jt profile

'fast enough to regularly break bike parts, but slow enough to still pay for all of them.'

That there is gonna be the quote to beat this year. Kudos!

Totally on point on the 1x. Look at the high pivot units and faux bars that actually pedal well, and let's not forget the sweeeeet  (IMO) steel single pivots that are popping out of the UK & EU.

It handles very much like a DHF, which shouldn't be a surprise by its appearance. Rode the 29er version on my old Krampus. They list em as 3.0 but they run smaller than that, I'd say closer to a 2.7.

I love these crystal ballin' articles. Nice touch of the nostalgia with the BottleRocket too, my 2nd fave bike after my 05 Bullit. 

A bit to ponder about stays is the longer they are, the less clearance you have on the tire when rolling in the low gear. My experience on that comes from setting up a couple friend's longtail cargo bikes, be they Surly Big Dummy's or Xtracycle bolt on units, and in looking at fitting a wider rim on my RSD V2 Sergeant. Longer stays decrease the chain gap between the tire. Granted, the long tails and 3.8 tire on the RSD are on the extreme end of things. I don't have enough data to see how a standard boost back end with a 2.6 tire and a set of say 40mm internal width rims fit up, but color me curious.

Manitou Circus Expert is available in 1.125 straight with 100mm travel and 20mm dropouts.

Absolutely right on all accounts, but I've been finding with steeper seat angles ETT's been a more useful reference. A better Cliff Notes if you will.

I am hoping they keep 27.5 alive and pop out a new Endorphin. This is rad and all, but it's more travel than I need for my area of the country, but still want the pop and play of a smaller wheeled rig. About sizing, I've been migrating back to ETT measurements to get a handle on what I can expect the cockpit to feel. From some demo bikes I've been on this has worked better than looking at reach measurements. Going from a bike with a modest SA of 75 to the more aggressive angles on newer rigs, reach measurements may be the same, but man can it make you feel you're about to take a knee to the chin. Comparing ETT at least puts the hands and hips to a similar distance. I tried the methodology that Peter Verdone uses, but that seemed much more appropriate for the custom geo crowd. Plus manufacturers don't offer all the info necessary to calc with his method, at least not easily.

Mission was started by the OG founders of Chrome. Having used OG Chrome bags when I was a courier (after Timbuk2 got bought out and quit making the Tag Junkie, their largest mess bag), and when we switched it was a 'Whoa Nelly!' moment. Everything was laid out well and the quality was tops. It was comfortable in a way that a Tag Junkie could only dream of, even with a loaded mail bin tor two tucked inside. I would have no prob recommending any of Mission's bags off those years of practically living out of one. I have that Dakine 1L and it's a bit of a mixed bag (no pun intended. Honest. Why are you showing me the door?). You really need to plan what you bring, and minimize as much as possible. I like to carry a multi, chain, tire plugs and CO2 on most rides, in addition to the phone, snack(s), and minimal first aid gear. The space in there gets used up PDQ. Obviously it's not the tool for epics, but that's prob not the intent anyway. Also, that waterbottle holster is handy, but you HAVE to use the nipple lariat or you can expect your bottle to eject on rough ground.

The bolt heads on the Camo bash look pretty tall in the pic. Do you spot any potential issues with chainstay clearance?

Yes. It felt damped in those chundery sections/rock gardens. One of the little kickers' landings was pretty blind as summer growth took over, so I ended up riding through it rather than popping until I could get out with a saw. I was able to run the 2.5 WT's down from 21 to 19, and it felt like the back was just shrugging off the rocks, way more noticeable when I started to run the inserts on the hardtail. So far, the only neg is the weight, but traction and control make you faster than losing a couple hundred grams. Confidence in your equipment counts.