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It's only going to get lighter...

V-Dub

V-Dub

Chimp
Aug 31, 2004
62
0
Salt Lake City, Utah
Posting this rig for our good friend Eric. Just finished the build last night.



Thought this bike deserved it's own thread. Hopefully Eric will post some ride review on here after he gets some laps on it this weekend....



And this last one, if you can't see, the scale does indeed say 36 lbs 5 oz.

 
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ekripper

Chimp
Jul 2, 2005
75
0
Salt Lake City, Utah
Thanks for posting the pics VW. I posted a few last night but my camera skills are poo! Group of us are loading up now and heading to Sundance for some laps so I'll post my thoughts this evening. One thing I found already...as someone mentioned in a thread elsewhere the turning radius with the Boxxers is not that great due to the wide front end and narrow Boxxer crowns. I rotated the bumpers so the large part hits the frame on it's side and there's plenty of clearance and the turning range is equal to that of my other bikes. So, that problem is easily solved and a non issue. Now, we'll see how the geo feels compared to my lower slacker rides...
 
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ekripper

Chimp
Jul 2, 2005
75
0
Salt Lake City, Utah
Slater said:
Very light but that head angle is laughable.
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It is laughable...in I laughed all the way down the mountain. Head angle isn't a big deal here. More on that later though. So, I'm 6' 1", 175lbs on a medium frame just for reference. I ran the RC4 with Hi and Lo speed compression wide open, 400lb spring and rebound in about the middle. This results in about 33-35% sag for me. The WC I ran 60psi, 3 clicks of hi speed, 5 clicks of low speed and the rebound I'm not sure where but it felt good. Bottom out knob around 1 turn in.

Ok, here it goes. The wheel base feels shorter than my 951, and 303r and the chain stays feel short. This of course gives the bike a very nimble feel coupled with the fairly light weight. The bb height is the most notable difference for me and especially coming from my 951. If it was a 1/2" lower or so it would be perfect. The head angle didn't really bother me at all. It definitley feels steeper than the 951 but not alot different from the 303r. The top section we rode today is a high speed fire road with lots of loose rocks and gravel. Very sketchy section but I didn't feel uncomfortable letting the bike bomb through it. Not as confidence inspiring as my Intense through this stuff but nothing too bothersome either. The middle section of the course is somewhat steep and technical and the bike really felt great in these areas as would be expected. I was concerned about how it would corner with the high bb but to my surprise it corned very well and the rear end was very predictable and I felt comfortable just letting the rear end slide around when necessary and it absorbed hits with aplomb. It really feels very, very similar to my 303r in how it rides. It's a quick, nimble, fun bike that makes the tight stuff fun and it's stable enough to get you through the high speed stuff without to much fear. This is my first Giant and I have to say I love the way the Meastro suspension feels! I think I like it a little better than the VPP 2. It pedals extremely well even for as soft as I had the bike set up and it excellerates exceptionally well out of corners. It behaves very well under braking and stays very active, even when on the brakes entering high speed sections with braking bumps. I was running the short sunline stem, as that's what I had laying around, but I feel it would be better with the longer one. A little more room in the cockpit and a bit more weight over the front. It jumps very well too. The bike just generally feels very solid and doesn't seem to have any funny quirks. The rear on this thing feels very stiff. Overall I really like the bike and am going to keep it over my Yeti. It won't replace my 951 but it's a very fun bike with a totally different ride that's worth keeping in the stable. I feel faster on my Intense but I also have more time on it and sometimes even though you feel faster it doesn't mean you are. Need some timing equipment for that chit. :thumb: If you're in the market for a fun bike or a race rig don't be frightened off by the numbers. This bike will be plenty fast for most of us and the HA and BB aren't going to slow you down as many on these forums would have you believe. I would love to have a lower bb and a 64 deg HA on this bike as I might like it as well as my 951. It's fun to ride, it's inexpensive and it's light. If you've been wanting one of these, go get one, it's well worth it. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give a good account of how the bike felt. I'll update more as I get more time on different courses. Peace.
 
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ekripper

Chimp
Jul 2, 2005
75
0
Salt Lake City, Utah
One other little niggle about the frame. I'm pretty tall for a medium but typically like smaller bikes. Because of my lanky frame I tend to have my butt behind the seat and grip the seat with my knees through sections to control the bike a bit. The upper rear linkage is a bit wide on this frame and the inside/back of my knees are quite bruised and sore from banging on that link. Gonna have to find away around that as it really hurts.
 
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Slater

Monkey
Oct 10, 2007
378
0
Quite a thorough review. By laughable I mean there is no reason why a dedicated dh bike wouldn't have a slacker HA. Guess if it fits you that's what counts.
 
Leppah

Leppah

Turbo Monkey
Mar 12, 2008
2,294
3
Utar
That bike is purdy.

I forgot about Sundance. I might have to head out there next weekend to get my last lift assisted riding in before the season is over. And i was thinking all i could ride now was the "B". What's wrong with me?
 
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ekripper

Chimp
Jul 2, 2005
75
0
Salt Lake City, Utah
Slater said:
Quite a thorough review. By laughable I mean there is no reason why a dedicated dh bike wouldn't have a slacker HA. Guess if it fits you that's what counts.
Click to expand...
I hear ya on that and no offense meant by my comment. I would really like it to be 64 myself but I feel the BB height is the bigger issue of the two...at least for me. Solve that one though and the HA issue would be taken care of as well I suppose.
 
