What to Spend my money on?

wiseman4454

Hi there,


I own a Giant XTC se. Really pleased with it to be honest. Only just starting to use it a few times a week on the moors, bit of simple down hilling, rocks, and general fun

Now i have about £300 going spare. I either buy an unlocked Iphone from the states...Or spend it on my bike.

For the bike i was thinking either, New forks, Groupset, Discs, or Discs and forks.

Or sell my bike put £300 on top and get a new bike. But to be honest i love mine, so why get rid of it if i am happy

And i think my disc brakes are ok, the MPH hydrolic brakes, standard with the bike.

What do you rekcon people? I fancy new forks, but obviously a good gear set up is abit tempting.
What would you guys do?

This is my current setup:

My rims at the moment are the Rooi Alloy 6063 559x19 (or is it Rodi? Rddi?)

J2 shocks
And Giant MPH Hydrolic 6inch.

Thanks in advance,
Looking forward to your thoughts
Tom

jacktheoc

you could get some hayes nine's off ebay i think they are £120 for everything you need,
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=17463 << those forks and then get a xt rear mech..
should all come in for around £300 and all good stuff

The Spiderman

Hi Tom

I have a Giant XTC SX,which has the same frame.There is a lot of upgrade potential in the XTC as it has a very nice and light frame.

(It still ends up cheaper buying a new bike,but upgrading is much more fun....)

I have replaced virtually everything on mine except the wheels.Mine now has a full XT groupset,brakes,Reba forks,etc.

Biggest improvement I made was fitting RS Reba forks.I found I could tackle rough terrain and steer with much more confidence and over a pound lighter than my original (Manitou Splice)forks too.You can get them for £225 from www.merlincycles.co.uk

Spend the change on some decent tyres.I'm running Schwalbe Nobby Nics.These were a big imrovement and a lot lighter than the OE Nevegal/Blue Groove combo.

Tyres are probably the most cost effective upgrade you can make if you buy wisely.

After that,get some lighter wheels.Crossrides,or some custom built XT/Hope Pro 2 hubs with Mavic XC 7171s ,from Merlin would be a big improvement.(This is on my list to do!)

The MPH brakes work OK,if correclly set up,and small bits like mechs,bars,posts,etc don't give as much performance increase as wheels,tyres and forks.

wiseman4454

Those forks do look rather interesting thanks for that. The question is though do i buy the 120mm or the 80mm. Me been me would choose the 120mm. But would that be ok for the bike. At the moment they are running a 100mm fork.

Would i be better off with brakes or new wheels?
Thanks
Tom


EDIT: Sorry i didn't read the post above! Too quick for me :P

The Spiderman

I'm running mine at 85mm,but when they are serviced,I will get the spacer taken out to increase it to 100mm.120mm is a bit too much for the XTC.Would spoil the steering.

I'd choose wheels over brakes,as the MPH brakes work OK in terms of outright stopping power,whereas your original wheels are on the lardy side,and have crappy hubs.

jacktheoc

forks look good and cant be bad from the price there reduced from!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hayes-HFX9-Mounta ... dZViewItem << theres the brakes had them on my norco and they worked excellent. are the wheels buckled on your bike now?

wiseman4454

Thanks once again! Great forum so far

Wheels and forks would make the bike alot lighter at the front as well, i think? I am quite new to mountain biking.

Again i wouldn't know where to begin to look for wheels. Makes or anything. If i said something like £150 on Forks, and £150 on wheels do you think that would be enough to change the bike. Also this may sound really daft, but if i didn't change the tyres on the bikes first upgrades, would i have to get rims to fit my tyres, will that limit me? Or are wheels usually the same in size?

Thanks
Tom

The Spiderman

Even better.Merlin have 2008 REba SLs for £206 once you factor in the current discount!
Great forks.Highly reccomended.

supersonic

120 is too much, its designed for 80-100mm of travel. I think wheels and forks the way forward, such as a Reba and XT on 717.

wiseman4454

jacktheoc wrote:

forks look good and cant be bad from the price there reduced from!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hayes-HFX9-Mounta ... dZViewItem << theres the brakes had them on my norco and they worked excellent. are the wheels buckled on your bike now?

Those Brakes are huge! Dont tempt me!! Would they fit on that fork? for size etc.

my wheels arn't broken what so ever. Do you think i should wait until they break, and then its an excuse to buy?

