Thanks, so that would be around $2,733 USD.  A very respectable cost given you have a carbon frame, XT level components, a quality wheelset, and SID fork.  If you didn't build it yourself with a Chiner carbon frame, you would easily be paying 2X that cost.

Yep!  The way I see it is If I can build up a cyclocross bike towards the end of the year at a similar cost I'll have two bike for the price of one!  Result 

davidd, what was your total cost on your new 650b Carbonal Venture?

Hi Carbon_Dude,
Ready to race €2400. If the euro hadn't dropped so badly since before Christmas it would have been a bit less. I also suspect I might move to a slightly longer stem but I'll give this one a chance first. I'm quite happy with the cost as originally I thought it would end up around 3k.

Whow, that looks really nice! Where did you order these clear vinyl letters ? Or did you create them by yourself ?

A local sign shop did them for me.  I found the font I wanted, and saved the lettering as a pdf and they can work from that. The first place I went to could only used a limited set of "sign-writing" fonts.  I am thinking replacing the white Rockshox logos with clear vinyl also as I've already taken off the large gray SID stickers on the inside of the legs.

The bike is pretty much finished now. I am waiting for the lockring for the front centerlock rotor and to replace the Rocket Ron on the front with a Nobby Nic.  I have left a little bit of steerer tube and cables to allow me to play around with position before I trim them all to their final length.

Without pedals it weighs bang on 21lbs or 9.5kg.  The time ATACs are about 280g and the Nobby Nic will probably be a bit heavier than the RR so all done maybe just under 10kg.

Could I have made it lighter at the same money?

The Ergon grips/barends are certainly 150g+ heavier than (cheaper) alternatives but I like them.

I could have gotten lighter wheels.  There was a pair of American Classic MTB Lights that were at least 200g lighter than the DT's.  They have great reviews of their ride characteristics but poor reviews of rim strength and hub performance; a pity.

I could have skipped the snakeskin finish on the tyres and saved a few grammes but in my experience not worth it.  There's also no point in getting a light low profile race tyre as I need as much traction in wet and muddy conditions as possible.

The bottle cage is a cheap aluminium one.  I prefer these, they're tough and I can bend them to hold a bottle more securely.  I have never really liked carbon cages even on the road.

All that said at the moment it is actually lighter than my rigid singlespeed and substantially lighter than the Ellsworth I have been racing.

Thanks for the input.  My bars don't connect, which is a pity!  As I use the Ergon grips they naturally provide a big rubber bumper that would be perfect.  It's the lever and/or shifter, and looking at the way they interact they are not going to twist on the bars so I guess it's fingers crossed time!

I did see at some point a headset that incorporated a locking part with two adjustable stops that prevented the bars swinging too far but cannot remember who made it.

edit: and what was lost was found..
http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/06/27/other-new-goodies-from-acros-block-lock-headset-shot-peened-29er-wheels-more/

What do people do to avoid this? 
Surely not everyone can manage to setup their bars to avoid some part of the levers etc hitting the toptube in the event of a crash? 
Why is there not a proliferation of limiting devices or headsets out there?  Canyon incorporate one on their bikes.

Any ideas other than wrapping the toptube?

It's weird on Merlin they don't specify the I spec on the brake levers so who knows maybe they won't combine with the Ispec shifters. Guess we will find out in a few weeks because I caved in and bought the XT group instead of SLX.

I wouldn't worry. I'd imagine that all current sets are B compatible, to the point that it's no longer worth mentioning.  Nice levers!