Pasteys new Trance Xzero (RIP Enigma)

pastey_boy

having found i was reaching the limits of my enigma ego and riding it way past its abilities i decided to build a new do it all trail bike using most of the bits from my enigma. the result is a 2009/10 giant trance X0 that weighs in at a trail friendly 26lbs bang on (with pedals) after a quick spin today i have to say im in love already. lots of scope to make it lighter and i want to fit a dropper type post . i used to have a giant faith so i kinda know what the maestro rear end feels like but in this much lighter format it felt great. i fitted a 50mm stem and a pair of ec70 hi risers and the bike has a playful feel to it, and the back end feels floaty and bottomless yet it still climbs superbly. look forwards to taking it to some proper terrain to see what it can do but early impressions are great. upgrade wise im not going to go too daft, im aiming for a weight of 25lbs with the dropper post fitted.i made the chain stay protector from a long strip of old road innertube and stuck in place with some puncture repair kit glue. and a big thanks for those who made it possible for me to get this built up in time for today.
full spec
frame giant trance x0 medium, fox rp23
fork fox f120 rl 15mm thru axle nsb cnc,d hose clamp
headset cane creek integrated /ti top cap and bolt
stem tioga task force 50mm
h/bar easton ec70 carbon monkeylite highrise 685mm
grips kcnc eva foam lock ons with odi clamps and snap caps
seatpost raceface deus xc
seatclamp giant qr
saddle charge spoon leather ti

brakes formula the one with alligator aeries rotors and hel braided hoses

shifters shimano xtr m970 9spd
f/mech shimano deore xt m770
r/mech shimano xtr m970
cassette sram 980
chain fsa team issue
chainset shimano xtr m970 with gold bolt and cap
bottom bracket one23 ceramic gold cups
pedals shimano xtr m970 spd
cables dura ace outer with transfil mud coats and nokon inner wires, fully sealed fitted with middleburn cable oilers
wheels roval traversee with tubeless valves
tyres bontrager xr-2 2.1 inch tubeless ready, stans fluid.

sheepsteeth

the back tyre looks lke its on backwards.

that stem is ugly as hell but id imagine you are limited by the short steerer tube compared to the enormous headtube.

i used to have a trance x and it was super dooper, i had a reign previously too and i think the maestro system is excellent.

thats a very classy looking bike, shame the enigma has moved onto pastures new.

pastey_boy

the tyre grips like hell the way it is so im guessing its right. and yes the stem is hideous but me being a total bellend decided to cut my steerer down just last week before i knew i was getting a new frame, i still have the offcut to remind me what a div i am. the stem will have to do until i find something with an equally low stack height or i buy some new forks although i love the ones i have. the tioga stem is very stiff though and it holds the bars well, it may grow on me. bit gutted to see the enigma go but if im honest it may have been a tad small for me and i was riding it over some pretty daft stuff so best to get rid before i broke it. if anyone knows of a stem with a 30mm stack height or less then please let me know.

cat_with_no_tail

That stem is indeed the fugliest thing I've ever seen. Possibly looks worse because of the lack of spacers though.

What sort of height is the stem anyway?

Still, it sounds like this is almost certainly going to be the better bike for what you're riding at the moment, and you've (hopefully) got another Ti bike later in the year have you not?

pastey_boy

Cat With No Tail wrote:

That stem is indeed the fugliest thing I've ever seen. Possibly looks worse because of the lack of spacers though.

What sort of height is the stem anyway?

Still, it sounds like this is almost certainly going to be the better bike for what you're riding at the moment, and you've (hopefully) got another Ti bike later in the year have you not?

yep im going to build a silly light mega money ti hard tail in the summer but having said that ive just seen lawmans mojo hd and im frothing from my mouth and 2 other orifices. may ditch the ti and build a mojo (already got the build in my head) and be rest assured as soon as i find a nicer stem i will have the tioga one melted down and made into a door stop.

cat_with_no_tail

pastey_boy wrote:

......mojo hd....

DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pastey_boy

Cat With No Tail wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

......mojo hd....

DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the plain black mojo hd has to be the horniest thing ive ever seen in the bike world, lovely bit of kit, i reckon it would look lovely kitted out with xtr and some of the new easton haven gear.

pastey_boy

just found a lovely stem with a stack height suitable for my steerer, gonna order and will post pics when fitted quite chuffed as it means i wont have to shell out on a new fork. may even send the stem to steve the anodiser and have it made a nice gold colour.

pastey_boy

only just noticed that ive forgotten to clamp my front brake hose into the holder on the fork !!!!!! shame on all those who have looked at the pics and not pulled me up on it. :oops:

sheepsteeth

pastey_boy wrote:

only just noticed that ive forgotten to clamp my front brake hose into the holder on the fork !!!!!! shame on all those who have looked at the pics and not pulled me up on it. :oops:

my head is still reeling from the rear tyre direction.

lawman

pastey_boy wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

......mojo hd....

DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the plain black mojo hd has to be the horniest thing ive ever seen in the bike world, lovely bit of kit, i reckon it would look lovely kitted out with xtr and some of the new easton haven gear.

it looks damn good doesnt it

pastey_boy

lawman wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

......mojo hd....

DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the plain black mojo hd has to be the horniest thing ive ever seen in the bike world, lovely bit of kit, i reckon it would look lovely kitted out with xtr and some of the new easton haven gear.

it looks damn good doesnt it

i have inadvertently given lawman a hard on :oops:

The Northern Monkey

Ah man, can't believe you sold the Ego, that was one lush frame.

pastey_boy

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Ah man, can't believe you sold the Ego, that was one lush frame.

i had it a full year !!!!!!! my longest serving bike ever, i did like it but it was time to move on. more than happy with the trance, will be even happier when my new stem turns up.

pastey_boy

ok i have this lovely bit of stemmage on the way. it gives me a bit more length and is perfect for the amount of steerer i have left. looks pretty nice too. im not worried about having to get new forks now.

cat_with_no_tail

interesting looking thing.

On a completely unrelated subject though, I quite fancy some swiss cheese.

.Brucey.

sheepsteeth wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

only just noticed that ive forgotten to clamp my front brake hose into the holder on the fork !!!!!! shame on all those who have looked at the pics and not pulled me up on it. :oops:

my head is still reeling from the rear tyre direction.

The rear tyre should go that way, think about it, if you have a V shaped tread and you face it forwards, as you would on the front, when you pedal hard the V would cut through what ever surface your on rather than grip it, reversing it gives much more grip. My Cube came with the tyres that way.

I also read on here in regards to directional tread that on the front tyre the direction arrow should face forwards and on the rear the arrow should face to the back.

pastey_boy

.Brucey. wrote:

sheepsteeth wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

only just noticed that ive forgotten to clamp my front brake hose into the holder on the fork !!!!!! shame on all those who have looked at the pics and not pulled me up on it. :oops:

my head is still reeling from the rear tyre direction.

The rear tyre should go that way, think about it, if you have a V shaped tread and you face it forwards, as you would on the front, when you pedal hard the V would cut through what ever surface your on rather than grip it, reversing it gives much more grip. My Cube came with the tyres that way.

I also read on here in regards to directional tread that on the front tyre the direction arrow should face forwards and on the rear the arrow should face to the back.

you sir are correct

sheepsteeth

.Brucey. wrote:

sheepsteeth wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

only just noticed that ive forgotten to clamp my front brake hose into the holder on the fork !!!!!! shame on all those who have looked at the pics and not pulled me up on it. :oops:

my head is still reeling from the rear tyre direction.

The rear tyre should go that way, think about it, if you have a V shaped tread and you face it forwards, as you would on the front, when you pedal hard the V would cut through what ever surface your on rather than grip it, reversing it gives much more grip. My Cube came with the tyres that way.

I also read on here in regards to directional tread that on the front tyre the direction arrow should face forwards and on the rear the arrow should face to the back.

not all tyres are designed this way, true, some are designed to be run in reverse on the rear but the direction of rotation arrow would state this to be the case if intended, like on panaracer xc fire pro tyres for example which has 2 direction arrows.

as much as a tyre CAN give extra grip when reversed, unless it is designed to be run in both directions you find that you also lose braking control, this is more of an issue if you have tyres with a chamfered leading edge (such as the tyres in that picture.)

pastey_boy

sheepsteeth wrote:

.Brucey. wrote:

sheepsteeth wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

only just noticed that ive forgotten to clamp my front brake hose into the holder on the fork !!!!!! shame on all those who have looked at the pics and not pulled me up on it. :oops:

my head is still reeling from the rear tyre direction.

The rear tyre should go that way, think about it, if you have a V shaped tread and you face it forwards, as you would on the front, when you pedal hard the V would cut through what ever surface your on rather than grip it, reversing it gives much more grip. My Cube came with the tyres that way.

