The brief

Already the proud owner of an Ibis Mojo, James was keen for a lightweight hard-tail MTB to add to the stable. The DV9 was the perfect complement... and we were lucky enough to snap one up before they sold out worldwide!

The build

The DV9 is designed to take you anywhere you want to go. Up hills? No problem. Down gnarly tracks? With pleasure.

Its sleek geometry and huge tyre clearance meant that we had lots of scope to create a beautiful machine.

We started with Formula forks; they out-perform their competitors, and James was also very happy with them on his duallie, so why mess with a good thing?

The groupset was a no-brainer: Sram XX1 AXS. It's not only light and super high-tech but the lack of cables (and, hence, lack of cable degradation over time) keeps the performance flawless.

For brakes, we couldn't resist the gold-dipped lure of the Formula Curas. Responsive, smooth and with unparalleled power, they're also lightweight and durable. Plus this kind of build deserves something this pretty.

To continue with the light/strong theme, we custom-built a set of wheels with Nextie carbon rims and Tune hubs, and topped them off with a set of dirt-loving Schwalbe Nobby Nics.

KS Lev Integra was the choice of dropper post, due to its reliability. (After all a dropper post that doesn't drop isn't much good to anyone.)

For handling, it's hard to go past Syntace Vector carbon bars matched to SQLab 711 grips — this combination of components result in perfect grip placement, which is always important for trail handling. We picked a Tune Geiles stem to go with the bars as it's the obvious choice for any lightweight build.

Finally, James was already a fan of the Tune Komm Vor saddle's shape and comfort, so this was the natural choice for the finishing touch.

The end result? One beautiful, lightweight trail-slaying machine.

Want your own trail-slaying custom bike? Get in touch.

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