I'd definitely be interested in a buy, sell, trade section of the forum.

I'm a long time member of a forum with a similar section.. Just add a reputation building element to the fourm software and allow people's profiles to accumulate either positive or negative rep and reviews and make the buy, sell, trade section a minimum of 50 posts to be able to post in that section and you'd be off to a good start.

$500-$600 seems about fair.. I'd personally consider it. Mainly due to time constraints and the fact that there is a ton of stuff on my "to learn" list and building an MTB isn't at the top of it.

Just have all components sent to the builder, but then you also have additional shipping costs of what about $75? So that's $575 extra over total price paid for components in the build. Subtract $200 for tools, stand, etc, that you wouldn't have to buy and that's $375 over price of components for build. Personally, I think an extra $375 for a completed build by someone competent that knows what they're doing is pretty cheap. And a hell of a lot cheaper than the 1-4k mark-up of a similar name brand carbon bike. Plus I could avoid some inevitable damage that I'd cause to to my own lack of experience.

One thing I'd like is it the bike came pretty much ready to go. Tubeless tires, rim tape, sealant already installed. Tires and suspension aired up according to my weight. I don't own any pumps and do plan to get some eventually but considering the price of a bike isn't cheap, it's difficult to buy everything at once. If I could get rolling on my bike and be able to post pone buying pumps and sealant and crap for a couple of weeks - that'd be pretty convenient for me.

Thanks for the pic of the underside of the seat... that thing looks LIGHT! And it is 96 grams.. jeez.. that's awesome. Interested to see how it holds up for you. I'm sure it'll be fine. Especially for only $55. Great deal.

Would like to get a little more info about the seat, if you don't mind?

How much did it cost?
Do you know the weight?
Any way we can get a close-up pic of the underside/rails?

Thanks! Comfort/ride report  would be appreciated when you get to that point, of course. I know, I know it's personal preference with saddles.. Would still appreciate your impressions.

Good grab on the fork. You'll love the Reba. Checked out your build list, and looking forward to seeing complete build. So basically you dropped $3180 for a full carbon frame, bars, post, 30mm hookless rims, with XX1 drivetrain and XT brakes. That's cheap in the world of MTB folks.

Uhh.. well this is impressive: http://gfycat.com/DeterminedIdleFirecrest

Interesting points SN and CD.

The vendors are getting there but they still have a long way to go.  Rather than do those things I mentioned above, they create a product that in it's basic form does everything a frame 4X the cost will do, but has some shortcomings, at a rock bottom price.  Yes, price is king but there are many like myself who would be willing to spend a little more if it meant getting a really good product.

And this is where the hardtail options really stand out imo. There is virtually no difference between between the 057 or 256 and other big name brand carbon hardtails, but the full suspensions are a different story. Not saying they aren't a screaming value because they are and I plan on getting one myself, but I am saying that there is a difference between a high end full suspenesion name brand carbon frame and the 036. Enough of a difference to matter or that we should care? Probably not - Not for me, at least. $700 compared to 2-3k is a huge savings and will enable me to make the rest of the bike soooo much better that the small differences between the chiner and the name brand frame will inconsequential. Besides, I've read a lot of ride reports on these 036 frames and never once has there been a complaint about the function of the rear suspension. Quite the opposite, actually. All great reviews. You may want to check into upgrading the the shock mount bushing/bearing though as there are many guys that say it's quite a worthy and noticeable upgrade.

Carbon Dude - Your thought about the Chinese vendors offering some higher end options is an interesting one. Makes me think of my request for them to build a RIP9 RDO replica and sell it simply for half price = Market cornered. So I certainly agree that there is a sweet spot that still hasn't been hit yet with the full suspension offerings (like I said, they got the hardtails down) but I guess we should remember that the full suspension frames haven't really been out that long. Like SN said, one of them will get it right and it will be fun to watch it unfold and maybe even be a part of it right here on chinertown.

In summary, my humble opinion is that they definitely need some "Americanized" marketing (nice website, social media and forum marketing, branding , graphics, etc..) and offer a targeted but sufficient product line:

29er hardtail frame
27.5 hardtail frame
Fat bike frame
2 popular widths in 29er rims
2 popular widths in 27.5 rims
2 popular widths in fat bike rims
A slightly higher end and better made 29er full suspension
A slightly higher end and better made 27.5 full suspension

Once all of those are in place and in market..

An all-mountain (slacker geo, beefier) 29er hardtail
An all-mountain (slacker geo, beefier) 27.5 hardtail
An all-mountain (slacker geo, beefier) 29er full-suspension
An all-mountain (slacker geo, beefier) 27.5er full-suspension

This is kinda fun. There needs to be a video game like railroad tycoon or something...  "Chindor Tycoon"?? 

What about self driving cars?

http://www.cnet.com/news/california-approves-self-driving-cars-in-2015/

We'll all be relaxing in our fully electric, self driving cars with our chiners on the back here soon.