I got some leftover 3m film protection.

Paint shop will take care that painting, they already have the equipment and they won't charge me much, tbh just painting is a quick job...

Only need a dust mask, even a quality pandemic mask should be enough for sanding.

I was thinking about re-masking because paper like tape would be ruined after wet sanding, thanks for straight mentioning that tho.

2 colors and 2-3 clear coat are enough then, depending on how thick and liberally they are applied.

At this point I will plan the painting and do the annoying work and let the pros do only the painting, because auto shops are usually busy and work only on cars.

Oh I see, if you'll be paying someone else then you should be fine with respect to the difficulty of painting, haha!

Ask the paint shop what they will be doing to cure the clear before you go anywhere near the bike with 3M or other paint protection film. You need the clear to COMPLETELY cure before you apply it - if you're doing it at room temperature, I wouldn't be putting a film on anywhere within a month post spraying. A professional shop can help you decide this window.

We're slightly derailing, but progressive-regressive curves were extremely common when designers were exclusively designing bikes for use with air shocks. As the shock ramps up, the curve turns regressive to keep it smooth til the last bottom out. Now that modern shocks like the Super Deluxe have excellent final-stroke bottom out protection, I'm kind of surprised we don't see more progressive-regressive curves, except that a portion of the riding population love to have the ability to slap coil shocks on their trail bikes. It's a "quirk" sure, but if you're running a modern mid to high end air shock, you can almost ignore it. Perhaps even a feature? You can easily tune around it and I can't see it being an issue except for those wishing to run a coil.

From our experience with the 831 and the solution to the rear end flex as "spend more money", I'll be holding off on this one for the first round or two of production.

I'm curious what the BB interface will look like. In the Range, it's an alloy sleeve inside the carbon to allow for max shock clearance. Same thing here?

Plus I totally had a 2021/22 Range from July to October last year and it actually wasn't my favourite. Having said that, this would be on my radar as a "spouse bike", hah. And regarding previous comments on the need for a bash plate in the lower link area? big time. Even with the Norco bash plate that area looked like shit after my half season of riding.

Eddy, I'd highly recommend at a minimum offering a premium high quality hardware kit for this bike. It's a complicated design with lots of bolts and bearings in different places than many other bikes. Every other "chinertown" bike I've had experience with has had hardware of low to acceptable quality. Usually this works OK for most designs, but the way this is meant to be ridden is going to be very demanding on hardware. Perhaps you could differentiate yourself from other resellers by offering premium hardware and bearing kits. I know I'd be willing to pay a considerable additional fee if I know a bike like this is going to be offered with top quality bearings from a manufacturer I can trust like SKF/FAG and strong, top quality bolts & nuts rather than the normal grade. Especially with the high pivot!

Being able to fit a coil shock would also make this frame quite appealing, and also ensuring the fork crown will not hit the downtube of the frame.

It had better be designed to fit a coil, if the leverage curve looks anything like the bike's its inspired from. Apparently the Aurum HSP and successor Range ride like shit with air shocks. Fox Canada really didn't want to sell me an X2 for my Aurum HSP when I asked!

I can't comment on the tunes, but I'll note there's been some discussion on the frame not actually fitting a x45 stroke shock in most/all sizes. It was pretty deep within the thread though, be careful.

No i can finish my built of the bike and see how it rides. :-)

Jeez I guess I should start eh? :I

any way we can edit the top post with JJJ's instructions? Might be helpful!

Uh, the cables are routed outside under the bottom bracket. That sucks.

I've worked at a Rocky shop for the last 7 years that sells out of Rocky Mountain full suspension bikes every year - and we order as many as we are allowed.

I can tell you this is in reality a non-issue.