Bike of the Week: A Black and Blue Trail Ripping Hardtail

This week we share our latest cross-country speed machine, striking the perfect balance of up hill fire road speed with sheer single track ripping fun. A blacked out Open Cycles hardtail with a shimmery blue front end.

The biggest impetus behind this build was to have something with that little bit more if "fun" factor than a gravel bike. Having ridden in events like Grinduro on a typical gravel bike, our rider really felt he could benefit from a bike that would enable him to open up the throttle a touch more on the single track descents. Of course, it still needed to be a light enough to scale the grueling steep climbs. The Open One+ seemed to be the perfect answer.

The brand new Sid SL Ultimate is hands down a highlight of the build. While the signature Sid blue lowers grab the attention, the real story is the the extensively scalloped hardware to bring the weight down to a minimum while packing new levels of trail damping performance. The 100mm of travel perfectly compliment the snappy handling of the One +.

The driveline is all wireless AXS. XX1 through and through, including a Quarq power meter crank. A 34t ring and the 10-50t cassette supply the necessary range. The brakes are Sram's lightest XC stoppers, the Level Ultimate.

The only bit of non AXS kit here is the dropper post. Rockshox does not have a 27.2 option in their wireless Reverb, so we wen't with Kind Shock's premium Lev CI. With its carbon lower, the CI is one of the lightest stoppers around. It's 120mm of travel are actuated by a Wolf Tooth ReMote that cleanly integrates with the Sram brakes levers.

This One + got the full Enve M5 treatment. The Enve cockpit hits the perfect balance of light weight and mind calming durability. The M925 29er rims do just the same. We've really been enjoying the performance of the Industry Nine Hydra hubs. Incredible engagement and an impressively low weight makes them perfect selection here. The wheels are wrapped by a set of Schwalbe rubber. A Rocket Ron up front paired with a Racing Ray out back, both 2.25in. 

All in all, the bike checked all the boxes of our rider's needs. At 20.37 lbs, it's light enough to contend with a gavel bike with room to crank the shred dial up a notch or two. Long live the XC hardtail!