And buy the forks and brakes now?

supersonic

Yes, wait until they are fooked. The brakes are too big, meant for DH, and you'll lose modulation - plus the frame will not take a 203mm rear disc.

Fork will make the most noticable difference, esp a Reba which is light and multi adjustable.

The Spiderman

wiseman4454 wrote:

Thanks once again! Great forum so far

Wheels and forks would make the bike alot lighter at the front as well, i think? I am quite new to mountain biking.

Again i wouldn't know where to begin to look for wheels. Makes or anything. If i said something like £150 on Forks, and £150 on wheels do you think that would be enough to change the bike. Also this may sound really daft, but if i didn't change the tyres on the bikes first upgrades, would i have to get rims to fit my tyres, will that limit me? Or are wheels usually the same in size?

Thanks
Tom

£150 would buy you something like AN rs Tora or Marzocchi MX Pro.Both would perform better over the bumps,but weigh about the same as your current set up.
I`d spend an extra £50 on a Reba,whcih is both better performing and a pound lighter.

You could thenspend £100 on a set of Mavic Crossrides,from Merlin which would be a huge improvement on your existig set up.They also have a very good deal on a pair of custom built XT hubs with DT swiss 4.2 rims for £125,which would also be very good.
Both of these would suit you current 2.1 tyres.

jacktheoc

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hayes-HFX9-Mounta ... dZViewItem 160 would be fine i suppose and rebas are a good choice but still have a look at the manitous for £150, have a look on ebay i got a brand new xt rear mech for £23 delivered so might be worth buying if you want to upgrade the gearing alittle

wiseman4454

Would £100 buy both front and rear wheels? Seems a bargain if they are a good improvement on my current setup.

If i were to buy the forks as well, i presume it is best to leave it too the professionals to fit.

Is it not best to get an old model of fork to get more for your money?

Thanks
Tom

jacktheoc

yeh you should be able to get a good set on ebay for £100 which are brand new or mint condition, it is probably better to get an oldish fork as you will get more for your money i would go for those manitous for £150..

wiseman4454

Well because i dont have a clue what to look for, i am going to get my self onto some review sites.

Thanks for your help! Keep it coming!
Thanks
Tom

jacktheoc

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2007-Mavic-CrossR ... dZViewItem

those seem good for the money and they are brand new..

wiseman4454

Cheers for that jack. There actually a little cheaper off merlin. £106 posted from merlin. I think to be honest i will go for those rims. If they are lighter and stronger. Or i may just for now buy forks and bash my rims about abit

But this Fork malark is abit of a tricky business. There are too many forks for my price range!! Decisions Decisions!

jacktheoc

personally i would go for crossride wheels, manitou super air forks and get a xt rear mech and possibly some new tyres!

supersonic

Tyres always a sound investment. that fork can be a bit dodgy though, had some problems with the dampers.

wiseman4454

Or shall i go all out and spend like £250-£300 on the fork...And wait and save for the wheels??

Or will i be buying too gooder fork for the bike? (i know the grammer is bad :P)

supersonic

I think the fork will be worth it - Reba SL can be got for 210 quid at Merlin.

jacktheoc

yeh a reba sl would be a good buy and you will have £90 to spend on tyres, rear mech etc...

wiseman4454

Is that still the fork you would buy if u had £200-£300??

supersonic

Without a doubt, incredible fork for that money!

jacktheoc

if i was looking for max 130mm then yep it would be and spend £90 on accesories!

wiseman4454

:O 745 grams will be saved I like the soundsss of that!
Well i am going to my local bike shop. They might be expensive, but i will enquire about fitting and maybe they might pricematch

wiseman4454

Hi there,
Went to my local bike shop today. And they said......The Rockshox Reba SL are only to be bought already set on a bike. They think that on merlin they are splitting them and selling them. So i need to ask about warrenty issues.

Also, they recommended me a cheap light weight wheel. Mavic, i cant think of the name and it isnm't listed on their site

The shock they recommended was the Mx Pro if the other is dodgey.

And they sid if u bought the cheap rims and that fork i would be able to afford XTR rear cassete.

What we think?

Thanks
Tom

nicklouse

cheap rims and an XTR casette. you have things the wrong way round.

good rims and an XT cassette is more like it and you will notice the difference more.

wiseman4454

Whats a good rim? for like £100?? The one previously mentioned? The Mavic Crossride disc?

Cheers
Tom

nicklouse

what for? useage? trye size> how many holes?

what hubs?

100 for 1 rim or 2? does that include the cost of the build? spokes? new hubs?