wow this is a hot one, talking about the weather annnnd this build. you knew that, but hope you don’t mess your keyboard too much. Today I blog to you this completed mango customer build R-Werx EVOO 29er. Fred asked me to build one based on his mango and grey surfboard about 9 months ago (seems to be my build lead time), and here it is in all it’s lets-take-a-dip summer swim hole glory.
wanted to incorporate as many modern CNC components on here as I could, without detracting from the classic 90s XC lines. not that the geo here is 90s XC, the EVOO is all about modern MTB geo, but without compromising those lines I was just talking about. dropper post included. had to remove the black ano with 90 min of oven cleaner soaking.
happy with how that post came out. not a dropper guy myself, but I get the allure. I’d just rather have a lighter and more flexible seatpost for the most part. I also have a lifetime of practicing getting behind the saddle and never feel like I need it. enough about me though. this is for someone else! not many silver proper options out there, especially in 27.2 … likely I will increase the seat post size on the next run. I just like how much a 27.2 flexes. important for a rigid bike.
pretty pleased with how clean this dropper routing is. the other end plugs into the front derailleur stop. figure 1x folks are more likely to want a dropper. no zip ties here!
the madrone JAB rear der is rebuildable, and comes in lots of colors or no color. most ders are pretty ugly these days, this one is less ugly … still ugly … but less ugly. not a bad price point either. feels and looks much higher quality than anything shimano and sram are putting out there. I would argue shimano is worse than sram these days. or maybe it has been like that for a while, but I was in denial. some of the most needlessly ugly consumer products available in 2026 are made by shimano. tell me otherwise, I dare you!
the TAPER TRAXXX fork, complaint, handsome, with Frank’s signature drop outs you’d find on the ol’ YETI’s.
interestingly enough, whilst thumbing through one of my 1993 mountain bike action back issues (I kept them all), I found that in 33 years, we have only raised the price of a Frank the Welder aluminum frame and “accutrax” fork by $500. I was surprised by that.
these Garbaruk cranks are made in Poland, and are verrrry light. not a bad price either. I do think the spindles are too wide though. I asked if they could make me some narrower ones, but alas…. this is how wide modern bike wants your feet.
okay time to wrap it up. looks like I will be pre ordering another round of these along with the ALUMAX II grav bike in about a month.
hope you enjoyed this sniff! leave a comment to give me more motivation to blog!
XX RR
rons bikes blog dot com 
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