Beauty Patrol - you should be able to pedal that up most stuff without issue.
Ive got a few rides on my new Spire. Ive gotten used to pedal placement as suggested above -I never had an issue on the Spire descending as placement has always been a thing descending- but it took a ride or two to get used to it climbing on janky stuff as suspension compression makes this much worse.
I did a hard fireroad climb the other day - its usually mostly a pedal with the odd push up - 2.5km on gravel with an average 19% grade -usually pretty hard for me. It was mostly a push up on the Spire. I wasnt feeling great and it was hot and in the morning so the scene was not in my favour, but it felt A LOT harder on that than my hardtail (as youd expect). I may have pushed up more than usual but I was still able to get the bike up and I guess thats the point. Its very manageable on something like the Seymour climb trail but I really feel it on harder climbs.
Nothing new to report descending. Its like a DH bike. My upfront concerns that the wheelbase might be awkward in the slower janky going down stuff were unfounded - or at least I dont feel it.
Side load bottle cage is on and works - though it is still an extremely tight fit.
The LBS is willing to help me out with an appropriate dropper. I called Transition and they said parts shortages lead to deliveries of the 150 dropper on Mediums, and they said that the complaints are streaming in. They wont/cant help me out on the dropper so thankfully the LBS is willing to - not sure what the exact solution is but I might not have bought the bike on price and principal had I known it came with a 150 as I having to buy a proper dropper on a brand new high end bike is ridiculous. Warning to those of you who are expecting Medium transitions in the future.
Pressure settings on the 38 and X2 align with Fox recommendations but Im blowing through all the travel often - I dont feel it bottoming out but Ive never used all the travel on big bikes outside of this one. Im going to increase pressures across the board. Im waiting for Transition to send me Lars' settings!