the cost of the pass had already almost paid for itself (currently $199). Reason 2: You Want Variety in Your Life Personally, I love riding new trails, even though I can be a creature of habit. One reason that I do find myself riding the same trails over and over again is because I do not want to get disappointed. A lot of time trailforks wont show if trails are in good shape or overgrown, and sometimes I have even made the drive across the country to check out trail systems, only to be let down by finding out those trails either were shut down, or aren't ridden anymore! Having the Loam Pass allows you to have a full list of places to check out that you know are going to be good! Bored and wanting to try some new zones out? Pull up the list of destinations on the Loam Pass and plan that road trip! The list is growing fast too, so before you know it, you will be able to ride something new every weekend if you want! Reason 3: You Want To Get Better at Downhill I'm sure we can all resonate with this one. Over the last decade of riding, I have tried a wide variety of things to improve my downhill skills, and one thing that has helped me the most has definitely been riding different zones! Spending time in the desert has given me a lot of slow speed technical skills, and spending summers in the PNW has helped me a ton with jumps and flow trails! There is no substitute for practice, and being able to ride new trails all over the country is going to help your skills out tremendously! Reason 4: You Want To Make New Riding Friends One of the best parts about mountain biking is that it is one of the easiest sports to make new friends in! There is also no easier place to make friends that will last a lifetime than in bike parks too. Sharing a lift and some laps, you are bound to make some new riding friends that will probably lead to more road trips in your life and new set of riding buddies! Reason 5: You Like Saving Money I feel like this one doesn't really need a reason, but we'll add it anyway! Once again with an intro price currently of $199, and so many new bike parks and shuttles being added to the list weekly, the Loam Pass is going to save you a lot of money on tickets and maximize the amount of riding zones you get to visit this year! Less money on tickets, and more money on replacing tires and brake pads from all of the downhill you will be riding! So get yourself a Loam Pass before prices go up and we'll see you on the trails! For more information about Loam Pass check out their website here.

The year is 2024 and it's an amazing time to be a customer in the market for a new bike (definitely don’t want to be a bike company right now though, sorry guys it will get better soon). But seriously, there are some insane deals on Ibis bikes happening right now at N+1 Bikes! And if you are not familiar with N+1, they are one of the largest Ibis, Pivot, Yeti, Rocky Mountain, and Enve dealers in the nation! And remember if you mention “Mo and Hannah” they take care of you even further! Deals of the Month: 25% off all Hakka MX and DV9’s! 25% off Ripmo V2S and Ripley V4S plus get a free upgrade to an XT drivetrain on SLX builds $1000.00 off all Exie USA builds Ibis Exie Complete XT Builds: $3900 Exclusive N+1 Bikes Transmission Deal Pick Your Bike Frame and Save! Complete X0 TType AXS Transmission XT 4 piston brakes Bike Yoke Revive dropper Fox Factory Suspension Blackbird Send wheels Carbon bars Ripley $5799 Ripmo $5999 HD6 $6999 Remember be sure to mention "Mo and Hannah for even more savings! N+1 Bikes Deals: https://n1bikes.com Happy Trails!