Trying to predict the future of MTB notoriously difficult, few of us can claim we foresaw the huge spike in demand from Covid, the rise of disrupters like DJI, or Fox having a go at the upside down fork.

Three years ago I asked eight industry experts to do just that though, and tell mbr what the mountain bike of tomorrow would look like. Turns out, there are some real visionaries amongst the mountain bike industry that would have given Nostradamus a run for his money… although sadly even the great French astrologer didn’t pick up on the rise of 32in wheels, which made up our pick some of the hottest bikes and MTB kit for 2026.

Now then it’s time to collect, pick through the mad cat ramblings of Chris Porter, the seer status of Jose Gonzalez, and the snowmobile backflips of Joe Buckley from Specialized.

Gary Fisher said in 1997 that the bike of the future would have electronic shifting and an onboard computer to alter the suspension dynamics

But before we go any further though, I’d just like to offer a quick apology to Gary Fisher, who I lampooned a few years ago for his 1997 prediction that he’d get a chamber pot on his bike that “cleans, adjusts and adds back the worn microns of metal.”

Nearly 30 years later, it does seem to be a distant possibility now 3D printing and additive manufacturing has become a real thing, although chamber pots remain firmly where we left them, back in the 20th century.

Jose Gonzalez saw the gearbox revolution coming

What Jose Gonzalez, head of suspension tech at Canyon, said in 2022…

“Gearbox technology will finally get to a point where it becomes a very real alternative to traditional drivetrains in efficiency, function and performance,” Jose told me.

Does the man actually possess a crystal ball?! It’s a remarkably prescient prediction given that there are now four elite race teams with Gates technology on their gearbox bikes, including the Atherton gearbox bike. And the chances are, one of them could claim the famous Gates 100K Belted Purse prize of a hundred gran to the first rider who wins a DH World Cup on one of its gearbox belts.

Gearbox bikes are for real in 2025, with the Atherton A.200G downhill bike just one example

That prediction is even more surprising given that neither Canyon, nor Trek – for whom he was head of research back in 2022 – has a gearbox bike, so he can hardly have been spouting insider information.

Jose saw bikes like the Moustache Pinion with MGU motor and gearbox coming too. He told me that “integrating the motor with the gearbox is the next frontier for both low power and full power versions.”

Clairvoyant rating: 9 – gearboxes and more smart suspension.

Gearboxes would also allow bike kinematics and vehicle dynamics to evolve: “As a suspension and vehicle dynamics guy, I’m very excited about what gearboxes can offer to the total MTB ride experience.”

Does this mean we’ll see a Canyon MGU e-bike or similar in the not too distant future? I wouldn’t bet against it.

He also told me about the coming of Fox Live Valve Neo, all but naming it two years before it actually came to production.

“Electronic “smart” suspension will start delivering on the full performance promise that will justify it over high performance passive systems on mountain bikes,” he said, “I can’t say much more on that without getting into trouble!”

Cesar Rojo said ebikes were only just getting started, back in 2022

Cesar Rojo, designer and test pilot of the new Unno Mith e-bike with DJI Avinox motor 

Remember Paul the “psychic” octopus, who correctly predicted a bunch of football matches back in 2010, including the World Cup final winner? Well he had nothing on Cesar, who saw the coming of DJI, perhaps before the Chinese drone brand even started development.

“E-bikes and motors though, this is going to be a big evolution. I can see big changes and improvements because it’s still very early for e-bikes.”

Cesar is obviously not relying on random chance to dictate his guesses though, it’s based on being at the cutting edge of e-bike design. He also pointed out that batteries would become lighter, while integration would become more and more important. “For example, the remote for the e-bike and the display will be integrated and make just things a bit cleaner.”

Clairvoyant rating: 6 – close to talking about DJI’s raw power, but not close enough. Spot on with the batteries though

Rotwild could even surpass DJI for power to weight, with its own battery powering DJI’s Avinox motor

Both of those predictions have come to pass, the latest e-bike batteries from DJI pack in over 200Wh per kilo, beating anything from Bosch or Shimano, which to give them credit are also now producing more energy dense units. That said, the world has been predicting lighter and more powerful batteries for years now, so perhaps it’s not quite like Paul the Octopus pointing a tentacle at Spain for the win

What did Cesar get wrong? He was pretty excited about consumers picking out the right size battery for their needs when they buy a bike, and while brands like Whyte do that with the Kado, the Unno Mith doesn’t get a removable battery.

Buck said heavier e-bikes would be something we’d all get used to, and by and large he’s right

Joe “Buck” Buckley, e-bike development at Specialized

This one’s pretty telling, three years ago Buck said that e-bikes wouldn’t get lighter, but we’d learn to handle the weight better. Was he announcing the heavier Specialized Turbo Levo Gen 4?

The Gen 4 Turbo Levo is a better bike than its predecessor, but it’s heavier too, something Specialized thinks we’ll come to live with

“E-bikes will of course never get down to the weights of similar style pedal bikes, but we’ll see a bit of an evolution in riding style that adapts to heavier bikes, and riders being able to do more with them,” he said.

Clairvoyant rating: 5 – yes the Spesh is now heavier, but he didn’t have to look very far to work that out.

“Think about motocross, before anyone thought a backflip was possible. Nowadays people are backflipping snowmobiles and even monster trucks! Ok, maybe a bit off-topic there.”

10 years ago Chris Porter told us our bikes are too small… and he was right. Today he reckons electronics are bad… I hope he’s wrong

Chris Porter, the great innovator and the man behind Mojo Rising

This is the man who told us years ago we’re all riding bikes too small for us, and how right he was. This time around he said geometry wouldn’t be changing much as brands have it sussed, with slack head angles and steep seat tube angles. Check, check and check.

Chris also saw the end of the derailleur, at least on his dream bike of the future, which “would have some kind of derailleur in the frame or gearbox solution.”

Clairvoyant rating: 10 – gearboxes and decoupling hubs, double tick… shame about the abhorrence for electronics

“My single sprocket freehub would run above the wheel bearings and would have a switchable neutral for fast rolling chainless feel at speed,” he said, which sounds a lot like E*thirteen’s Sidekick decoupling hub that our Mick Kirkman reckoned was akin to riding chainless. 

Another hit for Mr Porter. When I asked him about electronics he said resolutely: “none” though, which is shame given how much fun we’ve seen him have on an e-bike.