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!