Sunday, March 1, 2009

My XTC

So here it is - the 2009 race bike!Its a carbon Giant xtc frame with the following bits:
  • Fox RL80
  • 9spd KMC gold chain
  • XTR 12-34t cassette
  • Shimano XTR r mech (medium cage)
  • Shimano XT fr mech
  • XT shifters
  • WTB silverado Saddle
  • ODI Rogue grips
The wheels are Hope Pro 2 hubs (blue) with Sapim Race spokes (black), Bontrager Race X lite tubeless rims (32hole), and Specialized Fastrak Control Tyres (2.0).

The rotors are Gusset superlight with 180 front and 160mm back

Hmmm, I'm pretty sure when I was planning on getting next years bike I said I should not have to do any upgrading of components... well, that went out the window with the Giant. Initially I was just going to upgrade the brake and crank... but it got a little out of control - namely:
However, I have kept well under my budget so that's ok :). There may be changes still to the bike - I'm looking at a few other bits (headset, saddle), but happy with it.

Today, I brought it out for a spin to Glending - a wet and rooty spot near where I live. First thing I noticed was a acceleration and speed. I spent the first 15 minutes in the big ring and did not even realise it. Its really easy on the climbs and descents. Because its a slightly longer bike than the Cube, I'm going to need some practice on the tight twisty stuff.

Before today I was not too impressed with the look of the Specialized Fastrak Control Tyres. But after a couple of laps, they felt as good as the Crossmarks - and I was running them with a lot of pressure. The Silverado saddle is bloody hard, and will take some getting used to.

After the spin I've noticed a few things which will need to be seen to:
  • Fork needs a service - and possibly the headset replaced.
  • The brakes - well, the rear brake needs a bit more adjustment
  • A little bit of gear tuning
Otherwise, its the best bike I've ever owned!

7 comments:

Stephen said...

Goregous man... Very PIMP. I've got the blue Pro IIs too. They seem deadly. Got a real intimidating freewheel too :) Any idea of the weight of her?

Unknown said...

10.2kgs - Thought I could get it closer to 9.5kg. Its tough to break the 10kg mark. I'm looking at the saddle and grips for God's sake!

Stephen said...

That's funny. I would have thought it would be closer to 9.5. Time to get the file out maybe? Sure who needs all that extra crank metal :P Lose the granny ring maybe? Dropping a couple of PSI from the fork might lose a few grammes too ;)

Morgan said...

I have some awesome foam grips you can try out - they weigh about 10 grams. No grip, but you can't have everything.

People are saying good things about OC Tuning in Crumlin for Fox servicing.

Unknown said...

@Steve - now I did weigh it using something I bought off of ebay for €4 (including postage) so it may not be that accurate. I know I can get it to 9.75 without resorting to non-grippy grips...
@Morgan - yeah, going to give him a ring today.

Conor said...

I'll take any bits your "upgrading" for my Kinesis! And black is SOOO last year. White is in this year I'll have you Know!


Nice bike though!

Unknown said...

You've first refusal Conor :)