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has-been onna hardtail
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Project: 2008 Giant Alliance
2008 Giant XTC Alliance.
Ordered- 9-07, came in last week. $1300.00 + tax. Going in- 27 lbs, 3 oz. Gripes- stem too short, bar too tall and wide and STIFF. Stem shimmed up 6” past seat height. Seat post 350mm/0 (I use a 400/set-back clamp). Minor stuff and due to me being a gangly, short torso’d dork with a busted-up skeleton. Goods- ’08 Hayes Stroker disc’s. Good, solid mid-range running gear, even came with 165 gram tubes. Bomb proof wheels and fork (but heavy). Carbon/alloy frame. Kenda small-block eight’s (1.95r/2.1f) (wire bead but not that hefty), lock-out fork. Out of the box it rode really nice. Floated over bumps. Not a harsh vibe in the bunch. Flew downhills and cobby single-track was gobbled up by the Marz fork (4.5lbs). Could not climb for shite on it. (smallish cockpit, big balloon tires, heavy wheels) Did a few mods…..first I flipped the 100mm/6* stem and de-shimmed it, sorta helped. Rode it twice but….hmmmmmm…..could be way better. Still too cramped. So I yanked the 110mm/6* EA70 stem off my 1-speed, the EC70 carbon bar off Trigger, made a mess of the house…..oh, and a lost-sleep-over, total impulse buy: Crossmax ST’s. (how I’m gonna pay for these I don’t know but my LBS gave me a sucha smoking dealio- so I bit!) Slapped some Panaracer Mach SK’s on and called it a night after prepping the frame with kick and chain slap gaurds (old tube and zip ties). Going out- 24 lbs, 10oz. according to the digital scales at the Motopad. It’s got nowhere to go now but down in weight. I’ve even got an R7 100 Elite I’d like to toss on it as soon as I get a lock out for it- that will knock another 1.5 lbs off it! But I’m in no hurry- it’s at a doable weight now and the Marzocchi rides super nice. It’s way better now and responds oh-so-much better to pedaling, almost race-ready. The Mach’s ride a little stiffer but the frame and fork keep it in check. The Kenda’s rode really smooth and bumps were really softened up though. I’m actually ordering a pair of the 1.95’s In folding bead and gonna give those a try. They’ll also look nice back on the bike as a spec tire and being the same size frt/rr it will handle better/like it should. This was supposed to new-school project bike I could upgrade over time as things wore out etc. that had a ‘lowish’ entry price. But I was so bloody slow in the climbs I had to pull the trigger early on the wheels. Fit issues are always expected out of me so I won’t be factoring in the stem, post and bar into costs as I am trading off other stuff for same. Giant cheaped out on the wheels- meaning heavy, not flimsy. The bike is rock-solid and nothing on it is wimpy. You get what you pay for and then some and if you factor in the upgrade-ability you actually get way more for your money as you can pay as you go. Overall value- 10 Ride/handling- 10. Fit- 2. For me anyways. Unless you have 2” long legs, a super tall torso and short arms, good luck. But that seems to be the TREND nowadays and I’ve got parts at home so…easy fix and a minor gripe. I’m pretty stoked as this will be a nice, light, unique ride when I’m done. Giant told me there are not going to be that many of these on the west coast. So I got that going for it, FWIW, If true. I’ve yet to see another one. I was orriginally toying with the idea of getting a Stumpy- but it was out of my target price range, if I did get it and wanted mods or ugrades I'da been stuck and outta bucks and like OMR said- it’ll be cool to make it how I want/my own. Pardon the crappy pics. I put my money into bikes, not camera's. Obviously. 1-Before 2-Same 3-“Whatta mess! Take it out to the garage you bloddy gearhead!!” ……yes, dear, sorry…….. 4-The morning after, yes I still respect her. Blinged wheels, nicer cockpit. 5-Same 6-Hayes Stroker Ryde radial mounted master. Notice bulge in frame in background where carbon top-tube mates to alloy yoke. 7- Curved carbon, Raceface cranks, Panaracer Mach SK’s 1.95, my deck needs sweeping. [SIZE=3][SIZE=2]9-Carbon top tube w/ ghost GIANT image/lettering.[/SIZE] [/SIZE] |
| post thanked by: |
denmother (12-10-2007),
Do Work (12-10-2007),
genusmtbkr5 (12-10-2007),
northshore (12-10-2007),
Pho'dUp (12-10-2007),
Sharky (12-10-2007),
sladnas (12-10-2007)
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</sarcasm>
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Gorgeous...nice job.
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DDB@OCR (12-10-2007)
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Combo Breaker!
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Wow--nice rig. I like the petite ones!!
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BJammin: Hey Mark, I FYM!! |
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DDB@OCR (12-10-2007)
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Put MBenga in!
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Nice Frame! Curious, how's the Carbon Rear end feel compared to your Curtlo or your Access HT DBR?
