Sounds like a great plan! Should be great when finished!
How do you like the m6 bars? Have you ridden before? I see a lot of people using the enves on xc builds and got me curious about it! Did you get low or high rise?
No firsthand experience with them. Honestly Iām just copy catting this build because I assumed they knew what they were doing when they specād it: BC40 SRAM XX SL Flight Attendant Bike - Allied Cycle Works
edit: missed the 2nd part of your question. I did the low rise. I compared the ZFS-5, the Epic 8, and my old bike in Geometry geeks: Compare: cervelo ZFS-5 120 2023: L -VS- Specialized S-Works Epic 8 2024: L (high BB) -VS- Orbea Oiz Tr 2019: L (TR) -VS-
The stack height on the ZFS is already pretty tall and while the reach is longer than my old bike itās nowhere near as long as the Epic 8. So I went low rise with 65mm M6 stem. Would have done 70mm if they had one, but 65 is as long as they go.
I might try this one eventuallyā¦ I also notices their full XX SL 165mm power meter is 40% off 2699 ā 2199 + 25% thatās a great deal! couldnāt resist and got one on pre-order!
Where is this?
that was at Bike Tires Direct their 165mm is discounted down from 2699 to 2199 and the 25% was working on it but I think it was only until yesterday. the coupon code was MARCH25B maybe will still work
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Kicking myself for not ordering the 165. I am a proponent of short cranks but I just assumed that the code wouldnāt apply to back ordered items even though it apparently did. Oh well, I got the 170s.
As for the M6 bar again, Iāve heard good things about it from a few people. The M5 bar is lighter but Iāve heard itās super stiff, whereas the M6 is still light but is a good bit more comfortable with a a good mix of compliance and stiffness.
Iād probably not do well with a flat 0 rise bar, the 7.5 rise on the M6 is just the min it seems like to be comfy.
The 165 is backordered supposed to ship 04/11, ended up only costing $75 more than the XX non PM, even though Iād have picked the XX cassette if I had the choice for kore durability! But it was such a good deal to pass
Theyāve been running that sale on xxsl PM for a while. If you keep checking it will most likely be back.
Watching the Cape Epic this week, really liked the Canyon/Sidi teams bikes very cool custom paint job and they took the Lux and ran 110mm of suspension instead of the normal 100.
Hump
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And just like that!!
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Has anyone tried the Roval Control cockpit? If so do you rate it?
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Yep looks like a new Scalpel is coming. Refinements vs huge change.
Some tweaks to geometry, internal routing through the bar, might be the most visible.
I see almost no reason to upgrade from the 2021/2022 model, unless that clean cockpit and the headaches of working with it are something youāre into.
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Also What is THIS? Lachlan was running this number plate mount system last year and I canāt find anything like it anywhere. Sure beats zip ties or pipe cleaners.
seems to be the case for every single XC bike being released!
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Doesnāt appear to be available to the market yet. There is something similar here:
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A subtle arc in the bracket would be difficult to avoid putting into the product because aero. But it looks perfectly flat.
Joe
PS It also seems like we are converging on a single design for most XC bikes these days.
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Not a great look when one of the first reviewers snapped the down tubeā¦
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wow. yeah thatās not exactly ideal.
The bike on paper looks fine, checks all the boxes of what youād expect for a 2024 bike but Iād really hard pressed to choose any of these over an Epic 8. Each model is $500 less than its Epic 8 counterpoint. On the high end the Lab 71 vs S-Works Epic especially doesnāt make sense - you get a power meter flight attendant for that same price. The Lab 71 IMO needs to be no more than 12.5K for what youāre giving up.
For the other models, Iād always pay the extra $500 for the Epic 8 equivalent to gain the more progressive geometry (including flip chip option), twist lock on the suspension, and frame storage.
Not to be overly critical of the geo as itās extremely close to the ZFS-5 Iām building, but Iām confident that the Epic 8 is ultimately an objectively better bike than what Iām building up. My gambit is just that the marginal gains Iām losing out on are not worth the 5 grand Iām saving. Not saving much in the case of this Scalpel.
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