07 Giant Alias, Few questions and advice for new parts.

smudge84

smudge84

Likes Bikes
Hi all,

Got an Alias from 07, was into riding a bit back then and unfortunately crashed and burnt early 09 breaking the Dart 2 forks it came with.

Since then I haven't touched the bike and after slapping on a few pounds (still only ~84KG) I want to get back into it.

So I have a couple of questions... firstly what are your thoughts on these forks and are they a direct fit for my bike, I am looking at going 120mm (please advise me if this is a bad idea, I think my Dart 2's were 100mm or 80mm?)

Rock Shox Reba RLT Dual Air Ti Forks 2011

Rock Shox SID RLT Dual Air Forks 2011

Rock Shox Reba RLT Dual Air Forks 2011

Or another brand you guys can suggest? Fox? Manitou? etc

As you may gather my front rim has also seen better days... so I will be looking at changing them over too, now this I have no idea about but I want something mid range (complete with hub etc), nothing too hardcore.

I would want to put some schwalbe big apple tyres on them in size 2.15, so something that will fit them. While I am on the subject of tyre size would anyone know if 2.15 is too big for the rear of an 07 Alias? Stock tyre was the Hutchinson Scorpion 2.0.

As a last question I was thinking of converting it to single speed, I used to race BMX when I was young and SS is still my hearts desire. Whats the best path to take for this one?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read the thread, and forgive me for being a little lost :)

Cheers
 
M

Mtb1speed

Likes Dirt
Hey bud. Firstly good on you for getting back into it.

Secondly your looking at some nice forks. I would suggest that the geometry of your alias frame was designed around the then standard xc fork travel of between 80 and 100mm. You might find going to a 120mm fork might make the angle to slack and slow your steering down to much. And on an 07 alias your not going to be doing to much FR or DH :)

As for the forks you have suggested there, they are all pretty much the same fork, all dual air etc. The Reba is promoted as the more hardcore of the SID and Reba but I doubt it will handle much more than the SID. The SID will save you about 150grams through the use of a little more alloy. For general XC riding and singletrack they will both see you through. I would just go with the one you can get te best deal on in a 100mm offering.

As for wheels, get a set of Jetblack Rockets, for the price you pay they are bombproof and handle bad riding. Fairly light at 1650ish grams and are fully serviceable and run in decent sealed bearings.

Tyre width 2.15?? Do tyres come in that size? If they do yeah no worries on an 07 Alias for that size, you will even get a 2.3 in fine.

Good luck with the riding bud.
 
smudge84

smudge84

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Mtb1speed said:
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Mate thanks heaps for the quick response, very much appreciated!

Yeah I wanted something that's going to last me fork wise...ok so you think 120mm will be too big, I was a little skeptical of this as well... if it matters the frame size is a 21, which I think is XL?

Heh nah not much FR or DH at all :D

I will take a look at those wheels too... yeah the big apples come in 2.0 / 2.15 / 2.35... you think I'll get the 35's on?

Cheers again!
 
taquar

taquar

Likes Dirt
I wouldn't worry about the geo/steering of the bike changing too much with a set of 120mm forks. I had a set of 95-140mm u-turn pikes on my old 07 alias, and basically left them at 120 the entire time. Gave me a decent amount of travel, while still keeping the steering sharp, an extra 20mm won't really make much difference to the geo at all. Let me take on slightly bigger stuff as well. Also, the 2.35 should fit, but if you get a bit of mud on em, it'll clog up fast, learnt that the hard way. Maybe stick with a 2.2 at most, you really won't need anything bigger, maybe on the front, but not the rear. I found the Alias frame a pretty sturdy frame, even with the forks set at 140 I didn't have ANY problems with it for about a year, and I'm a bit of a plougher...

