POS Reviving the unloved

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Haylex

Likes Dirt
So I bought this bike new back in 2003, it was my first 'decent' bike, I think I remember spending $850 on it - A Giant Iguana.



I used it to get around everywhere in high school, then the years passed and it ended up being the neglected bike somewhere in storage as my interests changed / got a licence / got a nicer bike to replace it.

A couple of years ago I was sick of the bus commute to the city daily so decided to do something with it to get it down off the wall and ride it again. My commute is 80% road/bikepath, 20% dirt fireroad, so I figured this could be the bike for the job. Started pulling all the clapped out components off it and soon had a bare frame.



Initial plan was to strip and repaint in a single colour, but I dug the raw look so that stayed. Also couldn't be bothered working on it for any longer after too many nights with the paint stripper and sandpaper.



A friend kindly donated some hookworms he had lying around, and I picked up a rigid alloy fork to get rid of the Pilot fork that may as well have been a rigid fork anyway. Ditched all the gears and ran the bike as an SS with an alfine tensioner. The idea behind the alfine was that I could play around with cog and chainring sizes without changing the length of the chain all the time, and once i worked out a preferred gear would then figure out how to run sans tensioner. But the alfine has been really set and forget and does the job so Its still there. Too bad its the worst looking tensioner out there.

Chucked it all back together and ended up with this.





Rode it like that to work for a year or so before I decided that I would go full retard commuter spec and put some 1.75 hybrid tyres on it. Made it great on the bikepath but sucked all the fun out of the bike. Somewhere along the line it started getting more and more hand me down bits from my other bikes - seatpost, stem, bars, n/w chainring etc etc.



After another 6 months ish, I couldn't take any more of the hybrid tyres and picked up a RB special disc wheelset and now the bike looks something like this. Heaps more fun to ride - bike saved!





Cliff notes: bike wasting away, turned it into a parts bin SS commuter and now ride it plenty. win/win

Frame - 2003 Giant Iguana
Front shock/fork - Exotic Alloy rigid
Handlebars - EC90
Stem - EA90
Headset - standard
Grips - ODI
Saddle - SDG
Seatpost - Thomson
Brake - Avid Juicy Ultimate
Cranks - standard
Chain - shimano 8sp
Pedals - Cheap ones
Tensioner - Shimano Alfine
Chainring - 36t
Cassette - 16t
Hubs - DT swiss 370
Rims - Mavic 317
Tyres - SB8 / Furious Fred
Tubes - yes
Total weight - 9.5kg
 
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johnny

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
Cool post.

sub-10kg, that's pretty impressive too when it doesn't seem like weight was a focus.

Like the look of it, very similar to my 1FG, which is also raw.
 
H

Haylex

Likes Dirt
johnny said:
Cool post.

sub-10kg, that's pretty impressive too when it doesn't seem like weight was a focus.

Like the look of it, very similar to my 1FG, which is also raw.
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Yea it was a bit of a surprise, but then again there isn't much to it. Weight wasn't a focus but the frame is pretty light, about 1600g if my memory serves me correctly. If you were a weenie I'm sure you could get it into the 8s without getting too exotic.

I never really wanted raw from the beginning, but its definitely grown on me. I have considered doing some kind of stupid reptile skin vinyl on it (Iguana, geddit), but I'm not really sure the best way to do it, or even if its a good idea at all :tape2:

No Skid Marks said:
Way cool, bike of the month right there.
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Its kinda cool, but not that cool lol

will2 said:
How did you strip all the paint? Looks well mint.
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Yep as above: paint stripper, a kitchen scourer, sandpaper and elbow grease got the job done.
 
Nick_M2r

Nick_M2r

Likes Dirt
Done the exact same thing with my Giant 2007 yukon, which bar the rear v-brake mounts, the frame appears to be identical. Stripped, polished, rebuilt, ridden a lot with it being a blast each time.

Awesome job!
 
H

Haylex

Likes Dirt
Nick_M2r said:
Done the exact same thing with my Giant 2007 yukon, which bar the rear v-brake mounts, the frame appears to be identical. Stripped, polished, rebuilt, ridden a lot with it being a blast each time.

Awesome job!
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Ive heard that the mid range Giant HT frames around that time were all the same as the XTC. Apparently giants laziness resulted in cool frames for everyone :high5: The Yukon would be the same I think.
 
Asininedrivel

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
That is a seriously cool restoration project - and impressive finished weight. Funnily enough I have a 2001 Giant ATX 870 (left behind by a previous housemate) currently dissolving in an ignored part of the house. I was going to abandon it to the spiders but after seeing yours in all its nude glory I'm very tempted to break out the solvents and sandpaper...

Haylex said:
Ive heard that the mid range Giant HT frames around that time were all the same as the XTC. Apparently giants laziness resulted in cool frames for everyone :high5: The Yukon would be the same I think.
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Is there an area of the internet that has more information on this? E.g. frame derivatives etc. - Giant's archive website is not behaving.
 
