jt profile

Agreed with so much written here I couldn't respond to everybody's posts. Buddy had horrible howling with the resin only rotors/sintered pads. Swapped em to SLX jobbers and the problem was eliminated with a kick up in brake power to boot. Shimano really does IMO offer the best tactile feel at the shifter. Having gone from a Zee to XT unit the feel is just night and day. The Zee was good, but damn does the XT just feel positive in pick up and release. Keeping on the Shimano trip, I'd take one of their cheaper hubs over an unknown rebranded jobber simply due to parts availability. most any shop can order up a freehub body if/when necessary, and most of their hubs fit their 29" specific freehub bodies, boosting durability. I am curious to see what the Sunrace drivetrain offerings provide, but def have no reason to replace yet nor do I want to be a guinea pig. Pricing seems on point and finish looks well thought out. But in my area there's really no need for a 50t low gear.

I hope you're not referring to that Crom awful automatic 2 speed hub. That thing is one of the, "Good idea, HORRIBLY executed," variety.

They're out there, but finding one that works for your climate is imperative. I tried the 5.10 EPS and found two bad issues: the tongue gaiter doesn't go to the top, so water leaks into the shoe too easily and the sole hardens drastically below 30F, making em slicker than goose poop on snow/ice covered trails. Currently running a set set of Chuck Taylor Waterproofs and loving em. Which is weird as I normally hate Chuck's fit. Weird, but works here in the northern Midwest.

Absolutely all of this. I had the same experience with Apple with my Power Book and later my wife's Macbook. Conspicuous consumption and planned obsolescence go hand in hand. They can't sell if they don't make the old unusable while simultaneously feeding the 'want' urge we all have in us. I have a limit to how much I'll fork out to build a new bike of $3k which requires a bit of hunting,  a lot of min/maxing, and little to no carbon fiber. I know how I ride, and I'd simply rather not feel the sting of watching a year's worth of tuition go up in flames simply because I ended up a poorly thrown jart in a MTB version of lawn darts.

Some maybe, but not all. The amount of 'spinging' is referenced in The Art of Wheel Building, but I oughta stop now before I fully geek out. Even more than admitting I'm going to re-read Jobst! :D

Interesting response from the engineers. Given that tensile strengths of straight gauge, double butted, and bladed spokes differ wildly, I'd expect to see an effect. Guess I need to read Jobst Brandt's book again to better form my thinking.

More for curiosity as these don't open my wallet, but do you know what spoke tension the wheels are running? In my experience, low spoke count wheels always need to run higher tension as there are fewer spokes sharing the load and importantly fewer crossing spokes (2x as opposed to 3x). This translates to a harsher ride, since the spokes aren't able to stretch/behave like a spring as well as they do at lower tensions. I've built a few carbon wheels for customers, and the rim stiffness is evident right from when you lace them up. Basically, I'm wondering what would happen to the ride quality if the tension was dropped a couple kg's.

I had a set of Prime Comps which were problem free as well.

They patented it back 5 years ago if I remember right. No one really saw it since they haven't released a noteworthy brake until now. I think the last brake they released was the Radar and that was hardly noteworthy.

Hydro's generally can have 3 functional issues  (i.e. not related to pad or fluid contamination) and if no leaks are present: Bad bleed, ruptured brake line, or blown master cylinder piston. 

It's easy to test for all 3 in one go. Hook up an overflow bottle (syringe without a plunger will suffice) to the master cylinder with the MC in the bleed position. Insert a pad spacer/bleed block at the caliper, slowly pull the lever. Watch the fluid rise up into the overflow as how it behaves tells you what you need to know. If the level spikes up consistently with no engagement, likely a MC piston. If the height that it rises decreases with each lever pull, likely a brake line issue. In both of those instances, the lever will travel to the bar as long as it's pulled slowly. It may begin to engage if you pump it fast. For the final scenario, if minimal to no fluid rises up but the brake engages then it's likely a bad bleed. If you want more info, PM me and I'll be happy to break down the why's of it.