Kingdom Vendetta X2 XL frame
Orange Hope Headset
Orange Hope AM/FR stem 35mm diameter 50mm length
Easton Havoc DH 35 carbon handlebars 800mm
Renthal Ultra tacky lock on grips
Orange Hope bolted seatclamp
Fox Transfer factory series kashima dropper post 150mm with under bar remote
Specialized Toupe Expert gel 155mm saddle
Orange Hope Tech 3 V4 brakes front and rear
Black Hope 183mm rotors front and rear
Shimano XT 1x11 boost chainset 170mm length 30T chainring
Shimano SLX rear mech (chosen because of it compatability with 46T cassette if needed)
Shimano XT 1x11 11-42T cassette
Shimano XT chain
Spank OOZY 395+ 35mm ID rims built onto Orange Hope Pro 4 boost hubs with sapim D-light spokes
Crank Brothers Mallet DH black pedals
Specialized butcher 27.5x 2.6 tyres that i have replaced with a pair of Maxxis Minion DHF 2.8 3C tyres
Orange Kingdom Decals
The first ride I had at the demo event was more of a 'tweeking and fiddling' ride for me to get the bike setup and performing exactly how I like it which then gave me chance to fully explore the bikes possibilities a week later one evening after work.
A 5 mile ride on the road in the miserable rain to the start of a short sharp lung busting climb marks the start of my local trails. For the past 5 years i haven't bothered trying to make the climb all the way to the top just because it's horrible and im not fit enough to be pedalling big enduro bikes all the way which it usually ends up in me walking the last part.
So you can imagine my surprise when I found myself at the top of the Climb and sat next to North Nibley Monument and trig point without stopping or getting off. I then set off on the various technical DH runs and couldn't believe how much speed I could carry and how confident the bike is in the rough. To the point where I managed to shame a few lads on DH bikes in the slippery mud. Its obviously still a hardtail but i've never ridden one like it and would choose this over many full sus bikes and much more expensive machinery.
I had more fun on those local trails than I've had in any trail centre for a couple of years and it makes it easier that there's no frame bearings or pivots to worry about cleaning through winter. Best hardtail on the planet but it really needs to be ridden hard to find out what it's truly capable of. Considering selling my Intense Carbine 29 now!
As far as small tricks I've done to bike, when I received the frame I thought it was a tad dull for my liking so I polished the frame in 3 stages which has highlighted the welding colours a lovely gold colour along with the natural blues.
Stage- 1 I used car T-Cut which is a mild abrasive paint renovator
Stage- 2 I used Autoglym super resin polish which is just a standard car polish with a super fine abrasive
Stage- 3 I used Autogym High Definition Wax to 'seal' to frame and give a good finish like you would on a car (not neccessary but thought it would be easier to clean after waxing and it has been!)
