From the steamy tropical trails of Far North Queensland to adventure rides in Australia’s Alpine country, my Mojo HDR 650b continues to run like a sweet dream! I thought it’d be worth commenting on the performance of the various components.

• Rockshox Pike
  9 months in and the performance of the Pike is still something that stands out on each ride. These forks are the bomb!
• ESI Extra Chunky Grips
  Super comfy and the large diameter encourages a relaxed grip. Love these grips although they tear on the ends quite easily.
• Syntace Vector Carbon Handlebar
  Dampening without Flex. It’s amazing how different the Syntace Vector Carbon feels to an alloy handlebar.
• Specialized Phenom saddle
  Still loving the Phenom saddle after four years! It’s a little prone to creaking from where the rails enter the saddle but it’s so comfy it’s worth sticking with. If I was to replace it with anything it would be a Specialized Henge which has a better shape for trail riding.
• RockShox Reverb
  The Reverb dropper post continues to be one of the coolest, most used and uber reliable components on the Mojo HDR. Originally fitted in 2011 and having only been bled once since there’s not much to complain about. I recently checked out the KS Lev and while the cable routing is clean I much preferred the feel of the Reverb button and post action.
• Shimano Zee Derailleur
  Well into its second year the Zee has been awesome. Short cage, Shadow Plus, way cheaper than XTR or Saint but with virtually equivalent performance the Zee is a keeper.
• Shimano XT Brakes
  Over two years in and the XT brakes continue to work like a dream. Shimano did themselves out of a lot of coin when they released the XT brakes as there is no reason to replace them. They’re everything you’d want in a brake – great feel, great performance and dead easy to work on.
• KMC Chain and Missing Link
  Four years of of running KMC chains including their tool free Missing Link and I’m sold. It all just works. Solid.
• EightyOneSpices Tune/Sapim/Flow wheelset
  Light, strong and reliable. These things have been bombproof over the last 9 months.
• Shimano XTR Trail Pedals
  They could be a great pedals but in my experience are plagued with durability issues. I’ve chosen to ignore the slop and play in the XTR pedals and ride em until they fail and then replace with something else.
• Schwalbe Hans Dampf
  Nine months in and I’m still running the Hans Dampf 2.35 (which is more like a 2.5)  on the front of the Mojo HDR. It’s been great though I would say the relatively tight tread pattern offers more grip when there is at least a sniff of moisture on the trail. The soft side knobs work well when running the Hans Dampf as a front tyre. On the rear though it doesn’t take long before they begin to tear off. I’ve recently switched to Schwalbe’s new Rock Razor on the rear and have to say I’m very impressed. The combination of the Hans Dampf (front) and Rock Razor (rear) feels great.