Some Bicycle Things I’m Stoked About On A Friday, November 28th, 2025.

“Do you dominate the taco, or does the taco dominate you?” – Jamil K.

So, do you tilt the taco or do you tilt your head? Think about it for a moment. Thanks to Jamil, I can’t walk past the local taco shops without slowing my pace and taking a quick side glance at how things are going down. And you know what? Most folks are dominated by their tacos!

And you’re thinking, “Drew-Bob, it’s less messy that way,” and truth told, I said the same thing. But maybe, just maybe, that’s because we have to break the tacos’ spirits before trying to eat them?! 

In a way, it’s not dissimilar from interacting with a mountain bike. Staying loose and allowing your machine to have a bit of freedom to follow a line can often prevent a hot mess. But I don’t ever want my bicycle to think it’s in charge of how much spice to mix into what I call riding. 

Your Banshee V3 Future

The bike industry geometry machine rumbles awake, lightning flashes, and an unauthorized AI rip-off of Morgan Freeman’s voice announces that the future is to be discovered in the past. We did again, we never learn, but this time will be different. 

First, we allowed pedal-and-plunge Freeride to sell us absolute tanks with soft and heavy tires, where the average terrain is much more fun on a lighter, faster bike. We recovered. We ‘invented’ 700c, I mean 29″, wheels. Carbon fibre took prices to new stratospheres. Trail bikes ruled all. 

Then, we let pedal-and-plunge Enduro sell us super steep seat tube angles (STAs), massive Reach numbers, and World Cup DH head tube angles (HTAs). Now, a small frame has a longer Reach and physical top tube than an XL from ten-or-fifteen years ago, but the same effective top tube length?!? And even the lightest riders on 170mm-travel bikes are pushing 38mm stanchioned MTeeB forks to the top? 

As mountain biking has matured around this moment, there is no wholesale new Geometron-giant-step to be discovered. But a million words will be written, or spoken, about geo in the next year as pedaling pundits and pushers turn back the dial to late 2019.

Somewhat steeper HTAs, humanely slacker STAs, centimetre shorter Reach measurements with the same effective top-tube lengths. The near future is the recent past, with the only exception, for many brands, being the introduction of longer chainstays and accompanying accolades about rear wheel tracking. Enter Keith from Banshee with his six-years-new V3 geometry chart. Here, I’ll drop a link to my series of Titan review materials. 

Sag-wagons, sure, but what does all this mean for the hardtail aficionados? In the case of most bikes from most brands, not a lot. Except for outliers like Chromag’s Doctahawk, most of the current stiffs are running fairly established numbers. Chameleon, Honzo ESD, Marin SQ, Rocky Growler, etc. 

For example, check out the geometry of a Chromag Rootdown V {2020} vs their most recent Rootdown VI.{2024+}. Similarly, the V3 Banshee Paradox was released in 2020, and the only change I’d expect to see on the next generation is a shorter seat tube for each size. 

{Above photo by CJ_Biker}

Cy’s Trigger(ing) Fingers

This week’s edition of art from Cy, oof, “satirical” trigger warning for anyone who’s worked a day of retail. They’re all the best, but the shoes stabbed me so deeply that I can still feel it. You can check it out on Instagram {linked above}, or it’s awesome to see the support for this stuff drawn by a human on NSMB.com. 

But what I’m actually stoked about is last week’s effort, which I’m remiss for not including in SBTISAOAF. Pedal, splash, sweat, evaporate – it needs to be seen as a sequence. I’m positive you’ll be stoked to check it out on Cy’s Instagram, or, again, it’s awesome to see NSMB.com support his work: Water Cycles. 

Been Solo

“I feel it again. The pull to the light… Show me again. The power of the darkness.” – Kylo Ren/Ben Solo

—

The Forest: “Who are you talking to?”

Drew-Bob: “Me.”

The Forest: “Yes, you. Who are you talking to?”

Drew-Bob: “Me, myself… I.”

