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!
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!