Well, I've had my bike for a couple weeks now, had some time to play around on it, and thought I'd write a review.
The build: I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't spend more time working on your bike then you do riding your bike, so I'm not going to try to lose weight on this thing except maybe if i go tubeless and switch to a different wheelset. Tubeless, i'll probably do eventually, different wheel set, probably not. The bike came stock at 46 lbs even, with no pedals. I'm not gonna give a complete build list, if you want that you can go to https://giantbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/mountain/1287/29382/ complete geo specs can be found here: https://giantbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/mountain/1287/29382/
The color spec was kinda cool, a nice touch that it came with gold ano hubs and BB.
Frame: Glory 0, large
Fork: 2008 66rc3 1.5in steertube
shock: roco tst r
wheels: formula hubs laced to wtb speed disc rims
brakes: hayes stroker trails
shifters: x7
rear derailler: x9
front derailler: saint
Raceface Evolve DH cranks
Raceface Evolve Lowrise Handlebars
Gravity 31.8 stem
FSA Pig DH 1.5 headset
Tires: F Kenda Blue Groove, R Kenda Nevegal
tubes: big heavy 2.5-2.7DH tubes.
Changes/Additions:
Tires: maxxis Minion DHF 2.5 Front 3C, Maxxis Minion DHR 2.35 SuperTacky Rear.
Tubes: 1.25-1.75xc tubes
Pedals: Syncros Mental Magnesium
-this brought the weight from 46 without pedals (pedals weigh about a pound) to 44 and 2 ounces with pedals - definitely a worthwhile change, as the bike is faster and corners better now, and is lighter too. (tires and tubes made the difference).
that should cover the essentials.
Out of the box everything was working pretty well - tightened down the pivots, axle bolt, front wheel, put the stem on, didn't need to true the wheels, basically just pulled it out of the box and got it going. First complaints were that they didn't send me a shock pump, the D hangers are about 1/4 an inch thick, maybe thicker, extremely burly and overbuilt, and I'm worried i'll snap off my derailler before i even bend the hanger. We'll see how that goes once i hit a rock i guess. The last complaint was that the rear shifter housing was run full length, except right near the end where there's a ferule for a tiny gap in the housing - the idea obviously being that if you catch your housing you'll have to replace a small portion rather then the entire thing. For somebody who's never had a problem with that, and is much more worried about his derailler in the event of a crash, this bothers me. The reason I like full length housing is because it'll run smooth forever, and i wont have to deal with grit and grime getting into the housing and fouling up the shifting. Putting a break right in the dirtiest spot kinda bothers me, but oh well, not really a huge deal, especially since i'm in California, where theres not a whole lot in the way of wet weather riding. Donno how it would handle the abuse of the northeast or BC, but i imagine it wouldn't be that hard to dremel it out and just run full length if its a problem - i'm just lazy.
The setup: The fork came working perfectly out of the box, no oil level problems, nothin. It had slight stiction, but that has gone away now that i've gotten some ride time on the fork. The rear shock came working like absolute crap and upon reading the manual and setting the air pressure in the bottom out chamber to the manual recommendations, I was ready to sell it and get a DHX or a vivid asap. Luckily, because of the glory hole, its an inconvenience to put air in the chamber without pulling the shock out (all the other adjustments are easy, and you CAN do it, its just a pita and it was a brand new bike that I wanted to fondle). So upon further examination I found the proper recommended air settings on the shock itself, and went from 150psi (it came stock with about 110) to 170, then raised it to 180. after that, it felt pretty good but still not AS good as a DHX. I wasn't convinced I wanted to keep the shock, although the fork felt amazing, but I figured I'd give it a go and see if I grew into it. I like my suspension to sag at about 35-40% normally with really quick rebound and no dampening, with lots of bottom out, but Meastro doesn't do so well at that range so I set the preload to 32% sag and it works really well. For the fork, I'm running 4 clicks of compression, which is just enough to keep off fork dive, but not enough to have significant ride difference. I'm running no preload, and 3 pumps in the rc3 chamber with it full open (which probably equates to about 1/8 a psi). I weigh 160, and the bike came stock with a 550lbs spring which, with a fair amount of preload is perfect for me. The fork is perfect for me, but I don't imagine somebody much lighter would like it very much, it'd probably be way too stiff. For a large bike, I'm kinda surprised that they sent it out with a 550lbs spring, since I expect most people riding a large to be more then 160lbs. Anyway, can't really complain that much sense it was perfect for me, but if you weigh anything more then 170 you should probably plan on getting a heavier spring, since my preload is near maxxed.
