njee20's bike can't win because of the Spesh Forks, sorry, otherwise nice looking bike

Nice bike craig1975 apart from the white rims which look gash!

Was that bike "trailered" to that location for a photo shoot.

shortbread_fanylion – black rims look gash – white rims look dope 8)

WTF – why els build the bike ??? 😆

I agree to disagree…. 🙂

Anything with yumaya on should be banned 😛

White wheels are horrible.

Frame – Ventana El-Ciclon
Forks – RS Pike 454
Shock – Fox Float RP23
Shifters – XT
Rear Mech – XT
Front Mech – XT
Crankset – Hone Double w/ RaceFace Bash
Casette – XT
Grips – LizardSkins Lock-On's
Bars – Easton EA70
Stem – Thompson X4
Headset – King
Saddle – Ti Charge Spoon
Seatpost – Thomson Elite
Clamp – Hope Q/R
Brakes – Juicy5's (180/203)
Rims – XC717's
Hubs – Pro2's 20mm (F) / 10mm Bolt-Up (R)
Tyres – (R) 2.35 Nevegal DTC / (F)2.35 BlueGroove DTC

No pic yet. (CF reader knackered)

Frame – Yeti ASR-C
Forks – Rock Shox Sids Team 100 mm
Shifters – XTR
Rear Mech – XTR Shadow medium cage
Front Mech – Shimano XTR
Crankset – XTR
Casette – Sram PG-990
Chain – Sram PC 991 Hollow pin
Grips – Yeti Lock ons
Bars – Easton MonkeyLite SL
Stem – Ritchey WCS 4-Axis 44
Headset – Chris King
Saddle – Specialized Toupe 143
Seatpost – Integrated Yeti
Brakes – Magura Marta SL Goodridge hoses
Wheels – Chris King/Sapim CX-Ray Spokes/Stans Olympic rims
Skewers – Salsa
Pedals – 4-TI Egg Beaters
Tyres – Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.1 Tubeless
Cables – XTR

My race weapon 8) but the body is not good enough for the bike. 🙄

money pit…
Frame – 2007 Stumpjumper
Forks – Fox Float 120RL
Shifters – SRAM X0
Rear Mech – SRAM X0 long cage
Front Mech – Shimano XTR
Crankset – XTR
Casette – Sram PG-990
Chain – Sram PC 991
Grips – Ritchey Foam

Bars – Ritchey WCS Carbon low rise
Stem – Ritchey WCS 90mm 4-Axis 44
Headset – Chris King
BB – Chris King
Saddle – Specialized Phenom
Seatpost – Thomson layback
Brakes – Hope Tech M4/X2 Goodridge hoses with Floating Rotors
Wheels – Hope Pro 2/Stans Flows with 9 & 10mm conversion
Skewers – DT 9mm & 10mm Hope Bolt Thro
Pedals – XTR
Tyres – Specialized Purgatory 2.2
Stans tubeless valves
Cables – Clarks

savvy as in ahole or kunt?

I know one guy who will beat njee, but not sure he posts here that often. He has a nice spec carbon Rush.

I don't run any exotica, I prefer my bike to work 😉

Frame – Specialized Epic
Forks – Rock Shox SID Team
Shifters – XTR dual-control
Rear Mech – XTR
Front Mech – LX
Crankset – XTR
Casette – XT
Chain – XT
Grips – Specialized Durango
Bars – Truvativ Team carbon
Stem – Truvativ Team
Headset – Specialized
Saddle – Litespeed Ti
Seatpost – Easton EC70 carbon
Brakes – XTR
Wheels – Hope XC/X317
Skewers – XT
Pedals – M540
Tyres – Continental Speed King Supersonic
Cables – XTR

It's my no.1 bike but no XT cassette, Specialized frame, run-off the mill wheels and even an LX bit ('cause it was what came with the bike and hasn't worn out yet) won't put it anywhere near the running – however I'd still rather have it than some of the horrors posted on this thread so far…

Burner 1985 100% original.

Who needs XTR; No one, so just burn baby burn!!

urrrgggh. LX……….?