Keep on riding!
 
smudge84

smudge84

Likes Bikes
taquar said:
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Hi mate,

Cheers for the info! Alright so you were pretty comfortable with the 120mm? That's good leaves the door open for a few more options :)

Yeah I will probably stick with the 2.15's ... the forks I'm looking at recommend a max of 2.3 anyway. With these few tweaks hopefully the Alias will see me through, the frame has been good.

Mtb1speed: These Jet Black Rockets seem pretty hard to find, did you know of a place that has them at a decent price? There is a set on Ebay but they are the 15QR versions... bugger!
 
guitar1234

guitar1234

Likes Dirt
If it was me i'd go the set that can accommodate a cassette if you ever do want to go back to gears, just invest in a good single speed kit and get your chainline straight. But its really up to you:p
 
smudge84

smudge84

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guitar1234 said:
If it was me i'd go the set that can accommodate a cassette if you ever do want to go back to gears, just invest in a good single speed kit and get your chainline straight. But its really up to you:p
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Ok sweet, thanks mate :)

What's a good SS kit then?

Sorry for all the Q's as well :eek:
 
G

g-fish

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Tbsm sell a gusset ss kit, thats the best ive used and a lot better than the dmr kit most people will recommend. Youll need a tensioner too, again gusset do the best one in my opinion. Surly and shimano both do sprung tensioners which work well enough, but to be honest all tensioners are pretty rubbish.

If youre getting a new wheeset anyway, look at white industries ENO eccentric hub. And grab a shimano xt front hub + rhyno lites for rims. That should give you a dependable, reasonably priced wheelset.

Sent from my GT-P1000T using Tapatalk
 
M

Mtb1speed

Likes Dirt
taquar said:
I wouldn't worry about the geo/steering of the bike changing too much with a set of 120mm forks. I had a set of 95-140mm u-turn pikes on my old 07 alias, and basically left them at 120 the entire time. Gave me a decent amount of travel, while still keeping the steering sharp, an extra 20mm won't really make much difference to the geo at all. Let me take on slightly bigger stuff as well. Also, the 2.35 should fit, but if you get a bit of mud on em, it'll clog up fast, learnt that the hard way. Maybe stick with a 2.2 at most, you really won't need anything bigger, maybe on the front, but not the rear. I found the Alias frame a pretty sturdy frame, even with the forks set at 140 I didn't have ANY problems with it for about a year, and I'm a bit of a plougher...

Keep on riding!
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I agree with sticking to a 2.2 - 2.3 is starting to get fairly large and make start getting some clearance issue in heavy mud. As for the 20mm not making much difference I would agree with that at all, let alone 140mm!!! Most xc frames which the alias's geom is based on would be a pig with 140mm of travel at the front. Unless your a slow rider :)

Yup for the jetblacks go to TBSM and they will sort you for about $300 posted. Bargain for the weight and the hubs are the same as used on some of the TWE wheels people in Sydney rave about. I do most of my 24's and enduro's now on my jetblacks and only really go to my DT's for sprint races. As one of the other boys have already said, buy a ss conversion kit for the regular cassette wheels as it's a lot cheaper if you dont like ss to leave te kit in the shed than to leave a second wheelset gathering dust.
 
smudge84

smudge84

Likes Bikes
Thanks again Mtb1speed, champ.

There is a set of brand new Jetblacks on ebay for $150! Shame hey are gold hub versions :( probably why they are so cheap...
 
M

Mtb1speed

Likes Dirt
smudge84 said:
Thanks again Mtb1speed, champ.

There is a set of brand new Jetblacks on ebay for $150! Shame hey are gold hub versions :( probably why they are so cheap...
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Hey both my sets of jetblack are the gold hub ones :) they look great on dark blue and dark green bikes.
 
smudge84

smudge84

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Mtb1speed said:
Hey both my sets of jetblack are the gold hub ones :) they look great on dark blue and dark green bikes.
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Yeah they probably would, I'm going more black/white/red :)

If I manage to get a little more cash would the Sun Ringle Charger Pro's be a good option? I know they use Stans no tubes, the Big Apples are ok to use with them I would imagine?
 
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