Very different from here as well... I'd like to give these trails a try. Same as CD, over here in the Alps we have nothing but roots, rocks, mud and trees. The minimum climb over a very short ride is 400 m / 1300 ft. A nice lunch ride can be 800 m / 2600 ft climb.
It is normal over here to have to push/carry the bike on some climb. Only an e-bike could climb those. And even though we have some fast rolling downhill, there is DH sections that are as slow as the climb.
I'd really like to try some pure rock/dust trails in North America.

Yep, wrong way

That being said, I don't get why Shimano keeps this design... SRAM's RD cable routing is so much better, straight to the derailleur, rather then this giant loop.
Shimano RD is designed for a cable feeding from the back of the bike, I have never seen any bike like that.

Well, it is hard to give a number for frame clearance. As I mentioned before the chainstays are not parallel. On the widest point of my 29" tire (ZTR Crest with 2.25 Nobby Nic) I seemed to have 72 mm. But the 27.5+ being a little shorter, the widest point is closer to the wheel axle so I get a little more clearance then I thought.
Also, it will depend on the profile of the tire. The position of the wide point of the tire will vary.

Anyway, I don't plan to up the rear. I like it safe as it is. But I will definitely get a larger front tire when I find what I want (model, price).

Also, it is a total 400 g added to the bike over the 29" setup. It's totally worth it.

Here we go! I have finally received my 35 ID 27.5" wheelset. First I want to thank Peter from Carbon Speed for the amazing logistic support. Way superior to what you would expect from a local shop.
Anyway, my wheels came in very well packaged, in one piece, this week.

I have already set up the front wheel (I am running out of Notubes tape to seal the rear rim, coming up tomorrow). I have done my first ride today (yes, front 27.5+ / rear 29) and I am VERY surprised. Over the exact same trail 2 days ago I have been quite faster uphill and same speed downhill (pretty steep and technical trail in the Alps). I expected the opposite.
My feeling was that I had a gain in control uphill as the fat tire absorbs everything, but I had not realized that it enabled me to go faster. I did not feel the 200 g added weight over my 29" wheel. Downhill, I had a lot more stability as the speed generated a stronger gyro effect then 29" wheel (again not sensitive at low speed uphill). I could really take lines a lot more straight without being bounced in every direction like it sometimes feel with my light 29" wheel. Still I was not faster! Maybe I lack here the rear wheel.

I'll keep you updated as soon as the rear wheel is setup. I'll highlight how it fits in the frame and with the rear derailleur.

In the meantime here some comparison between 2.8x27.5 WTB Trailblazer on 35ID and 2.25 Nobby Nic on ZTR Crest. See the nice contact patch, and nice profile of the tire on these rims...

I own 2 Flyxii mountain bikes (well, one from X-Goods, same owner), here is my point of view:
- Poor website. Slow, slow and slow. And slow.
- Poor communication. Not sure if that is due to the language barrier or limited technical skills. For sure, he would not reply appropriately to my technical questions.
- Best prices from all the Chiners. That's what got me
- Excellent shipping. Packaging is very robust. Took 10 days to be delivered in France. You can't beat that.
- Then quality is ... not great. Finishing is clearly not perfect. On one of the 2 frames the walls in the middle of the down tube are thin to the point you can flex them by pressing by hand. That make it a very light frame. It is OK with me, this frame is for my wife who does very gentle rides, on the road only, 30 km/h max It won't brake. The other frame is rock solid (but 200 g heavier), and I have abused it over engaged All Mountain trails, way beyond what normal people do (marathon races with 2400+ meters climb and as much down hill).

All that to say that even though I have had no issue (2 frames, 2 seatposts, 2 forks, 2 headsets) I would not recommend them for light road frames or anything that requires precision (wheels). Actually I was on the market for wheels and I went to CarbonSpeed that I trust a lot more.
I would probably do the same again and buy the frames from Flyxii. You can't beat the price. I love the geometry of my FR-202, I picked a big size so that it would get a long top tube to match with a short stem. Mounted with a 110 mm fork, the head angle is nicely slack.

But again, would I buy a delicate road bike frame from them? Absolutely not.

EDIT: one thing comes back to me (that's almost 2 years ago). Flyxii is not entirely honest. He uses multiple ebay accounts and rotates on them (I have watched him do that several times). Let me explain you the trick You collect 100 good feedbacks, then 10 bad reviews come. Leave this account on standby over 12 month, use another one. 12 month later, the negative comments are gone but you still have 110 reviews, so as soon as you get 1 good review you have an account with 100% positive and a 111 count. I have seen flyxii do that on ebay, he rotates accounts to always be >95% positive and still have a large number of reviews.

EDIT again: I have just checked and it's easy to check. Flyxii's current ebay account is 88bike. He has 100% positive, almost 15000 total reviews. Impressive. But if you look closer, there is less then 100 reviews this year and there is actually negative comments, over a year ago. Scroll down this page and see by yourself http://feedback.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&ftab=FeedbackAsSeller&userid=88bike&iid=361350054392&de=off&interval=0&items=200

Me again!

Just ordered the 35 ID wheelset (EDITED). I am really excited to give this a ride, all reviews say what I need: it's a lot of fun.
I'll still save my regular 29 inch wheels for proper XC racing but will most likely use these semi-fat most of the time.

I'll post pictures and review

EDIT: too excited, 40 is the OD, not ID. Actual ID is 35.

Hi guys,
I'm going to test it on my 29er hard tail. Just one question, would you go with 40 or 50 mm rims (external width).
I'll go with the WTB 2.8 tires, Reba fork and my rear spacing is >70 mm.
I'd be tempted to give the 50 mm a try but I'd like to collect your feedback first. What would be the benefit of both width?
Any idea?
Thanks!

Peter, do I qualify for a discount if I'm the first one to qualify the 50 mm setup and report on the forum ?

And here is some more pictures of my bike. I went out for a very nice trail over lunch and found the place to be ideal for some pictures.
As I told you my bike is pretty close to yours!