Frame – S-Works Epic – Broken
Forks – Specialized Futureshock E100 – Broken LOADS of times
Shock – Specialized Futureshock – Broken LOADS of times
Crankset – Specialized S-Works BB30, 28/40 with alu bolts – Broken (well, the BB is)
Headset – Cane Creek Integrated – Broken
Cables – Alligator I-links with Power Cordz inners – Keep not working

Except for the cables, which are fine (although I wouldn't buy Power Cordz again) Sadly that is all rather true… We can add to the list that once you take the chainset off and put it on again, no matter how tight you do the cranks they will always come loose, and the fact the front hub bearings last 20 seconds! It's a shame that all the duff parts are the Specialized ones, that I've not changed. All the quirky light pimpy bits are absolutely fine, there's a moral there…

And it's why I have a 2010 Top Fuel 9.9 on order 🙂

Go on then, I'll have a go:

Frame – Giant Anthem Advanced
Forks – Rock Shox SID Team
Shifters – SRAM XO Grip shifts
Rear Mech – XO
Front Mech – XTR
Crankset – FSA K-Force Light XC MegaExo
Casette – XO
Chain – KMC X9 SL Ti & Gold 9 Speed
Grips – XO
Bars – Ritchey WCS Carbon
Stem – Ritchey WCS Carbon
Headset – Giant with carbon spacers
Saddle – Fizik Arione
Seatpost – Thomson Masterpiece
Brakes – Hope Mini Pros with Ti(GB team issue)
Wheels – Hope XC3 hubs, DT spokes and 4.2d rims (GB team issue)
Skewers – Hope Ti (GB team issue)
Pedals – XTR
Tyres – Racing Ralphs snake skins
Cables – XTR

8)

epicsteve – tidy bike, great shot! Nice.

And it's why I have a 2010 Top Fuel 9.9 on order

Good choice sir!

Frame – MSC Koncept Carbon (Fox Float RP23, some team-only custom mods)
Forks – Rock Shox SID Race
Shifters – M970 XTR
Rear Mech – M970 XTR (Rapid Rise)
Front Mech – M970 XTR
Crankset – M970 XTR
Casette – M970 XTR
Chain – SRAM PC990 Hollowpin.
Grips – MSC Foam
Bars – Easton EC90 Monkeylight SL
Stem – Race Face Deus XC
Headset – MSC with carbon spacers
Saddle – Selle Italia SLR
Seatpost – MSC Carbon Ultralight w. Ti head and fixtures.
Brakes – Avid Juicy Ultimate w. Hope floating rotors (round, not sawtooth).
Wheels – American Classic hubs, Stan's ZTR Olympic rims, DT Swiss Revolution Spokes.
Skewers – Hope Ti (MKIII, ones that actually work well)
Pedals – Crank Brothers Candy SL
Tyres – Maxxis eXCeption (various models)
Cables – XTR

Wondered how long before she appeared, there's the lightest bike on here 🙂

Yes hopefully the Top Fuel will be a bit more reliable, my last 2 Epics have had 4 forks and 9 shocks between them! It's a shame, as they're great when they work!

urrrgggh. LX……….?

I've decided not to replace it with something fancier until it wears out, but it seems to be indestructible and still works well.

I'll second that Njee's Epic creaks like nothing on earth. It's pretty terrifying if I'm honest. Is a superb ride though, if you get over the noise…and the failure rate of the shock/forks 😉

My old-school Epic is still on it's original shock. It's on it's 3rd set of forks but that's not 'cause the others have worn out.

Amateurs. A really bling bike cannot have any Hope, definitely no Chris King and absolutely categorically not any frigging Thomson. It is workhorse stuff and not in any way tasty.

Aracer wins hands down so far. Tune hubs, carbon cranks, attention paid to the spokes used.. looks like a weightweenies bike for sure. I'm guessing 20 ish lbs? Very little weight left on that.. Except you could get the Pauls components adapters and run Dura Ace 9sp bar-end shifters. work very well indeed as super lightweight thumbies.

19 ish lbs

Not a chance! IIRC when this has come up it's 21, which I'd say is about right. A nice bike for sure. Dougal's is lighter though.

Anyway, this wasn't bling, but 'best', Thomson certainly isn't bling, but it's functional, which debatably is 'best', to some at least! I'll keep my New Ultimate seatpost which weighs 100g less than a Thomson and still holds the saddle just fine! 🙂

Njee, I initially thought it was the hardtail one (can never remember which name is which with Scott) so I went back and edited to say 20 ish.. still out tho 🙂

Best is entirely relative of course, a bike could be perfectly specced for a particular area, rider or wallet. But value for money is a boring thread… As for Thomson it's kind of chunky and solid looking, but it's sure as hell not light or in anyway interesting 🙂

My attempt:

Kona Heihei 2007
Pace RC39 80mm forks
XTR Cranks
XTR Mechs
XTR Cassette
XTR cables
Tune headset
Easton low-rise CNT bars
USE alien s/post
Flite XLR saddle
XTR brakes
ZTR Olympics on XTR hubs via Sapim Laser spokes
Xpedo Ti pedals
Some really light skewers that I can't remember the name of (bought off a mate)
Racing Ralph 2.0s with Stans
Syntace F99 stem
Ritchey WCS foam grips
Dura Ace bar-end shifters with Paul's thumbie adapters

21.5lbs without compromise.

