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Parts recommendations to lighten SS

3K views 29 replies 14 participants last post by  SteelSteedSS 
#1 ·
Hey all,

New to the site and new to upgrading parts and looking for some feedback. I bought my first SS last year...a State Pulsar Deluxe and absolutely fell in love with single speed. Just a couple of months ago, I purchased a 2017 Giant XTC Advanced 27.5+ SS. I'm loving some things about it, but also not loving some things (Not digging the carbon after-all, lower BB with 27.5+ and more pedal strikes, thicker top tube, weird geometry so when I stand and mash my butt hits the seat so sometimes I need to drop it or lean further forward than I like). I'm thinking I enjoy the steel Pulsar better for many reasons, but right now it's got some pretty basic parts that need upgrading and to hopefully lighten it up. I'd like to move forward with upgrading the parts and then see if I still want to keep the Giant SS. Here's what I'm looking to upgrade on the Pulsar and see what you guys recommend:

1) Wheelset: Still running tubes on it right now! It's got pretty narrow (19mm internal width) WTB SX19 rims. Looking to upgrade these. Maybe Stans Arch MK3's? Looking to run around 2.4's. Can't go bigger than that. Don't want to go overboard on budget, but willing to pay for quality and some weight reduction. $600-$900 I think I'd be willing to do unless you guys could convince me otherwise. Don't think I want to head into the carbon realm here. Approximately how much weight do you think I can shave off here? Unless you guys think I can convert these to tubeless? They just seem so narrow...

2) Brakes: Mechanical BB7's right now. Definitely want to go hydraulic and probably new rotors. Thinking maybe some Shimano XT's and their Ice rotors or whatever you guys recommend. Right now, getting nasty frame reverberations through the rear rotor (I saw the post on here about fixing that and am definitely going to try some of the methods if it persists after upgrading the brakes/rotors).

3) Fork: Has a Rockshox Recon Silver TK right now. Not a big fan...feels a little springy. I have a Reba RL on the Giant and much prefer that. Maybe looking to get a Reba on the Pulsar as well? Not sure I want to go over $500 on this. However, maybe the wheelset upgrade will help the front suspension feel better and may not need to upgrade yet...?

Looking to spend around $1,500 to $1,800 I'm thinking. Will have more room if I don't upgrade the fork right away.

Thanks all! Love reading through the forums!
 
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#5 ·
Wheels - Stans Crest $600
How can you recommend Crests without first asking how much he weighs? What if he's 215 lbs?

Wheels, you can definitely save quite a bit and it will be much more noticeable then weight lost in the other areas. If you have this sort of budget, I'd put most of it here. Stans rims and some DT240's or even circus monkey hubs if you want to stay on a budget.
Why such extreme opposite ends of the spectrum on hub recommendations? Neither of those are a good choice IMO.

OP: I agree that wheels are a great place to spend your money and it's a good place to start. I would recommend Hope hubs or DT 350 for a solid hub that will stay well within your budget. Get the Centerlock version for a little extra weight savings. If you go with the 350's plan on upgrading the ratchet (which is annoying to have to upgrade right out of the box, but totally worth it IMO). It's nice to have the extra engagement on a SS!

Stans rims are great, if your within the recommended weight range the Arch would be a great choice. If you wanted something a bit wider you could go with Flows. I also like Raceface Arc rims, either 27's or 30's. I also like WTB asyms for strength, but they're heavy.

Have you considered using a dedicated SS hub? They have equal flange spacing and build stronger wheels. Hadley makes a sweet SS hub at a good price. Ti freehub, better engagement, Made in the USA.

No, carbon rims aren't worth it on your budget, and your not racing at a high level so the 80 gram savings are not worth the price. Your new wheels will be sweet and likely lighter than the old narrower ones.

Yes, Shimano brakes are great. Either SLX or XT. I also really like the XT rotors, again centerlock to save a little extra weight.

Upgrading to a Reba would also be worth it IMO. But this would be third on my list.
 
#7 ·
depends on how big you are. Given this is for SS Hardtail and you want light then probably not. If you are worried you can go with Arch too a slight weight penalty.
 
#4 ·
SID's and Reba's are great forks if your riding style matches their intended usage. I have no problem with SID's for my XC bikes. Super light, easy to service, and have quality travel. You can also find them used but good condition all day long. Used $200 - $300 isn't unreasonable at all.

XT or SLX are both great brakes. The SLX are only slightly heavier, I actually prefer them in function. The last few rounds of XT's and XTR's have some weird bight point issues that I haven't seen in SLX's.

Wheels, you can definitely save quite a bit and it will be much more noticeable then weight lost in the other areas. If you have this sort of budget, I'd put most of it here. Stans rims and some DT240's or even circus monkey hubs if you want to stay on a budget.
 
