REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

New Reign 3 Owner have a couple Questions

2538 Views 26 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Steve71, Jul 17, 2006

cdf619

Discussion Starter · Jul 4, 2006

Bought a new 2005 Reign 3 last week and should be here Wed. Have not bought a new bike in about 10 years and coming from a diamond back apex to this should be a welcome change. I know with the reign 3 it does not have the best components, brakes, front shock, etc. What are the first things I should switch out to see the most improvement on performance. Keep in mind I went with the Reign 3 becuase of my budget so this will play a roll in what I might change.

Second, I ordered the 21" because I am 6'4" with a 35" inseam. Will this size work for me or do I have issues. I rode the 18" and just to small.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

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Pitto

· #2 · Jul 4, 2006

Im roughly the same size as you.

First things i have upgraded are as follows.

1- Shimano to SRAM = better shifting
2- Tyres upgraded to Geax Sturdy's
3- Pedals upgraded to Mallets, Candys would be better though
4- Front Rotor from 6" to 8" - as the Hayes Sole need more power
5- Odi Lockons - Giant stock ones are wearing out already.

Future Upgrades

1- Upgrade brakes to Saint Hydros
2- Upgrade Tora 318 to a Pike 454, Fox36 or Marz AM1

G

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foureyes

· #3 · Jul 4, 2006

deffo the right size choice, i built mine up as a custom and the 454 is a beautiful match for it. went for the fixed travel dual air and it rocks. havent missed the travel adjust a bit.

Pedro

· #4 · Jul 5, 2006

From a XC oriented point of view, I would upgrade...

My upgrades would be to lighten the bike,
# 1 Wheels and Tires
CrossMax XL
If you can you can 1st buy the rear wheel and for the front wheel later get either Cross Max or some other brand that may be as light and not as expensive
#2
Crankset
Race Face Deus
#3
Brakes
Magura Martha
Improve performance and reduce weight
#4
Pedals
Crank Brothers
#5
Saddle
For not much money, can loose much weight
#6
Stem, seatpost, handlebar
Again, I would look for light, strong stuff

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deoreo

· #5 · Jul 5, 2006

Everything about your new Reign will be lightyears better than your old Diamond Back!!

Don't change anything on it yet - get some quality saddle time on it, then if necessary change out contact point stuff (seat, pedals, grips) to your liking, or fit issues such as needing a longer or shorter stem, etc...

As for the rest of the components, ride em, till you break em, then you'll know what you did, and didn't like about it, and then can replace accordingly.

So get it and ride the snot out of it!! The Reign is an awesome bike!!
There'll be plenty of time for bling-bling upgrades later :thumbsup:

cdf619

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 5, 2006

Thanks for all the info everyone. Should get the bike today or tomorrow. Can't wait to ride it. Will probably ride a month or so then start the mods.

SuperNewb

· #7 · Jul 5, 2006

Doesnt the 05 come with a Manitou Splice Elite? If it does you might want to consider upgrading it asap. Read too many horror stories about that fork to stick with it. 06 comes with the Tora 302, upgrading it be good too. Otherwise I would keep using the stock components till I had enough to upgrade them if you feel they need upgrading.

LyNx

· #8 · Jul 5, 2006 (Edited)

Ride it till it dies

Seriously as is that's a stellar bike and the parts are good enough for you to just hop on and ride it. The parts aren't the best by any means, but they are decent parts and will work fine and last a good time.

If in the future you get some spare cash and want to upgrade, the best thing you could do that would make your ride so much nicer would be to look at a new and better fork - it was the best thing I did for my Trance3, the stock DUKE in no way could compare to the REBA SL I got.

After the fork it's just a matter of personal preference, upgrade what breaks/wears out - As Deoreo said

other aardvark

· #9 · Jul 9, 2006 (Edited)

Sounds like you should of bought a Reign One

Dont know if American model comes with a Rockshock Tora or a Manitou Splice fork? If you have a Tora I would keep it until you can afford a really great fork like a Nixon Intrinsic or better yet, a Fox 36. If you have a Splice then get rid of it at point of sale cause they are unreliable and dont ride very well.

Reigns, in my opinion, ride great with a 150 mm travel fork but I think a 140 mm travel Rockshock Pike would be a good compromise if you dont have a lot of cash.

The Hayes Sole brakes are not very powerful so I bought a adaptor so I could run a a 200 mm rotor on the front . This made a big difference to stopping power and all up only cost 50 bucks.

I agree that a wheel set would probably make the most difference cause the cheep OME Shimano back hub is crap. My free hub died on the third ride

The rest of the stuff I would keep until it died cause unless you want spend 1000s on drive train and contact points then you probably wont notice a massive difference.

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Firebrand

· #10 · Jul 9, 2006

Hmmm....I read read and read the posts, threads....and what I see: vany people making a reign like XC bike.Does anyone use thisbike for freeride or here are only XC owners of reign?????

other aardvark

· #11 · Jul 9, 2006

Um... this is the "all mountain" forum isn't it???