I also read on here in regards to directional tread that on the front tyre the direction arrow should face forwards and on the rear the arrow should face to the back.

not all tyres are designed this way, true, some are designed to be run in reverse on the rear but the direction of rotation arrow would state this to be the case if intended, like on panaracer xc fire pro tyres for example which has 2 direction arrows.

as much as a tyre CAN give extra grip when reversed, unless it is designed to be run in both directions you find that you also lose braking control, this is more of an issue if you have tyres with a chamfered leading edge (such as the tyres in that picture.)

you sir are also correct but in my case i have fitted the tyres whilst taking notice of aforementioned directional arrows.

pastey_boy

after a massive drive i now have the new stem fitted, took it round llandegla and it felt perfect, and there is easily enough steerer clamped to stop me worrying. also fitted a set of tubeless conti mountain kings 2.4,s whilst its still a bit sticky out there.

pastey_boy

not using the outer ring at all so im going to look for a suitable lightweight bash to replace it.

cat_with_no_tail

Raceface Light Bash would be the obvious choice. (92g)

How light is light though?

pastey_boy

seen a few carbon models knocking about but the problem is that i want it to look neat and the xtr chainrings are quite thick at the crank interface so i need something that sort of matches up. i know i wont get it perfect but im having a good look.

pastey_boy

ive even though about getting the spare xtr outer ring i have machined and made into a bash ring. should be easy enough on a lathe and the finished product should look extremely neat. i could then send it to steve the anodiser who could work his magic on it and anodise it a nice colour for me, also thinking of sending him the x-lite stem and having it done gold.

pastey_boy

ok, ive stuck a straitline bashguard on i had lying around and as its red ive also stuck a red hope seat clamp and red hope head doctor on too. there are tiny bit of red already on the bike so i dont think it looks too bad. maybe a red rear qr skewer will finish it off. going to stick a pair of specialized eskars on too as i like them more than the mountain kings on at the mo, the eskars also have red on them so should look ok. im quite pleased with how the straitline guard fits my chainset.

pastey_boy

i just swapped the mountain kings for a pair of tubeless specialized captain tyres and ive stuck some red lock ring collars on my grips and some different bar end plugs. looking at my bike i reckon the kind shock cobra dropper post will look nice with the colour scheme although i need to find out the fully extended length from the bottom to the rails as i fear i may struggle to fit one although there is a shorter version with a 3 inch drop which should be fine on this type of bike.

pastey_boy

ok just ordered some new bits.
superstar red evo hubs 15mm f 10mm thru rear with stans flow rims
superstar 10mm thru axle qr in gold
superstar grey excel grips with red collars
ks cobra i950 dropper post non remote.
1 pair specialized eskar 2.3 tubeless ready tyres
gonna stick the roval wheels on the p7 along with the specialized captain tyres and aeries rotors to make it a lot lighter. gone for the flows as they are bombproof without being too heavy, basically the same weight as a mavic xm819. also like the superstar hubs as they are easily and cheaply converted and spares are a good price too. i can only just manage to fit a ksi950 post, i need to change my saddle to one with a thinner profile to maintain my correct raised saddle height. the wide rims should give the eskars a nice footprint also. pics to follow if the royal mail keep their promises.

cat_with_no_tail

Should have bought the remote version of the dropper post. Makes a MASSIVE difference to how well they work.

Good choice with the wheels btw Mine should be arriving tomorrow all being well.

pastey_boy

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Should have bought the remote version of the dropper post. Makes a MASSIVE difference to how well they work.

Good choice with the wheels btw Mine should be arriving tomorrow all being well.

ive had the lever version before and loved it. the remote cable on the ks goes up and down with the post so it will cause a lot of damage and scraping and its hard to route cleanly although i can always fit the remote kit to the i950 if i change my mind (which happens far too easily ) .i did nearly have a gravity dropper lastnight but some tw@t bought it just before me. i needed the 350mm long 4 inch drop left hand version, and wiggle had an ex demo one for £160, put in in my basket went to pay and someone beat me to the punch :evil: . i decided to go for them wheels as they are an absolute steal even without the supplied valves ,tape and sealant. and a bloke of my build probably needs them. the rovals are good but theyve only got 420gram rims and although ive not killed them yet ive had to true them a fair few times and i swapped the alloys nips in the back wheel for brass ones. the superstar wheels only work out at 250 grams heavier but the strength increase for the the weight is more than worth it. ive just ditched the specialized eskars in favour of a pair of nobby nic tubeless 2.25", only £58 from merlin all in

pastey_boy

actually just done a mock up of how a cable could be routed for the dropper post and i can actually do it quite neatly with the cable causing no obstruction or hitting the frame, just a tiny bit of helicopter tape and im sorted, gonna order me a remote kit this very minute