Lexon tends to renew their links often. Probably to clear out the poor reviews lol

Does anyone know the actual seat stay bridge to seat tube clearance when a 165x42.5mm is bottomed out?  I can measure on mine at some point.  If we knew that, then you can remove the linkage/shock bolt and compress the rear triangle until that clearance is achieved (say 42.5mm clearance is 5mm, just take a 5mm allen key or something and stick it inbetween the bridge and seat tube and bottom it out).  Then measure eye to eye and see if it's more or less than what the 165x45mm is at bottom out.

If the clearance between seat stay bridge and seat tube are the same at bottom out, when comparing normal linkage with 165x40 to new linkage with 165x45, then the amount the rear wheel gets pushed down is the difference in travel.  I guess we don't really know what that is.  Let's say the original setup is 105mm (not sure if the actual travel has been settled) and new linkage setup is 120mm.  Then the rear wheel will get pushed down 15mm.  This will not be true if the position of the rear triangle sinks further into the travel on the new linkage setup (as if the clearance between seat stay bridge and seat tube was more similar to original linkage and 165x42.5mm shock), or if the travel achieved isn't actually 120mm.  Since the rear triangle isn't changing, there's no way the rear wheel is only pushing 3mm downward, that would mean 3mm of travel gain, assuming similar bottom out clearance.

Bottom bracket location makes no difference to how the angles change.  What if you put the BB in the middle of the fork axle, like a kids tricycle?  If you extended the rear wheel downward, the bike would still change by the same angle.  When extending the fork, the bike pivots around the rear axle.  When changing the linkage and pushing the rear wheel down, the bike pivots around the front axle.  Vertical wheel location change and wheelbase are all the matter.  BB location only matters for BB height change.  If we trust Carbonda's geo charts, then what I said is true.  40mm/old-linkage = 67/77deg.  Use a geo calculator for 120mm fork with 40mm/old-linkage = 66/76deg (1 deg change to 120mm fork).  45mm/new-linkage and 120mm fork (from Carbonda chart) = 67/77deg.  This if we trust their chart, original linkage to new linkage is a 1deg frame angle change.  Thus you can interpret that new linkage with 100m fork would be 1deg the other way, 68/78.

how big bottles fit in the frame?

I can fit 750ml along the downtube.  For the vertical bottle, 750ml touches the nozzle on the top tube but does fit in.  I'm going to adjust the design so the downtube bottle sits further back, and may be able to bring the vertical bottle down a bit, but it's a tight squeeze since you need to fit a nut in there without the nut or screw running into the downtube.

These are 21oz Camelbak Podiums, I'll have to try some longer bottles

Any more reports on either the Ullicyc or OG-Evkin bars?  Thinking of ordering one, just wanted to see if there's any more feedback before pulling the trigger.

https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,2961.0.html

Check out the thread here for more info on the hubs.  Many have had issues with the hub internals, including myself.  Mine sheared off the internal splines that hold the ratchet, but was able to replace it with a genuine DT part.  I would say the hub housings are low risk, so these should only be considered if people are willing to replace the bearings and drive ring with genuine DT parts, and if it still makes sense cost wise.

Sucks to hear about SpeedSafe though.  They're the only ones I've bought my rims from, and a few of my riding buddies bought some complete wheels from them (both with the same ZTTO hubs) and no issues from our side other than a cracked rim.  This cracked rim was on a root at the bottom of a really high G valley that has claimed many many cracked rims before.  SpeedSafe was responsive and offered a discount to replace the rim, although not much of a discount.

Keep in mind that the FM936 geometry is significantly different than previous gen Spark.  I do think the FM936 is the perfect marathon bike, but if you're after more traditional XC geo, then it's not it.  I've got an LCFS911 Spark copy, however it doesn't support over 34t chainring.  I'm switching to an FM936 this year though, longer and slacker without gaining any weight.  Have you considered a cassette with a 9t small cog rather than sticking with 36t chainring?

Lexon is hit or miss, but if they are a miss, you will have no support.  I got burned by them on a gravel frame that was horrible quality.  Their MTB frames do seem to get better reviews, maybe they come out of a different factory, but again if there's an issue, they will not accept responsibility and will not help.