With the bike arrived the first thing to do was strip it down, after hanging it on the scales of course (15.26kg). One pivot bolt was siezed from the get-go. All bolts were dry, except the shock bolts which were greased. The seat post clamp was a particular highlight, making a lovely creaking noise as I undid the dry, over tightened bolts. Basically, like most bikes, don’t expect it to be perfectly built. But thats fine, ‘cos I was stripping it anyway to fit the Invisiframe.
The paint seems fine. The cable routing seems sub-optimal, but I’ve never liked under the BB routing so I’m bias. The bolt on guides are only designed for 2 cables so if you add a Reverb Stealth (‘cos you should) you’ll need some new guides.
The rear axle is an odd affair. Its Maxle threaded, but the “lever” end is a cheap DT Swiss copy that can only be adjusted with a hex key. 157mm Maxles don’t appear to be available and Paragon Machine Works don’t have a suitable options, so, take care.
The wheels come tubed, which I guess is to be expected. They odd thing though is that they come taped, though the taped used is a bit crap, so swap the tubes (370g each!) for a tubeless valve and some 1″ Gorilla tape and they go up tubeless. Obviously some jiz and glitter needs adding too. The spokes are straight gauge, hey-ho.
I swapped the brakes for the Zees I already had, and the GX drivetrain for XT, I just prefer Shimano. Nothing looks to be wrong with the Avid DB3s or the GX fitted, so if you are not fuzzy you’ll be fine. I put my carbon bar on as well ‘cos you might as well, right?
Most controversially I also swapped the wheels for 29ers. My hardtail takes a 157mm rear and the wheel fits, so what could possibly go wrong! I was wanting a full sus 29er really. Oddly my front 29er wheel is a 15×100, so with the Hope Boost/Torque adapters my wheel sits off centre, it’ll be fine…
All in all, 14.65kg and the Mondy looks pretty good I reckon!
Best get out and ride now.