The hubs were a bit of a cop-out because I ran out of money during the build – likewise brakes. If/when I save some more I'll probably get ZTR Race rims on American Classic hubs and keep the other wheels with Nobby Nics on for easily swappable mud wheels. I'd have liked Hope ultra light brakes too but it's not worth the cost of swapping them I don't think. Control tech skewers will also make an appearance probably for security reasons, and I am kind of nervous about the stem.

I could perhaps go for a longer fork for tech XC courses but DT are taking the mick with prices, so I dunno. There's also Rockshox…

This was my Pimpest machine, long gone now……..

Been replaced by this.

21.5lbs without compromise.

How much with compromise?

Lol at running out of money so having to resort to xtr brakes and hubs. 😯

i think your mistaking "best" with "most expensive"

yumeya = bottom of the pile for spending TOO much money for NO advantage.

on a chain as well! its a consumable part!

Hmmm, Yumeya does seem ridiculous, 100% form over function! The chain at least has a (minute) performance advantage. The price is hilarious though!

Here my attempt…

Frame – Santa Cruz Superlight
Forks – Rockshox Reba Team – PUSH LOCK
Shock – Fox Float RP23
Shifters – XTR
Rear Mech – XTR
Front Mech – XT
Crankset – XTR
Casette – XTR
Chain – SRAM PC 991
Grips – YETI
Bars – FSA CARBON
Bar ends – SPECIALIZED C1 CARBON OVERENDZ
Stem – HOPE
Headset – KING
Saddle – FIZIK GOBI CARBON RAIL
Seatpost – THOMSON ELITE
Seatpost clamp – HOPE
Brakes – HOPE MONO MINI – FLOATING ROTORS
Rims – DT 4.2D
Hubs – HOPE PRO 3 STRAIGHT PULL
Skewers – HOPE
Tyres – RACING RALPH
Cables – GORE

I win.

Frame: One-off Shimano XTR Ti triple-butted hard-tail frameset
Forks: XTR 120mm Tubeshokk Air with Ti blades
Wheels: XTR rims on special edition Gold XTR hubs
Brakes: Hope Ti Mono Mini with Ti levers
Groupset: XTR throughout
Tyres: XTR Nivodium tubeless puncture-proof with remote retractable knobblies:
Saddle: Selle Italia A55-Wafer gel-impregnated leather with Ti rails
Seatpost: One-off XTR carbon with titanium core
Spokey-Dokies: Hope with Goldinium finish
Grips: Water Buffalo hide lock-ons
Cables: Kevlar-jacketed Teflo-carbon

Look at me, I've got biking bling now baby, look at me.

Attention whores all of you 😆

How much with compromise?

Well I could fit stupid tyres like Conti Supersonics, that would save half a lb but would compromise traction/handling; 28 spoke wheels save a bit but are weaker; could've gone 1×9 I suppose; could go to V brakes but again I see that as worse. So I suppose I could save a lb being silly.

Then again, to compromise further I'd have gone fully rigid which could've got me down in the 18lb range. But weight, whilst important on an XC bike isn't everything 🙂

Oh and for those who think I am conspicuously loaded, it was an insurance replcement for a 5 year old bike that I supplemented with a few hundred quid 🙂

Aracer wins hands down so far.

When njee and Dougal have also posted? Woot! Is actually ~21.5lbs. Could maybe get it under 21, but not without spending a lot of money or compromising on strength (Clavicula cranks would probably do it, but I just can't bring myself to spend that much!)

Still reckon I deserve extra marks not so much for the expensive stuff, but for the obscure or no longer made stuff (eg Extralite parts, AC BB, B4SL brakes and Gore UL cables). Not so sure about your "no Hope" criteria though – may well get some of their latest ultralight brakes to replace the B4SLs which have now started to corrode and leak a bit (it's those or Formula R1s I reckon).

I am kind of nervous about the stem.

Don't be. F99s are very well engineered, and Syntace stand behind their products. I had one of the original ones which got recalled (for something which was an extremely rare failure, and probably also affects stems from many other brands). They not only sent out a new one for free when I e-mailed a piccy of mine sawn in half, but also gave a big discount on extra bits to compensate for the trouble – I got ti bolts and a very cheap torque wrench.

Given I have a kind of "JPS" theme on an expensive bike (lots of carbon and black, gold hubs, gold chain and some gold bolts) I should really be the target market for Yumeya, but it's a bit pricey even for me – normal ti/alu bolt upgrades from pro-bolt are rather more economical.

Here's mine, not as flash as some of you guys but it was dead cheap.

Well I could fit stupid tyres like Conti Supersonics

I changed my Epic from Racing Ralphs to Speed King Supersonics and I'm finding the latter way, way better – even at 50psi.

I'd have a guess he might have been referring to Twister Supersonics (the first Conti Supersonic MTB tyres) which were the most fragile tyres I've ever tried!