hardcore11 profile

Race Face has long been my go-to brand.. Cranks, stems, bars… No matter what bike i've been aboard over the last 12 years of riding, Race Face has always had something to do with it.

I wish them the best, and hopefully a smooth transition into what will be the future.

Any of plate #53??

Great shots guys.

Any shots of plate #20 ?

It was a fun race Nate… I would love to see the results posted somewhere though…

Ahh, I cant find any, which class were you in?
and anyone else have pictures?
results?

I was racing Elite men… Riding a Giant Glory, wearing a big Giant jersey….

Sick shots Cam… Any shots of plate #2??

Great article Stu… Very informative and it answered alot of the questions I was just thinking about, while reading it.
Quick question though, do you think the Trance X frame only could be ridden as a light duty FR / 4x bike?? Or is the weight drop an actual reality now?

MITCH

I've ran the Easton EC70 Monkey Light DH Carbon bars for the last 3 years on different bikes… The are hella light but have some flex compared to an alloy bar.

From my experience I've had to warranty the bars at least once a season because they either crack or buldge if you are riding aggressively. If you do decide to get the Carbon eastons, I would suggest the O.S. version, as they have lasted the longest… Just make sure your shop is willing to warranty stuff if they dont work out.

MITCH

If you are pressed for money… Just ride the bike and enjoy it. A few pounds won[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;t make a huge difference on a bike that is already 44-46 pounds. However if you do want to spend the money and lighten it up, I would suggest starting on the easy stuff… Cranks, Bar, Stem, and Shortening the Seatpost [HTML_REMOVED] Steer tube… If you want to invest extra money: Ti coil spring, Rd. Cassette, lighter brakeset, and a Tubeless wheelset.

As for the Race-only tires… You could run either Minions or Highrollers - Both work just fine for just about any condition. Personally I run minion front tires on both ends of my bike, and it seems to work perfectly.

Also someone mentioned swapping the fork out to a Boxxer WC… that's an OK idea which does require some extra cash, however after riding that fork for all last summer, I wouldn't recommend it if you are using it frequently, without servicing it. Throughout the summer I would need to rebuild mine at least every two weeks, if I didn't I would be losing tons of performance, and at the extremes, it would only work at around 2" of travel…. I'm not against the boxxer at all, I'm just letting you know that it will need more service compared to a coil sprung option.

Also I would recommend going with a coil spring on the Glory before you hit up an air shock[HTML_REMOVED]#8230; Air shocks can feel fabulous set up correctly on trail bikes and slopestyle bikes, but on a full on DH bike that will be Fr[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;d during the week, I would stick with a coil shock. You will find that setting up the sag is difficult because the air shock feels quite linear on the Glory compared to a coil. So you almost need to run a ton of pro pedal to have it set up how it should feel, than you are sacrificing a lot of small bump performance, yet you are still tapping the final couple mm of travel. It just didn[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;t feel right to me[HTML_REMOVED]#8230; If you need to lose some weight on the shock, stick with a Ti coil spring and save yourself the headache of dealing with the air shock[HTML_REMOVED]#8230;. I don[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;t know if it[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;s the Glory[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;s design, but the air shock just didn[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;t feel as dialed in as the coil. I ride a DHX air on my Reign X and it feels awesome, so I[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;m not just hating on air shocks here!

Have fun on the Glory man…They are a blast!

MITCH

Well I got one of my bikes for the season… Thought I would share it with you guys…feel free to comment.

A big thanks to Cylclepath South for helping me out, and Giant Bicycles for the support!

Specs:

-2007 Giant Reign XO 16