Maybe I shouldn't be too surprised because I've been following your writing for a while and agreeing with a lot of it, but the bike you end up describing is pretty dang close to my 2016 process 134. I demo-ed one my first year as a shop rat, fell in love and bought the base spec (the one with the John Deere color scheme, which looks fantastic with my bright red mattoc) as it was what I could afford and as things broke or I had the money to upgrade I gradually replaced everything on it.
Current spec is: 150mm Manitou mattoc pro, cane creek dbair il, xt 4-piston brakes, Stan's flow mk3 front wheel, random giant wheel with a dt 350 hub that was in one of my friend's parts bins when the Stan's rear hub seized, wtb vigilante 2.6 front and trail boss 2.4 rear, xt 11 speed shifter and slx derailleur, SRAM GX 11 cassette and cranks, 1170 chain and 30t cog, crank bros hiline 160 dropper, wtb coda saddle, and renthal fatbar lite at 760mm.
The next upgrade is a -2° angleset, and at that point I think I'll be pretty much done apart from replacing wear parts and bearings as needed.
I really enjoy your writing and it has definitely informed my bike build preferences over the years. I hope you achilles heals quickly.
Cheers!
Feb. 28, 2022, 8:52 a.m. - Alex Hoinville
Maybe I shouldn't be too surprised because I've been following your writing for a while and agreeing with a lot of it, but the bike you end up describing is pretty dang close to my 2016 process 134. I demo-ed one my first year as a shop rat, fell in love and bought the base spec (the one with the John Deere color scheme, which looks fantastic with my bright red mattoc) as it was what I could afford and as things broke or I had the money to upgrade I gradually replaced everything on it. Current spec is: 150mm Manitou mattoc pro, cane creek dbair il, xt 4-piston brakes, Stan's flow mk3 front wheel, random giant wheel with a dt 350 hub that was in one of my friend's parts bins when the Stan's rear hub seized, wtb vigilante 2.6 front and trail boss 2.4 rear, xt 11 speed shifter and slx derailleur, SRAM GX 11 cassette and cranks, 1170 chain and 30t cog, crank bros hiline 160 dropper, wtb coda saddle, and renthal fatbar lite at 760mm. The next upgrade is a -2° angleset, and at that point I think I'll be pretty much done apart from replacing wear parts and bearings as needed. I really enjoy your writing and it has definitely informed my bike build preferences over the years. I hope you achilles heals quickly. Cheers!