Back home finally. Had G&O check the bike out (I hadn't broken anything too serious) and give it a thorough cleaning.
Anyway, if I were to rate this bike (which I think is an awesome bike) the ratings would be something like the following:
As a touring/bikepacking/adventure bike: A, with caveats.
As a mountain bike: B+, with caveats.
As a city commuter: C-.
As far as touring goes, this is an excellent bike and you would be hard-pressed to do better. The stability of the bike, the Rohloff hub, and the legs that the dual-battery system gives you makes this bike hard to beat. The two caveats I have are that the hydraulic brake system, while excellent, isn't exactly field-repairable or field-maintainable which could be an issue on longer unsupported tours. The other caveat is I think the bike would be a better touring rig with a better rear rack and I think they need to rethink that front rack. Either a
tombstone-style front rack or a Sherpa-style front rack would have been more functional choices (apparently some folks are using
this rack with the Charger). As it is the existing front rack is mainly a very heavy headlight mount.
With respect to mountain biking, I give it a B because I suspect that the stability of the bike might come back to haunt you if you really needed to be nimble. One of the things I think is a little weird about the Charger GX is on the one hand you have very high-end bike with no compromise on components and an awesome frame but as a mountain bike it feels a little like a starter bike and not likely to be a super satisfying ride for an advanced trail rider. I've only ridden it about a half-dozen miles on trails as opposed to over five hundred miles on gravel and pavement so this whole paragraph is a little bit of weak tea.
On the city commuter, my personal opinion is that this bike is too conspicuous to be ridden in a city for very long without being stolen. The other thing is that the leather seat, while reasonably comfortable when broken in, is likely to be incompatible with street clothes which limits the Charger's utility in the city.
Then there are the pet peeves. Most of these are of the form, "this is a $7500 bike, it seems cheesy that you couldn't also do X for a little extra".
(1) Since the bikes are custom-made to order, I think it reasonable to have the option to engrave the owner's name on the frame for a reasonable price.
(2) Similarly, the purchaser should have the option of custom colors or color schemes. Other high-end bike manufacturers offer a wide variety of paint options.
(3) R&M should optionally sell the bike without touch points (seat, pedals, grips) because an experienced cyclist (and I think this bike really only shines with an experienced cyclist riding it) will have their own preferences.
(4) This is more of a Bosch thing, but it would be a big improvement if there was a "boost" button that put the drive system in "Turbo" mode for 30 seconds.
(5) Since the "tubes" are oddly shaped, R&M should partner with someone to provide
small frame bags or top tube bags for their frames.
(6) Another Bosch thing: with the dual batteries when charging one battery fully charges, then the other. If you are trying to extend battery life by keeping the batteries in the 20-80 percent range you'll be taking them off the frame to charge.
(7) I'd consider having a slightly lower gearing option (like one extra tooth in the rear sprocket on the Rohloff) for a trail bike and maybe a slightly higher gearing option (e.g. one fewer teeth in the rear sprocket) for use with the HS bike.
(8) This is a $7500 bike with built-in lights but there isn't a built-in blinky? Apparently they are illegal in the EU but still. Jesus.