#6 ·
I agree with a lot that was said above. A dedicated SS hub would be perfect. Surly makes a great SS hub, as does Paul Components. If you had some dollars left over you could throw a nice White Industries freewheel on there. As for rims, you can do better than Stans. Stans are kind of riding the coat tails of their original tubeless platform in my opinion, there are way better rims out there in the same price range these days. The Easton Arc rims are fantastic, I have had a couple sets and been very satisfied. WTB as mentioned above, DT Swiss makes some great budget rims (check out the E512).

As for really dropping some weight in the front end, have you considered a rigid fork? It sounds like you picked up another bike with a squishy fork, so you may enjoy having 2 completely different bikes. Personally, I could never not have a full rigid SS in my stable. I have a really nice Yeti SB5 that spends most of its time in the garage because I prefer my full rigid Jabberwocky.
 
#8 ·
Wow thanks for all the great feedback! A few questions:

1) The bike currently has the WTB SX19 (19mm internal) wheels with 2.3 Vigilantes. Doesn't look like I can go with a wider tire. But, does going with a wider rim give me more tire clearance? Or worse clearance? Just wondering about what size tire I should be looking at, but I'd like to run as wide as possible. That also puts me right at the Stans limit of the Crest (2.25 upper limit) and Arch (2.25 lower limit). I assume wider would be better, but that is just my assumption based on what I've read.

Oh, and I'm 185 without gear.

2) I've never bought new wheels before so I'm not confident in buying the separate parts from different places instead of buying a complete wheelset. I need to read more on all the parts I'd need to buy if doing it separately. And if done that way, does my LBS put it together? I can buy a Hope wheelset from CRC that seems good and a good price! I'm confused about their hubs though. They offer a single speed/trials hub, but that's not the one I want right? What Hope hub is the one that would work in my setup? Even the custom wheelset builder is a little confusing/overwhelming to me.

I'll definitely upgrade to SLX or XT brakes and rotors. And from your feedback, I'll wait on the fork for now and see how it does with the the other upgrades.
 
#9 ·
The SS/Trials hub is single speed specific, so you could never run gears on it. If you do go with Hope and never plan on having gears, that is definitely the hub to go with since it has more engagement than their other hubs. Your shop could build the wheels for you, and a little bit of effort you can easily buy all the parts for a wheel build. Hubs, rims, and you size the spokes (or the shop can do it for you). Spokes generally come with brass nipples. Aside from that stuff you just need the normal stuff (tubeless setup, cog/spacers, etc).
 
#10 ·
The Arch MK3 are as light as I would go.....even at 185 lbs. they seem a little too flexy....couldn't imagine how bad the Crests feel. Match these up with a set of 350 or 240 hubs, if you wanna spend the extra $250 for about 40g. Then ditch the tubes. Go with a Niner RDO Ti cog....my 22t is 70g.

No need to spend the extra cash for XT's.....the SLX 7000 are a solid system. Again, it's a SS so oversized brakes/finned pads/IceTech rotors are a little overkill.

Track down a Reba RL or a SID....both solid forks for their intended purposes.
 
#14 ·
I had some wheels built for me, I had Arch MKIII hoops and King Iso SS hubs.

I am 240 geared up.

Gravy Wheels recommended

Spokes -

Front - DT Swiss Competition - Black
Rear - DT Swiss Alpine III - Black

Nipples -
DT Swiss Nickel-plated Brass - Black

He based these on my riding style, weight and where I ride. I have had no problems with flex at all. Wheels are stout and I take bad lines all the time. They should be fine for a 185 pounder
 
#19 ·
I saw this too, but wasn't going to say anything.... :p

A wider rim will stretch a tire, while a narrower rim will pinch a tire. So while you can fit that 2.3 Vigilante on the narrow 19mm rims now, on the 26mm Arch3 they might rub. Wider is better, so even a 2.25 on a 26mm rim would be an improvement over the 2.3 on a 19mm rim. And don't worry about the max/min widths Stans recommends. A riding buddy has some Flows with 2.0 Ground Controls to fit in the rear triangle of his S-works hardtail.
Awesome thanks for that. Guess I'll wait on tires until I can throw my current ones on the new wheels and see if there's clearance and go from there.
 
#18 ·
A wider rim will stretch a tire, while a narrower rim will pinch a tire. So while you can fit that 2.3 Vigilante on the narrow 19mm rims now, on the 26mm Arch3 they might rub. Wider is better, so even a 2.25 on a 26mm rim would be an improvement over the 2.3 on a 19mm rim. And don't worry about the max/min widths Stans recommends. A riding buddy has some Flows with 2.0 Ground Controls to fit in the rear triangle of his S-works hardtail.
 