After a few rides and jumps, I still wasn't totally convinced that I wanted to keep the roco, but I wasn't ready to give up on it yet either. After my ride today, i finally got it dialed to where I want it, and it is perfect. definitely gonna be keeping it. Other noteworthy thing is that I'm having a problem where my axle keeps coming loose and I have to tighten it mid ride, but since I haven't given marzo a chance to sort it out i'm holding off judgement. Plus, I figured out a quick fix that seems to do fine (tighten it till it clicks, then tighten it slightly more until its about to click, but don't push it past the next click).
The ride: This bike feels like a giant AM bike that you can shred the living hell out of and go way bigger, and without the feeling you're gonna break something if you decide that doing that 25 foot drop looks fun that you get with an AM bike. Its extremely stiff in the rock gardens and corners. It pedals better then most 8 inch travel bikes while it has no tst on and they have alot (such as propedal etc), and with a 67 degree headtube angle, it can climb. I took it on its first AM ride today that I had to climb up first before I could ride down, and aside from being a heavy beast, it actually climbed quite well, I always felt planted and I never felt like the fork was too steep or too raked. So if you're looking for a bike that you can use for FR, this is perfect - the weight isn't nearly as much of an issue as I feared, and the pedaling is simply amazing. Its slightly too steep for PURE DH (i'd prefer a 66 or 65 degree headtube angle if I was doing lift assisted or shuttle runs 100% of the time), but it handles high speed with total ease.
Cornering and rock gardens (and for the first time, hard cornering IN rockgardens) was somewhat like loosing your virginity - it totally blew everything else you've ever done out of the water, but somehow it was too easy. hopefully now I can pick up my speed and make it hard again. I had no clearance issues with the BB, and actually would prefer it to be 1/2 an inch lower, but this will be more then fine. Cornering it tracked perfectly and the suspension remained smooth and plush keeping the bike tracking with no problems. It would corner better with a lower BB, and I think it'd do fine with a lower BB even in the rock gardens, but I like this enough to not consider it a comprimise.
It definitely has a speed that it doesn't like to go below, and despite the angles, it just does not feel totally awesome at slow speeds - not just sluggish, but the suspension isn't very active and doesn't track super well. This isn't really that much of a problem, because I consider a run wasted if my eyes aren't watering when I get to the bottom (I don't wear glasses or goggles), and once you hit that critical speed the bike just opens up and flies. At speed the bike is very stable, I haven't managed to get it going fast enough that it ever began to feel unstable at speeds, despite spinning out at 36-11. It doesn't feel like it looses any speed through rock gardens, and as long as you have the balls to hit em fast then the bike will take care of you. If you try and go slow through them the bike gets kinda angry and is really hard to keep moving.
Jumping:
Yes, this bike does that well too. Probably the most natural full suspension jumper i've ever ridden, easy to throw around, I can bunnyhop almost as high as I could on my old hardtail, and I have no problems boosting with it. It bottoms out rather harshly when you case a high speed distance jump, but I haven't ridden a bike that doesn't. It'll also save your ass when you fyck up, such as overshooting the landing and landing flat 9 or 10 feet below the lip - the only response i've gotten from that type of landing so far is: "and?" The way I like my suspension its not quite stiff enough to be a true jumper, but I don't imagine it'd be hard to set it up as one.
All and all, I give this bike an A (as a freeride rig). It has a few to many small problems to warrant an A+, but I can't imagine anybody being bummed about the ride, its definitely one of the most fun bikes i've ever ridden. Sadly, I have no riding shots as of now, only bike pics, but, hopefully I can remedy that while I'm in SB. If anybody wants to come take pictures of me in Santa Barbara while i'm here for vacation, I'd be stoked and willing to take pics for you. Also, if anybody wants a test ride I'm down, my only requirements are that you find a bike for me so I can bomb down the hill with you, and that I get a ride if we decide to shuttle. And the obvious, "you break it you buy it" but I can't imagine that'd be a problem with this bike. PM me if you're interested in riding it, and feel free to ask questions.
cable routing:
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The build: I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't spend more time working on your bike then you do riding your bike, so I'm not going to try to lose weight on this thing except maybe if i go tubeless and switch to a different wheelset. Tubeless, i'll probably do eventually, different wheel set, probably not. The bike came stock at 46 lbs even, with no pedals. I'm not gonna give a complete build list, if you want that you can go to https://giantbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/mountain/1287/29382/ complete geo specs can be found here: https://giantbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/mountain/1287/29382/
The color spec was kinda cool, a nice touch that it came with gold ano hubs and BB.
