I would definitely go with a hub that can be serviced and has readily available bearings, freewheels, etc. I have a set of light bicycle 32h rims laced to American Classic (went out of business) 350 disc hubs that I just converted to boost and XD driver. I am concerned with finding XD drivers going forward...but the bearings are readily available in low and high quality.

My wheelset is eight years old. A key build decision was going with brass nipples and stouter drive side rear spokes. I haven't had to true or replace a spoke and re-dish for the boost spacing was painless.

+1 on brass nippels when using carbon rims!
Why? Electrochemical corrosion!

added to the ever expanding alixpress cart

Carbon or Aluminium rims?

Then it's quite obvious this happened. With an electrically conducive medium like tubeless milk (electrolyte) there is a electrochemical corrosion going on. The Aluminum has a lower valence than the carbon so there is a constant ions transport from aluminum to carbon. Ths makes the aluminum corrode. It really dissolves. This can even lead to a complete nipple head failure and the ripping apart of nipple head and rest of nipple. This also happens with water, but it takes longer as water is faster evaporating like the persistent milk.
ALWAYS use brass nipples when buildung carbon rims you want to run tubeless and you want to ride your bike also in wet weather conditions. Salt from the winter times, even help the corrosion.
The avaiation learned it the hard way, as they were placing aluminum ribs on bare carbon. Nw they are using a insolation layer between the both like glassfiber.

That's for dang sure. I wanted those rims this time, but as I build them my own, I prefer not to have to fiddle that much with all those nipples. As brass nor aluminum are magnetic, this won't help you here

Holy moly, these are looking bad. You had black sapim aluminum spacers under the nipple heads? And these looking great? Are you sure they are aluminum? You could try a magnet on them to find out.

You are going to use the same components as on the merida and the new bike will be more expensive? Either the merdia frame is very cheap when you exclude all the components, or the LCF is very expensive.
Normally when I build a bike with the same components like the one in the shop, I end up cheaper. I only end up more expensive when I use the money, which I save on the frame, to buy better components as my initial intention

That's it! 20lb for 4000$? Oh wow that's a very difficult undertaking. Only manageable with a decent amount of AliExpress and used parts. Especially when you are going for XX1/X01, which is even way more expensive than Shimano XTR.
Do you have a part list with money you spent and weights?

• This was 2014.  The bicycle market has inflated steadily since then.
• I built three nearly identical bikes at the same time and leveraged quantity for price reductions.  For example, the groupsets were bought by an offer sent to and eBay seller in the UK.  He discounted significantly for 3 full groupsets.
• All carbon components, including the wheels, were bought from the same Chinese seller.  Again, leveraged for cost/shipping reduction.
• There are costs not reflected on this list including custom paint, paint protection film, tools, fluids, cables, etc.  But everything is still in the ball park.  Total price when I added up everything including shipping after the built was done was right around $4100/bike if my memory is correct.
• Actual weight of my bike was 20.65lbs with the heavier casing tires.  Could have been just at about 20.0-20.2 if I went with thin casing tires, which would be dumb where I ride.  I would go broke replacing them.
• There are very few 'Name Brands' on the bike.  Really only the mechanical bits and brakes.  Rest is generic/open mold.
• Frame shown in the photo is not the original frame.  I accidently landed on the original frame's seat stay and cracked it in 2018.  This replacement frame was a bit more expensive, but weighed the same.

A few questions:
1. What is the max rotor size the rear will accept? hoping to go 203mm up front and 180mm out back.
2. Are most people ditching the headset that they include? I opted for it as it was pretty cheap. Not sure about quality.
3. Does the frame come with hardware bushing required for the upper shock mount (8mmx22.2mm).
4. I've seen people saying you should open up all the bearings on the rear link and grease them. I think I'll be doing that (not a question I guess..)

Did anyone of you painted the UD carbon black in shiny clear coat? I wonmder if this looks good on a XC race bike or it should be better matt black

Anyone ordered a BSA model and received it recently?
I did order about 15 pages on this thread ago , and still no sign of production.