The frame price isn't bad. Good name and warranty, cable routing, dropouts, stiffness, and paint quality. That's all worth a premium, even if it's a bit heavy.
The wheels are something else. There's a narrow sliver of XC bikes still on 2.1"-2.3" tires for which I might want a sub-30mm rim, but for literally everything else, I'd choose bigger. Even those undersized Maxxis 2.3" tires would do better at 30mm, with 2.35" and 2.4" in the mid-30s. The big 2.6" treads we're gravitating to work best at 38mm-40mm, a "plus" width not two years ago.
IME, the additional width adds sidewall stability and volume and reduces the chance of a burp. I'm aware some tires have narrow tread patterns that don't play well with wide rims, but this is changing quickly. If you're buying a bike for more than a season, I think it's hard to justify a high-dollar wheelset designed for yesterday's tires.
Jan. 30, 2019, 9:05 a.m. - Alex D
The frame price isn't bad. Good name and warranty, cable routing, dropouts, stiffness, and paint quality. That's all worth a premium, even if it's a bit heavy. The wheels are something else. There's a narrow sliver of XC bikes still on 2.1"-2.3" tires for which I might want a sub-30mm rim, but for literally everything else, I'd choose bigger. Even those undersized Maxxis 2.3" tires would do better at 30mm, with 2.35" and 2.4" in the mid-30s. The big 2.6" treads we're gravitating to work best at 38mm-40mm, a "plus" width not two years ago. IME, the additional width adds sidewall stability and volume and reduces the chance of a burp. I'm aware some tires have narrow tread patterns that don't play well with wide rims, but this is changing quickly. If you're buying a bike for more than a season, I think it's hard to justify a high-dollar wheelset designed for yesterday's tires.