Check out the rest of the bike, and more, past the break.
First, this build showcased the most modern format of… almost everything, really. XTR Shadow Plus RD, 44mm head tube allowing tapered steer tubes, and the BB386EVO bottom bracket whose shell provides a much larger welding area in that most critical location.
This 69er was rocking a Blur XC carbon rear end, licensed from Santa Cruz. This provides a proven, rock solid, and very light-weight VPP platform. Mate that to the Fox Float flavor-of-the-month and you’re working with a top-notch frameset.
Furthermore, this beast was rolling on a sweet mix-and-match Rolf Ralos 6/9 combo, which are adequately wide for most applications, tubeless ready with Stan’s BST technology, and has a combined (29” front, 26” rear) claimed weight of 1565g. this and that carbon rear end will help keep unsprung weight down to improve the bikes balance and liven up the feel.
Looking past the build, focusing on the actual metal work, I found some great welds. I’ve worked the retail side of titanium frames, selling both production and custom frames built by Moots, Merlin, and even those Litespeed people. With that, I feel I can say these are some very consistent, well-laid titanium welds.
Also, hanging-out in the booth was this hard tail, belt drive 69er. This one was rocking a slick fork design with an integrated direct mount stem, and the whole package looked super stiff in a good way. This bike made me want to swap-out the pedals and do bad things in the parking lot. Maybe next time.
