[frango]

Hi Guys,
my frame has just arrived. It looks really good
However, factory, somehow, managed to build S size frame 150g heavier than Nate's and ekipper's M size frames?! I hope no one left a wrench in downtube...

Anyway, I started building it yesterday.
This is how it's gonna be speced.

FRAME Glory DH S frame, dropout, shock
REAR AXLE new Giant Alu axle
HEADSET new FSA 1,5"-1,125" headset (108g) lite blue
FORK 2010 RS Totem Solo Air 1,5"-1,125" white
SHOCK Fox RC4 v Manitou Evolver ISX 6 Air
HANDLEBAR 31.8 Gravity Carbon 710mm 25mm rise
STEM Pro FSR FR/DH 50mm black
SEAT POST Giant Connect SL CF
SEAT CLAMP Hope seat clamp QR black
SADDLE Tioga MC Lite Ti black
PEDALS Syncros Traverse AM black
SHIFTERS Sram X-9 Trigger
CHAIN DEVICE new e13 LG1+ 40t
REAR MECH Sram X.9 short
BRAKES Avid Elixir CR Carbon
BRAKE LEVER Avid Elixir CR Carbon
CASSETTE Shimano SLX 11-18t
CHAIN KMC X9 SL gold
CRANKS Saint 815 165/83
BOTTOM BRACKET Saint
CHAINWHEEL E13 38t
RIMS Dartmoor Raider 32 black (local, Polish brand)
HUBS Hope Pro II black
SPOKES DT Competition black with black, alu teflon nipples
TYRES Maxxis Minion DHF/R 2.35 2ply
INNERTUBES Maxxis FlyWeight 26"

I am still waiting for brakes, rear mech, shifter (+matchmaker), stem, seatpost tires and tubes.

Set of wheels weighs 2010g. I hope Dartmoor rims will last more than few days in mountains.

Complete bike will be around 15,6kg (34,40lbs) with RC4. I hope I will get Evolver as a second shock. The weight will drop to ca. 15,10kg, then.

Headtube/fork looks a little bit weight. Like it was bent backwards. But, I think it's just a picture. It doesn't look very steep for me, though.

I will post more pics when more parts arrive

PS1. BB height 355mm (13,97") with Larsens, head angle 65*

 

[DH-LOS]

looks killer dude.. nice build

 

[frango]

More info guys... BB height with Larsen tires is 355mm (13,97") and head angle 65*. So, not that bad

 

[Dox]

Is the frame balanced on the seat tube on the scale??

 

[dagmz6s]

how tall are you? Im 5' 8" and I typically ride 22" effective TT's but would like something a bit bigger for my first real DH bike. the medium size is way too much of a step up and I am curious how you ended up on the small.

 

[frango]

I am 5'8" as well.
I have been alway riding Giant bikes in S size. Except my first Glory, which was XS... It was too short. Then, I moved to 2008 Glory (FR). I was good. There is small lenght difference between this bike and my previous ride.
I will measure it, once it's completed.

 

[dagmz6s]

Sounds good. I figure that I won't really miss a half inch that I would get by going with the 303RDH or TR450 but the price difference is pretty significant.

 

[go-ride.com]

how tall are you? Im 5' 8" and I typically ride 22" effective TT's but would like something a bit bigger for my first real DH bike. the medium size is way too much of a step up and I am curious how you ended up on the small.

I'm 5'8" also and the small seems too small to me. I spent a day riding the 2010 Glory at Keystone and the medium fit me very well, and even seemed a bit smaller than my numerous other medium DH frames I've raced over the years.

 

[dagmz6s]

Scott and frango, what inseam do you guys have? I have shorter legs so I have targeted about a 23" tt as being what I think I would be comfortable on going up to. the jump of 21.9" to 23.8" just seems ridiculous.

Scott - I gather you ride a medium 303R?

 

[Maestroforlife]

Just a side note boys. The Small 2010 has roughly the same cockpit length as the 2006-09 medium. As far as I know the XS stayed the same and the medium, as you guys well know got streched out for us 6' tall guys that hoover in no mans land on the old glorys.



My frame will be arriving by the 1st week of Nov. Similar build to Natedog. I want to try to get it down to 32lbs. Just for sh!ts and giggles, then put the real world kit back on. I will be very pleased with a honest 37lbs bike.