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ilfreerider

Monkey
Oct 3, 2003
268
1
israel
thanks for the review man! though after reading it ,it reassures my feeling that giant has real issues in market knowladge and bike design (geo,sizing...) .
if someone wanted a nimble ,poppy bike than they get a faith /sx trail /uzzi ...
we are talking wc dh level bikes here and it doesnt seem like the case with the glory (steep,high,short).funny thing is ,the faith does have adj geo !
if this frame cost mote than 1600$ ,i doubt anyone would have put it in their short list !
 
pelo

pelo

Monkey
Jun 11, 2007
708
0
That´s a nice bike... Looks like a sweet ride.

I know it´s the same geo as the previous glory, but somehow it really looks steep. I have to admit it´s a little off todays "standard", or whatever word is suitable here. Maybe it´s just an illusion becuase of the lines and design. For me it seems like pushing it down on the saddle a little will get it to reach geo sweetspot.
Most people like to ride with a lot of sag, so I guess it will be perfect for them.

Any room for some new shockmount drilling? :)
 
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Highspeed

Chimp
Feb 26, 2003
20
0
nice review ekripper.. also that it was so easy to fix turning radious lol.. you got exact number how high bb is? thanks.
 
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dropmachine

Turbo Monkey
Sep 7, 2001
2,922
10
Your face.
Pretty long shock in there, looks like 9.5x3? Culdn't you swap in a 9x3 and slacken it a bit, and drop the bb for all the Sam Hill wannabes?
 
dhr-racer

dhr-racer

Monkey
Jan 24, 2007
410
0
A, A
Slater said:
Quite a thorough review. By laughable I mean there is no reason why a dedicated dh bike wouldn't have a slacker HA. Guess if it fits you that's what counts.
Click to expand...
well then i would suggest you come ride a tight track here on canada's east coast, where the super slack need not apply. I think giants choice to go with a 65 was made so anyone could take it on any track and be competitive all over the world
 
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ekripper

Chimp
Jul 2, 2005
75
0
Salt Lake City, Utah
JDA said:
Thanks for the review.

Why do you have three DH bikes?
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LOL! I ask myself that every day. To be honest I just love dh bikes and each one is a different animal. Alot of people say to get a trail bike or something along those lines but I just really don't have any interest. To me, if it's not gravity fed riding I'm just not into it. I am going to sell one as I can't afford to build the third one up. I rode the Giant again today and got used to the BB height and I really, really like this bike. It feels like the back end just rotates around tight 180 corners so fast and this bike accelerates so well. It's super fun on the tighter courses here in Utah. I'm going to take it to Deer Valley and do some shuttles on NCS which is as close to a WC course as you can get here. I just want to see how it feels on a fast, rough course. I ended up running 50 psi in the WC and tuning the damping with the Hi/Lo comp. adj. It's much softer that I ran it yesterday but it felt really well balanced and I felt like I could carry more speed. As I mentioned yesterday my riding style tends to be more off the back of the bike so this worked well. Anyway, after todays ride I'm super stoked on this bike. It really does corner very well.
 
JCL

JCL

Monkey
Aug 31, 2008
696
0
yuroshek said:
nothing i think its a solid bike and theres tons of people on these rigs but yet you dont hear people talkin about its HA.

ekripper, awesome write up man!
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Have you measured one ???

They sit at 63.5 with a 40 at mid adjustment. Whereas the Glory looks like it's been ridden into a wall no matter what. I'm gutted because I think the bike looks really good and I'm sure the suspension performance will be too.
 
Leppah

Leppah

Turbo Monkey
Mar 12, 2008
2,294
3
Utar
It's funny how people think that the head angle is going to make the bike not as good as if it were a degree or degree and a half different. I figured if you're a good enough rider, you'll probably get used to whatever it is. Isn't that why we all buy different bikes every couple of seasons? To ride something different and to adjust to it? To have fun on something that you have to learn to ride? Most people on here are pretty good riders. I figure it's mostly about your skill, not your bike. You could put me on a bike with the "perfect" head angle, and i'm still not going to be the fastest guy around.
 
dhr-racer

dhr-racer

Monkey
Jan 24, 2007
410
0
A, A
Dogboy said:
Good luck with that next year on the WC circuit.
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am I on the world cup circuit next year? are you? im guessing not, they designed it for anyone to tear on, not just the WC riders

the V-10 has an advertised head angle of 67 degree's, doesnt seem to slow anyone down (and yes i know sag enters into that one)
 
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dropmachine

Turbo Monkey
Sep 7, 2001
2,922
10
Your face.
Dear DHR Racer,


Thank you. I was worried that everybody on bike forums was completely deluded about thier own skills, but you are completely rational, and sensible. Thank you sir.
 
pelo

pelo

Monkey
Jun 11, 2007
708
0
Geometry is a key component on a DH-bike. You can have crap suspension setup and good geometry and still have an agressive attack on things, but not the other way around. It's all physics when you come down to it.
I think you get to a point when bad geometry slows progression.
 
bdamschen

bdamschen

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
3,377
156
Spreckels, CA
One of my favorite bikes to ride/race is still the socom. It's at 65.5 and felt great even on fast and steep stuff and it felt quick through tight sections. I'd still be riding mine if it hadn't been stolen.

My new 951 is also fun, but I actually kinda miss that quick feeling of a steeper HA.
 
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