Yeah, I had no idea the other frame went missing!
Or I did, and I forgot?
That's absolutely brutal tho. I real heartbreaker, and I can see why it'd slow your building momentum.
That said, I'm really glad to hear it's resulted in you just riding what you have a bunch instead.
As for the current version of this one...
I actually think it's one of my favorite bikes on here. Love the stealth look with the black Syncros stem and bars, the black Campy rims and bullseye hubs; love the Suntour XC Pro group and the pop of the new orange decals on it. But most of all I love that Manitou.
It still feels unexpected to me, and the grey and silver clashes with everything else in a surprising and perfect way (silver headset really ties it together too).
Anyway, this bike looks the proverbial dogs gonads. And I want to ride it. Really fast.
Ideally where you took that first photo!
Did it ever get entered in a BOTM, by the way? I can't remember and I want to vote for it if it didn't.
Maybe it did?
Maybe I did?