New XC/DC bike on the block. Looks super fun, super expensive, no idea when it will be available.
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It’s unique looking isn’t it 
. Not my taste, but I can definitely see it’s appeal to those that love the DW suspension/Ibis brand!
You’re right about expensive 
.
Changing front chainring one up or down you don’t normally need to change your chain length and can often get away with it. Just try it and see, it may have been on the longer side anyways.
I went with a Top Fuel over the FEX because it weighs a lot less. Like 4lbs less at the top component level. It’s a great climber. While I don’t have as much suspension for drops and jumps, I find that in reality, I only really imagine myself getting big air. I don’t fly near as far off those jumps in real life as I do in my mind, so it turns out the suspension hasn’t been a big deal. TF definitely a much faster bike on all but real rough steep descents perhaps.
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Sounds right. Yea I’m really curious to try the TF out, my FEX is 27lbs at the AXS level with a low end crank, could likely get that down to 2lbs difference if I went to a carbon one. Maybe I should avoid riding the TF since I won’t go through swapping bikes anyway and if I don’t ride it I won’t know what I’m missing and have no regret.
I wonder how much of the speed difference comes from tires and how much from geometry and position. I have a hard time keeping the front end down on some very steep climbs but I only ride very steep stuff very rarely, and some of that may have to do with the 51mm offset fork putting the front wheel further forward too. I did see my average speeds jump a bit when I swapped my rear only XR4 for an XR3. I guess I can’t make up for short travel geometry but I think I’ve bridged the gap a bit in weight, hence my “Top Fuel EX” monicker.
Wish there were some locals here to ride with you guys seem like you’d push me in a good way
In my experience it’s the suspension tune/squish that makes the biggest difference. The weight of bike, wheels, and tyres is definitely noticeable, but to me secondary.
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Maybe its good that I’m now blowing through travel on my more XC style rides where I just focus on smooth speed and not style or fun (but it’s always fun)
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$4500 for the frame set. Seems like a value when compared to something like a Dogma frame. Seems like a tough sell for most MTBers, but obviously they won’t be able to meet demand so what do I know. Way past my budget but I still sent an inquiry to my dealer, why not! Looks beautiful.
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I’m feeling buyers remorse for the Santa Cruz Blur that I have on order but no idea when it’s coming! That’s a bad sign…I clearly need professional help…Or a higher paying job…
Curious about the TREK Supercaliber it seemed to get a lot of hype when it was announced and now most things I read are kind of meh. What’s the deal with the Supercaliber?
Can confirm: meh. But there’s people in here that seem to like it.
From the limited XC racing I’ve watched it still seems to be the bike for the Trek team. One guy around us seems to love his but also loves to talk crap about anyone with more travel than him so I’m not sure he’s a fair assessment.
Literally the stock build of my Scalpel cost $4500 when I put the order in
These prices are just getting insane.
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I guess it was only a matter of time until this madness came to MTB, given how many road/gravel framesets cost $4000+.
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I agree. That’s the price of an SLX build at least in a bunch of brands, including Specialized (which I always found expensive).
It’s weird because that write up indicates that being affordable was a priority, and based on the PinkBike “Value Bikes Field Test” I thought Ibis were less boutique.
Then again, I’ve heard arguments for paying the premium pricing for other brands, and if this bike ticks all of the boxes for someone then they can justify the cost.
When the answer to ‘do you have an x in stock’ where x is anything is them literally laughing… they can demand whatever they want.
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Word to the wise for anyone ordering an Ibis…
Don’t be prepared for it to show up any time soon, even if it’s “in stock”
Ibis is notoriously slow
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I’m personally surprised that MTB frames have been cheaper than road for so long: more material, more labor, pivots, and lots come with a shock to boot
I’m not saying I agree with the pricing of bikes as a whole but always thought that it was kinda backwards that road stuff costs more than MTB considering the complexity of the parts. I can get a top of the line FEX/TF for around 10k whereas the road bikes from trek are pushing 13
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If you’ll allow a comparison to our road counterparts, you’ll see that prices have long been insane.
I still had trouble understanding the Dogma customer when I worked at a Pinarello dealer. $6500 starts the conversation. 
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If a Huffy won the tour this year you’d see Dogmas traded in for one in an instant. The worst is people who buy this stuff and actually talk about how it made them fast. I’m certainly not a gatekeeper and people can and should buy whatever they want, but a Dogma doesn’t make them faster just like my iPhone doesn’t make me Steve Jobs
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