#21 ·
Side note, with a Niner carbon fork, XT brakes, SLX cranks, Thomson bars, stem, post, AC hubs and Arch rims my MCF tipped the scales right at 21lbs (with pedals, cage, garmin mount, etc.) That's a ~5lb steel frame, so probably fairly similar to what you're dealing with. My Lynskey, which as a frame is only 150g lighter, is built up with some lighter stuff everywhere and is ~21lbs with the squishy fork on it. Point being, the frame makes up ~25% of the total bike weight. There is a lot of room to trim grams on the components. Your wheel upgrade, while not ww, is a solid perf improvement. Next place to spend money IMO is on the fork.
 
#22 ·
If you aren’t keen on keeping the Giant, you could sell it and probably buy a fairly new steel single speed in the weight range you’re looking to be in. Sir 9, spot rocker, Stella chumba, salsa el mariachi ti and a few others come to mind.

There are all kinds of sweet deals to be had if you have time to look. Many of them are in the budget you have set aside to upgrade the State.

I’m not saying don’t upgrade the State if that’s what you want to do but $1500 in upgrades is quite a bit and could get you a lighter build up front.


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#23 ·
If you aren't keen on keeping the Giant, you could sell it and probably buy a fairly new steel single speed in the weight range you're looking to be in. Sir 9, spot rocker, Stella chumba, salsa el mariachi ti and a few others come to mind.

There are all kinds of sweet deals to be had if you have time to look. Many of them are in the budget you have set aside to upgrade the State.

I'm not saying don't upgrade the State if that's what you want to do but $1500 in upgrades is quite a bit and could get you a lighter build up front.
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True. But I really like the State. We've got chemistry lol. And it's got soul. It matches my riding style so well. I was blinded by the bling Giant (and the sale price LOL) before really understanding what I already had with the State. Never making that mistake again. I'm committed to the State for now and will reevaluate if our relationship turns sour :p
 
#24 ·
I've been on a BMX skatepark tangent and one of the things that strikes me is how much different the BMX culture is toward weight and gear, in general. While you can get a carbon race BMX that weighs 14 lbs, pretty much all of the top pros down to beginners ride 25 lb bikes that are built to withstand abuse, without worrying about weight. BMX bikes have chromoly bars, chromoly cranks, double walled rims. Though the average BMXer is a 14-15 year old kid who is not fully grown, and the sport involves getting air and throwing the bike around where there would be real benefit to a lighter bike, somehow this is just not a concern. Nobody is worrying about saving weight. Rather, they worry about having strong and reliable parts. And riding 25 lb bikes does not hold them back in the slightest. Just go to any local skatepark and watch the kids ride - guaranteed you'll see 120lb kids pulling 360s and massive airs on their heavy bikes, displaying bike control and skill that is leagues beyond the average MTBer. Somehow, they don't stress about weight and it doesn't seem to limit them at all. They don't ride carbon or aluminum because it breaks easier, and it sucks to break parts, and can cause injury.

Part of this, I believe, is that MTB is marketed toward adults with money to blow, while BMX is marketed to kids (parents), thus needs to be affordable. This permeates the MTB culture. MTB markets more expensive stuff; much more expensive. MTB focuses in on saving grams, "upgrading" from steel parts to aluminum, to carbon. Start riding MTB, reading this forum, and it doesn't take long before spending $2,500 for a bike seems reasonable, or blowing cash on an expensive part that saves a few grams (yet is actually weaker) seems like money well spent. Meanwhile, I just bought a BMX bike for $450 bucks that is absolutely solid and needs nothing. Amazing - why can't I buy a decent MTB for this much?

So I'm learning a lot from my foray into BMX. Mostly, not to worry about whether piddly little gear concerns such as whether my bike is too heavy, whether I need to upgrade my parts, etc. Rather, that I need to focus on the actual riding itself, and quit making excuses. Every time I see some 14 year BMX kid in jeans riding some rusty, squeaky, heavy bike, with no $120 5.10 shoes or fancy pants MTB clothes, yet still managing to pull massive airs, ride fakie, nose manualing, I see that you don't need an expensive bike to ride well, and that I simply need to ride more, gain skills, and focus more on deepening my connection with the bike that I already have.

In other words, it sounds like you enjoy your steel bike and it fits you well. Maybe you could enjoy the steel bike as is, sell the Giant, ride more, and save some money. YMMV.
 
#25 ·
Rather, that I need to focus on the actual riding itself, and quit making excuses.

Simply need to ride more, gain skills, and focus more on deepening my connection with the bike that I already have.

In other words, it sounds like you enjoy your steel bike and it fits you well. Maybe you could enjoy the steel bike as is, sell the Giant, ride more, and save some money. YMMV.
Ho, word!

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