Sept. 16, 2020, 9 p.m. -  Sean Chee

I want a 27.5 XL. Hahaha but that's more about my delusions of free ride grandeur than anything else. I've just pulled the trigger on a new "xc" bike. The Canyon Neuron will be my first new bike in about a decade, my first new full sus, and first 29er. It's the bike I want  the 20/20 for. I cover about 20km every morning on my fence checks at the farm. This route is a mix of fire breaks and livestock trails with some extra features scattered around to keep me interested.  Back to the XL 650b bike, I'm 6'5" and 240-250lb. My 6 year old giant reign is on its last legs. I would also like some more travel out back and an air shock.  The 36 I have on it feels like a noodle, although not as bad as it did when I was closer to 300lb. Hopefully 37/38mm forks are better for that but I am pretty interested in switching to a dual crown oem take off.  I've been using a backhoe to build more technical lines and have a big freeride line build planned for summer. I'm also planning a couple of trips overseas to bike parks in the post covid future. I realise I am a pretty edge use case but I'm completely open to more modern geometry and wheel size changing my mind.  I would just slap a wide cassette on a DH bike if I didn't have to ride to the top of my trails or cover up to 10km to reach some. One of my mates has a polygon xquareone DH bike with an 11-42/6 cassette on it and that thing climbs like a hardtail. It's pretty awesome on the downhill side of things and much more playful than reviewers let on. They're also impossible to find in XL or i would own one. So a yt capra, canyon torque, commencal clash, norco range, polygon ex8 etc seem to be a good fit. My LBS is keen to hook me up with the new Cannondale enduro bike, Scott Ransom or Rocky Slayer. I guess I should give serious thought to the 29er bikes, and probably will when I get used to them on the Neuron.  No matter what I end up buying, this pro taper bar will end up under my grips. /novel