"Our heritage is rooted in building gear for people who live and thrive in the mountains, and that includes our own team. Many of us ride; our athletes ride. Mountain biking is part of our culture," Ashley Anson, VP Design at Arc'teryx, said.
The core idea here isn't gimmickry. It's composure. Specifically, the idea that a calmer, more composed ride creates speed, and that a platform intentionally designed around 32-inch wheels can deliver that in a way a scaled-up 29er simply can't.
The Reya is a 120mm trail bike paired with a 130mm fork. Certainly short travel on both ends for Forbidden. And the brand known for high-pivots, idlers, and rearward axle paths included none of them on the new Reya. Stepping away from a high-pivot, the Forbidden Reya features a good 'ol-fashioned four-bar suspension platform.
Batch aims to repeat the process, now in the gravel corner of the industry. Now, surely, these new gravel offerings won't completely knock your socks off, but that isn't Batch's intention. However, will they get new riders out on two wheels without the incredible cost barrier? Absolutely.
The Era SL is Race Face's lighter, more XC-oriented version of the standard Era crankset, available for eMTB and gravity use, but it's heavier. To create the Era SL, Race Face has shaved weight through an integrated spindle design and stripped-down hardware. The result is a claimed 422 grams with a 32T chainring installed. That's a 78-gram reduction over the already-respectable standard Era.
The new Mach 4 SL maintains a familiar silhouette, including the brand's signature DW-link suspension platform, but adds a touch more travel, in-frame storage, notable geometry changes, and several new complete builds to choose from.
Race Face uses the same rim for its Era eMTB wheelset as it does for its standard Era wheels. These rims have a distinct profile, front and rear, which delivers the blend of compliance and strength they are looking for. On the standard Era wheels, the front rim is 18.6mm deep, while the rear rim is 22.6mm. Both rims share a 30mm internal width, paired with a 37.2mm external width.
Rimpact's Chain Damper was launched in 2024, and since then, interest in drivetrain feedback mitigation seems to be gaining momentum. The fact that current World Cup DH ruler Jackson Goldstone uses a similar device on his bike has likely caused quite a spike in interest. On their part, Rimpact supported 15 World Cup DH Teams through last season, and they're expecting that number to grow this year.
So when Cannondale says the new, fifth-generation EVO is faster again, the obvious question becomes: how do you improve a bike that many riders love without overworking it and pissing off a large group of cyclists? The answer is you don't - you make small changes, and refinements - you don't "reinvent" anything. Thats exactly what happened to the new Cannondale Super-Six EVO.
Cascade Components has delivered what could be the best upgrade for the Amflow PL. For $257 USD, Amflow owners can now increase rear travel to 160mm and improve suspension performance, all without tweaking the geometry. With 10mm more rear wheel travel and a more supple rear end, the Amflow PL Link from Cascade Components could make one of the best e-mountain bikes on the market even better.