The frame is what can be termed a "carbon blank", a generic carbon frame with pedalforce's logo on it. The frame however does have two of the latest "upgrades" on it, BB30 and a ISP (Intergrated Seat Post). I upspec the package by purchasing a fork from edge composites to ensure fantastic handling.
When the frame arrived I was surprised to find it weighted in under 950gms and the finish was immaculate with no blemishes in the clearcoat.
Assembly was straight forward, but I did have to purchase a tool for pressing the bearings into the frame.
Having ridden it for over a month now and the rides is as good as the cannondale that it replaced. It doesn't have any quirks in the handling and with the BB30 is definitely more responsive to accelerations.
The other trend I have jumped on is the purchase of a 29er hardtail. After doing alot of research regrading a new hardtail through the early part of this year, I finally committed to a Giant 29er. I won't go into to much detail as the benefits and downsides are easily found on the internet. What really pushed me towards a 29er was the ability to not get bogged down through the smaller rough stuff and added cushioning from the wheels.
I have to say at this point I think I have made the right decision. The bike handles more like a roadbike with the larger wheelsize. For a lot of pure mtbers this is seen as a disadvantage rather than advantage, but for me having spent so much time it is second nature. First rideout I found that I was steering the bike through corners alot quicker than the old hardtail, there seemed to be a larger amount of grip despite the soggy conditions. Also the bike felt more stable at speed. I put this down to the larger wheels and 15mm through axle upfront. I also think the enlarged headtube contributes towards the stability as well.
The interesting thing about the bike as well is the riding position. Because of the larger wheels a rider is place more upright and I found it leads to a sense of being "in the bike" instead on on top of it like a normal mtb.
So for every positive there must be some negatives, and in this case its the weight. Stock from the shop the bike weighted in at 11.9kg....definitely porky. So the day after I got it home the garage looked like a scene from Monster garage as I tore my old hardtail down and swapped bits over. I also converted the stock wheels to tubeless. All up I saved about 1kg in weight.
The biggest contributor to the excess weight are the stock wheels. These come in a something like 2.4kgs. So I have ordered up a new pair which should be here next week. At a guess this will get the bike closer to the 10kg mark.
The other item I bought was a smaller diameter titanium seatpost to added to the cushioning of the ride...also should be here next week.
For a more detailed review of the Giant XTC 29er head over to Kev's Blog as he recently purchase one too and has a full write up there
New Ride
