Ahh, the orange frame. So nice! I was back and forth between that and the salmon Blur TR. ended up with the salmon.
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Completely agree, yes. I’m almost, or just, as fast on most DH with the DC set up. On faster sections of trail and if I’m headed to gravity oriented riding, obviously I’m going to go with the trail/enduro wheel tire combo, but I was pleasantly surprised at my time on a local steep DH where I was within 10 seconds of my PR, and I wasn’t at full gas, so I think for most trail riding scenarios the DC option is going to be my go-to. Last night I was searching for the correct tire pressure in the back of the Booster tire and 20 PSI was too low for me as I found a square edged rock and burped the tire just enough to leave it super mushy on the higher speed hard packed trails (in that scenario I missed the full on EXO casing and cush core, but I think the minimal insert saved the rim a dent) - I’ve been running 20 psi on the Agressor with no issues so sidewall casing obviously plays a roll…
How are people with full cockpits (so lots of cables from handlebar to frame/fork) fixing their number plate when racing?
- Behind cables, fix to handlebar
- In front of cables, loosely fix to cables top and bottom
- Fix cables to handlebar, then number in front
0 voters
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100% handlebars for me. Though I always really want to go handlebars and folded right back on itself (almost wrapping the bar) to stem, like the pros do.
I don’t like the movement allowed by cables only and I’ve got so many cables it’s hard to not get the plate impacted by them.
Must be super hard for smaller headtube frames I guess too? At least I have a smidge more real estate to play with.
I think in the future I’ll punch my own holes to lift the plate higher up. I was able to do that for the local series ones, though they were rigid plates.
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Only a few steps to completion but with missing parts having lead time and the mechanic gone riding for two weeks it will take some time until I can celebrate NBD. I just wanted to share the progress with the right audience as my significant other is “mildly unimpressed” by just another bike. It’s a ‘21 Epic Evo speced as a very light XC/DC rig ;/)
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Looks terrific!
What did you decide about your wheel build?
Also, what are you going for in bar/stem?
The Roval wheels came in with 1282 g so I stuck with those - going ultra-light is now a task for the off-season (currently thinking of an Extralite/Berd build around the 1000 g mark).
I had a very close look on the bar-stem combos, Gemini and Bikeahead in particular. Finally they didn’t make the cut being restricted to certain sizes/lengths and not impressively light. I went with a 54 g stem and a 163 g bar (760 mm).
Unfortunately I have to replace the bar with a model with more rise as I still encounter the “classic” Evo problem of the bar hitting the top tube. This will not add to a very racey look but half a dozen of spacers under a flat bar won’t either.
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Damn I never saw that paint job on specialized website. If I did I’d absolute get it cause it looks amazing. Real nice bike
Mid week is such a fun series. One of the things I miss most from leaving the area
It was a frame-only option which I only got my hands on by sheer luck. It was sold by a guy who scrapped a project and had no further use for it. The pic doesn’t any justice to the paint job - way better in real life. It looks like on the Spesh promo pics and was a pleasant surprise weight-wise.
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I run a riser bar and no spacers. Gives me a great mix of positions with a low “TT” position, and a confident descending position. I think it looks pretty good. (I had the same reservations before I got it).
I’ll be really interested to follow your wheel build and final build up. I have just built a set of wheels up with Duke Ali rims, DT240 hubs and CX Ray spokes. I’d have loved to try with Berd if I had been able. They seem fantastic.
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Still some time to finish the initial build and then putting the new sled through its paces. Cutting “excess weight” will be stage 2. I’ll keep you posted!
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Any Mondraker riders on here?
Not a brand I’d thought much about. With Bec McConnell riding so well at the moment it’s been more prominent and I looked it up.
Turns out they do sell in NZ, though they are expensive. Reading up about them they seem pretty fantastic on paper. A bit like Yeti and the switch link, their spiel makes it sound even better.
That DC rig certainly looks good 
.
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What wins on Sunday sells on Monday!
That used to be the slogan of the Bathurst 1000 race.
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Have one dealer in my area, and some of their shop employees ride the trail/enduro bikes. Haven’t seen the XC bike in the wild.
Hump
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They’re a brand I’d always associated with downhill, but the McConnell wins have also raised my awareness of them. I don’t really know much about the company, and a quick search showed all marketing speak stuff.
Are they Spanish? I wasn’t sure. And they have the carbon xc bikes built in China I presume? I’m not up to date on all the different xc bikes and open mold and semi-open mold ones. Is the mondraker xc bike 100% theirs?
For similar spec, are they cheaper than the usual/common brands like Specialized Epic, Santa Cruz Blur and Scott?
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Maybe most importantly - Mondraker bikes are really fast looking 
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2 years into cycling and I’m looking to replace a Specialized Chisel with one of those new carbon BMC Two Stroke’s. Anyone out there have any thoughts on this specific model or the brand’s reputation for quality control compared to the equivalent bikes from Spec, Canyon, Pivot, Giant?
I remember that Mondraker pioneered the geometry change to longer top tubes, shorter stems and slacker heat tube angles like, years and years ago. Pretty much every MTB (and some gravel bikes) have followed. And yes, they’re HQ’ed in Spain. I would say they are a company that is not afraid to innovate. I am surprised to see them in the XC world. McConnell’s success probably has more to do with the excellent support that she finally, and deservedly, received from a professional team. So, that is also a good reason to support the company, in my book!
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