My bike - Further Uprades Views Required

viper77
viper77 Posts: 26
edited January 2009 in XC and Enduro
I have built up my bike with the following spec but coming to a point now where I don't know if further upgrades will make the ride any better. I do xc riding only.

Frame Viper Scandium Hardtail
Fork Marchocchi MZ Race
Wheels Xt Hubs with Mavic 717 rims (Spokes are what CRC use)
Cassette LX (Will Change to XT once drier weather comes)
Chain Sram Pg 971
Front Mech XT
Rear Mech XT Shadow
Shifters XT Dual Release
Brakes Formula Oro K18 180/180 (Just got these so not upgrading yet!)
Chainset LX (Is it worth going to XT)
BB Shimano XT (Needs replacing any views welcome)
Seat Post Titec X-Wing (Bargain at only £14)
Saddle Fizik Gobi Team Ti
Stem Giant
Bars Giant
Headset FSA Orbit z
Seat Clamp Identiti Alloy
Tyres Rear Panaracer Fire XC Pro Front Continental Mountain King

Current Weight 12.8kg Cost So Far £780

So the fork I know this is utter rubbish but I didn't have the money when I bought the frame. I spent money on other parts so I could get out and ride and not be sitting looking at a nice frame and fork for months. The fork came from my Giant XTC Se. I am thinking about upgrading to a Rhockshox Reba Team 09, frame is only designed to have upto 100mm fork.

BB I was going to go for a Hope stainless steel one, Is it worth the extra money?

The stem and handlebars I was going to go for FSA K-Force Carbon riser bar and FSA xc-115 stem. Bars are cheap at Merlin. Seat post not to bothered about unless someone knows better? Any other thoughts welcome?

Comments

  • First of all what sort of budget do you have? Is there anything (forks aside) that you feel need changing?
    It'd be easy to say that if your going for the K Force bars and stem, why not go for the K Force seatpost too.
    BB wise, yes if you ride in all weathers, spend the extra. If you ride in dryer weathers, then don't bother.
    Also, why go for an XT cassette? Its not that much lighter than the LX one, and you won't notice any perfomance gains. Just wondering....
    jedster wrote:
    Just off to contemplate my own mortality and inevitable descent into decrepedness.
    FCN 3 or 4 on road depending on clothing
    FCN 8 off road because I'm too old to go racing around.
  • viper77
    viper77 Posts: 26
    Budget is the problem, just buying stuff when money is available. I will have to save a bit for the fork, but £329 at Merlin is a bit more realistic than buying a £500/£600 Fox fork. I mainly want to drop the weight of the front of the bike, fork will help this loads but stem and handlebars are basic Giant stuff. I also get quite a bit of trail buzz but this might go once fork is changed but also reason why I was thinking about changing stem and bars. Can't really justify spending £90 on seatpost, I don't think it will improve anything.

    I ride in all weather and the BB is on the way out so I will be looking to change this soon.

    I don't think I will notice the difference between LX and XT on the cassette but Lx will soon be unavailable and I don't think there will be much difference in cost between new SLX and XT.
  • ben110
    ben110 Posts: 54
    ha dude sounds like a nice ride, personally i would go for the reba sl as there a cheeper and will be easy to set up a few frinds have them and really rate them, or look at the Manitou R7 Elite Absolute 2008 can get it cheep off of crc http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=21341 as for the bars i have the the k-force and use it with a tomson elite seat post and stem looks the dogs nuts and is light but still stiff hope this helps you mate o and you wont notice the difference in the two cassettes
  • The Reba SL is definitely reccomended,best upgrade I ever made.
    Those Giant bars and stem are very weighty,I swapped mine for a RF Deus combo (£60 the pair at crc)and saved about 160g in the process.Other than that your bikes spec is quite similar to mine,which weighs a shade over 11kg so you can see that there is a fair bit of weight to be saved.
    2006 Giant XTC
    2010 Giant Defy Advanced
    2016 Boardman Pro 29er
    2016 Pinnacle Lithium 4
    2017 Canondale Supersix Evo
  • ednino
    ednino Posts: 684
    When the dryer weather comes, get a SRAM PG990 Cassette instead.

    They really are brilliant

    sram_pg970_dh_cassette_news_post.jpg
  • akcc05
    akcc05 Posts: 336
    for the BB, the Acros Clockworx gets some good reviews and is cheaper than Hope stainess steel.

    http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/bottom-bracket/product/clockworx-stainless-bb-32823

    the saving can go towards the bar/stem/fork. oh and by the way, merlin has some crazy deals on race face (deus i think, might be evolve, or both) bar + stem + seatpost combo so if you are replacing them all, it's worth a look. hope this helps.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    BB not worth changing for something better until the other one dies. Same for a lot of the parts to be honest.