The bikes
that have gotten us through the season so far.
Written by Joël
Both Jess
and I ride the Giant Anthem frame; me in the carbon version and Jess in the
aluminum. They are both awesome, but what else would you expect from
Giant.
We both
still ride 26” wheels, mostly because neither of us cares for the added weight
and cumbersomeness 29ers bring. That said next season we most likely will be
riding 27.5”/650b wheels.
Our
bikes are clad in the following parts some because they are awesome some because
they came with the bike.
Sram XO
triggers are bomb proof and never seem to have any issues. Sram X9 Type2 rear derailleurs; they work well and hold
up better than the XO version when constantly getting bashed into east coast
rocks.
Sram PC1051
chain and PG1070 cassette; they might not be the lightest but the durability to
price ratio cannot be beat.
Both of our
bikes came with Avid Elixir 5 brakes, the initial turkey gobble sound was solved by installing some Jagwire blue brake pads.
We both run
the same wheels, Shimano XT hubs (I am amazed by how well these hold up given
the price) and DT Swiss XR400 rims with the DT Swiss tubeless kit, held together
with DT Swiss revolution spokes. We both run a mix match of Continental tires
depending on conditions and Jess runs a Kenda Small block 8 on the rear pretty
much year round. She says it’s the most versatile tire out there, and I have to
agree. We have been running tubeless this year with air pressures
ranging from 18-35 psi with good results.
We both run
Shimano spd pedals, really why would you even try anything else.
Now this is
where things get different Jess has a Rock Shox Reverb dropper seat post (she
never wants to ride without one again) and I run a Thompson Elite setback post.
Jess has a
Fox fork that has been serviced multiple times but still has managed
to build up so much stanchion and bushing wear that there is some play in the fork itself. To add to that it has felt rather gritty from
day one, according to Fox some break in time was needed. With just over
2000 miles of use it still feels the same (is that enough break in time?) The bike also came with a FOX rear shock
that we replaced with a Rock Shox Monarch because
the Fox one had nonstop issues. My bike came with a Rock Shox Reba fork which has
performed flawlessly. I decided to open it up the other day to see if it needed
anything, to my surprise everything inside looked like it was brand new even
the oil. I am still amazed given the wet riding conditions so far this year. I have the same rear shock that Jess now has and
it too has been great.
I run ESI chunky grips Jess has Lizard skins lock on grips.
Jess has a WTB rocket v saddle, and my butt likes the Giant Contact seat.
Alright I think I got everything.
Our bikes posing for a picture in Zuni, NM