Nukeproof Giga 290 Custom Pandemic build 6

I written down a 40 minutes short story in which I was explaining how this bike came into life, since the moment of placing the frame order in February 2021 until its assembly in December 2021 and all the epic struggles in between, to get the necessary parts/components for it... but, vital decided that it needs me to log off instead of *save* 😁 .. so, I'll try to edit back the story at a later time. On short, it was hard to build it, even comically at some points but, in the end, it all worked out quite alright; if you consider one, get it!, it is quite awesome!
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so.. edit with the story.
the frame supposed to arrive in June.. but, in reality, it arrived late September.
I brought the fork in May(waiting for the frame to arrive as per the first discussion); when the frame finally arrived.. no components were to be seen or found anywhere(I am still trying to find a 780mm rise 25, Syntace Vector Carbon bar), Shimano drive trains where nonexistent; being annoyed by this, I decided to take the (financial) plunge and get a gx axs.. which was a good thing as the axs set is and feels very very good to use. Decent priced carbon crank-sets, on the other hand, where even more of a unicorn than Shimano's everything. Decided in one evening to go for the gx carbon.. only not to be able to source it anywhere since the very early next morning. #madagain; after some useless search in za interwebz, I took the alu one and try to go on/went on with my life... only to fail miserably.. as, very soon, I hit the epic problem of finding brakes, a one up dropper post, wheels and a maxxis assegai in DD casing for my front wheel(which I also did not have at that point in time). Getting a pair of magura calipers was not really a problem.. no but, getting some new 8000/8020s levers proved to be impossible. Seeing that, I tried to source a pair of 8100/8120s but I only succeded in finding the left lever from a small shop in another county.. then I had to wait some more.. look/search.. and, again, wait some more for the right side lever, which I managed to procure only from another country. It took 5 weeks to sort the brakes situation.. including the finding of a pair of 2mm centerlock rotors because... my usually wheel builder gave me an estimate for my wheel set delivery of minimum 2 months.. with the real possibility of extending that term due to missing stock for my rim/hub desired setup.. which I basically use since my first custom wheelset(tune, flow, sapim cx-ray); I had to think differently and started looking in the community; with a bit of luck, I found a guy that just removed his brand new wheels from an Orbea, considering them too heavy and enduro(?), opting to remove them from the start and replacing them with some high end carbon stuff(too trail oriented if you ask me🙄🤷🏿‍♂️); so, that's how I got a pair of wheels made custom only for Orbea by DT Swiss, with the designation XM1650; basically, they are XM481 rims(30mm internal), DT350 hubs and and Comp DB spokes. The hubs came with centerlock so.. once again, I had to search for almost 2 weeks for those two damn rotors. I could not find, for the love of G.O.D, anywhere, any magura rotors in 220-200mm FR, not necesarrily centerlock but, not even a damn 6 bolt. Shimano's were too slim and a 220mm was nowhere to be found; again, in a morning, I suddenly saw, in stock, SRAM's hs2 and went for them as a thirsty man plunges for water in a desert's oasis. TBH, they're not that great as, I tested a magura caliper-magura rotors set-up and that felt better.. or maybe I just need to put them to some serious descents and not the city/park/urban trails I can ride now when the snow is 5 to 7 ft in the mountains.
Then.. the cherry on the cake.. the maxxis assegai... maxxgrip!(of course, it had to be maxxgrip).. which, neither in DD, as I originally wanted, nor in exo+ form, which I tried to source as well.. cannot be found.. not then.. not now.. probably not ever again!(or smth); again, by some weird stroke of luck, in an obscure, very very little bike shop towards the edge of the city, I found a 2020 unsold assegai exo+.. which I took it #noquestionsasked, thus, having all the components to finish my bike.... after 9 months of waiting. It almost feels like I was waiting for my baby to arrive... which it did.. and I am not(nor was) dissapointed. I do hope for a future where we will be able to build bikes whenever we want and have the financial means but, as things look now, that's a thing for the history books and those time may never return to us.
Cheers guys!
E.