I built this as a project to learn about the mechanical side of the sport having just started riding in October on a voodoo hoodoo. Living in South manchester I wanted something lighter than the hoodoo to run round flat trails on and the Giant NRS was recommended to me as a good cheap old school XC frame.

The donor bike was a giant NRS costing 100 quid and I had a budget of 400 quid to finish it using ebay and the sale forum and have just started riding it. I had a good day on the horses on Saturday so now have a further 300 quid for improvements- thinking forks and wheel set so let me know what I should be considering (spec below).

Observations (to a newbie) are that the NRS is hugely quicker on the flat but is twitchy at the front. Also a world of difference between XT switchgear and normal deore.

Cheers

Spec:

Giant NRS 2 frame
Forks – Manitou Axel Elite
Shock – Giant NRS zero sag thing
Brakes – Clarks M2 hydraulic disks
Groupset: Shimano Deore XT
Wheels: Original Mavic x139
Tyres: Nobby Nic 2.1
Stem: carbon hylix not sure of model
Post: Carbon GT again not sure of model
Bars: USE atom carbon riser bar
Various girly hope finishing kit

Looks great.

Maybe Superstar for wheels and a set of second Rebas for forks?

Line your valves and tyre logos up then put the forks the right way around and come back. 🙂

Whoops! 😳

Told you I was a newbie…..

He’s joking. You’re fine.

Cables and hoses are a bit long and some black headset spacers wouldn’t go a miss 🙂

It looks grand, don’t worry

I was joking DO NOT LISTEN TO ME!

Thanks – will see if I can find a set of Rebas they look perfect for it

Cheers

The pointing looks overkill, could do with some ageing. And the grass is far too green looks like astroturf. Do you live in one of those show houses with 3/4 sized furniture to make it look bigger than it actually is? I bet those are only 26″ wheels rather than the full 29.

I’d be tempted to sell it or ride as is – you’ve maxed out on value now, and would probably get your investment back. Dropping £300 on it would be wasted in so many ways. You seem to have an eye for detail, so could start building again on a better bike? Early Orange 5? Cheaper, by the way, to buy a complete bike from the off, but less fun.

You could fund the exercise buying and selling more basic bikes? Paid for a few of my bikes that way.

Building is addictive. On my fifth now. Good luck!

Thanks muddy ground will look at those.

Definitely got the bug, but hadn’t thought of that as a way of funding the habit!

Also now starting to understand (sort of) the STW sense of humour……

It looks great!

I personally find that my brake levers and gear levers need to be more angled down than that – sat ‘normally’ the levers should be about in a line with your arms straight – as a starter position..

Look at completed eBay listings for price guides. £300 seems tops for your bike on there. You’d be surprised at how cheap some bikes go for. I’ve bought bikes for £20 with “irreparable” punctures. New tube, or even just blow them up, £70 to £120 sale. Only do it for local stuff, as you can get burnt with junk that somebody else has tarted up! Get loads of build / repair experience real fast that way. This all helps out on the trails – bit more confidence.

Brake lever should be set so they are at an angle that is comfy and natural to reach. Roughly the angle of your arms when you are sat on bike and holding bars. Yours look a bit to high?

Hadn’t noticed that – will try moving them a bit lower and see if it’s better. Thanks for the comments

Seatpost looks back to front.

I’ve built some amazing bikes from harvesting. Use your £300 to buy a full bike on eBay, I got a giant anthem x4 for £350 last week and used some parts for upgrades on me and the Mrs bikes and sell the rest at a good profit. £300 well spent on eBay is worth at least double.
On your bike. Which I kind of like, as another person has said, get your brake & shifters into a better position or you’ll start getting all sorts of aches and pains.
Forks would be my first upgrade. Whereabouts in South Manchester are you? I’m Stockport based. Always up for a ride out.

Cheers Jonny – in Sale. Getting fed up of the Mersey valley but pieced together a decent hour blast round kenworthy woods and hardy farm. Let me know if you fancy getting out.

There was a few guys on here from the area meeting with a view to trail building but not sure what happened to that.

Be good to try a few new places

Seatpost looks back to front.

Well spotted!

A new rear shock will do wonders.

Looks pretty tidy if you ask me – very nice first build. Or fifth build, for that matter. Check how much sag you’re running on the Manitous – that might have something to do with potential twitchiness on the front.

If the twitchiness is understeer, by the way, try dropping the stem down a few spacers to put more weight on the front wheel and improve grip. Although it’s fashionable (and, generally, advisable if the bike fit is correct) to have fewer spacers, in practice it’s your bike, your body (oooo! Matron!), your riding style and what you’re comfortable with, so don’t feel you *have* to change it. But: do try changing the bar height by swapping the spacers around to see how it feels – it’s a good way to get a feel for bike fitting and understand what little changes like 10mm in handlebar height achieve.