The Build
Liteville has a bit of a cult following in Germany, but unlike Nicolai doesn't have much of a presence beyond Germany.
In many ways the 301 is a typical German made bike, the build quality is excellent and it has a lot of nifty features built into it. For example, it can run 26 or 27.5 wheels, depending on the position the seat stay is bolted into. You can change the linkage plates to run it in 140mm or 160mm travel mode. The drive side seat stay mounts an integrated chainguide. The frame takes internal or external cabling on the front triangle. All of the pivots use needle bearings. Etc etc.
The Frame
The frame itself is very light for an alloy frame, at 2.5kg for a medium without shock. For reference the new Focus Sam 9.9 carbon which is one of the lightest enduros out there is 2.33kg.
The linkage design is probably the most notable feature of the frame, it's an FSR but not. Check out the
linkage design report here.
Those are some crazy low anti-rise numbers. The anti-squat is almost perfect for an enduro bike as well. Lots of anti-squat near the sag point in climbing gears which quickly drops away as the bike moves into its travel or goes up the gears. This translates to reduced pedal kickback when you're trying to haul ass through gnar.
The Shock
The frame came with a Monarch rt3 custom tuned shock as stock but I can find the limit on a Monarch pretty quickly. I had heard that the 301 had a tendency to bottom out but was very sensitive to compression tune. Initially I was going to run a CCDBA but was talked into a DVO Topaz by Nsdynamics due to the more solid rebound circuit, better air chamber adjustment and bladder control for fine tuning the compression response.
Initial impressions are that the Topaz does indeed have a very strong rebound circuit. Even with 300psi in the can, full slow is bloody slow. The car park test ride indicates the shock is quite sensitive, but I will have to wait till I hit my favourite rock garden to see if the high flow ports and bladder match the hype.
The Fork
If I was going to run a DVO shock then I needed a suitable fork, and for a bike of this pedigree that only left the Diamond. In bright green of course.
The fork comes with the requisite hsc/lsc/lsr external controls but has some nifty features. Instead of a negative air chamber it uses a spring to dictate break away behaviour - or Off The Top (OTT) as DVO refer to it. This differs from the Suntour's Durolux in being externally adjustable, with something like 40 turns of adjustment.
The lsc has 5 preset positions including a soft lockout for climbing, which will be handy given the Liteville's all mountain purpose.
The only missing feature was volume adjustment for the air spring. This was fixed with an
SD Components DVC. It's similar to a MRP Ramp Control but relies on a second positive air chamber and in theory gives better control of the mid stroke behaviour.
Dropper
And if I'm going to run a Diamond I might as well get Garnet dropper as well. The DVO Garnet dropper is very nicely finished, and has some well thought out features like the air pressure valve is accesible without removing the seat.
In terms of the the rest of the build kit, the aim was to make the Liteville the most flexible bike possible. This was driven by the fact that the frame can accept 26 or 27.5 wheels, have seperate linkage plates (and leverage ratios) for 140 and 160mm and accept a variable angle headset cups.
In order to meet that flexibility goal, the build needed to be as light as possible without compromising strength. The main areas for managing weight are typically the wheels, cranks and controls.
Wheels
For the wheels I tried to get the lightest enduro capable wheels I could. I went with I9 Torch hubs for their low weight, 120 poe, and 700nm torque rating. The Liteville has a 6mm offset swingarm which let me have even length/tensioned spokes at the rear with a Nextie Premium DH rim at 440g. I used an asymmetrical Nextie NXT27AS33 at 410g and 3mm offset for the front to get even length/tensioned spokes. With 64 DT Comps and nipples the total weight came in at 1700gms.
Cranks
For cranks I went with some oldies but goodies. Middleburn RS8 X-types. And then guess what, my boutique Middleburns had a funky boutique chainline which rubbed on the frame. SoOoOo I went some even olders and gooderers, M770 XT cranks. Yeah baby, the last of the proper XTs with a 104 bcd. They still look pretty schmick if I say so myself.
For the bb I'm going to run a Chris King gen1 for shits and giggles. I don't really buy into the whole Chris King religion but I got this one cheap so why not.
For pedals I went with Time Atac MX8s which have a carbon platform body and supposedly tougher cleat springs compared to the lower models. They weigh 364 grams, or less than the old Atac Carbon XS pedals I have on my XC bike, and most flats. They were also rated the perfect pedal by Singletracks.
https://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-gear/time-atac-mx8-pedal-review/
Cockpit
Steering duties are handled by a Thomson X4 stem, Nukeproof Horizon Carbon bar at 780mm and Odi Rogues. The Thomson needs no introduction. The Nukeproof is good enough for Sam Hill my man crush (although I have a thing for Eddie Masters as well, what a dude!). Finally the ODI Rogue is one of the few grips that can fill these big big hands.
Shifting duties are handled by 10 speed XTR shifters and XT derailleurs. Shifting is reliably excellent as always.
Brakes
The brakes are probably a Rotorburn first: hybrid Shopes - Shimano M785 levers, Goodridge lines and Hope RX4 (nee E4) calipers. This allows me to do the pepsi challenge between my M785/M755, M8000/M755, Saint M810 and Zee M640 brakes.
First impressions are that the Hope calipers are harder to perfectly bleed than Shimanos. The grub screw always lets in a bit of air, and is inferior to the bleed port on Shimano calipers. The brakes also seem to be spongier then their M785/M755 brethren. I haven't bedded the pads in yet so I have yet to see whether the bigger Hope E4 pads make up for the spongier calipers.
Final Weight
So the final weight came in at 14.7kgs. Heavier than I was hoping for but competitive given the capability of the parts.
I suspect the Diamonds are the main lard ass component but the only fork that is close on performance and significantly lighter is a Mattoc Pro which will be flexier and less green. I've also got a bit of a love/ hate relationship with the Fox36 RC2. The Fox36 Grip 2 is the almost the same weight as is the Lyrik RC2.
I could lose weight on the cranks and the brakes but this will impact capability.
The scary things is that my Focus SAM runing Fox36s and a Float X is only 200g heavier and I could lose 200g by changing out the heavy ass Atac Z pedals.