Below are the changes I have been doing to my Reign.
The changes that I have done (and still doing) hopefully
makes my Reign easier to handle.
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| L-R : Thomson Elite Setback 30.9mm cut to 375 mm length stock Anthem Giant setback seatpost 30.9mm 375mm length Giant Switch R 30.9 mm 375mm length |
SeatPost
I have to be honest. One of the things that made me buy
the Reign 1 is the dropper seatpost. However, I have brought
my Reign to several trails around Singapore and the thing is
I seldom use the dropper seatpost. In fact, I couldn't get
used to the notion that before any steep downhill section,
I have to press the remote and bump my saddle down
with my butt... not to mention the things that I read on
the net about dropper posts failing at the most ill
opportune times. This has even led me to bring a separate
seatpost in my bag. Do you know anyone who has
a spare seatpost in his bag?
Anyway, above are my 3 choices for the seatpost.
Although the Thomson is the lighter choice,
I chose to go with the Giant seatpost that came
with my Anthem. I find the setback style of
Thomson ugly hehehe.
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| Fulcrum Red Metal 10 with Ashima 160mm Airotor (claimed weight 85g) |
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| Width of the Fulcrum Red Metal 10 is 19mm |
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| Stock Giant wheelset comprised of DT Swiss E540 rims + Shimano M525 hubs ... not sure what the spokes are. The brake rotor is by Avid. |
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| The stock wheelset is 22mm in width |
Wheelset
This is a very important component. It is always
wise to save weight on anything that spins.
The easier and more expensive way is just to order
a set of ZTR Flows + Hope hubs + DT Swiss spokes.
But having just paid for a whole bike, I don't have
the money for a new set of wheels ... maybe for
my birthday ?! Ahem ahem.
I have 1 set of Fulcrum Metal 10s lying around with
a pair of Ashima Airotors. Looking at the stock wheelset
and my spare wheelset, I thought that the Fulcrums will
be a lot lighter. However, the weight difference is just
a 100grams plus! I then measured the inner width of the
rims and found that the Fulcrums are 19mm and the
stock wheelsets are 22mm ... hmmm I think for this
one, any weight savings will be offset by the effects
of a skinnier rim ... and so in this case I decided to
go with the heavier wheel BUT I changed the
Avid 160mm rotor to Ashima Airotors.
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| Stock Avid 180mm front rotor |
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| XT 180mm front rotor |
Brake Rotors
One day, while loitering around Hup Leong, I saw
these 180mm XT disk brake rotors on offer for 50%
off. I can't remember the exact price but I paid just
20$ odd (23$? 26$? around there).
When I got home, I immediately weighed them. I also
took off the stock Avid 180mm rotors to see their weight.
As you can see, the Avids are lighter ... but since (1) I already
took them off, (2) the XTs are nicer, and (3) it would be a
shame if I don't use them, I attached the XT rotor to my
front wheel. Did I notice any difference in braking? Let's
call a spade a spade ok? No difference!
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| Don't do this. I can't find a post to post 180mm adaptor for the rear brakes so I tried this. |
This is the change that made a lot of difference!
Since, I now have a 180mm Avid lying around, I decided
to use it on the rear. I searched high and low for an
adaptor for Avid Elixir brakes that will make me
mount a 180mm rotor on the rear of a post mount
frame. I can't find any. I then took some very long
screws and added spacers to it until the brake calipers
clear the rotors. Success! I went to BT and Rooty
Trail, verryy nice (<== said like Borat).
On the way home, I went to Tay Cyles at Bukit Timah
and had a chat with one of the mechanics there. I was
willing to pay Tay Cycle BT price (which is very high)
as long as they can give me a post to post mount for
180mm rear brakes. They don't have any. The mechanic
also told me that it is not a good idea to do what I just did.
He said, yes it will work, then slowly, the screw holes
will loosen and then it will be bye bye screw holes
... and since the screw holes are post mount ... then
bye bye frame.
After that, I quickly went home while consciously using
just the front brakes (hehehe) and after I rested, I quickly
dismantled my 180mm modification. Now I'm back to
using a 160mm Ashima Airotor at the back :(
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| Left is 11-36 10spd SLX cassette, Right is 11-36 10spd XT cassette |
The pic above is just for info. I didn't change my cassette
to XT... which is just as well since the scales say it is just
around 30grams lighter than the SLX cassette that I have.
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| A low mount FD should be the solution for the chain rub issue that I was facing. BUT, take a look at the areas pointed to by the arrows. I think the suspension will hit them when it compresses ... |
Just a little bit of a backgound, the Reign 1 2012 came
with a triple ring SLX crankset. The rings are 40T-32T-24T.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I noticed that I very seldom
use the 40T on the trails since the Reign is heavier than my
usual XC bikes. I took out the 40T and substituted it with
a bash guard. After that, my biggest chainring became 32T.
I cycle to whichever trail I go. If I am alone, I can
take my own sweet time. But when I am with the 'peloton',
it is very difficult to keep up with just 32T as the biggest
chainring. ALSO! If you notice, the smallest chainring
is now 24T. Last time, I used 22T. So now, I have
a lower than usual gear for the road AND a higher than
usual gear for the trails ?! What do I do?
Good thing I have this 2 chainring SLX lying around :)
and so, I took out the new SLX and in went the old
2 chainring SLX in it's place. For those of you who
are wondering, yes, the old SLX is for a 9 speed drivetrain
BUT it will work with a 10 speed front shifter AND
it will also work with a 10speed chain.
The problem now is that when I shift to 22T, the
chain rubs on the lower part of the FD cage.
This is what I was trying to solve with the photo above.
I tried to use a low mount, 9 speed XT FD on the Reign.
but as you can see, although, it is ok to mount, it seems
that there will be problems when the suspension is
compressed. See photo above.
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| Top left : I had to mount the FD at the lowest point possible Top right : Now when I shift here ... Bottom : ... the chain does not rub any more |
In the end, I went back to the original FD. I mounted
it to the lowest possible point and after a few magic
incantations the chain now clears the FD cage when
I'm using the 22T chain ring (see arrow in photo above).
However, note that if you cross chain, say, use 22T in
front with 11T at the back, then for sure you will have
chain rub issues.
... and last but not the least,
we debunk Giant's OverDrive2 standard.
Background again, please read this article from BikeRadar.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, Giant seemed to have this
burning desire to be different thus creating a new standard
called Overdrive2 which means the upper part of the steerer
is supposed to be 1 and 1/4 inches while the bottom part
remains as 1 and a half inches. I even bemoaned the fact
that since the steerer is now bigger, the rest of the stems
that I have will no longer work.
Then this morning, Deck popped me in WhatsApp
saying : hey, our fork steerer can accept the normal
sized stems. This text was followed by a picture showing
his fork's steerer being 'pinched' by his digital calipers.
I said he must be dreaming. Wait a while and I will show
him the error of his ways.
I took out the top cap of my fork followed by the
OverDrive2 spacers. I then took a normal sized carbon
spacer and tried to push it onto the steerer of my Reign
fork expecting that the steerer will not go thru the spacer.
But it went thru !!! Huh?!?!
See the pictures below. It seems that the only thing
that is sized 1 and a quarter inches here are the spacers.
The steerer is normal sized!
I immediately ditched the Giant 70mm stem and
replaced it with a Spank Oozy 50mm stem :)
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| Top spacer is stock Reign. See gap pointed to by the arrow. Bottom spacer is normal spacer. Note that steerer is supposed to be 1 inch AND a quarter. |
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| Left is a pic of a normal spacer. Note absence of gap. Right is spacer from Reign 2012. Note presence of gap. |
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