You could also consider a Synonym TR or Vitus Rapide FS like @Neuromancer and a few others.
Similar to the Arc8 in some senses. May not be as firm a pedaling platform (I hope it is). I’m building a Vitus up without lockouts as my race xc bike.
Mine doesn’t feel long at all, but I sized down.
I hope it doesn’t mean less support/a phasing out of the ability to buy classic hanger AXS 
.
I would hope not, since there are plenty of bikes out there that are only a couple years old without UDH, but it wouldn’t be the first time the bike industry made a decision like that either.
Went from Eagle AXS XX1 to Transmission XX SL the same week it was released and have put close to 1,000 miles on the Transmission. It’s better. It’s better than Eagle AXS in every way. That isn’t to say it’s necessarily worth the price tag, or that you should throw away your non-UDH frame, but I haven’t heard anyone argue that it’s not better. It is.
I’m looking at upgrading my bike (blur tr) from the stock eagle gx. I’ve always ran eagle gx, so it’s time to try something new. I want to stick with mechanical, I don’t want electric shifting.
Option 1 - slowly upgrade to x01. Easy, lots of used parts available near me. Can do it gradually.
Option 2 - buy XTR group set. Expensive and requires a new freehub body. But maybe ultimately better bang for buck. Slightly more annoying install.
Anyone have any advice to offer?
What are you trying to improve/change on the bike? From my experience, GX mechanical doesn’t shift any different than x01 xx1 (same mechanisms, just different case/cage materials). Obviously you save some weight with the higher end stuff. You can get almost all of the weight savings with the cassette and cranks (depending on what crank you currently have). The shifter and RD weights aren’t enough to matter from what I recall. If weight (or bling) is what you are going for, go XX1 rather than x01, it has some carbon bits where x01 has metal. Can’t personally speak to shift quality of XTR, but hear good things. All this stuff shifts great when it’s properly installed and maintained. Reconsider electronic if you are looking to improve shift reliability/consistency. Again, goes back to why you are wanting to change. If just for the sake of change, go shimano (the X01 or XX1 won’t perform any better than what you currently have, it will just look more bling).
Primary goal is to save weight (ok I admit I like the bling). My plan would be crank then cassette, then derailler and chain as my current gx wears. I actually quite like gx mech performance, but I do find it not the most durable.
I’m not adamant against electronic, I just find the $/weight not worth the performance gains. I also just don’t like the idea of adding more chargeable devices to my bike.
The shifter is the biggest difference. Then I’d compare the specific gears in the cassette. Shimano shifts better under load
I just ran cables on my epic and chisel. Took minutes! There are 3 visible cables rather than 2. It actually takes longer to pair SRAM axs road with blips than to internally route a cable with foam surround and dial it in.
Having said that, running cables for droppers is awful. This is the reason you need a heavy $750 wireless dropper or a bad $95 direct lever dropper.
Makes sense, nothing the matter with a little bling. Definitely start with crank and cassette. You might take another look at electronic at some point and the crank/cassette will already be in place. I understand the battery concern, but electronic is going to give you more improvement/change than swapping to xx1 or xo1 RD and shifter. I’m already seeing sales on AXS GX upgrade kits for around $500, I expect it will get even cheaper as transmission becomes the “hot new thing”. I suspect there will be deals on the higher end axs stuff also.
Thank you for the suggestion but I want to go in the opposite direction of the ARC8, towards XC not Trailbike. Meaning steeper head angle and shorter wheelbase - not downhill oriented. Besides, never heard of these brands over here. I’d definitely want to testride a bike before buying and not keen on ordering something online and then finding out it’s not the thing I have wanted. So as it stands it’ll come down to Specialized Epic Evo or SC Blur with Flight Attendant upgrade down the road perhaps.
I’ve been wanting an epic evo but now I’m thinking the new Rockrider bike once its finally released. I know decathlon sells to the US but how is warranty work?
Currently agonizing over a new dropper for my Blur TR. Using the 170mm reverb it came with, and wow does it ever suck. Well, when its working as intended its great. But it constantly develops sag, where it squishes a bit when upright. The venting procedure fixes it, but it gets tedious venting the air every couple weeks.
I am debatining the fox transfer (150 or 170), fox transfer sl (150), or a oneup (180). The bike is a XC/Downcountry build, so I want it light but not so light it falls apart to the challenging riding here.
Fox Transfer - had one before, worked excellently. But I have heard later models have been terrible.
Fox transfer SL - heard some reliability concerns, weight savings maybe not worth it?
Oneup - Simple, heavier than the SL. Maybe not as reliable as the transfer, but can be serviced at home.
Anyone have any thoughts? Any long term reviews of the SL?
I’ve had a one up for about 3 years now, over 2 bikes, literally fit and forget. Always worked. Also I don’t think the weight of it was that much heavier than anything else that was available at the time, without spending stupidly more money. As much as I love being a weight weenie, I don’t think I’d look past one, if I was buying again.
I’ve had the Transfer SL for a year. Ride my spark 12-15 hours a week. Dropper works as good as the day I installed it.
My very lightly used Fox Factory Transfer post is currently back at the factory being repaired after it stopped coming all the way back up to the top position and nothing either me or my LBS could do would fix it.
It’s such a good looking bike, but I’ve never even seen one for sale online, let alone in person.
It’d be cool to see what they’re like in person.
PNW Loam for the win.
That’s what I’m running in my Epic Evo while I’m waiting for Fox to send back the Factory Transfer dropper that came in. So far the PNW Loam has worked flawlessly.
I’ll put in a vote for one not on your list - BikeYoke Divine. I’ve had it on my bike for a couple years now without issue.
I’ve only put a few hours on it, but my Fox 150 SL has been mostly flawless. It had a weird break in period where it was really finicky about fully returning but that’s been worked out and it returns to the top every time now, fully locked in.
I replaced my OEM clamp with one that has a pivoting bolt/nut for more even clamping pressure and I used gritty paste on the post. No slipping at 4nm torque.
What I really like about it is the mechanical aspect. Very light actuation and no worries about bleeding, seals, etc… with the caveat that it’s either fully up or fully down, no in between.
Edit: bought it new and it came in a regular Transfer box touting “infinite adjust”.