[arkinsphoto]

got a 2006 fsr xc. bit heavy as i hate climbing to get to the good stuff. Want to change the J3 fork for something a little lighter. What about Fox forks. I only got about $500 to spend so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I also heard changing the wheelset can lighten the overall bike!

 

[245044]

You'll notice the lighter weight wheelset more than the fork. Unless of course you just hate the fork.
I had some similar issues with my 06 Stumpy FSR. Here's what I did. New cassette, lighter tires, and rear hub. My bike came with a Shimano 525 Disc hub and it didn't roll very well, well more like crap. So I repacked the bearings which seemed to help alot.

The Fox Fork is sweet regardless of which one it is, but if you want to lighten your bike, your money will be put to better use in the wheels. Good luck.

 

[arkinsphoto]

cheers for the advice. but im getting an awful amount of slagging about the J3 fork. i know most of my money was spent on the frame, and therefore lost out on good stock components. i think the fork will stay on for now and change the wheelset. Is mavic rims the way to go. The adrenaline tires on the bike are OK, just! Is it worth investing in an over-size handlebar. Was looking at a race face xc riser today but realised that the FSR XC stock stem wont allow that so will have to get a stem as well!!!!! any advice?

 

[SPDu4ea]

cassette, wheels, and fork will be your best bet as far as useful weight reduction per $. The seat, pedals, and handlebar are also decent places to upgrade, but you'll spend more for the same weight lost

 

[245044]

cheers for the advice. but im getting an awful amount of slagging about the J3 fork. i know most of my money was spent on the frame, and therefore lost out on good stock components. i think the fork will stay on for now and change the wheelset. Is mavic rims the way to go. The adrenaline tires on the bike are OK, just! Is it worth investing in an over-size handlebar. Was looking at a race face xc riser today but realised that the FSR XC stock stem wont allow that so will have to get a stem as well!!!!! any advice?

I really don't know anything about that fork other than it comes on that bike. Personally I'd ride it until it gets too much play and replace it then. You can't go wrong with mavic rims. I think there are online retailers who have mavic 717/XT hubs for $180. They say the strength of the OS bar is greater than the 1 inch version. DO you really need an OS bar on a XC bike????? I've been riding mtn. bikes since the late 80's and have never bent or broken a handlebar. Having that extra strength may be important to some of these riders who really thrash their bikes.

 

[arkinsphoto]

cool, the fork stays on until it's trashed!!. What tire would you recommend for a lot of rocky, muddy fire roads, forest trails, rock gardens and wet slimey roots (i bike in ireland). The adrenalins on the FSR XC just seem real unsure over most stuff i go over. And in terms of cassette, what do you recommend? Dont have a bundle of cash, but would rather buy something decent as it's a worthwhile investment. Last Question!! If my rear derailier-crankset-etc, goes, can i upgrade to xt/xtr individually, or should the whole lot be upgraded in one go? is xt/xtr the way to go?

 

[245044]

Tires are like shoes, everbody has their own opinion. I thought the stock Adrenelins were pretty good myself.

For the money you can't beat an XT cassette. Crankset can be swapped out without problems. Derailleurs and shifters differ somewhat as to their normal position. They need to match the shifters you have, or are getting. LBS or online retailer can help if the time comes.

Good luck.

 

[SPDu4ea]

In general, you can mix & match XT and XTR components. If you plan on upgrading the cassette and crankset, I'd recommend doing them together (along with the chain). If your bike is fairly new you can get away with just upgrading the cassette.

The XTR cassette is probably the lightest, but its cost prohibitive for most people. XT or SRAM 990 are popular choices, running ~$60-$90 new (ebay-lbs).


As far as tires go, I've found whats good in one region is crappy in another. I'd recommend checking out your local bike shops and seeing what works. You can also try making air pressure adjustments (especially if you like to run max psi)

 

[xrated]

It seems to me you'd have to do a lot of upgrading to lighten the bike up enough to notice the weight reduction for climbing. A Fox fork would be a significant weight savings but will take care of most of that $500. I've got a J4 shock and its a heavy one.

I've got an 05 FSR XC Comp and love the bike. I've upgraded it quite a bit and haven't noticed that much of a weight difference. Heck, its a mountain bike. It sure handles a lot nicer though.

Most of the upgrades:

Selle Italia Prolink seat
Easton Monkey Lite carbon bar.
Rock Shox J4 fork with pop-lock
Shimano LX trigger shifters
Shimano LX front derailur
Shimano XTR rear derailur
Avid Juicy 7 disc brakes
Panaracer FireXCPro Tires converted with Stans tubless
Welgo 717 peddals
Sram PC69 chain

Fortunately most of the upgrades were hand-me-downs from other friends bikes for cheap or free in some cases. The fork is actually a fair amount heavier than the one that came on the bike. So all the weight saving components I've put on were somewhat negated with the Fork.

Here's a picture of it. Enjoy your new FSR XC.

 

[gubawatts]

Maybe a little late posting here, but my $.02 worth on tires; My '05 FSR-XC had Specialized 2.0 Adrenalines with wire bead. Very heavy tires due to the wire bead and the huge casing... they're more like 2.3"+. Traction was OK after I played with the pressure, but they were still heavy. I got a deal on some Bontrager XR's through the LBS that sponsors our cycling team, they are much lighter and have much better traction. I would vote for any folding tire that suits your local trail conditions.

My bike came with Alex DH20 rims with a Specialized Stout disc front hub, and a Shimano Deore disc rear hub. These things are boat anchors. I threw on a pair of cheap wheels with WTB dual duty rims and no-name non-disc hubs that I picked up at a bike swap. Not sure how much weight that shed, but I did the weight comparisons with a home-made beam balance and the difference in both the tires and wheels was big.

The rear cassette is my next target, when I put it on the other wheel it seemed awful heavy to me. The fork on my bike is a Manitou Axel Comp, pretty heavy I'm sure, but I haven't decided what to replace it with yet.

 

[fsrxc]

Maybe a little late posting here, but my $.02 worth on tires; My '05 FSR-XC had Specialized 2.0 Adrenalines with wire bead. Very heavy tires due to the wire bead and the huge casing... they're more like 2.3"+. Traction was OK after I played with the pressure, but they were still heavy. I got a deal on some Bontrager XR's through the LBS that sponsors our cycling team, they are much lighter and have much better traction. I would vote for any folding tire that suits your local trail conditions.

My bike came with Alex DH20 rims with a Specialized Stout disc front hub, and a Shimano Deore disc rear hub. These things are boat anchors. I threw on a pair of cheap wheels with WTB dual duty rims and no-name non-disc hubs that I picked up at a bike swap. Not sure how much weight that shed, but I did the weight comparisons with a home-made beam balance and the difference in both the tires and wheels was big.

The rear cassette is my next target, when I put it on the other wheel it seemed awful heavy to me. The fork on my bike is a Manitou Axel Comp, pretty heavy I'm sure, but I haven't decided what to replace it with yet.

Yeah, I wanted to a 34 cog anyway, so upgraded to an XTR cassette, which is very light and I hear the Ti cogs last longer than steel, so I can almost justify the extra cost. XT is still fairly light (270g?) and not expensive. SRAM 990 cassettes might be an option, but I don't like the big jump they have from 28-34 teeth. Shimano has a better spacing of the low gears for me.