2009 Giant XTC - Cross Country Build for 2011

EarlofBarnet

I've been looking to building up a light-ish cross-country bike for 2011 which I could do a few races on. I recently split my Enduro up for parts and used some of them on a Cinder Cone frame I had:



However, I picked up a new bike this weekend from which to use the frame for.



I had the Cindercone at 25.8lbs with my SLX/XT/XTR parts on and the Giant frame is more than 1/2 lb lighter than the Cinder Cone. So hopefully with a few changes I can get it down to 24lbs.

Current Spec:

Frame: 2001 Kona Cinder Cone butted aluminium, canti mounts removed and frame stripped and hand polished
Forks: Fox F80 RL
Headset: FSA Intellaset (aheadset)
Stem: Exotic 90mm o/s
Handlebar: Truvativ Stylo Race Flat Bars 2009 o/s, 600mm wide
Seatpost: No-name
Seat: Specialized BG
Gear levers: Shimano SLX
Brakes: Shimano XTR (M975)
Chainset: Shimano XT Hollowtech 2
Front Mech: Shimano XT
Rear Mech: Shimano XT
Chain: SRAM PC951 with powerlink
Wheels: Superstar Subzero XC/AM

Watch this space

The Spiderman

Look forward to seeing this.I have an 06 XTC built up with XT kit and Rebas which is around the 24-25lb mark.

EarlofBarnet

They're cracking frames, I'm really impressed with mine. I was looking at buying the frame only, but it worked out a lot cheaper to buy a second hand bike and split it for the frame. Paint scheme should go well with my Fox F80 RL forks too. Just need to swop my Red parts for Blue bits now.

jakeeeeeee

yh their are great frames ! mine has been on a crash diet and the difference all round is night and day !!

jacob2910

how much was the fox fork :shock:

EarlofBarnet

Spent a few hours last weekend swopping the parts from the Cinder Cone frame to the XTC and it's come out great:



Spec:
2009 Giant XTC 4 frame
2008 Fox F80RL fork
Full XT groupset
XTR brakes
Superstar XC/AM Subzero Wheels with titanium qr's
Giant finishing kit
Maxxis Cross Mark tyres

Current weight = 25lbs

Would quite like to shift another 1/2lb from it, so looking at changing the seatpost, stem and bars to something a little lighter. Think it's come together quite well though

njee20

What grips are you running? That saddle will weigh a ton.

EarlofBarnet

They're Richey grips on it at the moment. I've been tempted by foam grips, but not 100% sure yet. The saddle was just under 300g if I remember correctly. No sure if it'd be economical to get one that's mid 250's if it'd cost £50 say. Maybe an old ti flite might be an idea?

jakeeeeeee

tasty

njee20

Phenom SL is 180g. Personal though really.

Foam grips are great, v comfy IMO.

EarlofBarnet

In prep for the Whinlatter MTB Challenge next month, I was up there this morning on the Giant to do a time lap of all three trails. The Giant was flawless, and never felt out of it's depth (and I've previously rode Whinlatter on a 6" travel full suss Enduro). Knocked the South Loop out in 35 mins, then the North Loop in 46 mins and finally the Blue route in 27 mins. Think the times work out, but it was 1hr 49mins in total (for approx 27.5km's). Well pleased

EarlofBarnet

WMBC this weekend! Need to shorten the brake hoses a little and swop the oil out on the forks.

Once the events done I might re-spray the forks so they are White as opposed to a light-cream colour. Also looking to replace a few bits with lighter ones - Seatpost, stem, handlebars.

The Spiderman

I`d look at something like Selle Italia SLR saddle,KCNC post,stem and scandium bars.

EarlofBarnet

Thanks for that, will have to price them up. Scandium sounds expensive..

leaflite

EarlofBarnet wrote:

Scandium sounds expensive..

Depends...

eXotic sell scandium bars for a very reasnoble price-check out carboncycles.cc or ebay for them.

The Spiderman

Have a look at these:

https://clee-cycles.co.uk/cc/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/40_36/products_id/866?osCsid=085hh6jka49o19loudhpqduh62

or

https://clee-cycles.co.uk/cc/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/40_36/products_id/42?osCsid=085hh6jka49o19loudhpqduh62

njee20

SLRs are good saddles, but pretty expensive these days and they don't last. I used to wear through the cover in a season with ease, and the SLR XC variants aren't nearly as light.

EarlofBarnet

Just picked a bike up for a friend that had an SLR saddle on it. There's not much to them is there! £70 seems the cheapest I can find a new one for. May save 100g though?

Here it is ready for the WMBC tomorrow:



Giant computer fitted to stem, set of painted X-Lite bars ends fitted too.

EarlofBarnet

Had a cracking event at Whinlatter and came 6th overall in the half-enduro and 3rd in the Men's category, so pretty pleased

Bike performed excellently, definitely the tool for the job. Only casulty was a split chain and a twisted and cracked front mech. Soon replaced those with a new PC971 chain and XT front mech from Merlin.

MountainMonster

Very nice man! I'm planning on building my own lightweight racer type eventually!

EarlofBarnet

Pics now she's rigid:





Room for a 29" front wheel...?



New wheels to follow towards the end of the week hopefully. Getting a set of Mavic Cross Trail wheels off a friend

ilovedirt

Why go rigid? Doesn't really seem to make sense to trade off something that's so important to the handling for something that's lighter.

EarlofBarnet

Got to try these things! Had a great ride on the rigid xtc on Sunday. Little bit rough on some downhills, apart from that it was excellent. Think the Fox forks will be staying off for a bit longer.

Steve_b77

Nice,

Would those be the forks you had off me by any chance :?:

EarlofBarnet

Got the forks off a man called Joel last week, so don't think they were off you Steve?

Steve_b77

How strange, I sold a set of them to a guy in Cumbria who was building a lightweight XC HT 8)

EarlofBarnet

Random! Will have to look out for someone else bouncing around on rocky decents, haha. They're great forks, I'm really pleased with them.

EarlofBarnet

Fox forks are now sold! Just bought a set of Hope Pro 2 hub on Mavic XM819 rims to replace the Superstar wheels too. Hoping it might shed a little more weight, as well as giving the option to go tubeless.

EarlofBarnet

Still waiting on the wheels arriving, but have made a couple more small changes.

XTR brakes put on my Enduro and the Giant now has a set of Avid Elixir 5 brakes on in White.

Saddle removed and changed for a 135g Sella Italia SLR saddle.

davenewcastle1973

If anybody is looking to buy an XTC frame, I have a 2009 XTC3 Medium frame with shimano BB and cane creek headset up for grabs.. PM if you're interested.

Cheers

Dave

EarlofBarnet

Thanks for your post...