I don't run clips yet, my flat shoes are more comfortable, and I have an identical second 29er wheelset - Ti spokes, Notavec hubs with Schwalbe Big Apples which are faster and doesn't eat the mountain tires on the road. Actually I just realized I posted photos of both wheelsets, so you can see both options I have. The knobbies eventually will be on a different bike, but may swap back to this for racing. I spin out at 34 mph with this gearing, fast enough especially for touring. I plan to work my way up to longer bikepacking tours and possibly travel internationally with this setup.
For performance, I compare it with gravel bikes, which I tried 42mm tires on 28mm Stans rims prior. Rim strike, punctures, all bad - and only marginally faster uphill. On flats, with slicks the drag is minimal anyways. And a slick 2.4 at low PSI tracks similarly to a 42mm file tread gravel tire in terms of speed and grip, unless loaded up or racing in a group. Sliding a little is OK.
I use this bike for shopping actually, but usually won't leave it outside. The front wheel and headset top cap are Pitlock, not easy to remove. I plan to also run a Pitlock on the crankset. Still I would use 2 locks and watch the bike.
It would be a good race bike. On the street, acceleration is "insane", barely any flex in the frame and it's so light. Probably a carbon thing in general but it's my first carbon bike. I had an e-biker ask me what kind of bike it was and why I was so fast - that was on the road. On mountain, I PR'd everything I touched on my first real ride offroad.. stuff I was descending on a 170mm enduro bike, but I was over a minute faster in some parts. It was pretty scary though. So, suspension might be something I use as an in-between step. Really I built this bike for road and touring, but I am too aggressive for road/randonneuring frames, wheels, etc. I also like being able to go offroad without any concern for being able to ride out.
I may run a 100-120mm (depending on the air spring length) fork on this bike until building a 120/130mm XC bike, in the future. It would be a similar Chinese carbon frame. LightCarbon LCFS911 has caught my eye, but it can wait.
https://www.lightcarbon.com/lightcarbon-new-27-5plus-29er-cross-country-mountain-bike-frame_p39.htmlMy only issues with this FM199-B-SL currently are the fit (my fault), shorter reach - which may come in handy if I use drop bars, and trying to find a good position with the bars. I like aggressive riding and it's difficult to balance a 740mm bar with a horizontal sprinting position on the road, it's either too short with a 90mm stem, comfortable sitting upright, or 110mm which feels really weird cornering, and wheelies to break the bike leaning one direction or another by steering feels really floppy, and slower. Drop bars are appealing but I think until the LCFS911 or similar is complete, not worth considering. Drop bars are limiting for terrain, and I would also need a new brake setup as well as new shifters and adapters for the derailleur.
short answer is yes :p
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