Hi there forum,
I am looking at building a climbing focused MTB and have absolutely zero clue about anything MTB, so I need help!
I am a roadie/ gravel aficionado, who loves traveling and climbing. Since I have taken up increasingly many epic climbs, especially of the mega steep variety, the more I have run into the limitations that gravel and road bikes carry.
Several of the very evil climbs have either several kilometers beyond 15% incline on poor road surface (Alto de las Animas, Nebelhorn, Alpe Fuori) and others have long off-road sections, where gravel bikes can hardly keep traction (Mount Etna, Jausiers, Mauna Kea).
I figured: āHey, I have an excuse to get a new bike!ā
I was thinking the Open with 27.5" tires and AXS Mullet gearing could be that bike, but it isnāt.
While it can get me up quite well, once at the top of such climb, itās a long and arduous procedure to get back down. I was thinking Gravel suspension fork, but why not go full MTB, which would be the best for the job.
So, Long story short: I need a MTB, that climbs and descends well.
I am a terrible bike handler, so while Iāll do trails, it will be primary school stuff.
One thing that always kept me from buying an MTB, was the geometry: I did Etna and they didnāt have a hard tail, so I had to go with a fully. The 760mm bars were stupid wide and the hand position was terrible ( for me). The bar was bent, so that my wrists had to rotate inwards (hands pointing outwards), which I was really painful to endure for this hourlong climb.
So maybe there is a good compromise somewhere, I really donāt know:
Currently I am thinking:
- S-Works Epic HT
- Rock-Shox Race Day 100mm fork (44 or 51 offset?)
- Extralite Wheels with Berd spokes
- Conti SpeedKing Protection 29" tires (other fast/ light recommendations?)
- some boutique handlebar (recommendations? Recommendations to alleviate the wrist issue? Recommendations on how narrow I can go without making the bike stupidly twitchy? - it appears 750 to 770 is the gold standard nowadays, but I really hate how that feelsā¦)
- Grips? (I have no clue what to look for here)
Additional questions:
Groupset:
SRAM Eagle AXS is great and all, and I have used it for several years on my Open. But I am currently in the process of transitioning all my other bikes to Shimano. So it kinda feels wrong to buy a SRAM groupset again.
Then again, the Shimano XTR looks old af. Not really interested in buying a new groupset and have them release a new one like 4 months later.
Wait? SRAM? What would you do?
Seatpost:
Not sure if a dropper post is important for my limited application. Possibly not. I would just go with something like Schmolke or Darimo, unless youād recommend to definitely go with a dropper.
Really looking forward to your guyās input and learning more about MTBing.