Giant Over Drive 2

[bear the bear]

For those that may be interested it is possible to change out the headset on 2012 bikes and newer running overdrive 2 and convert back to 1 1/8th" & 1 1/2" cups.
The overall head tube has not been enlarged for the new standard, just the upper bearing customised to Giant spec's.
Just put a CK Inset 2 headset on a trance and no drama's.

 

[finksta]

How does this work when the steerer on the fork is a bigger diameter? I have both a 2012 Trance and Anthem, and they both use 1 1/4" stem so obviously the steerer is bigger and isn't going to fit a 1 1/8" headset cup.

 

[pharmaboy]

How does this work when the steerer on the fork is a bigger diameter? I have both a 2012 Trance and Anthem, and they both use 1 1/4" stem so obviously the steerer is bigger and isn't going to fit a 1 1/8" headset cup.

I would have thought the only reason to need to change the headset, is if you need/want/upgrade the front fork, in which case you can, and will need to get a new stem as well (or get a spacer for the giant one).

Its surely nice to know, you can just go and order a tapered steerer fork, and half a headset and get it done?

 

[finksta]

Yeah, fair enough, I was just taking the original post at face value, with no mention of new fork. I thought he was just talking about upgrading the headset.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[bear the bear]

The point was actually to be able to use a wider range of stems ie -17° to drop the front end.
My posting was to confirm that if you bought a newer Giant it is possible to revert back to a more widely accepted standard 1 1/8th & 1 1/2".

 

[rone]

All of this would seem to cancel out any of the cost advantage of purchasing a Giant in the first place. I see it as Giant building-in incompatibility to dissuade people from buying their bikes to donate parts to another frame. All this guff about increased stiffness - the increase would be marginal to non-existent.

You also have to factor in the unsellable fork and stem you are left over with after this conversion.

They're just protecting their brand.

 

[bear the bear]

Why is the fork unsellable? It will fit any frame with an inset headset.
The overdrive 2 "standard" is catching on slowly but still not many component makers are producing the stems as yet. This is probably the biggest thing from the standard gaining more traction.
Rumor is that Thomson will start from the beginning of next year and Ritchey stems are becoming more available.

 

[MARKL]

...All this guff about increased stiffness - the increase would be marginal to non-existent.

I have seen the figures...marketing department got 20% harder over the phrase 'OVERDRIVE 2'

 

[RAC_DH]

Chunked

Chunked components out of brisbane do stems to suit the 1.25"
problem solved

also give it a few months and you will see most stem fabricators will have at least one 1.25" stem

 

[g-fish]

All of this would seem to cancel out any of the cost advantage of purchasing a Giant in the first place. I see it as Giant building-in incompatibility to dissuade people from buying their bikes to donate parts to another frame. All this guff about increased stiffness - the increase would be marginal to non-existent.

You also have to factor in the unsellable fork and stem you are left over with after this conversion.

They're just protecting their brand.

I agree, it's a stupid standard. It doesn't mean you can't donate parts to another bike though, any 1.5'' bottom/44mm top frame will fit the forks/headset/stem. Giant don't make bad stems either if you want to change.

 

[rone]

Why is the fork unsellable? It will fit any frame with an inset headset.
The overdrive 2 "standard" is catching on slowly but still not many component makers are producing the stems as yet. This is probably the biggest thing from the standard gaining more traction.
Rumor is that Thomson will start from the beginning of next year and Ritchey stems are becoming more available.

Try and sell some forks on ebay and see what happens.

Even the standard tapered forks seem to be priced lower than standard 1 1/8. As for Thomson, according to their FB page, as of 10 days ago they still hadn't committed to the new standard, preferring to see what happens before tooling up, and Ritchey are very ordinary stems at an extraordinary price.

It would be foolish to buy into this new standard based on rumours and hypotheses.

 

[pharmaboy]

All of this would seem to cancel out any of the cost advantage of purchasing a Giant in the first place. I see it as Giant building-in incompatibility to dissuade people from buying their bikes to donate parts to another frame. All this guff about increased stiffness - the increase would be marginal to non-existent.

You also have to factor in the unsellable fork and stem you are left over with after this conversion.

They're just protecting their brand.

Before today, this was pretty much my view as well. Having read Pinkbikes article and done a little searching though, it would seem that the bigger fork steerers can be used on bikes with a 44mm ID headtube. Giant hasnt changed the frame from 2 years ago when nobody complained, all they've done is put a new headset in to fit a fork with a bigger steerer - the headset isnt proprietry, nor is the steerer size.

Sure, if you want to change the fork to another bike, you'll need a new headset, and make sure the ID is the same. but putting an aftermarket fork seems pretty easy. The only real problem is for people who cant have Giant stems on their bikes, coz they can only have syntace at this stage

 

[steve24]

I was surprised when i recently bought a Syntace stem to find it came with a removable sleeve to suit either 1 1/4 or 1 1/8th.

While i don't agree with Giant's non standard standard it seems it's perhaps not so hard for high end parts to be made compatable, probably pissing off Giant in the process.....

 

[vtwiz]

I was surprised when i recently bought a Syntace stem to find it came with a removable sleeve to suit either 1 1/4 or 1 1/8th.

While i don't agree with Giant's non standard standard it seems it's perhaps not so hard for high end parts to be made compatable, probably pissing off Giant in the process.....

Why would Giant be pissed off? They have made the design free to use by any manufacturer. No licensing fees or patents to holding any manufacturer back.

 

[vtwiz]

I see it as Giant building-in incompatibility to dissuade people from buying their bikes to donate parts to another frame. All this guff about increased stiffness - the increase would be marginal to non-existent.

Um, why would Giant not want you to buy their bikes, even if it is just for the parts. To them, a sale is a sale. Money in their pockets. I think your theory is very far fetched.

 

[rone]

Um, why would Giant not want you to buy their bikes, even if it is just for the parts. To them, a sale is a sale. Money in their pockets. I think your theory is very far fetched.

I'm sure they would have a farther-reaching strategy than 'a sale is a sale'. Having a marketplace flooded with cheap used frames cannot be good for a brands' image, despite what you say.

 

[Broken Bones89]

I'm sure they would have a farther-reaching strategy than 'a sale is a sale'. Having a marketplace flooded with cheap used frames cannot be good for a brands' image, despite what you say.

Ummm have you seen the for sale section of this forum? I don't think the market can be any more flooded than it already is...

 

[rone]

Ummm have you seen the for sale section of this forum? I don't think the market can be any more flooded than it already is...

Er, yeah. fair point...

 

[bear the bear]

Chris King

Seems CK are taking up the standard too by producing headsets from new year according to Cyclingnews