Firebrand said:
Hmmm....I read read and read the posts, threads....and what I see: vany people making a reign like XC bike.Does anyone use thisbike for freeride or here are only XC owners of reign?????

Probably to many people try to "free ride" Reigns.

Reigns are a great hard hitting trail bike (ie all mountain rig) but definitely not a free rider. Even if Reigns were strong enough for free riding, the suspension blows through all its travel on 4 foot drops. I dont under stand why people buy Reigns to turn them into freeriders when there is the dedicated Faith range of bikes made just for freeriding!

Having said that, there is a 6.8 inch travel Reign rumored to be coming out next year. The new frame can accommodate piggy-back shocks with bottom out adjustment ect
This sounds like more of a freeride lite kind of bike to me.I wonder what kind of fork they will put on this Reign?

Jwiffle

· #12 · Jul 9, 2006

cdf619-personally I would just ride it as is until things break, then upgrade them. Yeah, some of the parts are the greatest, but they are by no means the worst, either. If you couldn't budget a Reign 2 up front, you won't be able to budget making the Reign 3 equal to it, at least not immediately. You should get at least a year or more out of most of the stock parts on the 3.

OT. I don't know why some think the Reign blows through its travel too easily. I certainly have not found that to be the case. I've done 8 foot to flat without bottoming the suspension. Other aardvark makes a point about the Faith line, but for those of us who, at least initially, could only afford one bike to do XC and FR, the Reign is an excellent rig.

mavrim

· #13 · Jul 10, 2006

The 2005 reign has the cheaper steel headset with ball bearing cage, they do not turn as nice as the ones with aluminum cups and sealed bearings! I bought a 2006 trance 4 mainly for the color and it was available at my LBS. I swapped out the headset from my 2003 NRS and what a difference it made, much smoother turning! I would wait until you killed your stock headset, unless you do your own bike wrenching like I do, then go for it.

I too was curious on the 21" frame size. This friday I should be receiving a 2005 21" reign frame. If the size if ok for cyfer I will build it up with his old parts from the stump jumper that was just torn apart. What is your size/weight for this frame? If you are the same size as my buddy, then it would probably fit him as well.

cdf619

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jul 10, 2006

I am riding a 21". Rides well for me. I am 6'4".

Steve71

· #15 · Jul 10, 2006 (Edited)

Jwiffle said:
OT. I don't know why some think the Reign blows through its travel too easily. I certainly have not found that to be the case. I've done 8 foot to flat without bottoming the suspension. Other aardvark makes a point about the Faith line, but for those of us who, at least initially, could only afford one bike to do XC and FR, the Reign is an excellent rig.

My 05 Reign bottoms on about 3 foot to flat. The linkage is very linear. FWIW the swinger has a shaft length of 2.5" but the stroke is 2". If your o-ring is 0.5" from the bottom of the shaft then you are bottoming the suspension.

Push Industries will modify an RP3 or Float by decreasing the internal air volume and increasing mid stoke compression damping. The bike will then take the big hits better.

other aardvark

· #16 · Jul 12, 2006

Your truth is different to my truth ...

Jwiffle said:
cdf619OT. I don't know why some think the Reign blows through its travel too easily. I certainly have not found that to be the case. I've done 8 foot to flat without bottoming the suspension. Other aardvark makes a point about the Faith line, but for those of us who, at least initially, could only afford one bike to do XC and FR, the Reign is an excellent rig.

I checked the "O"ring on my swinger shock after my last ride and it looked like Im getting 46mm of the possible 50mm of shaft travel. Biggest vertical drop on my last ride was about 3 foot. I weigh about 230 pounds and run suspension sag at 25%. I noticed by looking at the dust on the shock shaft (dont wash my bike enough) that somewhere in the recent past I had bottomed the suspension. This was most likely caused by hitting a rut rather than jumping because I dont do many drops.

Maybe "bottoming" is a heavy rider thing. Perhaps this is due to high speed damping characteristics of the shock. After all, weather you weigh 100 pounds or 200 pounds, the high speed damping of the shock is preset at the factory.

If people have money to throw away on broken frames, why not just buy a Specialized Enduro. These bikes are more suited for jumps and drops.

ps this is only my opinion and possibly may not resemble the truth in any way, shape or form ...

natebyrom

· #17 · Jul 13, 2006

if your reign bottoms at 3-4 foot drops something is wrong... go see your giant dealer

Steve71

· #18 · Jul 13, 2006

natebyrom said:
if your reign bottoms at 3-4 foot drops something is wrong... go see your giant dealer

Nothing is wrong - check your o-ring after 3 - 4 foot to flat (assuming you have 25% sag).

The wall in the pic is about 4 foot tall. Suspension bottoms, but not harshly.

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cdf619

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jul 13, 2006

Went ahead and upgraded the splice shock to an 05 minute 3 with it. Will have the same amount of travel but can adjust it based on riding. Found a killer deal that could not pass up.

Jet-Mech

· #20 · Jul 14, 2006

G'day Steve71

, is that a double crown fork on your Reign

.

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