Put it on the back, do a few skids and you’re good!
(And post pics of the scale on your IG so they’re burnt)
Haha I voted no. I just wasn’t sure where I fell on the weight weenie spectrum.
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Not that I have enough money to be a weight weenie but weight has never really been part of my decision criteria for MTB tires. It’s usually just a side effect of grip and durability.
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I’d return them just to hold the manufacturer accountable. But probably they’ll just send them off to someone else.
Got the XC XT version in size XL on order and hoping for delivery in end of Feb! Really nice bike and perfect for tall guys like me with the reach figures. Other option was a Kona Hei Hei but was a bit too relaxed after a test drive and was constantly touching the seatstays with my shoes.
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From what I understand it’s pretty hard to keep tires at a certain weight, from tire to tire.
I definitely know someone who will order several of the same exact tire, weigh them all, keep the lightest and sell the rest. That’s commitment, but I will admit I’m always envious of his bike weights!
Damn that is commitment! Does he do the same thing with every component on his bike? I’d love if he bought 4 of every bike frame so that he ensures that his doesn’t have some extra resin pooling or something like that to save 40 grams.
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You know you have a problem if…
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No, I don’t think so! 
For reference his new stump jumper weighs 24.5 lbs. Some of it is concessions I’m not willing to make, but it’s impressive nonetheless. He’s very fast up and down so it clearly works for him.
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How did he get it so light?? The sworks is 26.some lbs.
Finished my new whip for 2021. Since I had surgery and have been off the bike for 5 weeks, it was something to do if nothing else. I transferred over what I could from my Canyon Lux and sold the rest. Used the proceeds from the sale to buy whatever else I needed to finish the build.
It was a fun project as I wasn’t rushing on any of the steps. If I needed a part, an o-ring, a whatever I would just put in the order and wait for it to show up and pick the project back up again. It allowed me to disassemble the Lux and clean and detail every part before it made it’s way to the Lux. I rebuilt the freehub in the wheel, something I really wouldn’t have tried it I didn’t have ample time on my hands. I also shortened up the brake lines and bled the brakes. The way they feel now is much nicer (to me) than the factory bleed. It took some research and time but once I figured out the little subtleties the bite point feels a lot nicer.
For the Weight Weenie brothers and sisters, do not freak out. No pedals, no cages, no chain at the time the pics were taken and bike was weighed. I put those at 600g total so 9,66kg and 21.25 lbs with my Quarq PM.
No real rides on it yet but it was fun to build a bike from the frame up.
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Food for thought, don’t sleep on the Giant Trance. Definitely worth considering, depending on what you’re after.
I demoed one for the past three days and was honestly pretty impressed. It doesn’t fee like it’s legs are that long, but once you’re used to it you can clean plenty of east-coast technical stuff and when you hit the gas, it really goes. Best pedaling bike i’ve ridden recently, unless you’re riding on tarmac, you don’t need a lockout.
One criticism is that the build is not amazing, at least for the $3k-ish, 29er down-country version. Could have used better brakes in particular, and probably some people would want an upgrade from the stock Marzzocchi Z2 fork.
That said, I would buy one in a heartbeat, but i don’t think the sizing works for me. On the medium i felt too far forward with my butt too high, but the large is a lot bigger and would probably be too big and the dropper post probably doesn’t go low enough.
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I put money down on a new BMC Twostroke (AL 2 with Deore 12s) a few months ago and am still patiently waiting…
In the meantime, I’ve acquired a Stages XT power meter and matching crankset, and a KS Lev dropper.
The plans are to race the weekly summer series at my local ski resort. It’ll also probably replace my old Giant AC for trail duties.
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OK, another update to my epic EVO “enhancement” process. I purchased a charger2 damper to gain some better suspension feel, and very very long story short, the epic EVO version of the Reba is a custom chassis, so the charger damper that is listed as compatible actually isnt. Rock Shox is working with me on this process after taking many many measurements, and even though the website and serial number reference an A9 Reba, its not. So, beware for anyone else who might try and upgrade the damper on their Epic EVO.
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So, interesting discovery: I am right in the middle of hte range for the Medium on the Giant Trance but it felt way small; i felt too far forward and packed up. Sadly, i thought the Large would be way too big because I was on hte very bottom of the manufacturer’s size range on that one. So i thought i couldn’t consider the bike, bc the sizing just wouldn’t work.
But then i looked at my current trail bike and found it has even less reach than the Medium! So that got me thinking.
I did some googling and found this article: What mountain bike frame size should you ride? - MBR
Has some interesting stuff. Long story short I went out and picked up the size large to demo today and it feels great, i fit on it just fine. I was worried the dropper post wouldnt’ go low enough to accomdate my itty bitty legs but even that was wrong.
I’m going to see how this rides tomorrow morning. It’s very possible that the only reason i fit on my current trail bike is because i get myself too far back at the expense of stability and front wheel bite.
Anyway just food for thought
Yes. And it will be mine… it will be.
Ended up demoing both the L and the XL Scalpel…XL felt great for my weird proportions. Confirms my experience that I prefer bikes in the 470-490 reach range, even size charts would usually say the bikes are too large for me.
I was able to locate one nearby in the base model, but paid for some extra upgrades out of the gate. New bike day is coming in a few weeks!
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Finished the Epic with all the goods Santa left for me. I added the Rockshox AXS Reverb and that added some weight. Fully built right at 22.5 all in (pedals, multi tool, cages etc.) size large.
My Lux had a top tube protector built in. The Epic does not. I added some shelter tape and some carbon fiber decals over the shelter tape to protect the top tube. I just put the carbon sticker on the shelter tape and then cut them out together. The AXS controllers would definitively smash into the top tube with major force in a crash. I’m running the controls at 4nm and they will spin with enough force but I wanted that little extra protection.
In the pic the protection really stands out but on the bike you hardly notice the protection is there. I could have downsized but wanted the added adhesion with more surface area. I also added mastic tape on the bottom of the AXS controllers. I flicked the bars pretty hard into the top tube to see what would happen and I feel I’m thoroughly protected.
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great lookin bike
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I just found out that my cannondale scalpel (SE) order likely will not ship until June 5th, unfortunately.
I am currently debating whether to keep it vs. explore another bike (which also might take a long time to arrive too, depending).
The alternatives I’m considering are the Giant Trance 29 and the Santa Cruz Blur TR.
Anyone have experience with the current model Blur who likes it? I’m solidly in the Downcountry category: fast enough for race day (accepting a small penalty of course) but also built to rip