This is a shop-built bike. While a lot of companies throw a carbon frame on a hardtail to “upgrade” it, this bike puts that money elsewhere. While carbon frames can be lighter, they can also be easily damaged and they certainly cost more. Since a lot of riders crash now and then, this bike starts with a sturdy, well engineered aluminum frame.  With a low top tube, a 150mm dropper post, and a 150mm travel fork this bike can handle the rough trails.  

The fork was a careful choice as well. While Suntour might be a bit more well known for their lower-priced forks, they also make some GREAT performing stuff — all the way up to teams using Suntour forks on the UCI World Cup Downhill, Enduro and Cross Country circuits. The Zeron fork offers a sealed cartridge damper with 35mm stanchions – features that cost hundreds more on competitors’ forks. In addition, the Zeron is a grease-lubricated fork, making maintenance a bit easier. 

The drivetrain is the workhorse on this bike. Sure the 12-speed systems offer two more gears than the Microshift Advent X 10-speed system we’ve chosen, but at what cost? The Advent X cassette offers a bit less range with the 48 tooth low gear on its 11-48 cassette, but the Advent X cassette weighs 424 grams and a SRAM NX cassette weighs 615 grams. (a bit less than half a pound of rotating weight!). Also – when replacement time comes, the Advent X cassette comes in at $65 versus the NX at $115. The derailleur is a similar story – $72 versus $115. This is combined with a SRAM SX DUB crank, with a size-specific 165mm length and a durable steel chainring. Durable stuff that’s lighter and cheaper!

The bike has shop-built wheels as well.  The Race Face ARC 30 rims are a shop favorite and have been my rim of choice when building wheels for the local chargers. The 4.5mm offset spoke bed of these rims provides much more even spoke tension between the left and right sides of the wheels, so the wheels are stronger. These wheels use Sapim Laser spokes – a top-quality stainless steel spoke with a thin section in the middle (2mm at at the ends, 1.5mm in the middle) for light weight. The wheels are laced 2-cross rather than the more traditional (and heavier) 3-cross, and use Sapim Secure-Lock brass nipples. I’ve found that brass nipples survive Vermont weather better than aluminum ones. The Secure Lock feature also means that the wheels stay true longer. These are laced to a SRAM 900 hub up front with 28 spokes, and a SRAM 746 in the rear with 32.  The wheels are setup for tubeless, already taped, they just need tubeless stems installed. (the bike is setup with tubes in the shop)

The brakes are simple (but good) SRAM Level brakes, a two-piston caliper setup that saves some weight and cost on this bike, with SRAM’s Centerline 180mm rotors front AND rear. If a bit more bite is wanted on the bike, SRAM’s semi-metallic pads are a nice upgrade rather than springing for new brakes, as these rotors will work with either pad type unlike some other lower-priced rotors.  A few final nice touches — the bike has a USA-made WolfTooth sealed headset, and a nice SDG Tellis dropper post – stuff you don’t see at this price point but (again…) make the bike a bit more durable.