alexdi profile

Oof. The unsupported press hurt me a bit, but I applaud the design effort that went into this linkage. It looks like you could run the original bearings for years.

Good callout on the trunnion mounts. I'll watch for that on the next ride.

The nice thing about cartridge bearings is that, in most other uses, they can be wholly destroyed without affecting anything else. Loose-balls, I've learned to be more vigilant about.

Derailing a bit from your gearbox thesis, but if SRAM's XX1 twist-shifters are best-of-breed, they need to die. Awful feel, crap internals. I spent literally hours on one of them because after one ride, it'd stop shifting into the small sprocket. I'd much prefer triggers even with a gearbox.

I'm still at it. It's a calculated risk to keep me sane. The news is miserable. This is one of the few bright lights, and if I stay within my limits, the risk of injury is low.

When the hospitals are more clearly overwhelmed, I'll switch from the mountain bike to the road bike. Until then, while I'm well, I'm taking every opportunity to experience something that (god forbid) I may never get to do again if my number comes up with COVID.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jBF-t4Ka_zpSyep3XMdEh77pnssMsvjyAuXmnOeLyss

Here's a simple sheet to equalize geometry. Copy it, set a target stack and saddle height, and fill in geo details. The three bold columns will auto-calculate for each row. I usually pull a side shot of a bike into Photoshop to find the actual seat angle.

>  short offset forks limit stem length adjustment (only feel right with 30-45mm stem?) 

Provided your hands end up in the same place relative to steering axis, there won't be any difference in handling. Some high-sweep bars angle forward first so the sweep doesn't effectively shorten the stem. For bars that don't angle forward, a longer stem compensates.

I bought mine from AliExpress, if that's any better. It's essentially the same as this Enduro unit you reviewed 18 months ago-- 

https://nsmb.com/articles/searching-30mm-bb92-solution/

Just $40 instead of $200 and more compatible.

For press-fit bottom brackets, this is your huckleberry: Amazon

Pressing is easy and it has the drifts for that. More importantly, it removes bearings just as easily. None of that pounding crap. My local shop didn't have one when I let them borrow mine; now they do.

Tested the XTR version of this one today. It's fast, poppy, and pedals well. Good to very good handling. It didn't have much small bump compliance, though, and I discovered that a lot of my confidence at speed comes from not getting jostled around over low roots and rocks. Absent that, it might as well be a heavy XC bike. I thought Yeti's SB130 platform was a considerably better balance of pedaling performance and responsiveness, though was ultimately smitten by the Trance 29's combination of lively handling and smooth ride for my local (bumpy, but not super gnarly) terrain.

OneUp, WolfTooth, and Hope all have replacement alloy sprockets, though they're $90 or more. When I replace mine, I'm probably going to try something from ZTTO. They have an 11-speed 10-42 that's all steel, XD, 305g, and $170 or so. Lots of interesting alternatives here.

Excellent review, thanks for taking the time! I particularly appreciate the assembly notes.

I've made a worksheet of a potential build that brings the bike just under 27 pounds, though the bigger question is whether to go full-29 or take the plunge to a 69er.* How much flexibility did you have on the color scheme and logos?

• I just realized the 34T thing could be a problem with a 69er. I run 32T with a 29x2.5" and a 10-42. If I downsize to 27.5 in the back, the ring has to come up to 32 to keep the top end. Hmm.