{"id":840837,"date":"2026-08-01T17:57:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T17:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/840837\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T17:57:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T17:57:15","slug":"crankworx-2026-village-finds-and-hot-new-bikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/840837\/","title":{"rendered":"Crankworx 2026: Village finds and hot new bikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crankworx is back for another year, the festival\u2019s 21st, bringing the mountain bike world to Whistler once again. From Canadian-made cranks to Whistler-designed bikes and a bougie tray rack, here\u2019s some of the best of what we found floating around the village.<\/p>\n

RMU Nighttrain\u2019s Whistler homecoming<\/p>\n

When RMU launched the Nighttrain earlier this year, it caused a bit of a stir. The ski brand partnered with mountain bike suspension wizard Dave Weagle to create a wild-looking two-chained alloy frame. That design, Weagle\u2019s latest Orion suspension linkage anchored a 170\/170mm rig that, as we found out in Whistler, can also convert to a triple crown park bike.<\/p>\n

Then Jesse Melamed finished second in the Canadian Open Enduro aboard a Nighttrain on Crankworx\u2019s opening weekend. With few other launches happening in Whistler this year, the Nighttrain became the talk of the festival.<\/p>\n

We took one of these wild, and surprisingly light (for the category) bikes out for a few laps of Whistler Bike Park and are immediately impressed. More on that soon.<\/p>\n

Maxxis had Minion DHX with rainbow stripes on Goldstone’s worlds bike. When he raced that rig, the tires were unbranded Meaty rubber for World Cup speed
\nMaxxis Minion DHX and new DH casing (and gravel tires)<\/p>\n

They say if it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it. So Maxxis isn\u2019t replacing the Minion DHF \/ DHR combo. It\u2019s adding the new, Goldstone-proven DHX instead. The burlier take on Maxxis\u2019 iconic combo is intended to give more support in dry conditions for anyone riding at World Cup pace, or feeling like the DHF\/DHR isn\u2019t giving enough support.<\/p>\n

The new tire also officially launches Maxxis\u2019 new DH casing. With this replacing the existing DH Casing across all tire models, this one is relevant to everyone. The new casing combines a hard butyl insert with a more compliant, 120 tpi casing to allow racers to run lower pressures, and get more traction, without giving up sidewall support. Maxxis also argues this could be a solution to running tire inserts, giving many of the same ride qualities and protection measures without the added weight or installation frustrations.<\/p>\n

More big rubber for gravel riding A little out of place at Crankworx, even if the tires measure nearly 2″ <\/p>\n

Also quietly sitting in a corner of the Maxxis booth were new 50c gravel tire options. While near-mtb in volume, these use gravel treads and casing for a more tailored ride experience instead of a \u201cgood enough\u201d cross-over tire.<\/p>\n

Polygon comes to Canada<\/p>\n

Polygon recently announced its landing in Canada and, to celebrate that, brought a very Canadian themed Collosus DH. That\u2019s the same bike Tayte Proulx-Royds rode to fourth in the Canadian Open DH on Friday. With full Fox Factory suspension, an alloy frame with adjustable drop-outs and SRAM XO1 DH drivetrain its just $7,199. But Polygon offers models starting at $4,999.<\/p>\n

Arkoza gives eMTB more crank options<\/p>\n

Edmonton, Alberta\u2019s Arkoza was at Crankworx with its line of eMTB cranks. The wild, CNC machined design was developed with machine learning to cut weight without sacrificing strength. They are made in Edmonton, with wire EDM machining giving an incredibly precise interface at the splines and pedal threads. The all-alloy cranks come in short lengths, which are arguably a no-brainer for eMTB. Arkoza further reduces the chance of pedal strikes by reducing the amount of material at the end of the crank to just what is structurally necessary. These go down to the details, with Arkoza borrowing blunt threading from the oil and gas industry to make threading pedals on easier.<\/p>\n

Good Day Optics landed with a Crankworx-special strapAll kinds of colour and lens options Good Day also makes snow sport goggles
\nGood Day Optics makes Whistler debut<\/p>\n

Also from Alberta, Good Day Optics are in Whistler with a new line of mountain bike goggles. The brand makes ski and summer gear, with a new Crankworx edition goggle joining a couple of mountain bike glasses and ski goggles. Good Day has plenty of strap design options to keep your goggles feeling custom, as well as a heck of a warranty to back them up.<\/p>\n

Velocirax Raxzilla<\/p>\n

Utah-based Velocirax has one rack that can do it all. The Raxzilla has a whopping 275 lbs max weight limit so you can carry your road bike, your dirt bike or, with the double rack, both at the same time.<\/p>\n

Raxzilla has all kinds of tricks up its sleeve. It tilts, with an extension that reaches to the ground so you can just roll your bike on. When you do, the arms that lock the front wheel in place automatically lift and lock the wheel in place. The rear tire arm locks in place with the touch of a lever, instead of having to squeeze in a ratchet and hoping it\u2019s tight enough. That makes this an effort-free experience for anyone that doesn\u2019t want to lift an eMTB onto a tray rack. At $1,699, it\u2019s definitely on the pricier side. But it\u2019s also got more tricks up its sleeve than the average rack.<\/p>\n

Jackson Goldstone\u2019s World Champs Santa Cruz V10<\/p>\n

Also in the Maxxis booth was Jackson Goldstone\u2019s very Canadiana V10 from worlds. It\u2019s always cool seeing worlds paint jobs up close, and Goldstone\u2019s mirrored red and white design was remarkably detailed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crankworx is back for another year, the festival\u2019s 21st, bringing the mountain bike world to Whistler once again.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,93236,292865,635,1700,62722,82],"class_list":["post-840837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-crankworx","tag-crankworx-2026","tag-cycling","tag-mtb-features","tag-mtb-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}