Agree I had GX on my old fuel and aside from bashing the derailleur on stuff and bending parallelograms and hangers it never acted up for me. I will say I never could get it to run perfect though, always just needed a little tinkering but mostly for noise and not so much actual shifting. The AXS is super sweet but not like omg this shifts so much faster, it’s just more consistent, quieter, easier on the hands, and makes cool little zip zip noises.
I think if / when the GX wears out - ASX is a natural upgrade.
It definitely will. GX chains don’t last worth a damn, and the cassettes get eaten up quick as a result.
Someone knows if a 38 tooth will fit?
I tried the Twist Loc. Hated it. It was very uncomfortable. I swapped it out after 3 rides for the Bontrager DropLock Remote, which I really like and would highly recommend.
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DropLock doesn’t work with Reverb AXS.
Some people have said the TwistLoc is tight in the beginning, but will loosen up.
Will see. Otherwise I will go back to the setup @Kuttermax has, even if a little crowded.
My apologies, I somehow missed you were discussing AXS Reverb
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I have a twist lock on my 2020 topfuel and I really like how it works. I run silicon grips which is easy enough to cut them a smidge shorter. I am coming up on 2000 miles on my Topfuel 2020. The only con I think is how the cables exit the twist loc. It doesn’t look very tidy.
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Thanks for that.
To be honest, with all those cables it is never going to be tidy. Do you have the right cable guide on your Top Fuel - it is different whether you run SRAM or Shimano brakes.
Ya, my thoughts too, a lot of cables which is tough to look tidy. My bike came with the Shimano brakes which have the straight cable guide. I think the curved SRAM cable guide would tidy things up a bit as it shoots the cables toward the center of the bike. I have not been able to source one separately without having to buying the entire twist loc. I even tried calling RS to source one.
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just want to chime in with my mostly very positive experience with this bike so far.
first things first, if you try to rationalize this bike ON PAPER, you’ll never get there. the usually-touted metrics of weight, travel amount, head angle, and cost, need to be taken holistically here. if you do that, you’ll find this bike easily punches above its weight (no pun) and is well more than the sum of its parts. it’s the underappreciated less quantifiable attributes that make this bike what it is.
RIGIDITY. this bike is STIFF. if you grab the back tire and move it side-to-side, you’ll notice it doesn’t move very much. i’d say it tracks AT LEAST as well as my Ripmo, and about 999% better than a bike like an Intense Sniper. i mean really whats the point of 100mm of travel if the wheel is going to flop all over the place when you try to use it. i really question this new crop of ultralight “down country” bikes with spindly rear ends and 115+mms of travel. its quality over quantity any day for me. and this bike delivers in spades. true it “should” weigh less than an Epic, but you know what? i’ll take that enduro-like rigidity in a 2kg package any day of the week in the real world.
EFFICIENCY. the bike doesn’t need a lockout. plain and simple. you can do uphill standing sprint intervals with the shock open and not miss a beat. it’s a rocketship. BUT, at the same time, there’s zero noticeable pedal kickback when seated, and the suspension proceeds to work seamlessly over the washboard stuff. it’s fairly difficult to bottom the bike out, but at the same time, the suspension works and you know it’s there.
LAYOUT. two bottles. in the triangle. enough said.
UPKEEP. i hate proprietary stuff too, but this really isn’t that. the damper assembly is just a shortened DPS with a different head on it. the strut will never wear out and the seal head and bushings in the frame that the strut slides on are serviceable off the shelf parts. there’s only one real pivot (by the BB) and everything else is up out of harms way and well sheltered from debris and dirt.
GEOMETRY and TUNE. This bike RIPS. It has no business being as good as it is. The rear damping is spot on. Plenty of low speed compression and more than enough high speed (which is a good thing at 60mm). the bike just goes. With the 69 deg head angle, its SUPER fun to throw into corners…it’s just so responsive. I’m so glad they didn’t follow the SLACK BRO fad with this thing. It descends fine and comes alive in the switchbacks and tighter corners. All in all, I’m extremely impressed with it. It truly is more than the sum of its parts.
build thread w/ pics here:
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Great, detailed description. It’s hard to imagine 60mm being enough these days, but you have certainly intrigued me. It’d be cool to try out.
Your build is particularly nice, well done.
Thank you!
Dammit, now I really, really want one to replace my old Scalpel.
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Flow MTB has finally released their review. They like it very much it would seem
I have had mine for a little while, but not been able to ride much, as the trails here more resembles bogs at the moment. But so far so good.
I was debating whether to install the TwistLoc to deal with the lockout (as I also have the AXS dropper), but I think I prefer it as it is even though the bars are a little crowded.
I will probably install wider bars at some point though.
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I tried the TwistLoc and absolutely hated it. It was uncomfortable and rubbed my hand raw.
Is it possible to run the shock open and not bother with a lockout at all (I’d be putting my 34SC w/o remote lockout on a frame)? Close to pulling the trigger on one of these…
absolutely. you don’t need the shock lockout ever. ill use the lever (i replaced the remote lever damper with the damper-mounted lever damper) on concrete just because it’s there. but you really dont need it. you can do standing intervals on this bike with the shock open (and the fork closed).
I haven’t used the lockout much so far. Didn’t even bother with it on the road to and from the trails. I it is one of the reasons I like the Supercaliber vs some of its competitors - it has more natural anti squat. Flow MTB mentions this in their review too.
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No problem running the shock without the L/O cable connected. On the Top Fuel the L/O is useful for blacktop and smooth fireroads. The SuperCal would hardly notice the lockout though, I reckon it can cope with our level of weight/power output without it.
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