To those saying that this is a risk for Giant, I assume they aren’t just dropping 29ers on a whim, rather that as good as the reviews have been maybe they haven’t sold particularly well. Kind of “yeah that’s a good bike, but I’ll buy something else which I fancy more”. Obviously I have no way to back any of this up, just offering a counter point 🙂

Would you happen to know how much that TMARS one weighs, IHN? Cheers

Assuming you’re not adverse to going to an air spring, I’d recommend Suntour Epicons: 150mm travel, 1.6kg and £160 for the X1 LOR Lite model I’ve got. I can’t fault them at the moment, reliable and plush. Hope this helps.

@mrmoofo

Actually, as well as slightly more leverage, wider bars also give you slightly greater fine control over the steering, as the bars describe a longer arc for the same angle of rotation at the steerer tube.

Obviously there comes a point when it’s ridiculous, and of course everyone has their own personal preference, but there are some valid reasons for going to wider bars. Just like not getting stuck between trees is a valid reason for narrow ones 😉

Thanks for the replies peoples, I’ll keep an eye out for Controltech and Exotic stuff, cheers.

No idea if these are the lightest flats in existence, but they certainly aren’t heavy at 140g a pair:

KCNC Knife Pedals

You can get stainless steel axled versions for quite a bit less money, and they’re only 45g heavy a pair.

The Giant for me, I like the curved down tube, and it’s a nice colour scheme. Not a fan of the swing arms on the other two, much prefer the standard triangle look.

@trail_rat: That sucks, I’d reckon that’s more to do with mistakes in the frame designs than anything to do with Scandium alloying.

@njee and hmanchester: Actually, Scandium is a very potent aluminium grain refiner, meaning that it increases the strength of the alloy to a large extent. In fact: “Scandium provides the highest increment of strengthening per atomic percent of any alloying element when added to aluminum” Thus when used in an already strong alloy such as 7075, you end up with a very sturdy material. And no, none of this, including the quote, was taken from the KCNC website or anywhere else which sells or markets Scandium.

Also, I doubt bicycle components contain anything like ~1% Scandium, as it goes for ~£180 a gram. Fortunately, something more like 0.1% still does the trick 😉

Depends on how harsh you injury was to begin with I’d say. If it was just a cut to the skin then I’d say go for it, if you re-tear it it will bloody hurt, and the hospital might be a bit annoyed with you, but I wouldn’t think there would be any long term repercussions (not that I have any medical knowledge). Best thing to do would be to give the appropriate medical practitioners a ring to find out the average healing times for your particular injury, and go from there.

Hope this helps.

I’ve been pretty scared going quite fast on a road down a hill on a mountain bike. I definitely don’t fancy the inverse.

I ran them with tubes to start with and they were fine, I’m running them tubeless now and again no problems. They’re a bit of a pain to mount up tubeless due to the very tight bead, but once on they’re well and truly seated. I did quite a bit of research on light XC tyres when I was looking, and these were the lightest all rounders I could find (I’ve got the 2.1s, they’re quoted as 450g each but mine came out at 500-510g, still only 50g heavier than Race Kings though)

I’d recommend Continental X-King Racesports, 500g fast rolling all rounders, they’re working great for me.

I run my full sus 1×9, 36 at the front, I’m upgrading to a 11-34 at the back as the 11-32 does run out a bit on steep climbs (though they’re still possible). So I’d recommend it, saves you weight and money for little loss in my opinion.

Cheers for all the replies, I’ll take ’em apart to check the oil level but keep that oil, and after a few rides I’ll replace it with new stuff. I’m not worried about the warranty, I don’t think I’d have much chance with that anyway as they’re end of line being sold off cheap.

Which Wattage of oil should I use when I get round to needing it? I’m thinking 5W, as I shouldn’t need anything heavy.

Cheers for the reply, I’ve checked out that thread and that isn’t the problem I’m having, I can get to the bearing behind the engagement ring fine. The bearing I’m having trouble with is the one actually in the freehub, it’s inside the cassette carrier. Any ideas?

Cheers

Fair enough, having done a bit more research about Revs I see what you mean. I really want the spokes quite light though, so if I want something comparable in weight to the Revs but suitable for AM riding is my only option CX-Rays? I don’t really want to go Titanium, bit too pricy.

Cheers

According to the DT Swiss website the Revs are rated up to gravity riding, with 4/5 for trail riding and then 5/5 for xc. This could all be marketing rubbish of course, so I’ll happily listen to anyone with experience with them 🙂