Frame: Glory 0, large
Fork: 2008 66rc3 1.5in steertube
shock: roco tst r
wheels: formula hubs laced to wtb speed disc rims
brakes: hayes stroker trails
shifters: x7
rear derailler: x9
front derailler: saint
Raceface Evolve DH cranks
Raceface Evolve Lowrise Handlebars
Gravity 31.8 stem
FSA Pig DH 1.5 headset
Tires: F Kenda Blue Groove, R Kenda Nevegal
tubes: big heavy 2.5-2.7DH tubes.
Changes/Additions:
Tires: maxxis Minion DHF 2.5 Front 3C, Maxxis Minion DHR 2.35 SuperTacky Rear.
Tubes: 1.25-1.75xc tubes
Pedals: Syncros Mental Magnesium
-this brought the weight from 46 without pedals (pedals weigh about a pound) to 44 and 2 ounces with pedals - definitely a worthwhile change, as the bike is faster and corners better now, and is lighter too. (tires and tubes made the difference).
that should cover the essentials.
Out of the box everything was working pretty well - tightened down the pivots, axle bolt, front wheel, put the stem on, didn't need to true the wheels, basically just pulled it out of the box and got it going. First complaints were that they didn't send me a shock pump, the D hangers are about 1/4 an inch thick, maybe thicker, extremely burly and overbuilt, and I'm worried i'll snap off my derailler before i even bend the hanger. We'll see how that goes once i hit a rock i guess. The last complaint was that the rear shifter housing was run full length, except right near the end where there's a ferule for a tiny gap in the housing - the idea obviously being that if you catch your housing you'll have to replace a small portion rather then the entire thing. For somebody who's never had a problem with that, and is much more worried about his derailler in the event of a crash, this bothers me. The reason I like full length housing is because it'll run smooth forever, and i wont have to deal with grit and grime getting into the housing and fouling up the shifting. Putting a break right in the dirtiest spot kinda bothers me, but oh well, not really a huge deal, especially since i'm in California, where theres not a whole lot in the way of wet weather riding. Donno how it would handle the abuse of the northeast or BC, but i imagine it wouldn't be that hard to dremel it out and just run full length if its a problem - i'm just lazy.
The setup: The fork came working perfectly out of the box, no oil level problems, nothin. It had slight stiction, but that has gone away now that i've gotten some ride time on the fork. The rear shock came working like absolute crap and upon reading the manual and setting the air pressure in the bottom out chamber to the manual recommendations, I was ready to sell it and get a DHX or a vivid asap. Luckily, because of the glory hole, its an inconvenience to put air in the chamber without pulling the shock out (all the other adjustments are easy, and you CAN do it, its just a pita and it was a brand new bike that I wanted to fondle). So upon further examination I found the proper recommended air settings on the shock itself, and went from 150psi (it came stock with about 110) to 170, then raised it to 180. after that, it felt pretty good but still not AS good as a DHX. I wasn't convinced I wanted to keep the shock, although the fork felt amazing, but I figured I'd give it a go and see if I grew into it. I like my suspension to sag at about 35-40% normally with really quick rebound and no dampening, with lots of bottom out, but Meastro doesn't do so well at that range so I set the preload to 32% sag and it works really well. For the fork, I'm running 4 clicks of compression, which is just enough to keep off fork dive, but not enough to have significant ride difference. I'm running no preload, and 3 pumps in the rc3 chamber with it full open (which probably equates to about 1/8 a psi). I weigh 160, and the bike came stock with a 550lbs spring which, with a fair amount of preload is perfect for me. The fork is perfect for me, but I don't imagine somebody much lighter would like it very much, it'd probably be way too stiff. For a large bike, I'm kinda surprised that they sent it out with a 550lbs spring, since I expect most people riding a large to be more then 160lbs. Anyway, can't really complain that much sense it was perfect for me, but if you weigh anything more then 170 you should probably plan on getting a heavier spring, since my preload is near maxxed.
