One of the establishing principals of Beta’s gear coverage is to always try and dig deep. To look at the stories behind the bikes we ride or, in some cases, the bikes we used to ride. So, because this time of year puts us all in a mood to look back, and totally not because we’re all taking the week off, we piled up some of our favorite gear stories of 2021 and dropped them here for you to read if you’re taking the week off.

The Long Game:

In The Stand: A History Lesson on the Elastomer-Sprung 1996 GT LTS

We look, but we don’t touch.

Our In The Stand videos started as a how-to series, but the stories behind the bikes we were fixing were far more interesting than just how to fix them. The 43-year-old south Orange County, California, bike shop, Buy My Bikes, sees a constant influx of still-running bikes from our sport’s recent past. Few were more surprising to see still running than this entry-level GT LTS. Somehow, its elastomer rear shock hadn’t melted or turned to beeswax, but we decided to admire it for what it is and not try and fix a thing.

Higher Education: How to Set Up Your Cockpit

Custom tailor your bike to fit like a glove.

We didn’t abandon education entirely. Our Higher Education series is a way to break down some of the more subtly complicated aspects of mountain biking. In this installment, we think deep thoughts about important things like the backsweep and upsweep of our handlebars, and the angle of our brake levers and saddles.

A Trademark Battle is Raging Over the Word “Mullet”

Mullet Cycles has held a shaky ownership of the term, but may not for long.

Mixed-wheel bikes have become commonly known, in the parlance of our times, as ‘mullet bikes.’ But we noticed that very few of the major brands that released mixed-wheel bikes this year were using the popular term. We hoped that maybe we grew up as an industry, and ceased to use an outdated joke term to describe a legitimate trend in bike design. But one brand hinted it may be because of cease and desist orders that were being sent out by a brand that has been fighting to take the name ‘mullet’ as its own. We interview Mullet’s founder and dig through court proceedings for this especially nerdy story.

Inside Rocky Mountain’s Unique Powerplay E-Bike Motors

Rocky Mountain has taken a very different approach to its e-bikes, a philosophy made possible by the fact that they make their own power unit.

Beta’s resident e-bike expert, Ryan Palmer, rarely sees a system he likes better than the one Specialized and Brose have come up with. Their ability to cooperate during the whole process makes for a far more holistic experience. But it turns out that Rocky Mountain takes the same approach, but in a very different way. Their new Altitude Powerplay was an opportunity for him to get inside and see what made it tick.

Dream Builds: Commencal Meta TR 29

A shiny object made up of other, smaller shiny objects.

Palmer’s meticulous approach to a bike’s nuts and bolts extends literally to their nuts and bolts in Beta’s Dream Builds. Artfully filmed by our video editor, Satchel Cronk, this installment sees the assembly of Beta photo director, Anthony Smith’s all-chrome Commencal Meta TR 29. This beautiful creation is proof that not everyone dreams in color.

Standard Issue: Hindsight is 20/15

The 20-millimeter axle should have stayed on top, and RockShox tried to warn us.

Our Standard Issue series explores various stories behind various standards. One debate that was not as controversial as it should have been was the introduction of the 15×100 front axle. At a time when thru-axles were largely a gravity-only affair, we assumed there needed to be a smaller, lighter version for thru-axles to take over in trail and XC. RockShox did not. Their lightweight 20×110 axles would probably be embraced today. But what’s done is done.

In Deep: What Could Go Wrong?

Aftermarket linkage components can make your bike better. Our industry just doesn’t know if they should.

Finally, in response to the sudden boom in new aftermarket linkage designs offered by Cascade Components, we decided to see what the bike brands themselves thought about people augmenting their suspension and geometry characteristics. What are these links actually doing? Why do some brands void their warranties once you bolt them on? Why do others not? The story explores whether our bikes’ designs are really all that delicate, and how much control we should have to make them our own.