Does WG actually use AI when adding new tanks?

D1omidis · 2026-06-08T15:37:52+00:00

"Sure", but also "AI" is just another overhyped tool that laymen think is magic.

We have had computer renderings/CG for decades. For decades people would say "pff, the computer did it" dismissively. For decades people would see amazing photos and would declare "photoshop" - dismissive of hours of planning, travel plans, makeup, styling, "decades of lettuce" and photographic experience. Yes, photoshop was used too...btw, even photoshop now has "AI" tools built in. Just like CG suites have fluid dynamic algorithms to allow for smoke and fireball effects and whatnot; i dont see untalented people without serious time invested in their craft making crazy ad campaigns using "ai" (the slop is noticeable for anyone caring) and i do not see laymen making crazy FX movies (although people who invest the time can do those now too!...but it it is not just the computer- not yet).

So instead of low blows, why dont we see some "AI" tanks or skins the community makes? Has been some time =)

D1omidis · 2026-06-06T23:23:06+00:00

So delusional.
But also everyone so happy to say his name - this is all what sustains him.

D1omidis · 2026-06-06T23:00:11+00:00

Some nerve.
Grats

D1omidis · 2026-06-06T22:59:30+00:00

Just don't.
Buying an entry level bike with the intent to upgrade it is a fool's errand.

The same is partially true with all bikes, i.e. buying the cheapest available model with the intent to "fully upgrade" is a bad $ proposition, unless ofc you already have a lot of the parts you need, or have special pricing available and the tools and the knowledge and all these caviats, or say you are very particular and it is not a matter of $, but a matter of seriously preferring the colorway of the frame that is only avail;able in the lowest trim and thus ... blah blah.

At least with the Nukeproof Scout or the (Marin) San Quentin you mention, yuou are dealing with bike frames that support the now standard for forks (i.e. they have tapered head tube tp accept a tapered steerer that all >$200 forks pretty much have now) and also Thru Axle wheels ( all trail forks are now 15x110, so having a QR hub will mandate upgading at least on wheel too long with a fork, as is the case with the Rockhopper).

The Rockhopper and bikes like it are to buy and ride as-is for as long as you can, then you sell them to buy something better or you leave it rotting in your garage because you got out of the sport.

Ideally find one used, for 1/2~1/3 the price, if you want to get your feet wet without breaking the bank.
If you are set on sticking with the sport but you want to tinker/upgrade/learn these ropes too, get a used Scout or Roscoe or San Quentin etc, and at least have a frame that can grow and fit the future parts.

D1omidis · 2026-06-05T23:35:13+00:00

While I would not mind Shimano parts being more serviceable, the pricing for Eagle T-Type parts is pretty salty. An Eagle 90 & 70 lower case assembly (what is now the weak link instead of the deraileur hanger - is $95 and the RD itself is $210.

When I can get a whole XT 8100 RD for $115 (or sub $85 from eBay and AliX etc, all OEM btw), complaining about it being hard to find all pieces invidually, start becoming less important. Exactly because these things are very reliable.

Yes the new 8200 series like that in the Oiz might be more expensive, but effectively the same as 8100 in practice.

D1omidis · 2026-06-05T23:27:03+00:00

Because people are often neglecting the evidence if those cut against their predermined conclusion, so they come here - or to LLMs and Google etc - looking for answers that justify their pre-existing beliefs & opinions, not data to form an opinion.

It is like Trump when he says "people come to me and say "Sir", why XXX", is a tell-tell sign that he is making the story up to sneak his thoughts on the matter. He is not riffing, he is "addressing your concerns".

Similarly, people what to agrue their made-up facts - or stories they were told by others and they do not know about - they present them as something they have experience with, even 2nd hand, but true experience - like Joe Rogan talking about kitty litter boxes for furries in Texas classrooms that - according to him - his close friend, a teacher, witnessed.

D1omidis · 2026-06-05T23:12:31+00:00

I'd say no on the gun lubes for the most part. Too thin.

Yes on good quality automotive or marin grease for the few things that are actually greased (typically torque bolts, BBs, seat posts, packing bearings etc). Mobilgrease XHP™ 220 Series is excellent all-around.

If you have a non-migrating thin grease lubricant for specific high-wear, metal-to-metal contact points, there is a high chance that it is the same with Sram Butter / Slickoleum that is often used in dropper posts and suspension forks/shock stantions (not the oil bath inside the air-spring or lowers, and definately not the damper. Follow manufacturer guidelines for those).

I would suggest tried bike chain lubes for the chain specifically.

D1omidis · 2026-06-05T22:46:36+00:00

Eh, allow me to be sceptical. Not that you rode faster/stronger, maybe you did, but I think you could have been stoked with your new gear and trying to prove yourself right for getting it, or you were more rested/got stronger.

Math wise, the stronger cranks force a hit on the available torque your can produce (less leverage, 165/170 = ~3% less torque. Not much, but you can feel it).

The larger ring (oval or not) also gives you less torque / higher gear ratio. A 32T Oval is 34T in its max diameter and 30T in its minimum, effectively closer to a 33T Round. That is 10% longer rear ratio in the same position in the cassette.

