I'd like this next bike purchase to be my daily driver bike. I go biking about 1x/week, but sometimes I'm able to squeeze 2x/week.

Please let me know if anyone can share their recommendation on should I buy the FM1003 bike or FM1002 bike or just any positive or negative experience so far with your FM1003.

Thank you!

Crankydad

Howdy! After having the FM1003 for a while I am still very happy with the bike - it would definitely handle the features you are talking about. A couple of things to keep in mind, though - there's no water bottle mount on the FM 1003. I just leave my bottle at the bottom of the lift at the park, or use a frame bag and a soft water bottle when I'm out on the trails.

The 1003 is alot of travel for a daily driver - unless your daily rides are typically long climbs followed by long descents with big features. If your rides are a general mix - the 1002 would be a better all around option.

That being said, the 1003 is a ton of fun, and pedals well for a 180mm sled. I'm currently running it with a 190mm Zeb and using it as a pedalable park bike. Its overkill for 90% of what I do but I really enjoy taking it out.

The only issues I've had are the poor paint job, sneaky linkage hardware loosening (even with locktite...part of the pre ride ritual is torquing everything up) and missing a real water bottle.

Hope that helps!

General question for those who have owned the frame for some time, how does it hold up?  Creaks, rattles, other issues?

I'll chime in here - so far, so good! No odd creaks or rattles, the bike is tons of fun to ride. I kept the float x on over the x2 and have been happy so far. Planning on trying 190 on the front to see if it jacks up the ride characteristics and will report back.

Only complaint is the paint...it'll chip if you look at it wrong. Seems like their paint job quality has gone down recently so it's probably worth the extra $$ to order it raw and take it to a local shop.

 I do have to caveat that I've only had the frame since the late fall, it's been to the bike park twice and I've had it out on my local trails a dozen or so times...interested to see how it holds up over the next season and if I end up reaching for the 1003 over my Ripmo like I have been over this winter. 

hello everyone! long time lurker first time poster

Thanks to the guidance in this forum I bought a Carbonda FM936 two years ago and have really enjoyed it since. It's the perfect steed for crushing New England XC Singletrack. I also have a Ripmo that I ride when things get steeper. This frame intrigued me as the Ripmo can get interesting plowing through rough stuff at the bike park or otherwise so I pulled the trigger a few weeks back.

I built this up last week and had a chance to get out and pedal it around the local trails today. It is quite a beast - definitely heavier and different to pedal than the Ripmo (is there a better pedaling platform than the DW link??) but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the FM-1003 pedals and climbs for a 180/180 frame. I used to have a 160/170 Rallon and this pedals better than that frame. I deliberately started with a 30t chainring to try and reduce pedal bob associated with the suspension design, and I think it worked well. The float X pairs really well with the frame, gives plenty of pop and play while being supportive. I will also be trying an X2 to see how that feels.

So far, I'm really happy with the design of the frame - the internal routing is way better than the FM936 and the linkage, etc. all seems very beefy and overbuilt. My only complaint is the paint job leaves something to be desired...the clear coat seems thin, especially around the cable ports, and already shows some wear. FYI it takes a 200mm rotor in the rear, which surprised me. I have to return some adapters now!

I am taking it to the bike park tomorrow and looking forward to putting it to the test.

Ignore the mismatching wheel/tyre set...waiting on a new rotor to switch the rear wheel with my conti's.