I tend to research things to death and am I suppose like many on here quite fussy 😀 . I just bought an Anthem SX after huge research, my first full susser since selling my 5 over 2 yrs ago. The Spec on paper looks spot on, and I honestly don’t ‘need’ to change a thing, which quite amazes me, in a good way ! I am however swopping out the bars for Aston Haven carbon, as I have them on other mtb and love the feel (and they’re less than half price at CRC), but I really don’t need to.

Aren’t modern bikes and current full suss setups just great ?

I bought a Whyte T130 Works in Feb which is my first off the shelf bike since 1998. Only changed tires so far and more than happy with everything else.

not for me, I like shimano gears and rockshox forks/shock, and most stock xc full suss bikes I look at seem to come with fox/shimano and rockshox/sram so would likely want to change.

they also rarely spec bikes with bar ends these days…

contact points be the most common, saddle, grips/bars and pedals as they the most personal to the rider. maybe tyres
rest replace/upgrade when worn out.

^^^ I should have added that I changed the saddle to an ISM before riding it, but thats on medical grounds 😀

Only changed the tyres and rear wheel on my dale as the rear wheel was a bit of a anchor and the tyres were optomistic for uk use.