Ugh, my suspicion but not what I was hoping to hear. the driveside chainstay and seatstay are basically trying to remove themselves from the bike, ugh. Big crack above the BB, and upper part of the seat stay. Super frustrating since they marketed this as having a “trail” lay up.
I’m after some recommendations for chain stay, noise dampening set ups that are sort of XC approved (weight I guess)?
My bike is really singing now and I love the set up with the AXS and Blipshift, no remotes etc. but the piss poor clutch on SRAM AXS and the subsequent chain slap is driving me nuts.
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I always use used bar tape. Keeps quiet, I imagine it’s light compared to the velcro thick covers, and looks cool.
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That’s a good shout.
This is maybe a bit odd, but I’ve end up using stick on door seal stuff from Home Depot, I’ve used a foamy one, and the rubber ones, I like the foam ones, but they tend to look a little nastier.
Silicon “tape” also works ok too.
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3M mastic tape. I think it’s 2228
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Just did my first ride with a mt zoom handlebar, the ultralight carbon flat bar in 760mm. It is replacing a raceface six on my blur tr. It is super light at 120g, and I am very impressed! Tested it out on some north shore “xc” trails, which are very steep and very rough, particularly this time of year. My biggest concern was it would be too noodly, but it actually has a very balanced compliance and feels much better than the very stiff raceface bars it replaced.
One ride is a small sample size, but will update in a few months once I get a few more rides in on some of the rougher trails. So far would recommend!
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Very keen to follow. I wanted to get a Mt Zoom bar when building up my set up, but I chickened out.
I have a Reverse Components at ~180g which is super nice.
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Yeah I agree, would love to follow how it goes on north shore xc too.
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Be careful with these ultralight bars, especially after even minor crashes
I managed to break a mcfk 760mm riser bar by pushing it when setting up the pressure
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My local REI had these on the sale rack, $30/ea.
I bought both they had stocked using a gift card. $10 out of pocket for possibly the lightest SPD pedals out there.
Apparently weight includes cleats.
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It may be a bit of a skeptical/cynical view, but I don’t see the US made mtn bikes hanging on for long?
Just my thoughts. Even after dropping the price on a build, the Allied is still fairly pricey….how do they manage to stay in against the Asian made frames?
Ibis even released an Exie made in Asia, seeing that the USA model was so much higher.
Hump
Allied is riding the Walton money train, I don’t know if they actually need to make money when billionaires want to “give back” (which is fine, as along as your interests align with theirs).
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Interesting, thanks. Going to stop by REI to see if these are still on sale and in stock. Just to confirm, these are SPD compatible?
Yep, they sure are.
Has anyone ridden the element and the FM936? I am considering picking up a 936 if kona doesnt stand by their warranty. I get the feel the element is too trail for me (I already have something straddling the line of enduro/trail, and like my XC bikes to generally feel quite racy, especially under the pedals, not as concerned about weight. I basically want a bike that feels fast accelerating, I dont care if something squishy is just as fast, the mental aspect is very important to me.
the FM936 has similar numbers to the element, but Im wondering how it actually feels, if they are both built up with decent XC parts.
I like the feel of DW links I’ve pedaled, so the Exie is probably perfect, but struggling to stomache the cost in a way that doesnt support my local shop. (my local shop sells RM).
My last option, and one that is enticing me is having a friend build me a steel hardtail to replace the carbon honzo. I havent ridden a FS bike actually set up for XC in ages, so I’m a bit torn if I should give it a go. I was almost frustrated when I took a PR on a local climb I do frequently on my almost 40 lb stumpy evo, which has me a bit tempted to see what I can do with a bit more traction than a HT.
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Could you see if N+1 bikes has any Exie frame sets on discount? You could get your LBS to do the build (even if you already have components - labor is a great way to support the shop).
N+1 is doing a lot of promotion on Facebook, and while I’m not affiliated with them in any way, I did buy one of my bikes from them and they were great to work with. A number of other friends have also had the same experience…
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We probably won’t close this one for a while, since discussion about these (now) older bikes is likely, but I wanted to make the new years one just to have it in place for the legit 2024 items.
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I’ve only ridden the element, but that geometry does trade off flat handling while pedaling. It’s only an issue for racing, and it can be a little difficult on tight switchbacks, but I’m still a big fan. Epic ht comes out for smooth local trails though.
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Could anyone help me find a bash guard for my FM936?
My 120-100 bike has become my do-it-all all mountain bike; whilst I love it, the low BB means my chainring gets hit the odd time! The bike doesn’t have a mount for a chain guide and it runs a BSA BB; what options are there?