EricBirk

I have had a Lithium for 2 season now. Built with a 36 up front with an Avy damper/coil conversion, and an EXT Arma out back. This bike truly does it all. I'm more of a gravity junkie, probably should do more climbing to get into better shape, and this bike would support that. It's technical climbing ability is well beyond mine, it just continues to have traction over just about anything going up. I have no lockout ability and have never felt the need for one. The platform is efficient and active when it needs to be. Headed down this bike loves to go fast. It comes alive the faster you go. Steep, chunky, flow, jumps, it loves it all. It isn't a point and shoot bike, the more effort you put in, the greater the result. I did have an issue and actually cracked the rear chainstay. Lance called me direct, apologized and another rear was at my door 2 days later. Sure hoping that was a gen 1 design issue as I don't know what else I would ride that could fill the spot this bike does.

Ah I love trunnion mounts. Bike company: if only we could fit the same stroke shock in with a smaller i2i, it sure would save us some design and engineering time. We could apply some 'engineering buzzwords' to sell it to the public. Shock manufacturer: that's dumb, don't sideload my shock. Bike company: but.... water bottle mounts...

@hotpotato: I agree completely. The new tuner craze is a slippery slope. Filling out a form stating your weight, what bike you ride, and your favorite trails leaves alot on the table... Not many people truly understand what a true rider specific, custom suspension setup actually is and what it involves. My first dealing with it was talking with Craig at Avalanche Racing. I ordered their damper, filled out the questions regarding my bike, weight, riding style, etc. He then called me and spent an hour on the phone asking more questions and really digging into what I was struggling with on the OE setup, and what I would like to see. While still not truly 'custom tuned' suspension, his experience and discussion gets it pretty damn close. Any future changes can be made by either firing the damper back or buying the kit to make the changes yourself. My only complaint is that it's so damn good I have to order one for every fork going forward haha.

Agree completely. The Lithium is the best do it all bike I have ever owned. I replaced a Yeti SB5.5 with it and haven't looked back. Jump lines where I used to grit my teeth because the Yeti felt a bit out of its element, the Lithium just smiles. Climbs, the Yeti was definitely lighter with the current build but the Lithium just hooks up and keeps chugging. It really is an incredible machine!