Dig the lid, now, adjust them straps and he's good to go bud!
I really like the smile on that one's face. Pretty much says it all!
*
(note- random duct tape is roost protection from small flying rock etc...)
'08 Giant XTC Alliance- version 2.0:
Finished my build Friday night, rode it 2 hours Saturday and 2 hours Sunday.
Mods:
Installed Surly 1x1 100mm CroMo suspension corrected fork. A2C: 453mm
Upgraded to Sram PG 990 cassette, HG73 chain I had handy, new RaceFace Race rings (all not in pic, installed after photo). Freshened things up some and lost some weight. Old stuff has been/was SOLID and still performing spot-on even with a ton of wear. The group it came with was kinda heavy but, I never once in over 3 years of abusing it had an issue and it's just now starting to show wear but it still functions perfectly. It was a "good" heavy.
Upgraded to EC70 XC low rise bar. Not really an upgrade over the EC70 flat-bar per se, but rather a comfort thing. Super nice bar though. Easton's nano-tech is bombproof now and I trust it completely. I've broken some bars, carbon, alluminum due to crashing and houring-out, but Easton's are the best- period. Their lastest breed has been wonderful. Zero failures when I replace them on a regular basis if I ride a lot on a rigid set up.
Home-made tubeless tires: I finally installed my tubeless presta valves on my Cross-Max wheels I got with the bike. Then, mounted the tire, pulled the core, shot air in from compressor to seat bead, let it out, add a little Stan's No-tube's, re-install core, pump by hand and swish till it seals the side walls....voila! Instant home-made tubeless tires. No more thorn or pinch flats, what a great ride, and saved a ton of weight. Neat mod. Works a treat!
That's about it!
Went in the garage weighing 25#, came out 22.5# as pic'd, with, a lot more room for dieting to go!
I do not miss the front suspension or wandering front wheel the 100mm MX Pro LO fork gave it. That fork was awesome smooth and plush, esp in fast rough stuff but after several hours of lugging it around it gets a little old and when locked-out for climbing it really goofs up the geometry of a super fine carbon-alloy frame. Pretty simple- it was a missmatch. Before this 100mm trend began the 80mm was perfect for XC hardtail's.
Hanging a long-travel fork on same really goof's up the handling as there is no rear suspension to compensate for the extreme arc the head tube goes through.
Lowering the front about an inch and a half "extends" the top tube, makes it effectively longer- that with the new bar makes for a more open cockpit, puts the chainstays/seat tube at the correct angle so it kills the wander caused by a tall bottom-bracket and hyper-sloped top tube, etc., et al. I could gush all day about this but the bottom line is I got lucky and nailed the first time with this fork- there was a few to choose from in various axle-to-crown lentghs, and it's a crap-shoot doing these mods for a simpleton like me because I aint no math major. But, suffice to say I got lucky and she's totally in the sweet-spot goemetry-wise and it handles like my custom Curtlo. I could race this thing XC for 2 hours or do a Marathon 24hr run on it.
This bike is GOOD.
The home-made tubeless tires thingy was a giant boon, the ride quality is off the chart. And, no more flats! I still carry a tube in case I shred a hoop.
And, since I'm using non-UST tires I saved a TON of rotating weight. I'm using the Panaracer Fire-Pro XC 2.1 up front and the Mach SK (good luck finding any of these this is my LAST one of a lot of 50) 1.95 on the back. I can now run a little more aggressive tire w/o a giant weight penalty's as the hoops turn over so much faster w/o tubes. I've run this set up for as long as I can recall and it's a shame I can't get the 1.95 SK anymore and I'm gonna make some calls. But at least I got plenty of 2.1's so and for a play/training tire they are flat amazing in all terrrain. They are like Motoz for your mountain bike!
I'm very pleased with the results and the proof of concept the first time out. This was a lot of radical changes but, they flat worked in harmony.
Thanks for reading gang, and MANY thank's to my sponsors for their support and input/answered questions:
Outer Cirle Racing (thanks Joey, w/o yer love I'd be lost)
Bikeman
Blue Sky Cycling
Giant
Cane Creek (for scoring me a crown race in record time!!!)
Crank Bros.
Easton
Mavic
Panaracer
Raceface
Smith's Cycle (for all kinds of stuff and an instant crown race install when I showed up un-announced, thanks Ronnie!)
White Industries
Thank you all for keeping this old hammer-head stoked and on the trail!
