Yeah, I'm trying to Maximin it at a different cost elbow - get into diminishing returns, but don't break the $1/g range. I have found that cranks are a vastly superior option to frame for stiffness and weight, similarly splashing out for that cassette and a good oval chainring has been an enormous improvement at the level of running properly set suspension, and with DT 360 hubs not unreasonable for cost and still snags a weight gain. It's the availability of on-sale 11spd kit that's cheap that makes it work on the budget at all.
Ironically, my plan at this point if I needed a do-over would be to get the Deore 12-speed, swap to e.13 cassette, but toss the rest of that 12-speed stuff onto my hardtail, and dig out an anxient XO 2x10 crankset in carbon, so that I can run a 42/28T setup there stacked atop current cassettes, since I run that bike (dual RekonRace 29x2.35) as an all-mountain hardtail as well as road/gravel setup to chase people on road bikes.
Sept. 9, 2020, 1:28 p.m. - Tehllama42
Yeah, I'm trying to Maximin it at a different cost elbow - get into diminishing returns, but don't break the $1/g range. I have found that cranks are a vastly superior option to frame for stiffness and weight, similarly splashing out for that cassette and a good oval chainring has been an enormous improvement at the level of running properly set suspension, and with DT 360 hubs not unreasonable for cost and still snags a weight gain. It's the availability of on-sale 11spd kit that's cheap that makes it work on the budget at all. Ironically, my plan at this point if I needed a do-over would be to get the Deore 12-speed, swap to e.13 cassette, but toss the rest of that 12-speed stuff onto my hardtail, and dig out an anxient XO 2x10 crankset in carbon, so that I can run a 42/28T setup there stacked atop current cassettes, since I run that bike (dual RekonRace 29x2.35) as an all-mountain hardtail as well as road/gravel setup to chase people on road bikes.