Monday Musing (#45) – The ‘Full XT’ Build
Aaron and I are sitting outside having a post-ride pick-up. I’m sipping a medium-medium black coffee in a rock-solid ‘for here’ mug. He’s breathing in steaming tea from a paper ‘to go’ cup because he likes to use the lid as a saucer for his tea bag. A couple of middle-aged mountain bicyclist dirtbags, still in our riding gear, but with the addition of toques.
We’re both riding long-forked steel hardtails with a mix-match of new & well-old parts and wearing a blend of kit that was clearly assembled one piece at a time*. We’ve arrived in his partner’s ancient square-body Ranger 4×4, which loudly groans “kill me” on every start-up but reliably sucks it up and goes wherever it’s needed. It has a tray rack that’s truly too short for either of our wheelbases. Comically so with the two-wheeled off-road train he pedals.
I know, it’s sounding a bit Charles Dickens. “Please, sir, may I have a drop of chain lube? An ounce of tire sealant? A CSU that doesn’t creak?” And now that I think of it, I’m fairly certain the gas heaters weren’t on, so just to fully flesh out the intro, let’s assume the two of us are shivering a little bit. We’re chatting about inflation, expenses, and expectations.
*{Not the best Johnny Cash song by a mile, but maybe the most fun?}
Keeping in mind, as the world’s tiniest violin serenades* us in the background, that we’re talking about two grown dudes playing bicycles in the amazing forests of one of the wealthiest areas of one of the wealthiest countries in the world. With all the amenities and amazing riding essentially at our doorsteps. The effects of speculation aside, there is a legitimate demand pressure on the price of a square foot, whether we’re talking real estate for housing, retail, or service.
[Aside] Ever-rising land values drive this province’s healthy-looking GDP, but what small-business owner or employee – some 41% of BC’s workforce – doesn’t feel like they’re pedaling backwards? [/Aside]
So there we sit, with our rapidly cooling beverages on a slowly warming day, talking about the dream of the STX-RC/Deore/LX/DX/SLX rider that was the ‘Full XT’ bike build. A simpler time when Shimano commanded almost the entire marketplace for bicycle drivetrains and {shifters & chains aside} the ‘R’ in ‘XTR’ simply meant spending more dollars for fewer grams as opposed to any significant improvement in performance or longevity.
*{The violinist is bowing out Bombs Away by the Zolas.}
Perception and privation. Riders who want the best and can afford the best will buy the best. Even if the best is only a little better, a little bit lighter, or a little bit more exotic for a much larger investment. And, when it comes to bicycle drivetrains, ignoring for the moment any battery vs. thumb-powered shifting debates, ShiRAMano really does deliver increased performance, improved durability, and lighter weights for more money. I leave the return on investment up to the individual.
The growth of the luxury end of mountain bicycle componentry infects the conversation from two directions. Here I’m specifically talking about drivetrains, but I’ve had all the same conversations in reference to suspension products. Firstly, the perception that owning an XT or, if we’re talking SRAM, GX {now 90} bike isn’t anything to aspire to. Is a Corvette no longer a premium product because a Bugatti is forty times the price? According to some mountain bike logicians, yes.
Then there’s the privation that the price of an XT rig has raced beyond any general level of affordability. I wiggle on this claim because bikes are clearly more endowed than ever with dropper posts and rear shocks assumed, carbon or massively formed aluminum frames, hydraulic brakes, a stock saddle that’s not an asshatchet, and expectations for good tires out of the box. Most of us are not just hanging Shimano parts on a hardtail frame anymore*.
*{Have you ever heard Odetta’s cover of The Times They Are A-Changin’? It’s powerful.}
{…Insert link to XT LinkGlide Thumbie Shifting.}
And what even is a ‘Full XT’ build? LinkGlide M8130 performs awesomely, lasts epically, and is surprisingly reasonable in price. But, take an XT M8100 HG+ 12-speed drivetrain and make the jump up to Di2 electronics, with the same shifting performance, and that requires an additional CA$900 or so to cover the Di2 electronic shifter, derailleur, batteries, and charger compared to running cable.
Similarly, compare the price of SRAM’s latest top-end cable group, Eagle 90 T-Type, to their basic battery shifted unit, and consider that, by most accounts that it’s an upgrade over the previous GX-cable setup, and there are some solid values to be scored even at SRP.
Where I think M8130 and Eagle 90, call them ShiRAManos highest end current cable groupsets, really invoke the spirit of that past ‘Full XT’ dream is in being {my experience with XT} and promising to be {based on others’ experiences with 90} the lowest hassle* drivetrains these brands have made.
*{I have some Dead Weather for this… No Hassle Night}
Spending, say, 3.5-to-6K in Canuck bucks on a mountain bicycle isn’t chump change, but for a high-quality, no immediate upgrades needed, rig, I’d say it’s hitting the sweet spot. Generally, when I hear folks talking about how expensive mountain biking has become, it’s in reference to the prevalence of five-figure and near-five-figure bicycles without motors.
In terms of the bottom-end number, I’m over here holding out that the next generation of Kona Honzo ESD will be running an XT LinkGlide build. Rock solid long-term shifting performance, and the HG hub driver makes for cleaner/simpler/cheaper single-speed conversions for folks who want to run both setups on the same wheels. Keep the Z1, go Deore for the crankset if needed, and I had a dream the other day about TBG running Kona-branded Hex-Drive hubs on all their performance bicycles, so let’s do that too?
Up top, I have some real-world rigs, with Devinci’s Canadian-made aluminum Troy & Troy ST* rocking platforms shipping with Eagle 90, good brakes, and all the suspension anyone needs for under CA$6000. Sure, there’s no carbon in sight, but it’s a lot of bike for the bucks even at SRP.
*{Five sizes, XS-XL with Reach measurements from 423mm to 508mm. Devinci, tall people, like Aaron, are begging you to add an XXL in that 530ish Reach range.}
Yeah, so. Pricing discussions are all floofy paloofy right now with another year of new releases crashing into excess inventory. And, Aaron’s off living on the rock. And the price of a black coffee is squeezed between a boost in basic bean buying against the maximum margin a customer is willing to cover. And the Ranger is up in the big pick-a-part in the sky. And I received a message from a friend last week asking for “a recommendation for an aluminum full XT dual-suspension bike.”
And both the Ripmo AF and Troy Al that I suggested are Eagle 90 – “full XT, not XT-equivalent” – and it turns out finding a rad stock bike with actual Shimano XT cable-shifting, LG or HG+, still isn’t the easiest thing on the planet?! Circle back to sitting with Aaron, he with the to-go-tea and me with the for-here-java, talking about the ‘Full XT’ dream.
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