I’ve been out once so far, mainly to see if cockpit and seat all ok and to get used to 29″. This is my first 29″ bike and first proper LLS, as the HB160 was really only low (slackened up nearly another degree with 170mm forks).
Seems to climb ok with less bob than the 160, even with the coil compared to the X2, and that was with the seat about 15-20mm too low (I’ve changed the OneUp from the 190mm i was running back up to 210mm now). General suspension feel is the clichéd “magic carpet”.
Will be going out more to get used to it… Been on the 160 for just over 4 years so there’ll be a lot of muscle memory to delete, but impressions so far are good. You can see why these things are racking up podiums.
If building a frame:
Steerer tube is 15mm shorter than the 160, so I had to cut down my old 36’s the same amount and re-tapped the EDC threads.
If you’re using your old brakes, buy a new rear hose – this thing is long.
Don’t route the hose from the caliper to the chainstay too tight – the hose is under tension on compression.