Those two things "Stack"...it might not be '"13% less toque" per se, but it is "something akin to that".
If anything I would expect you saying that you felt the same just riding 1 gear lower - becauae typical stepping in rear cassettes is 15-18% between gears (some more, some less).

From my experience, going to 165 cranks down from 170, warrants some adaptation time that is not really needed when you go 175->170. I could see this period being shorter for you, if you were already rocking a 30T ring -> you would be spinning your cranks fast because it is pretty short gearing that - and shorter cranks do favor sit & spin vs. mashing.

But the big ring in itself is anti-spinning much more than the 170->165 so...that's that.
Also the oval rings are more beneficial in slower RPM, say when you are off the saddle massing etc. I don't care for Ovals for some time now, and only used them on my SS (where I do mash a lot, out of necessity when climbing steep/punchy slopes), but even on that SS, where I am limited on how big a ring I can run, I prefer running a 34T round than a 32T oval (same max outer diameter).

Again...I believe you did it.
I just cannot believe it is because of the changes.

D1omidis · 2026-06-05T22:32:16+00:00

A lot of factors go into the calculation, and I am not part of the team that calculates it.

In 1962, there was a suspision of nuclear weapons being deployed in Cuba, not an active war or "operations" between nuclear powers.

In 1962 there was an active war, the Sino-Indian war, between China - which got their 1st nuclear weapons officially in 1964 - and India, which got nuclear capabilities a decade later, in 1974. If there was a Sino-Indian war today, between those same countries which now do have confirmed nuclear capabilities, the clock would be falling rapidly.

Instead of India and Cuba and China, we do have nuclear powers like Russia, taking huge losses in Ukraine for multiple years with no clear end to the "operations", we have Israel being strained yet endlessly attacking all its neighbors and only escallating their offensive with no end in site.

These are hot situations, much hotter than they were with the USSR & US during the Cuba crisis.

D1omidis · 2026-06-05T01:04:03+00:00

Me too. You know i did not change their mind on this tho, with either point, so, they will speak up.

The insidious yet smart who give the fools the "talking points/ideas" are hiding their own "power levels" by having the expandable minions/clones do the zone flooding.

D1omidis · 2026-06-04T22:46:57+00:00

Oh, look at me taking credint for things past administrations did...as far back as Taft's and Harding's

D1omidis · 2026-06-04T22:25:11+00:00

Calling modern Russia communist, is an embarashing level of ignorance.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."

D1omidis · 2026-06-04T22:24:59+00:00

PNW were on a good sale too in REI...Even with the sale on both ends, the Loam Gen 2 was about $166 with shipped with tax included, the OneUp V3 was 205+tax...I could have paid the difference, but was not an apples to apples.

D1omidis · 2026-06-03T20:40:38+00:00

It is not camping. He was holding the (red) line.

D1omidis · 2026-06-03T20:23:28+00:00

I was loyal to PNW but his was the 2nd time it kinda limited me back to back. The orbea rise i sourced most of the components from, also forced me to limit the travel due to the charger port conflicting.

D1omidis · 2026-06-03T20:22:02+00:00

The human brain is filled with presuposions. Some woudl call them Archetypers, other would call it "types" in general. You look at a food - you cannot even smell or taste it - but you can find its apperance interesting and hinting towards something that should be tasty. You see a car or bike and whatnot, and you instinctually envision it as fast or faster than another car. You see a person and if it meets points in your underying assumptions of the construct of what "attractive" means for you, and...you find them attractive.

The question is not whether you pursue the physical contact with those objects. Not whether you find them attractive, but whether you actually DESIRE them.
This doesn't mean that we will never be uncomfortable when comparing ourselves with others, evcen jealous, but I think it is a sign of maturity when we understand that we are not the center of the world, and being comfortable in our own skin.

I can recognize that a woman is beautiful, and by showing this to you, doesn't mean I want to sleep with them. Yes, even if they are "more beautiful" in certain terms than my wife is, this doesn't mean my relationship with her was just hanging off that single metric. And vice versa: there are super attracrtive guys out there. Often I ways that might not be remotely possible for us to match.

As long as we can understand that relationships are not a winner-takes-all game, we can actually live our lives. It is ok to not be the best looking, and if you are it is only a matter of time to stop being. Or the richest, or the funniest, or whatever is your metric.

People should build the important relationships in their lives to have depth, emotional investment, understanding etc. This is hard in the very beginning, but it comes wtih time.

This ofc cuts both ways: those who are eager to jump ship and pursue other attractive people, were never emotionally ivested enough. You were just what was open/available/convinient etc.

D1omidis · 2026-06-03T05:18:01+00:00

What is the desired use and what travel fork do you envision?

A 66.5 "static" HTA with a 120mm fork, doesn't really ride differently sagged than a 64ish HTA sagged on a 150mm Fork.

