Beautiful Girlfriends bike

nathanm

Eats Squid
So this is the bike I built up for the girlfriend and then tried to kill her by taking her down tracks way too advance for her skill and experience level.

356115


around 20 minutes before she tasted dirt for the first time.

356116


Frame - 2012 Giant Anthem W1 (NOS) ($470 with headset and BB + $30 freight)
Rear shock - Fox RP2 (came with frame)
Front shock/fork - Fox F120 Fit4 15mm t/a ($20 after selling the recon's)
Handlebars - Brand X - 740mm by 15mm rise ($31)
Stem - Brand X - 60mm 7 degree rise ($23)
Headset - FSA by Giant (installed by store when sent)
Grips - cheapest purple ones I could find on CRC ($10)
Saddle - some comfort thing I bought for her just before I got the frame so her butt didn't hurt.
Seatpost - BrandX Dropper ($80 second hand) moved her forward 20mm in the cockpit which has increased her confidence on the bike as she's not as stretched out anymore.
Front brake
- Shimano Hydraulic Unknown model with 180mm rotor
Rear brake - Shimano Hydraulic Unknow with 180mm rotor
Cranks - Shimano SLX with 30t NW chainring ($30)
Chain
- KMC X11($32)
Pedals
- some cheap plastic purple ones
Rear derailleur - Shimano XT M8000 11 spd
Rear shifter
- Shimano XT M8000 ($170)
Cassette
- Shimano XT M8000 11-42
Wheelset - Mavic Crossone ($0 after selling current wheelset/swapped as I had to convert to 15mm hub for new forks)
Spokes - yep
Nipples - she has ordinary sized ones
Tyres - Shwalbe Hans Damp 2.35 front and Maxxis High Roller 2.3 rear
Tubes
- seriously? does anyone run tubes anymore
Total weight - at a guess I'd say maybe 13kgs?

So the build came about as originally she was on an old Specialized Hardrock hardtail and it wasn't comfortable to ride (harsh ride and skipped and jumped over every bump) and she wanted to do more stuff with me like Derby.

So I bought a NOS frame and a few components to get her onto a Dually.

After selling the old frame and parts for $100 I'm only really out of pocket around $450 $650 now, so a cheap way to get her into some good riding. Whilst it's an older style XC bike and she would be much better off on a slack Enduro rig its a cheap way to get her into some occasional riding and a massive upgrade over what she had.
 
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nathanm

Eats Squid
where was the second photo taken?

ever need to tweak the nipples?
Silver Falls track, comes off pipeline on Mt Wellington. There's a sick little waterfall just to the right of where the photo was taken but some tourist were going all Instagram on it.

often. really gets her wheels turning.
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
There is your problem. She can already tell you are on the good rig!
I would have loved a bike like that as my first proper rig. Sure beats the hell out of a Giant Boulder with mech disc brakes and 100mm of coil travel in the fork and no soft butt.


The bike is on the carpet - you are on a winner.
Luckily this is not something she cares about. I could track a trails worth of mud across the carpet and she wouldn't see it, until I cleaned it up.
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
I would have loved a bike like that as my first proper rig. Sure beats the hell out of a Giant Boulder with mech disc brakes and 100mm of coil travel in the fork and no soft butt.
Look at how she is eyeing off your bike lol!

But yes, most of us had to sacrifice our spinal fluid to learn to ride on hardtails.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
#2 son had a Norco Fluid that I built up for him. When he outgrew it I shifted parts to the new frame and made the Norco the wife's bike with a drop in spec. She was all for it. It was too much bike for her. Ended up with step throughs albeit at a ridiculous spec like Fox 32s, 1x11 and dropper posts etc. Don't be unreasonable and give her time to get her confidence. If that doesn't happen then drop back on the type of bike she rides. As long as you both get out (bike) riding occasionally it is all good.
 

hellmansam

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Anthem ? She mighta been better off if you hired a slacker bike to see if she liked more gnarly riding
 

fatboyonabike

Captain oblivious
that's kinda what I was getting at, ditch the fork and try a mullet with a slightly larger wheel up front, better roll over angle and slacker Head angle
I have a cheapo set of Recon 27.5+/29 forks if you want to try it out?
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
Anthem ? She mighta been better off if you hired a slacker bike to see if she liked more gnarly riding
I originally did look at buying her a new AM/Enduro rig but best I could find was around $1800. Ultimately the idea is just to do a budget build to get her on to trails comfortably and I think that bike more than ticks the boxes.

I don't think she's ever really going to get into anything other than Green trail so a bike any bigger or better is just going to be overkill as it doesn't matter what bike she's on if she's just going to grab the front brake and take her feet of the pedals everytime the trail points downhill she's going to wreck regardless.

I think she's pretty damn lucky to have a bike in the spec she does considering the riding we'll do. I could've put that money into gear for myself.
 

mas2

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Luxury! My first mountain bike were full rigid Shogun wit' V brakes and I rode that down 'ill that were so rough I couldn't see where I were goin'!

But you try to tell that to kids nowadays? They won't believe yeh.
Mine was like using a jack hammer and when you stopped you would shake your arms for ages trying to get the tingling feeling out of them.
 

PJO

in me vL comy
Luxury! My first mountain bike were full rigid Shogun wit' V brakes and I rode that down 'ill that were so rough I couldn't see where I were goin'!

But you try to tell that to kids nowadays? They won't believe yeh.
Well we had it tough!
We used to ride without brakes, on bald tyres with no air in them, five spokes to each rim, laying on the top tube! And if we wanted to stop we had to jam our tongue onto the rims and when we would come home our pa would call us idiots and cut our heads off!
 

mas2

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Well we had it tough!
We used to ride without brakes, on bald tyres with no air in them, five spokes to each rim, laying on the top tube! And if we wanted to stop we had to jam our tongue onto the rims and when we would come home our pa would call us idiots and cut our heads off!
Columbus : Are you one of these guys that tries to one-up everybody else's story?
Tallahassee : No. I knew a guy way worse at that than me.
 
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