I'm trying to math out what an ideal build would look like at the $2000-2500 price point on this frame - obviously very little would need to really get changed out.
I think pimping it out of the X-Fusion catalog is a good start, just adding a dropper (Manic - $200 - done) and bumping up to a Trace HLR with a touch more travel would be a hit. Bump up to SLX Brakes (and rotors). I'd concur with the tire shift - either MM/NN, Vigilante/TrailBoss, or DHF/Aggressor. It's 100% areas where performance gains are not diminishing returns yet really.
Add a couple of color options (Keep the classy grey/black/teal - I'd add one in the same Black/Red-Orange Fade colorway as the WolfRidge - and maybe do a lavender accent variant of the current one as well), and be done.
For all the nonsense about trying to develop women's specific stuff, THIS is a bike that can be a better answer. It's just an outright good bike, doesn't come with any parts which suck, and with the simple addition of a custom saddle (see Enduro-MTB's survey of what shows up at women's group rides - you'll see what I mean) it would be a better way to bring more ladies into the shred-iverse.
May 13, 2017, 12:37 p.m. - Tehllama42
I'm trying to math out what an ideal build would look like at the $2000-2500 price point on this frame - obviously very little would need to really get changed out. I think pimping it out of the X-Fusion catalog is a good start, just adding a dropper (Manic - $200 - done) and bumping up to a Trace HLR with a touch more travel would be a hit. Bump up to SLX Brakes (and rotors). I'd concur with the tire shift - either MM/NN, Vigilante/TrailBoss, or DHF/Aggressor. It's 100% areas where performance gains are not diminishing returns yet really. Add a couple of color options (Keep the classy grey/black/teal - I'd add one in the same Black/Red-Orange Fade colorway as the WolfRidge - and maybe do a lavender accent variant of the current one as well), and be done. For all the nonsense about trying to develop women's specific stuff, THIS is a bike that can be a better answer. It's just an outright good bike, doesn't come with any parts which suck, and with the simple addition of a custom saddle (see Enduro-MTB's survey of what shows up at women's group rides - you'll see what I mean) it would be a better way to bring more ladies into the shred-iverse.