Building an AR-bike

[ArAddict]

First of all hi, im new to this forum !

I am an adventure racer doing 3-5 days expeditionraces where mtb biking usually is a big part of the race, it can be anything from pushing the bike trough non-bikeable terrain to 200km stages on gravel. I have during the last years used full suspension 29" bikes around 11kg but I consider for the upcoming season to build an as light as possible HT which is durable enough to withstand the bike torture Adventure racing usually is. What im looking for is a bike that is fast on long fairly easy distances but also a bike that climbs well on long easy uphills, and a drivetrain with fairly low cost components to replace. Any suggestions ? Been looking at the Workswell WCB-M-096 but its seems alot higher for the same Top Tube length so perhaps something more XC like. Budget would be around 3000$

- 29 HT frame fitting my 187 cm.
- Good quality wheels that can take a beating (love my current DT Swiss XR 1700)
- 1 * 11 , been looking at the new XT and SRAM GX (not to happy with SRAM so considering testing XT)
- 100mm travel fork

[carbonazza]

Something you may consider is the Lauf fork.
I ride with it on my 062, it is only 60mm but it has no maintenance at all(no issues either), and it makes the front of the bike very light.
Except in downhill like portions(big roots, rock gardens,...), where it start to bounce and you have to grip well the bar to keep the curse, it is a great fork.
It was a temporary replacement of my Lefty that needed servicing, but I never switched back.

The XT drivetrain is a bit heavy compared to other more expensive options, but very well built and solid.
And cheap to replace.

[ArAddict]

I tried the lauffork and its a great fork for XC, the rebound is abit fat and untunable tough. Also its quite expensive but a good option for this build, will consider it.

[gohloum]

AR riding eh?  Cool.  I am actually building a bike that might fit your description as we speak.  I chose the CS-MB01 From XMCarbonSpeed.  When I was shopping, I wanted a hardtail, but I was looking for something that was a little more forgiving in the rear as I want to run a full carbon seat with no padding and I have an old injury at my L4 disk that I didn't want to aggravate. What gave me the idea to look for something like this was the new BMC Teamlite. It has an elastomer in the seat stays that gives the rear some flex and travel.  The CS-MB01 doesn't have this but it does have a couple of kevlar inserts. What they did with the design is decoupled the top of the stays from the lowers by cutting them on a 45 degree angle and then inserting kevlar housed in a flexible casing in between. I don't believe it will give the travel the BMC gives (claimed 12 to 15mm) but I do think it will soften the harshness just a bit.  I will find out this weekend when I go for my first trail ride on it.

As for price, I am pretty close to your 3K mark in price as well, maybe just a tad under.  Here is what I have:

Frame CS-MB01 - Carbonspeed (Peter @ xmcarbonspeed.com)
Wheels 29 with Novatec hubs - Carbonspeed
Bars - Carbon from Carbonspeed
Seat Post - Carbon from CarbonSpeed
Saddle: G-House all carbon (Selle SMP clone) $25 from Aliexpress (Thanks carbon_dude for the link, I love this thing!)
Fork - Fox 32 Factory SC (Step Cast) very light and got it under $875. Message me for supplier.
Brakes: Hope Tech 3 X2 - Merlin Cycles for about $260.00
Rotors: Hope copies by Snail from AliExpress ($25 for the pair)
Stem: Fun 80mm 7degree from Chain Reaction Cycles (about $25)
Grips: RaceFace Half Nelsons from Chain Reaction Cycles ($20)
Groupset: SRAM GX with 1400 crankset upgrade from r2-bike.com (about $350).
Pedals: I have from another bike.
Tires: Ground Controls 2.3 ($55)

... Just did a running total and I think I'm at $2795.  I have a thread up in this forum and will be updating with more details and pictures over the coming days.  I'm one of the early builds on this particular frameset, so I feel I need to give as much feedback as possible to help others out.  Check there to know more about the build details.

Regardless of what frame and wheels you go with, these component resources should be helpful.  Living in Florida, I was surprised that it was cheaper for me to order the majority of my components from UK and Germany for less than I could find anywhere stateside.... Even with shipping. Just a note on r2-bike.com.  If you are in a region like me where the VAT tax does not apply, make sure to register on their site.  Originally the prices didn't look so good until I registered. Once they had my geographical location, the VAT tax was removed from the pricing.  Just an FYI on that one. 

[carbonazza]

...Hope copies by Snail from AliExpress...

Thanks for the information, I didn't know this was available. There are even brake pads of all sorts.