 

[frango]

I have just installed rear mech, chain, rotors and shorten this crappy seatpost

Chain has to be shorten, as well. But I have to check max suspension compresion to make it right lenght. I will set e13 properely, then.

The seatpost is 300mm, now. Probably has to be cut another 5cm. Seatpost goes nearly 15cm into the frame, so with min. insert 80mm, I will still have about 6cm of adjustment

 

[dagmz6s]

think you could take a couple measurements of that small? curious what the real effective tt is the way you have it and what the reach would be. the reach looks really short. they are great looking frames, enjoy the rest of your build.

 

[frango]

OK, I will do it, when get to the office, today

edit1:
effective TT is 55cm - 21,65" and reach ca. 38-39cm - 14,96-15,35"

I will try to measure stack, as well.

edit2:
Nate, ekipper, can You tell me how did You set LG1+? I think I have to turn it a little bit couter clockwise to have top slider in right possition, but then, bottom part seems to be quite far from chainstay. I have the backplate set in Wide position.

 

[dagmz6s]

Thanks for those measurements!

 

[big-ted]

I'm sure that's gonna make a sick freeride bike with that head angle!


I kid, I kid... Seriously though, nice bike.

 

[mountains4me]

That looks like a nice build. I am doing the same thing with a totem fork. I cannot wait for it to get here. I am waiting to hear how it rides with that set up. I will be putting a Saint dual ring 22/36 crank on it so I can climb it to most of the trails I ride.

 

[eknomf]

That's the best looking glory of the bunch that have been posted on here. It should be sweet with the totem.

 

[frango]

It's not even finished
Wait till it's done and I take some pics a in studio

 

[frango]

I have just intalled 400lbs steel Fox spring. It gave 22mm of SAG which is roughly 31%. And I was in casual cloths. So, no helmet, bike shoes, DH sorts, pads and chest armour.
I think I will keep it...
What do You think, guys?

 

[Foxbat]

I have just intalled 400lbs steel Fox spring. It gave 22mm of SAG which is roughly 31%. And I was in casual cloths. So, no helmet, bike shoes, DH sorts, pads and chest armour.
I think I will keep it...
What do You think, guys?

For reference I weigh 165 with gear and I was a little shy of 25% sag with a 450 lb. spring. I'm going to try a 400 lb. And see if that isn't closer to 33%.

I'm sure that your measured sag will be close to spot on with gear.

 

[frango]

I hope so, thx Foxbat.

 

[frango]

So, my new, 2010 Glory "freeride" is almost done
I have cancelled my order at MerlinCycles for Avid Elixir CR Carbon brakes after 2 weeks waiting w/o precise ETD from the shop :|
I bought regular Elixirs CR locally. I'm gonna try to get carbon levers later
Stem hasn't arrive, yet, so what You can see on pics, is just a stem, which allowed me to assemble the bike.
Giant Connect SL carbon seatpost is on the way.
As You can see, complete bike wieghs 15,86kg so just under 35lbs (34,93 to be exact). I think I am going to shave about 100g by cutting steerer and assembling the rest of planned components So, 15,75kg (34,69lbs).
It makes 150g more than I expected... donno why

At least one tip for future builders.
In order to avoid rear brake cable damage, You can miss bottom cable mount, pass cable between bottom link and BB tube, then, if You have Elixirs with moving banjo, use middle mount on the left chainstay and end at the calipper.
This is very smooth and much saver way to have the cable attached. I check lenght growth at full suspension compression and it's not and issue.
The only thing You have to do, is to protect frame and cable here and there from scratching.

Rear mech cable is a different story... I wanted to keep it inside the chainstay, so I'm just going to protect it with nice, black, 1mm wall, tube I found at the gardening shop. It's not installed yet, but as soon as it is, I will shop some pics.

 

[Foxbat]

Looks awesome and the weight is quite a feat! Thanks for the brake cable routing tip, I'll give it a try.

 

[CBJ]

Bike looks really good and the weight is amazing. I wonder who it would be to go from a 40 to a 35 pound bike?

 

[frango]

Hi Guys,
PRO stem arrived yesterday. The best word that discribes it is "simple". It's black matt with some barely visible satin graphcs. It has pretty narrow front cap/plate, about 40mm on the line of bolts. Bolts are steel, but... it's light. It's 136g! And local retail is 3x lower that Thomson 4x. I doubt it's 3 times worse.