The Forest: *Backs away slowly*

Drew-Bob: *internal dialogue* {“Good save, Mandrew. That would have been super weird if you said Dumpster Bear.”}

—

So, I learned some twenty-five-ish years ago that the only sure thing about organizing a weekly night ride is that sometimes you’re going to end up riding alone. Even on beautiful evenings. But, like any basic social contract, consistency is key. If you want folks to come next week, you have to be out there anyway. 

There is a flipside. There will be nights when you figure no human is stoopid enough to be outdoors and then, surprise! It’s white-out-sleeting snow, and Brygantor will show up just to see if you’re actually there. Or it’s a sideways rainy night, and David will show up because he knows you’ll be there alone. 

This Wednesday was a solo ride for both Chris GNARker and me, and that’s okay because he was riding his sag wagon. No, I’m kidding, the average Wednesday Night Lights ride has as many pudding-pedalers as staplers, and there have been more Enduro super-sled sightings than double hardtails in the dark. 

But even though the forest was being a bit weird on Wednesday, and Chris and I could do a better job of communicating, I had a lovely parallel pedal. 

Solo night rides are certainly a different animal than riding with any number of other folks. Significantly more so than during the day, when one might expect to come across other humans. I didn’t see so much as the trace of a beam as I meandered my way around Mt Fromme. That is its own reward; sometimes it’s amazing to be the only person on the planet. 

Wonder Wheels 

Bikes for teens, tweens, tykes, and ‘rents, the you-nix-’em-we-fix-’em bicycle donation program from Obsession: Bikes is rolling into its 18th year. The name change from ‘Bikes For Tykes’ to ‘Wonder Wheels’ reflects the fact that everyone, from toddlers to old-timers, needs access to the pure joy and freedom of a solidly assembled bicycle. 

Partnering with Family Services of the North Shore, there are a bunch of ways to help out, from donating a pre-loved bicycle or cash to donating your time. Amongst other things, monetary donations are put toward making certain that bicycle recipients have a good lid. 

The program has already kicked off for 2025, and there’s more information at Obsession: Bikes if you would like to be involved. 

Pay It Forward Friday

To quote Joe from Starling, ”Black Friday is kind of a joke.” A number of smaller businesses are tacking similarly, with Paul Comp‘s advert being my favourite: “Don’t buy these brakes, they’re not on sale.” There’s more to it, and it’s worth reading the couple of paragraphs they put together. 

Tied in with the stoke above, our friends at Obsession are also putting their own spin on the deepest pit of consumerism with their Pay It Forward Friday {All Weekend} event. 15% of every part and accessory sale {online & in store} will be donated to Wonder Wheels. 

I‘d like to hope we see more companies co-opting this eyeball-rich media weekend with similar events in the future. ‘For The Trails Friday’ has a nice ring to it and every bicycle business everywhere could participate in that one. ‘Fudge The Mechanics Friday‘ {where the mechanics receive a tasty assortment of fudge} could be fun too?! 

Larry Talker Tunes

Terry Walker Says: 

Two weeks ago, I alluded to the upcoming new release from Cheap Trick, and here we are:

Cheap Trick – All Washed Up (2025)

I’m hearing possible “Old Rockers” fatigue, that legacy bands should stop putting out albums long past their due date. Nah. Preserving arguably the best music era, the 70s and 80s, is fine.

The album does have two distinct halves, hard rockin’ and pop. Also, depending on your taste, one or two tunes might not roll with you. Nonetheless, they manage to pull it off with some great tunes that harken back to classic Cheap Trick.

*{Drewitors note: I love that the album is called All Washed Up and it has washing machines for cover art. Rick Nielsen is a 76-year-old grandfather who is in on the joke. It’s a pretty fun listen too!}

And that’s a wrap on the SBTISAOAF for November 28th, 2025. Too short? Too long? Just right? Whichever bear you are, you can always let me know via e-mail, or join the crew over at Reddit {r/MEATengines}. If you enjoy MEATengines and would like to support, donations are always appreciated, but never expected. 

Until next time, Rise & Grind!