The 2014 Fuji SLM 29 is updated with a substantially lighter frame, shorter stays and more modern features.
The frame drops from around 1,300g all the way down to 1,000g. They accomplished this by using a different carbon material and taking advantage of more refined production processes and bigger tube diameters.
They also wanted to give it more nimble handling, so the chain stays shrunk by 9mm to come in at 430mm. The head tube has an increased cross section, so it’s stiffer, as is the bottom bracket thanks to bigger tubes and an asymmetric design. And it’s holding an new, oversized crankset…
The BB increased to a PFBB30 shell, but they spec’d it with Oval’s 35mm spindle crankset. That offers several benefits: the bottom bracket puts the bearings outboard with cups that thread into each other and have a colletted shape that expands as its tightened so it won’t shift or creak in the frame. System weight is supposedly on par with XT. Like it? It’s available aftermarket and will work with any BB30 or PFBB30 frame.
The rear end gets a 12×142 thru axle with captures nut that can be fixed into multiple positions to let you fine tune where the skewer ends up.
Retail for the top end 1.1 is about $5,600 and these are online now and available between end of September and end of year depending on model.
The complete bike without pedals is 21.49lb (9.74kg). That bike in the background is the amazing new Norcom Straight aero TT/Triathlon bike and is very much worth a look.