H

Haylex

Likes Dirt
Asininedrivel said:
That is a seriously cool restoration project - and impressive finished weight. Funnily enough I have a 2001 Giant ATX 870 (left behind by a previous housemate) currently dissolving in an ignored part of the house. I was going to abandon it to the spiders but after seeing yours in all its nude glory I'm very tempted to break out the solvents and sandpaper...

Is there an area of the internet that has more information on this? E.g. frame derivatives etc. - Giant's archive website is not behaving.
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Thanks mate, you may as well resurrect it! It doesnt really cost anything and a ridden bike beats a bike wasting away. Plus you don't feel bad leaving it locked to posts in random places that you would never leave your 'good' bike.

Dont really have any specific links, but google has a bunch of chat about geometries and materials passed down from the xtc. Whether this is true or not I have no idea, but the frame was definitely the best part of my Iguana - the rest was pretty meh.
 
redbruce

redbruce

Eats Squid
Haylex said:
Ive heard that the mid range Giant HT frames around that time were all the same as the XTC. Apparently giants laziness resulted in cool frames for everyone :high5: The Yukon would be the same I think.
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I'm not sure about the Iguana but the Yukon and XTC shared the same geometry and tubes except the head tube (which was actually thicker walled on the XTC to resist distortion in the lower bearing mount area with "the added forces of racing"). Only other difference was the front of the tube tube has a bit extra extra hydro forming to increase the strength at the join with the head. Interestingly Yukon frame is 50gm lighter than a mates XTC of same size and year.

I built up one salvaged from a hard rubbish collection in 2009 as a return to MTB XC bike. With a Manitou R7 and XT running gear weighed 11kg (21" frame with 1900gm wheels). Those R7's are light but way too flexi for 95kg rider!

After enjoying it for a couple of years I got sick of the HT for long rough rides and it got handed down to my son when I built up a Yeti.

Its still in service although junior has now inherited my Yeti and its about to enter its third life as my touring/commuter bike.
 
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H

Haylex

Likes Dirt
Thats great info, thanks!

From memory ,and a bit of backup from bikepedia, when I bought this frame the model line for the Giant HTs went Boulder -> Rincon -> Yukon -> Iguana -> Rainier -> XTC

I wanted the Rainier but the budget didn't quite stretch there so settled for the Iguana. Maybe the Yukon through to the Rainier share the same frame with those small changes from the XTC? :noidea:

Seems like these frames are pretty good candidates for a bit of love seeing as they can now be picked up for free or very little.
 
H

Haylex

Likes Dirt
A package arrived with some bits and pieces for this bike - A rear Deore M615 brake/slx rotor, and a WTB rocket saddle.

Ive been using a tubed furious fred rear tyre since about the start of the year and it was already looking pretty sad. Even light trail work that this thing does on the way to work was cutting it up. I got given it though so cant really complain. Really light but also really fragile - I wouldn't want to use it purely as a mtb tyre.... Anyway, I wanted something a bit tougher.

I figured with the disc wheelset it was time to give a cheap tubeless setup a go seeing as ive had success with decent tubeless setups on other bikes for a few years. Gorilla taped the wheels, cut valves out of old tubes and mounted some 2.1 Crossmark EXO TRs with a couple of scoops of stans. Still holding air after a few rides so I think I can call it a win.

 
H

Haylex

Likes Dirt
Ah yes. The story behind that is when I got the rigid fork I ordered one with v brake tabs and fully intended to run a front brake, but when it arrived the 3 little holes that hold tension on the spring didnt line up with the standard brake that I had. So I went without for a while, and got used to it. The commute is pretty flat, It was ok with the V brake, but its way better with the disc now so I'm just going to leave it like that.
 
H

Haylex

Likes Dirt
Now with tan walls for extra street cred

I think the bike has done about 15,000ks since I first rebuilt it now! Has only eaten a few chains, 1 set of brakepads, 1 rotor, a few tyres and a chainring. The 16t cog is still the original from when i first converted it - just flipped it around about half way through its life to keep it going. I should probably replace that soon though......

 
Mr Crudley

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
Great story. Some bikes, well most alloy frames, just look super with paint removed and some gentle buffing.

You made your Giant HT very uber. Well done :rockon:
 
H

Haylex

Likes Dirt
Mr Crudley said:
Great story. Some bikes, well most alloy frames, just look super with paint removed and some gentle buffing.

You made your Giant HT very uber. Well done :rockon:
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Yep old HTs seem to scrub up really nice. Shame the same cant be said for many old FS frames :yuck: Thanks!

Paulie_AU said:
This has inspired me to strip my old XTC frame for a rebirthing.
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Do it! Makes a good holiday project
 
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