This inquiring mind wants to know. |
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DDB@OCR (12-10-2007)
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has-been onna hardtail
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Quote:
Ride: very, very nice, simmilar to the Curtlo but without the recoil effect fine steel has. Neither a plus or a minus there, it is a wee bit stiffer that the Curtlo in some regards, like latteraly. Standing up locked-out, the Giant is truly stiff and man- does it pulse forward. Just bitchen.  The Access is a nuke-poof alloy frame and man, it rides like one  . Not terribly so, but you can feel the difference if you go back and forth a lot. |
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Pho'dUp (12-10-2007)
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I drank the 29" kool-aid.
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Dude- Disk brakes have no place on an XC bike
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And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake... I... drink... your... milkshake! |
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has-been onna hardtail
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Quote:
They do on this one. Only the fork will take posts for v's! The frame? Bupkis! disc only! . I'm diggin' it. Nice addition to the quiver. It really rounds it out well. |
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Evil Chocula (12-10-2007)
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has-been onna hardtail
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aaaaaaand:
Look what just showed up with the UPS man.......
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has-been onna hardtail
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P/s- .......
Hey Lee, still think I'ma retro-grouch?!
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has-been onna hardtail
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....guess it backfired on me....
I was kinda hoping to catch some time in the hot-seat on this after the 'Trends' post and get some yucks out of it.....
Ya know, showing up with a hi-tech '08 after all the rantin' and ravin' I did? .......jokes on me I guess. anywho.....sorry to anyone if I stirred the pot too hard on that other thread. Twas all in jest.  I'll be breaking it in around 3:00pm at Del Cerro if anyone is interested to join in. Cheers mates!  |
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Old-school BMXer
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What a waste of a bike...who needs disc brakes on an XC race bike? Too frickin' heavy, and too much maintenance.
Carbon? Are you kidding me? A carbon frame, post, and handlebar? You do have good health insurance, right? (oh yeah, of course you do) CrossMax wheels? Too much bling and very difficult to service. I bet you can't walk into any LBS and find a replacement spoke. Good luck with that! (On a side note, when I buy Mavic wheels, I always also order replacement spokes for backups, just in case.) 100 mm fork? On an XC bike??? Are you sure you're not a freerider? I thought only 80 mm or less were used on XC bikes. I used to have a 100 mm fork on my DH bike (ok, that was a while ago). What's up with the "compact" geometry frame? What happened to good ol' horizontal top tubes? That sloping top tube looks like a girls bike. 
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Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary... that's what gets you. May the air be filled with tires! |
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has-been onna hardtail
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bringin da heat!
Now THAT'S what I'm talking about......
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Duan'er - 29'er remixed
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i really like your bike even though you're a techno grouch
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-Duan Dulce et Decorum Click the Button 
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DDB@OCR (12-11-2007)
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has-been onna hardtail
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2- Carbon. Material of the Gods. Nuff said. 3- Ever worked on one? How much more simple can a bearing adjustment be? Oh- wait, your right, shoulda got King's and DT Swiss! 4- I gotta DH bike too....that goes back up the hill under it's own power. 5- Looks like a girls bike? I'll take YOUR word for it. |
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Old-school BMXer
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2) Carbon, the material of the gods? I've seen gold and silver as a material of the gods, but I've never seen carbon mentioned in any history book with any reference to any god. I think your statement is god dam wacky. 3) Yup, I've owned several sets of Mavic wheels - still do. Needless to say, they do require work, and spokes and parts are hard to find in a pinch. The 16 points of engagement renders Mavic hubs almost useless offroad. But alas...you're riding/racing XC, so you're barely offroad, anyway, so it doesn't matter. 4) You may have a DH bike that goes uphill on its own (as do I), but being an XC guy that you are, I bet you can't ride it. 5) Some bike rider named Lance Armstrong has said the same thing about sloping top tube bikes.
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Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary... that's what gets you. May the air be filled with tires! |
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DDB@OCR (12-11-2007)
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has-been onna hardtail
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2- Dear Downhilldoofus: ....carbon pretty much predates most stuff- including history books! 3- I have no response to that...other than you hurt my 'feeling'. ( )4- Yeh- after riding A-Enduro loops for over 10 years in a row ...., that kinda stuff sorta scares me. (not.... ) 5- who's this Lance character.....and what's he know that I don't. |
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2wheel_lee (12-11-2007)
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Old-school BMXer
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Quote:
2) Yes, carbon dates old stuff...ah hell...maybe you're a good fit for carbon. Again, check your health insurance.3) 4) Not scared? If you're not ever scared, then you haven't ridden sick stuff. It's ok to be scared (and still ride it). 5) Not much.
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Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary... that's what gets you. May the air be filled with tires! |
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DDB@OCR (12-11-2007)
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A little dab will do me
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in your trends thread you said something like when we found out what bike you have that we would really like it.
Do you mind posting a photo of that one??
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Duan'er - 29'er remixed
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Quote:
__________________ -Duan Dulce et Decorum Click the Button |