So, I can ride my new Glory, finally. Unfortunatelly, it's ugly autumn, here :| Got to wait for some dry and warm days. Or maybe I will manage to go on French/Italian coast during winter

With proper stem and cut steerer, weight went down to 15,74kg (34,67lbs), already. With CF seatpost, some titanium bolts I ordered and KCNC QR seat clamp I should shave another 80-100g and that's it. No more pimpin'

How do You like it? Any suggestions?

 

[Welshy.]

Looks stunning, and congrats on the weight!

The Glory riders of old won't believe their eyes.

Only niggle would be cable length for me. Cut those puppies down for form and function.

 

[frango]

Yeah, front cable looks bit too long. It's 90cm, I guess.

 

[Demomonkey]

Great build for all round bashing in the dirt - and 34 pounds!!!!!!! Congratulations and props on your new ride.

 

[Konabumm]

Nice looking ride

 

[norbar]

Looks much cooler than I thought even though I think the TW guys are really stupid with this color sheme while every person I've talked to thinks that the 01 paint looks much better.

 

[frango]

Well, I couldn't wait more, a friend of mine had free studio so, we took some pics of my Glory

As I already wrote, it is 15,74kg (34,67lbs) as it stands. Giant CF seatpost, Alligator WindCutter rotors and KCNC seatpost QR clamp are on the way. I have just bought caliper and rotor Ti bolts. I think the bike will lose at least 100g and, I swear, I don't put any jewelery on it more

As soon as I get angle pic, I will post it

PS. front hose look lame, but I think I'm gonna keep it as it is Just for safety

 

[frango]

So, my buddy had a while to work on another pic of my bike. Here it is

 

[Muttely]

That looks unbelievably nice!!

 

[frango]

thx Muttely

 

[yuroshek]

looks way to clean! stop taking pics of it and go ride the damn thing!!!

i cant wait to get my team on these for 2010.

 

[frango]

It's ugly autumn, here Rain, wind and 3-5 degrees

 

[frango]

Hi Guys,
so, it was really nice day, yesterday and I finally managed to take my Glory for a ride
There are not many places to ride, where I live, but there is one tiny hill where we dig. There are some bumps, doubles, waves, tiny step downs, etc.

What I liked:
The bike is even more beautiful in reality, everyone said

It's really light when You pedal. You can easily accelerate.

It pops, indeed I could pull it in the air noticeably easier then previous Glory.

What I didn't:
I wanted to set the suspension, so I turned all adjustments out. I was expecting it would bounce like a balloon... Well, no :| Is the shock factory tuned for the frame so it can't be set that way?

The fork - it's not Giant's fault, but... I has very tight bushings. So, it's not that sensitive as 66... it will never be, I think. The good thing, there is no play, yet But, again, all the adjustment out, just 50 PSI in and it's sooo slooow :| I hope it will get better after few km/miles.

The seatpost - I got the same seatpost as Nate did

but I couldn't use it. Fortunately I had second one in the toolbox. Some guy at the factory put grease between parts of the seatpost head and no matter how strong you'd tighten it, you could change the angle of the saddle :| Moreover, the seat rails moved on the beds(?) I cleaned the head from grease and it's better now, but the saddle still moves.
Nate, did You have any of those problems?
If I don't solve it, I think I will go for light 2 bolt seatpost. Like Thomson or something. Any suggestions?

 

[bigjimmy]

get someone to take a pic of you riding it. heaps better than studio photo's.

(and it shows it actually gets ridden)

 

[Nozzes]

Nice looking bike with great weight!
But if you went for a light build,why Saint cranks?Race Face Atlas FR (83mm) would be lighter and still very strong...cheaper,too!
That rims,what's the widht and weight?Never heard about them!
And the Pro FR-S stem...I've got one,on my Trek Session, and it's great:light,very cheap,and it works! ...just if every component was like this...

 

[norbar]

Nice looking bike with great weight!
But if you went for a light build,why Saint cranks?Race Face Atlas FR (83mm) would be lighter and still very strong...cheaper,too!
That rims,what's the widht and weight?Never heard about them!
And the Pro FR-S stem...I've got one,on my Trek Session, and it's great:light,very cheap,and it works! ...just if every component was like this...

The weight should be on the dartmoor site. They are very lightweight rims. As for Atlas FR what's the differance with the new saints? Under 100g while in some places they are cheaper than RF.