Okay, so a little update.
Version 1.1
Minor changes, maybe, but some significant ones nonetheless...
1. The first proper off-road ride resulted in the chain fouling during shifting, and when I looked down the granny ring was wobbling around precariously beneath me, all twisted out of shape! I really have no idea what happened, but after removing it, bending and twisting and banging it back into shape, it was still impossible to get the bolt holes to lineup correctly with the rest of the rings. I'm not sure if this was due to it getting so badly mangled, or if, for some reason, it was never the correct ring in the first place. Perhaps the bolt patterns were always slightly off and had been somehow forced inline? Regardless, a replacement was now needed and the only 22 tooth ring I could find with the correct BCD was a red QBP number from Gingineer. Luckily/happily it also came with ovalized bolt holes, which made installation and alignment a cinch. I originally figured this would be a stopgap replacement; I'm not the biggest fan of ano in general, and red is right up there with turquoise as my least favorite! But you know what? I kind of like it!
It's hidden away enough that it's pretty subtle, and it obviously matches the other little hits of red floating around the build.
2. Brakes. The Paul Crosstops were replaced with an NOS Scott Pedersen SE front, and (until I can source its matching partner) a Suntour XC Pro SE rear. These took a little while to dial-in correctly and are an interesting brake in practice. A little grabby at first, especially the Scott Pederson, they take some careful adjustment to get just right. Having ridden them a lot over the past couple of weeks, however, I've become more and more comfortable with the action and modulation, and, while they might not be my go-to brake of choice moving forward, they do work nicely (albeit uniquely)! The bike handles nicely now, and slows/stops well on both road and trail.
(Please excuse to mix-matched and mangled crimps... I was short a couple of black ones at the time of installation and plan to correct this grave mistake shortly!)
The Paul Moon Units were added for hangers, with a view to tying together the brake levers now the brakes themselves have been moved on. While the Scott pads were replaced with some brand new Koolstops, because, well, brand new pads are always the smarter choice for a regular rider!
The switch to cantilevers also meant my OCD was finally satisfied, as that rear cable stop was now in use:
And I now had a reason to use the WTB repro cable hanger I'd purchased a while ago for the front:
It's been milled to a 1 1/8" size, and while the cable comes in at a pretty harsh angle, I haven't had a problem with it yet. I may still order another in black, as the silver is a little jarring against the rest of the stack, but it's nice to have another piece of WTB-inspired tech on the build. That was a large reason for going with the Suntour Grease Guard group after all.
On the subject of...
3. The seatpost and saddle have been replaced with a matching Suntour XC Pro post and WTB Specialized Prolong. The saddle came from
@Flow (along with the single greatest component I have ever purchased, for the Bontrager build), who reached out to my original wanted ad for the Phoenix. Thanks again Ken! And while I didn't originally plan to use it on this bike, the tan saddle was still bugging me and the little hit of red from the logos and the extra WTB kick really made the choice for me:
@raidan73 will hopefully be relieved to see a black saddle, but I wonder if the Specialized component and logo on a Marin frame is going to give anyone else around here an anxiety attack?!
Personally, I couldn't give a flying...
Having ridden this saddle a lot recently on the Phoenix I'm finding it hard not to become a little obsessed. I'm actually kind of worried (for my finances) that I'll end up tracking several more down for future builds. Honestly, it fits my arse perfectly! And in my opinion may just have the nicest profile of any saddle aesthetically.
It also just looks right paired with a Suntour seatpost! Which I'm much happier with on this build than the American Classic.
definitely better with a black saddle. The question is, after all the time and effort, is it still a doner bike? 