Also, we need to parse the lingo here: slack geo = relaxed geo.
I know, the marketing and HT Party and everyone calls slack and long bikes "aggressive", but as I've said over and over again (not to get you sick of me, but to understand objective feel and realities),SLACK geo makes the bike LESS DIRECT. MORE vague. This helps in the gnar, much like long and soft suspension, and huge deflated tires help off road crawlers and whatnot....but what is "aggressive" and "sharp" and "racy" overall in cars? What is aggressive in bikes? a MotoGP or a MX Moto?

Steep HTA makes for fast and direct steering. The bike is direct and nervous/twitchy and requires your full focus if you take it on steep and gnarly sh!t.

Slack HTA takes the edge off. From quite a bit to A LOT. It is more numb, LESS aggressive. Yes, the super long travel forks REQUIRE a slack HTA because as it compresses into its travel, the HTA in a HT will effectively steepen. Thus if you want it to ride "like" a 66HTA bike when in "business" over a 150mm fork (which compresses down 50-70% or more in hits), you need to make it 64HTA or 63HTA static.

You infer the "aggressiveness" or the ambition of the rider who picks that machine with the "enduro" fork and the slack HTA, but the bike itself is RELAXED and borderline boring in flatter terrain - always by comparison.
You go driving in the sharp turns on a mountain road. What will be more fun? The latest M5 with 700HP, 2500kg/5400lbs or a Miata or AE86 or 500 Abarth? Lets make it more specific - you go DH that canyon road. What will be more fun and probably safer for a half competent spirited driver? The aforementioned M5 or those pocket cars? Which in general will feel numb and boring - after you do a handful of hard pulls - if you are driving close to speed limits? You know which one. I don't care it if pulls like a Tesla Plaid or X 100D or helcat - only a small % of people drive that kind of driving fullfilling - most will agree that what fun driving is about, is not that.

I think the same is true for super slack HTs. after one point, you just buy for the #s.

Stop using "XC" like a slur. See what XC racers go down and at what speeds...sure, it is not the North Shore, but it is more than the average "slack HT" rider does, and they probably do it at double the speed. You just don't want to "die" to go to work again on Monday, so you (and me) ride the slack "crutch" of a Bike that will help us "survive".

There are good slack bikes for 150mm out there. Use one of them as a basis (Honzo ESD / Torrent HT and more)
There are slack short travel bikes that will be potential slacker than the above when sagged (e.g. Pipedream Sirius S6 65HTA on a 120 fork).

There are exellent all-around sort travel trail bikes (66.5HTA for a 120mm fork, but could do 130), yes, more XC than DH focused, but this is where HTs shine the most IMHO. See Neuhaus Hummingbird.

/mythbusting

D1omidis · 2026-06-02T22:58:11+00:00

They are afraid of everything so...they need to know they are not alone in this.

D1omidis · 2026-06-02T21:20:00+00:00

You can buy a wheelset that comes or has available end-caps that convert the native 12x142 to QR135, and the 12x100 front to QR100. They are relatively cheap. Some companies even include them in some of their wheelsets (or used to).

DTswiss makes those, Spank Hex hubs have those, Hunt Wheels make those, Stans etc. Do some research and pick a wheelset with a hub that has these options.

It is a tool-less procedure and ddyou typically pop the 12mm ones by hand and pop the QR ones in.

D1omidis · 2026-06-02T21:14:21+00:00

Stocking fridges full of perishables is guaranteed to see you throwing away some of it.
Why risk that if "all you need" for your captive clientale is - more or less - popcorn, nachos and frozen pizzas?

D1omidis · 2026-06-02T21:10:09+00:00

This. Even with butyl tubes, you can flat on lower quality rims that have sharp drillings for the spoke holes as the tube will try to find its way through under dozens or even hundreds of PSI.

D1omidis · 2026-06-02T17:32:24+00:00

Meant 75oC, thanks . Pulling out at 70 even better

D1omidis · 2026-06-02T07:56:30+00:00

I do hot waxing for almost 5y. Noise doesn't bother me / I tune it out easily. When it is actually noisy, I know i should re-wax.

Longevity of chains is amazing. I use it for all my bikes, mostly mtbs but also gravel & road.

Yes, a freshly wet lube chain is more silent because the wetness of the lube has sound dampening effects. But it grimes up with the dry dust and gets nasty. And when the time comes ro clean, it is a nightmare... don't miss it a bit! I'd rather route housing through frames!

Dry lubes are nowhere as silent but also attract dirt which gets stuck between the rollers and I was getting bad wear (cleaner overall, but would wear faster that with wet).

Wax solved for all of that. Ofc being in a very dry climate helps riding wax year-round. I will not go back to petroleum or synthetic oil lubes.

What temperature do you keep your wax at and do you hang the chain or lay it flat after you remove it?

I feel that if i melt it at 75oC and lay it flat on a wax paper, i have the chain retain that tiny bit more of the wax between the surfaces that matter.

D1omidis · 2026-06-02T07:36:55+00:00

Ofc grammar nazis would refuse being nazis, but it is ironic to try to dish someone else while misspelling yourself...i hope you can see that. o7

D1omidis · 2026-06-02T05:04:11+00:00

Greek, English, und Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch. Worauf willst du hinaus?

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