After a few rides and jumps, I still wasn't totally convinced that I wanted to keep the roco, but I wasn't ready to give up on it yet either. After my ride today, i finally got it dialed to where I want it, and it is perfect. definitely gonna be keeping it. Other noteworthy thing is that I'm having a problem where my axle keeps coming loose and I have to tighten it mid ride, but since I haven't given marzo a chance to sort it out i'm holding off judgement. Plus, I figured out a quick fix that seems to do fine (tighten it till it clicks, then tighten it slightly more until its about to click, but don't push it past the next click).
The ride: This bike feels like a giant AM bike that you can shred the living hell out of and go way bigger, and without the feeling you're gonna break something if you decide that doing that 25 foot drop looks fun that you get with an AM bike. Its extremely stiff in the rock gardens and corners. It pedals better then most 8 inch travel bikes while it has no tst on and they have alot (such as propedal etc), and with a 67 degree headtube angle, it can climb. I took it on its first AM ride today that I had to climb up first before I could ride down, and aside from being a heavy beast, it actually climbed quite well, I always felt planted and I never felt like the fork was too steep or too raked. So if you're looking for a bike that you can use for FR, this is perfect - the weight isn't nearly as much of an issue as I feared, and the pedaling is simply amazing. Its slightly too steep for PURE DH (i'd prefer a 66 or 65 degree headtube angle if I was doing lift assisted or shuttle runs 100% of the time), but it handles high speed with total ease.
Cornering and rock gardens (and for the first time, hard cornering IN rockgardens) was somewhat like loosing your virginity - it totally blew everything else you've ever done out of the water, but somehow it was too easy. hopefully now I can pick up my speed and make it hard again. I had no clearance issues with the BB, and actually would prefer it to be 1/2 an inch lower, but this will be more then fine. Cornering it tracked perfectly and the suspension remained smooth and plush keeping the bike tracking with no problems. It would corner better with a lower BB, and I think it'd do fine with a lower BB even in the rock gardens, but I like this enough to not consider it a comprimise.
It definitely has a speed that it doesn't like to go below, and despite the angles, it just does not feel totally awesome at slow speeds - not just sluggish, but the suspension isn't very active and doesn't track super well. This isn't really that much of a problem, because I consider a run wasted if my eyes aren't watering when I get to the bottom (I don't wear glasses or goggles), and once you hit that critical speed the bike just opens up and flies. At speed the bike is very stable, I haven't managed to get it going fast enough that it ever began to feel unstable at speeds, despite spinning out at 36-11. It doesn't feel like it looses any speed through rock gardens, and as long as you have the balls to hit em fast then the bike will take care of you. If you try and go slow through them the bike gets kinda angry and is really hard to keep moving.
Jumping:
Yes, this bike does that well too. Probably the most natural full suspension jumper i've ever ridden, easy to throw around, I can bunnyhop almost as high as I could on my old hardtail, and I have no problems boosting with it. It bottoms out rather harshly when you case a high speed distance jump, but I haven't ridden a bike that doesn't. It'll also save your ass when you fyck up, such as overshooting the landing and landing flat 9 or 10 feet below the lip - the only response i've gotten from that type of landing so far is: "and?" The way I like my suspension its not quite stiff enough to be a true jumper, but I don't imagine it'd be hard to set it up as one.
All and all, I give this bike an A (as a freeride rig). It has a few to many small problems to warrant an A+, but I can't imagine anybody being bummed about the ride, its definitely one of the most fun bikes i've ever ridden. Sadly, I have no riding shots as of now, only bike pics, but, hopefully I can remedy that while I'm in SB. If anybody wants to come take pictures of me in Santa Barbara while i'm here for vacation, I'd be stoked and willing to take pics for you. Also, if anybody wants a test ride I'm down, my only requirements are that you find a bike for me so I can bomb down the hill with you, and that I get a ride if we decide to shuttle. And the obvious, "you break it you buy it" but I can't imagine that'd be a problem with this bike. PM me if you're interested in riding it, and feel free to ask questions.
cable routing:
