The Biking Hub: Mountain

21 March » Projects » Cory

Rebuilding the xc bike, an introduction

My cross country bike is a 2003 Giant Rainier. Some of the spec is still stock and some of the stuff is not. It’s been serviceable, but I’m interested in changing it up a bit to reflect the style of riding I’m into while make it a little, less like a stock $1000 bike that’s four years old.

What am I looking for? Over the next year or so, I’m looking to build it up into a hardtail trail bike that’s suitable for a heavy dose of xc. That means I’m interested in a 25ish pound hardtail that’s fun and comfortable to ride, rolls well, and can handle the type of riding I really enjoy. I ride on rooty, technical terrain that features short and steep climbs and fall-line descents.

Budget. Budget isn’t a huge concern, but I’m not interested in a Rohloff hub or some other exotic part that I can’t replace on the spot at my local shop — that’ll definitely play into my final decisions. It won’t be a Bombproof Blue Collar build but I don’t can or will to drop coin on custom ti cassettes or $400 bar/stem combos.

The starting point

Here’s what I’ve got:

• 2003 Giant Rainier frame
• 2003 Marzocchi EXR fork, 80mm
• Shimano Deore crankset
• Shimano 9 speed cassette, 11-34 // Shimano chain
• Race Face Deus XC bars, 25.4mm
• Thomson 110mm stem, 25.4mm
• Hayes El Camino brakes, 160mm rotors
• SRAM X.0 twist shifters
• SRAM X.0 rear derailleur, medium cage
• Panaracer Fire XC Pro tires, 2.1″
• Deore hubs laced to some Alex rims
• Crank Bros. Eggbeater pedals
• Stock post and saddle

Obviously, there are some things in the list that aren’t stock and that I’ll likely be keeping for the final build. But to start, I don’t really want to spend the cash on the frame, fork, or wheels just yet, but I don’t really care where I start. Brakes? Tires? Drivetrain?

I’m in no hurry to get this thing going, but I’ll start moving on it in the next week or so. I’m also pretty open to letting the build evolve as the season changes, so if parts (like tires) are good for wet but not dry, I can switch things up as necessary.

The weather around my place is pretty crappy right now, so a lot of my bike time is spent commuting or on flat gravel roads, so I need something

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4 April » How tos, Projects » Ashwin

A do-it-yourself tool for measuring saddle setback

When it comes to setting up a new bike, one of the most important steps is setting where the saddle is located on the rails (also known as the ’saddle setback’). If you have no idea about how to find your own saddle setback, one of my previous articles for The Biking Hub discussed some of the the theories related to saddle placement and provided a couple of ways for you to go about finding it.

Once you’ve figured out your ideal saddle placement, remember to document that position and be sure to have a good way to recreate it, either on another bike or on your current ride. If you’re switching frames, make sure you understand that not all bikes have the exact same angles and you’ll need to have some way to compare the geometries of each frame with the other. Of course, after you understand that different frame geometry will mess with your saddle setback, you’ll understand that you can’t use the same position on the saddle rails between the two bikes.

This writeup is meant to give you a fighting chance of recreating your ideal saddle setback on any bike. After the jump, I offer a couple of tips that can make the process more trouble free, as well as showing you how to make a custom setback tool that makes positioning your saddle a breeze. Read the rest of this entry »

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