SummitFever
Eats Squid
Bike is almost stock. Specs are the usual Giant crap which leaves a lot to be desired for the money. This is the first complete bike I've bought in 10 years and to date is the most expensive and lowest spec, but then walking into a bike store and laying down the cash always seems to suck compared to speccing it out yourself.
Good stuff: XT 4 pot brakes at both ends, XT shifter and XT rear derailler. What's also good is that it comes setup tubeless from the get go.
OK stuff:
- Shimano 12 speed SLX cassette - it does what it says on the box. Works without fuss but is no better than the 11spd XTR I run on my other bikes.
- The Fox 34 fork with Grip damper combined with the Fox DPS rear shock is not bad. It's been a while since I've had a Fox rear shock and an even longer while since I've had a Fox fork and they are both much better than I remember.
- Giant dropper - works, lever is actually good.
- the wheels: some sort of Giant rim with 25mm ID mated to SLX hubs. Rear points of engagement feels low and two rides in the rear rim already has a wobble. Typical machine built crap. Boost of course, but with 28 spokes so it completely negates all of the boost stiffness BS by using fewer spokes.
Mods: I'm a long way from home with very little in the way of tools so all I've managed to do is some little things:
- swapped the brake lines over without needing to bleed them (bloody euros and their brake levers on the wrong way);
- cut the bars down to my preferred 680mm;
- replaced the Maxxis boat anchors with some tyres that actually roll X-King 2.4 front and Racing Ralph 2.25 rear (I did like the Minion DHR/DHF II combo but the good riding is about 25km away and I'm also doing a daily commute of around 40km so I need some better rolling tyres)
The ride: rides good. Feels well planted on the downs and rails high speed berms like a champ but is still a really playful bike to ride. Haven't had a chance to hit the Alps yet but I've done all of the local DH tracks and I've been shocked by how capable it is on the downs. The big wheels and the maestro suspension really make it feel like its got much more travel. The 66.5 deg head angle and 44mm offset fork supposedly give the bike heaps of trail but it doesn't feel like a slow steering plough machine. I was worried it may be less fun on tight twisty single track but it is good on that too. I will say this though, it did feel a lot more sluggish until I cut the bars down.
My only criticism would be that on really steep rooty technical climbs the rear feels like it gets hung up more than my older Trance 29er. This might be something to do with the re-engineered rear suspension or it could be something fixable through a shock revalve.
Finally, when I bought the bike I was happy that it was black and wouldn't attract too much attention from thieves because I often have to leave it chained up as I go about my business. Unfortunately, once you get it out in the sun it looks like a rainbow unicorn at mardi gras. It's quite the paintjob...
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