Fettling a new (modern) bike?

Nope, all Hope stuff is made in the UK and the CNC'd kit still made in Barnoldswick, just up the road from me. I've been to the factory and there's plenty of vids online. Most of their kit isn't cheap compared to the competition though but worth the extra imo.

Carbon bars has been mentioned above. They are just as strong as aluminium these days, maybe more.

To the OP, I assume you've just got an Alpine trail....?

With what you've spent, and looking at the spec, nothing needs changing. At all. Okay, saddle, grips and pedals are personal choices, but the functional differences between XT, SLX and even deore are now extremely marginal. get out and ride the damn thing!

you've got a set of forks worth maybe £800.... they're nearly as good as they get without getting silly. Seriously, that's a hell of a bike.

FYI, what the others said is true, Hope stuff really is MADE in the UK, not just finished or assembled. I love it, and for the quality, I'd agree that it's decent value. But, don't fall into he trap of thinking that all MTB companies are owned/run by the same people as the 90s... Nukeproof didn't *change* as much as the name was bought by a larger company; in this case, the struggling brand 'Nukeproof' was bought by chain reaction cycles. Hope, however, are still the old, awesome, Hope.

Also, i go over every bike i buy, not to check bolt torques, just to check they've actually built it/PDIed it.

Dunno why, but shops i've had work on bikes more recently have been far more miss than hit.
I mean, indexing gears isn't difficult, apparently it is to some....

STX hasn't existed since shortly after you bought your last bike..... SLX now

Only thing i upgrade is wheels, until you're spending north of something like £3k on an MTB, the wheels are usually OE spec versions of a known model.

Had several over the years that once they fail (6 months in) getting spares is a nightmare because they aren't the super duper X387963 lightweight race wheels, hand made in Switzerland by virgins. They're the XR387963.1 thrown together by disinterested minimum wage people in a nondescript factory unit in Barrow.

Same colours, same stickers, and there the similarity ends.....

Oh, tyres as well. They quite often fit OE spec tyres.