Agreed. My comments were to share my experience w OP. unfortunately it just adds more cost. Plus I’m not sure how this would impact drop out width.
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Thanks, interested to see what you go with, as I’m looking to replace my placeholder bar I put on my bike when I built it. I’m seeing so many bars are going 35mm, and I don’t want to (because I have lots of 31.8mm stems, and also because I want some flex/compliance in the bars to hopefully improve comfort on longer rides).
I think the specialized options have gone 35mm in carbon, but I could be wrong. The Enve M5 looks to be 31.8mm I think, but I’ve not really looked closely enough.
I did get an alloy Pro PLT bar, but cannot find it anywhere in the garage. I’m wondering if I recycled the box, thinking it was empty, but it actually had the bars in it.
Anyone had any issues with a really badly creaking rear SRAM Derailleur - Transmission XXSL specifically?
I serviced the outside pins that are self-serviceable, but that didn’t do it. Anyone know if SRAM will service and send it back? Or, outright replace?
If you have a DT SWISS axle try to lube between the silver serrated washer and the black spacer - or pull the lever and grease / lube inside by pulling the lever out to ratchet- for the squeaky rear derailleur or even bottom bracket.
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How did you diagnose it as the derailleur?
I’d pull it off the bike and make sure the frame interface/bushing is well greased.
I can get it to creak using my hand sitting on a repair stand - it’s the derailleur.
Pretty certain it’s the shifting mechanism and not the bushing, but I’ll give it a whirl.
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Whaka 100 100km race:
Bike and Tyres (Rick 2.4s) were flawless. Compliant, grip for days and fast.
Managed to beat the goal time of 7 hrs, 50min faster than last year. TR must be doing something right.
6:53:32
34/118 in the 40 - 49 category
143 / 443 overall
World class event and trails, highly recommended.
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A bit out there, but here goes: anyone tried the new Shimano XT 8250 or XTR 9250 with sram eagle cassette and chain? Any reason this should not work well given the derailleur can be adjusted like a mechanical with high and low as well as b-stop screws?
Any thoughts on the new Giant Anthem Advanced? I was thinking at maybe changing my 2022 Epic Evo for the new Epic 8 but the Giant seems like the better deal as it comes with a nice carbon integrated cockpit and new wheels with carbon spokes. The only downside is the lack of downtube storage but beside that, looks like a very good bike. Anthem Advanced SL 0 | Ultimate XC Race Bike (2026) | Giant Bicycles Canada
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Agree the Giant looks great. This is the first time that Giant has neared the top of my desired XC bike list. If I didn’t just get an Epic 8 last year, I would be looking hard at this.
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Epic 7 with brain oder EE7? What are you hoping to get out of this? Seems like a sidegrade at best?
Agree. They really jack up the price for FA. Not sure about the wheels though. Pretty heavy but maybe a good general riding wheel.
I don’t consider a 1350g wheelset as being heavy for an every day wheelset….Around 150g lighter than the stock Roval wheels offered on the Epic 8 Expert and Pro.
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I read 1456g but I can’t find 1350g listed anywhere. I’d agree, 1350g is the same as Zipp, Enve and Reserve….but I can’t see the reference. Only this:
Check the pinkbike article on the anthem: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/first-look-2026-giant-anthem-advanced-sl-and-anthem-x-advanced-sl.html
Through headset cable routing is a deal breaker for me on a mountain bike. Probably not so much of an issue if you live in a relatively dry place.
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I don’t mind the headset cable routing, especially since it looks like you can change bars without fussing with cables. The headset bearings on my current mountain bike made it 5 years before needing replacement. I would prefer they had a 2 piece carbon bar on the mid trims. I’m one who’s fit typically has me adding a longer stem. I’m not sure if there’s freedom with Giant’s purchasing process to swap the integrated bar for a different fit.
The weird build choice for me is no Flight Attendant on the ~$10k model. That’s the one I would hope to find on discount. The $15k model is never going to come down to prices I would pay.
The lack of lockouts and/or Flight Attendant on the Anthem X is the biggest miss for me. To me the whole benefit of Flight Attendant is that you can get bigger travel and keep the bike efficient on flats/climbs.
I also think its time that Fork companies figure out how to do integrated cables for lockouts and brakes. If we’re doing headset routing, might as well get rid of those last two cables out front.
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Totally agree on the missing FA, and the thought that Giant’s go on sale more often and more aggressively than say Specialized. I thought overall the prices seemed higher than I’d expected. I’d expected there to be a low $4k option to compete with the Epic 8 comp.
All the hype/media about the Giant does make it sound like a great bike, with amazing construction and a shock size which performs better etc. But still, that’s a pretty steep starting point.
It’ll be interesting to see how many opt for the Giant. I couldn’t even tell you where my nearest Giant dealer is. Also interested if Santa Cruz are going to update the Blur, as it’s very long in the tooth now.
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We saw a couple GP races this year with riders running rockshox forks with aero fairings. I can’t remember if those also enclosed the cables, but I assume they would. Hopefully a sign of things to come, I feel like aero optimization is low hanging fruit in the XC/XCM world right now (and gravel for that matter). The aero factor may not be critical on some courses, but there are definitely situations where some aero optimization would trump the minor weight penalty. Fork fairings make a lot of sense if you can install/remove based on course and race dynamics.
As far as internal routing for lockout cable, I wouldn’t expect to see that being a priority for rockshox since they already offer a path for no cable with FA. And I guess Fox has a path with live valve also, I just haven’t seen people adopting it like FA.