neologisticzand profile

That's what I love about the OG Specialized 2FO cliplites, they have the older style of boa that allows micro-adjustment both loose and tight. The new version unfortunately lack that feature

While I agree that it is true you can't match the stiff, light feel of an XC slipper, I think 2FO style shoes have their place. Just this past week I did a ride that required what was essentially a 1.5 mile hike a bike to a mountain peak/ridgeline where there are parts that required you to carry your bike up rocks (essentially a scramble). Doing that in XC shoes would be a nightmare. 

I'd also argue you can get much better pedal to shoe contact with flat-soled shoes, which is also nice for bigger travel bikes that take more effort to muscle around

Whenever I get a pair of shoes with a new boa style I don't have, I just go ahead and order the replacement boas in advance, just in case I ever need them. 

I've really had great luck with boas on my biking shoes. I think I've now had at least 6 different pairs of shoes with boa dials and boas are part of my criteria for buying a new shoe.

For that sketchy narrow singletrack mentioned, yes, some of those trails get to be too narrow in spots for 760mm wide bars, as the trails are walked-in singletrack, so wider bars were not accounted for.

@Fartymarty, I do think your suggestion makes sense if you're doing a ride that is more trail intensive. 

However, on a ride where you're grinding out miles, I'd definitely not enjoy a XC bike as much. There are also circumstances where an XC bike would just not be an option. For example, a few years ago I was doing a night ride gravel series with a group of riders where we would do 40-60 mile rides (75%+ gravel/dirt road) in a 2 person wide paceline. In a situation like that, XC flat bars wouldn't work well. Some of those rides got very fast, so it was helpful to have chainring clearance for greater than a 36-38t chainring, which is the limit that is common on an a rigid xc bike

I'm with you on that @Cooper Quinn. I've never enjoyed the feeling of wider drop bars. I imagine it is likely for the same reason, my main riding position is on the hoods, which feels odd on large bars. I always feel best with bars that put my wrist, elbows, and shoulders in a fairly neutrally lined-up position (ie. 42cm bars for my shoulder width). 

Additionally, I take my gravel bike on some sketchy narrow singletrack trails and expect that super wide drop bars would make for even more of a tight squeeze in some places.

While I'm on a role being curmudgeonly, I also don't like flared bars

This is what always makes me wonder what fork I'd be best suited with, but I don't want to buy a fork just to experiment. 

For a 160mm fork (which is there the lyrik and zeb overlap), I wonder at what rider weight the stiffer fork becomes more notable/necessary?

Wow, that's a beautiful bike! Really furthers my desire to have one. If only I could figure out a place to get one here in the US. Should I get one, I imagine that I would likely emulate your setup almost exactly as it seems to be a good balance of grip and speed

How long ago were the chasis issues? I know the first gen had the two part tube/head which had some failures. 

I've had an og bikeyoke that's probably 4+years old now and still has plenty of life left in it.  And just bought a newer, larger drop revive. Clearly I'm also one of those people who support the brand. I've also used their yoke for an older specialized camber. Any time I've had questions, I've had such great assistance from Sacki.

Agreed on having all the hand positions on drop bars. For days in the saddle over 2hrs, it gets nice to have some body mobility, especially if it is a lot of grinding away miles while seated. Also a big fan of the tucked onto the hoods hand position, make use of that as much as the drops.