[tald]

Hi folks,

I am riding a 5-spot, with a Vanilla R fork, LX cranks modified to 22/36 with a blackspire bashring, juicy 7 brakes, XT/XTR drivertrain and CaneCreek Zonos wheelset.
Lately, I have been modifying the 5spot to a lighter build, and using it for endurance riding & training as well as singletrack fun. The basic ideas is to get it down a little more, and continue to make it as much fun going up as it is going down, without hurting its technical capabilities too much. It is currently at 28lbs. Typical rides include 5 hour strong aerobic outings with ~3000ft climbing per ride, and lots of singletrack.

Lately, I have a bad case of Ugi, for one of the following upgrades, but am afraid of doing more harm than good to my ride:

- 2007 XTR cranks - beautiful, light, great reviews so far.
But... I am afraid of wasting it quickly on technical terrain (used to my bashgaurd), and have gotten very comfortable to the 22/36 size of my current crank...

- Marta SL brakes, 180mm front and 160mm back. The idea is to lose half lbs, and get rid of the squilling and shuddering of my Avids.
But... I am a little afraid of reduced stopping power as compared to the Juicy 7. (not that I do extremely long downhills...)

- A "better" fork, such as the 2007 float-X, instead of my Vanilla. The idea here is to have something more efficient than the Vanilla.
But... I absolutely love the overall ride of the Vanilla, and am worried about raising the front end due to the Float-X anti-bob mechanism.

I searched each of these items extensively, but can't make up my mind.

Anyone want to share his thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[Dusty Bottoms]

This is easy....cranks.

Your brakes are fine, and so is your fork. You can mess around with an air fork but you'll end up disappointed by the maintenance. Your Vanilla is a great low-mai choice that feels great.

 

[DLine]

Dusty's right - don't change the fork - especially to a Float from a Vanilla. Brakes might be a good choice, but a crank/bb combo would be better. You could get a light bashguard too.

But wheels is the best place to look. If your rims and hubs are as light as you can stand to get them, look at lighter tires - amazing how much tires can make a bike ride heavy or light, regardless of actual weight. How heavy is your saddle?

I was in the same boat last year - did some endurance riding and tried to lighten things up. Had the Spot to near 27lbs., which was fine for racing, but everything light started to break after that (rims and tires especially). So it's gotten heavier since - round 29 now - and it's better overall. You can spend money to lighten a bike and end up putting it to waste if parts won't hold up to the abuse the frame is capable of handling (and we all know how much the Spot is capable of).

For future races, I'll probably ride my light hardtail and save the Spot for trail riding. A shorter-travel lighter bike might be in the cards if it's something you continue to pursue.

 

[Random Drivel]

Agree, wheels. More bang for your buck. XTR looks purty but pricey right now.

 

[tald]

Thanks for the input. Actually I already took care of the wheels in previous Ugis. The Cane Creek Zonos SS wheelset is a nice 1800gr disc wheelset. Tires are Nevegal 2.1 stick-e front for good traction as safety, combined with a CrossMax 2.1 in the rear for speed. Stans in both. Overall, this is as light as I am willing to go for the wheels, without hurting my ability to enjoy technical terrain.

 

[tald]

Deal's done. A new 2007 XTR crank is sitting on my spotty. 300gr less than the bottom bracket and crank it replaced. Thanks for the advice! Pictures soon.