A little bit of an update 
So a few things have happened over the past 4 months since my last post.
The Vertex .
The vertex has served me well this race season as I continue to get better at certain things and gain confidence on some pretty decent trail features like the Meat Grinder up here in Townsville. I ended up getting 4 out of 6 race wins this year so I'm pretty happy with that effort.
So far this is the best XC race bike I've ridden and its pretty much the only one I've ridden. The 34t Narrow/wide ring from wolf tooth is easily the best upgrade I've made so far. Its kept the chain on throughout every ride so far.
The only one bad thing that's happened this year is my forks that came on the bike had a bit of a problem and would only use half the travel and the CTD cartridge was buggered (they weren't part of the recall to). Should have them back in a couple weeks if all goes well.
Dodgy SS
I finally finished the bike with some dodgy parts i had, (some worn out cranks, old xt middle rind, 8 speed chain).
The cranks had a fair bit of play in them but its all i had and the xt ring was fairly worn, but this was only a bike i would ride to the shops. I ended up taking it out for a longer ride and the chain slipped off and i hit the deck while riding up a hill. so chucked the chain back on and rode the remaining 25kms home in the rain with a sore and bloody knee. Wont be riding this bike till its set up safely. Also need to put some different bars on since i bent the other ones when i came off.
Giant Anthem
I ended up selling the giant to a mate at a mates rate price, he got a extremely good deal. I didn't have much use for the anthem at that point in time and needed money.
The Fun Part
For the past 3 months I've really wanted a a bike with a bit more beef than the vertex.
I bought a 07 Mongoose Teocalli elite frame off here two years ago and had to pull it apart so i could use the parts on a different bike since I snapped some of the linkage bolts on it. I recently found it buried in a pile of stuff in the shed and have now got a urge to build it up and do a nice custom build with some used parts off this forum. I pretty much want to make a bike that will be fun and playful for a sorta budget price, pretty much why ill use used parts. I'm thinking of finding some saint cranks, some pikes or something with 160mm of travel with maybe 34mm stanchions.
And to top it off Ill get the frame painted a REALLY bright color like fluro pink, yellow, red, blue.
Anyway here's a pic of the frame as it is now. This is only an idea at the moment but it could be a fun little project. It would be good to have something playful to ride for once.
