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Great. Roll well, cushion everything and corner on tarmac like nothing else. Perfect on towpaths and solid singletrack, slidy on anything loose as you'd expect however they are so wide that you can drift them over more predictably than any other tyre I've used. They don't just wash out and leave you, you can kinda manage it through the turn which is actually good fun.
Bars wise, thinking the bike may be a touch long now with the extra reach. Think this is the norm on these kind of bikes unless designed with drop bars in mind. Anyway, picking up a shorter stem later this week to see if it helps without hindering handling too much. Will post update with pics.
Scrabble-
Sounds good, I'll certainly consider giving them a shot if I get sick of the X-Kings.
Stem wise, you might find a bit of rise also helps, I picked up a shorter stem with a 30deg rise when I was running the flat bars, certainly improved the reach. This is what I bought: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ritchey-comp-30-degree-stem/
TCH
Nice! How do you find the Big Apples? I had some Halo Twin Rails on for a week or so but went back to the X-Kings.
I also kind of had the same plans as you, I managed to pick up some Versa Alfine 11 shifters from the forum and was going to get some Salsa Cowchipper bars, instead I've actually just fitted some Jones H-Bar Bend clones by Humpert, they were super cheap and they feel pretty good: