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View Full Version : My 2008 Reign 1

maxwolfie
14-10-2008, 02:49 PM
My bike is actually clean for once, so I felt compelled to take some photos and make a PYR thread. The fact that I just put a new load of new bits on might be a contributing factor too :p



The bike:

A 2008 Reign 1. Has served me well in the ~12 months that I've owned it. Great first dual suspension bike if you have the cash. Originally, I wanted an "aggressive XC" bike, I was not particularly fond of DH at the time (probably because I was a crap rider.. some things never change :p). Things have changed a little now and I'm a little more DH/FR orientated. I am so glad that I went with the Reign and not the Trance/Trance X. I am thinking now that perhaps the Reign X should have been a consideration.......then I just look at the weight of the thing! So 12 months later I still have no regrets.



The mods:

OzRiders Foam Grips (http://www.ozriders.com.au/) - These are great, well at least much nicer to your hands than the standard OEM Giant Lock On grips that come with the bike. One day I might try some of ODI's lock ons.. until then, I'll wait till my foam ones fall apart.



Shimano M647 DX Pedals - These are also good when used with DX shoes. I find the wider platform of the shoe makes it easier to walk up massive hills etc. I was originally using some Shimano M122 XC shoes and the standard M520 pedals. They work fine provided that you don't need to walk around on the XC shoes, they are are stiff as anything and very thin. I imagine the DX shoe on the standard M520 pedal would be fairly floppy, due to the lack of the resin cage around the pedal for support. The DX shoes and DX pedals therefore make a suitable combination. The amount of scratches that I already have on my resin cage show how many hits my pedal would have taken if the cage wasn't there.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3204/reign6ge1.jpg



Maxxis High Roller MaxxPro (F&R) tyres - I had to get rid of the Nevegals so this was their replacement. I am unable to comment as yet as I only just put them on! I am also using Maxxis FR tubes.

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/624/reign5du4.jpg



RaceFace 70mm Evolve AM stem - To replace the standard RaceFace 110mm XC Evolve stem. Yes I know I have focused on the wrong thing :p

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/117/reign3iw5.jpg



Titec Scoper Prolite telescopic seatpost - One of the issues I have (had) with the Reign is the inability to drop the seat right down, due to the rear suspension. This post has clearly solved this issue:

The post:
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/6936/reign2ha2.jpg

XC mode:
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/7227/reign7xu8.jpg

DH mode:
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/5420/reignqr8.jpg



The good:

Climbs brilliantly, descends very well too. I guess it's not 100% at either, but it comes close enough. A good "Jack Of All Trades". Very light - Mines no doubt a little heavier after some of the mods but it would still be sub 15kg. The bike is very confidence inspiring.



The bad:

The front end is very light and makes climbing steep & technical terrain difficult, as more weight needs to be distributed over the front wheel in order to keep the damn thing on the ground. This then unloads the rear wheel and makes things a little difficult when you are trying to maintain momentum. A Fox 36 TALAS fork would no doubt add a bit of needed weight here ;)



The ugly:

OEM Kenda Nevegals - Note I am referring to the OEM version, apparently the "normal" version is quite a bit better. The front tends to wash out quite easily. However, having crap tyres is a great way to shift the blame off your crap riding ability, so perhaps they aren't such a bad thing after all.

RaceFace 110mm stem - Too long! It's an All Mountain bike, 70mm is the sweet spot IMO. I had a 50mm Azonic stem on there for a short while, which felt good for DH, not too sure about XC though. I think it was perhaps a bit short.

RaceFace XC BB - So it hasn't given up the gun yet, but I've read may times that this is the weakest part of the Reign 1, so although mine's fine, I thought this is worth mentioning.

Juicy 3's - Very noisy, difficult to change pads, difficult to bleed (Thanks Tai!), average modulation... They pack decent power though. OK, so I am kind of impartial to them. I think I'd rather XT's.

Fox 32 RL - Ok, great fork for it's purposes. I think I'd pay the extra for the 36 TALAS though. I think it'd "round out the bike" a little better.



http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v363/31/35/611893942/n611893942_1395594_96.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v363/31/35/611893942/n611893942_1395595_441.jpg



Thanks for reading!
Tye_B40
14-10-2008, 03:23 PM
You look extremely evil/demon-like.
maxwolfie
14-10-2008, 03:46 PM
Maybe it's just the red eye? :p
g-fish
14-10-2008, 03:51 PM
You look extremely evil/demon-like.

haha just what i was thinking (minus the slash between evil and demon :D)

I wish everyone took the time to do a write up for their bike. e-high five!
Spanky_Ham
14-10-2008, 03:51 PM
Gotta agree with Tye maxwolfie... your one scary mutha fruker in those pictures. You look like a young Lodz out of Carnivale....

Nice bike though.... and good reviews there.
VTSS350
14-10-2008, 04:37 PM
The bad:

The front end is very light and makes climbing steep & technical terrain difficult, as more weight needs to be distributed over the front wheel in order to keep the damn thing on the ground. This then unloads the rear wheel and makes things a little difficult when you are trying to maintain momentum. A Fox 36 TALAS fork would no doubt add a bit of needed weight here ;)



Its not the weight of the front end that makes it hard to climb. Its the head angle and amount of travel. With 6inchs of travel and that head angle it makes it hard to keep your weight over the front.

I have a Reign0 with Talas forks and when dropped down to 120 or 100mm travel there is no problem at all.
Haro_MTB
14-10-2008, 05:35 PM
Good read. I've got the same jersey from Torpedo 7 for like 30 bucks or something... it's awesome. I really like the Reigns philosophy that it really is a go anywhere, do anything bike. Lookin' good.
Smacks
14-10-2008, 05:39 PM
You're a fucking zombie, man.
maxwolfie
14-10-2008, 05:41 PM
Lol, all of my riding photos are the same...

http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v363/31/35/611893942/n611893942_1395586_7446.jpg



lol!

http://photos-f.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v363/31/35/611893942/n611893942_1395589_8413.jpg
Daver
14-10-2008, 06:16 PM
Greg, you know why the front is light when you climb?

You need to get rid of the spacers under the stem (including the 'cone'), and even flip the stem upside down. Makes such a difference to the way the bike rides. I normally trailride with a 65mm x 10 degree stem flipped upside down, and I raced the 24 with an 80x10 flipped upside down.

Also, a bit more lay back in the seatpost (and a flat saddle angle) will help too.
Viv92
14-10-2008, 06:32 PM
Looking good!


Get some wider bars though, the stock RF ones are way too narrow. I went with EA70's and the width is a good compromise between an XC bar and uber wide DH bar. I probably ride about half of each, and I like how it feels.

Swapping tyres for DH is good too. My slow reezay high roller is so much grippier than the 60a ones.
Lorday
14-10-2008, 06:32 PM
Also, a bit more lay back in the seatpost (and a flat saddle angle) will help too.
He may like it like that:p

Nice bike none the less, big fan of the colour, digging the shots zombie boy!
bikeguy70
14-10-2008, 06:33 PM
XC mode:
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/7227/reign7xu8.jpg

DH mode:
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/5420/reignqr8.jpg


lollololololololool. i was looking all over the bike for the difference and then i saw the seat:D:D:D:)
maxwolfie
14-10-2008, 09:40 PM
Daver, would it be a good idea to remove the spacers/cone even for DH? Or is it more to for XC? It's just that I'm finding myself doing more DH than anything these days. I'd like to get back into XC more often though, as my fitness has gone downhill (pun not intended) slightly. I wouldn't want to remove them if it's going to compromise another style (XC or DH).. if you know what I mean.

I am planning to flatten out the seatpost (i.e. so that it is more parallel with the ground, and not so "DJ'ish" ).. but what do you mean by laying it back more? Do you mean position the seat as far back as it will go on the seat rails?
Plow King
14-10-2008, 09:50 PM
http://photos-f.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v363/31/35/611893942/n611893942_1395589_8413.jpg

Wow.

That is a pimp bike. Nice work Greg.
Daver
14-10-2008, 09:50 PM
Daver, would it be a good idea to remove the spacers/cone even for DH? Or is it more to for XC? It's just that I'm finding myself doing more DH than anything these days. I'd like to get back into XC more often though, as my fitness has gone downhill (pun not intended) slightly. I wouldn't want to remove them if it's going to compromise another style (XC or DH).. if you know what I mean.

I am planning to flatten out the seatpost (i.e. so that it is more parallel with the ground, and not so "DJ'ish" ).. but what do you mean by laying it back more? Do you mean position the seat as far back as it will go on the seat rails?

Lowering the bar height will move your weight further forwards, meaning you will climb better, turn better and have far more control in rougher terrain. Everyone from DH racers to XC riders will try to run their setups as low as possible to help them. You can experiment by simply moving the spacers around, you don't have to trim the steerer yet.

In terms of setting the seat up, start with it in a comfortable position for you. The layback of the seatpost (or setback) positions the seat further rearwards (or forwards if you're a triwhacker). The advantage of this is that you address the short top tube of the Reigns, meaning you get better pedalling movement. That said, you really need to be fitted to the bike (the bar height/width, stem length/rise and seatpost height/layback should have all been setup when you bought the bike)- if the bike is too long you'll be inefficient, too short and you'll be on the back wheel up every hill.

To give you an idea, I run a Reign with Lyrik's on the front for everything from racing (24), trailriding, downhill and shopping. I generally run the forks at 160mm for everything but long/steep climbs, and to get my front as low as possible I run my stem flipped with the spacers on top. It works fine for me, but the bars still feel too high (which comes down to the ridiculously short top tube and tall head tube on a large reign).
taibo
15-10-2008, 02:13 AM
hahaha Greg! ur bike looks clean for once!
nice work!
maxwolfie
15-10-2008, 10:06 AM
Lowering the bar height will move your weight further forwards, meaning you will climb better, turn better and have far more control in rougher terrain. Everyone from DH racers to XC riders will try to run their setups as low as possible to help them. You can experiment by simply moving the spacers around, you don't have to trim the steerer yet.

In terms of setting the seat up, start with it in a comfortable position for you. The layback of the seatpost (or setback) positions the seat further rearwards (or forwards if you're a triwhacker). The advantage of this is that you address the short top tube of the Reigns, meaning you get better pedalling movement. That said, you really need to be fitted to the bike (the bar height/width, stem length/rise and seatpost height/layback should have all been setup when you bought the bike)- if the bike is too long you'll be inefficient, too short and you'll be on the back wheel up every hill.

To give you an idea, I run a Reign with Lyrik's on the front for everything from racing (24), trailriding, downhill and shopping. I generally run the forks at 160mm for everything but long/steep climbs, and to get my front as low as possible I run my stem flipped with the spacers on top. It works fine for me, but the bars still feel too high (which comes down to the ridiculously short top tube and tall head tube on a large reign).

Thanks Daver

For DH though, isn't it better (generally) to get more weight over the back, not the front?

Do you have a Reign or a Reign X? If it's a Reign, do you find that it holds up well DH'ing? I'm contemplating buying a cheap DH rig to plow down hills, as the Reign seems to be taking a real beating lately (i.e. both wheels are out of whack, especially the front). Just wondering if I can get your input RE: this. If you think the Reign is capable, I may invest in some Fox 36's (TALAS).

I will flatten out the seat when I get home :)
maxwolfie
16-10-2008, 03:46 PM
OK, I've pushed the seat right back, flattened it out, flipped the stem over and remove all spacers as well as the cone. There's a fair bit of steerer poking out now, but I'll see how it goes :)

Cheers
maxwolfie
21-10-2008, 10:32 PM
OK, I've pushed the seat right back, flattened it out, flipped the stem over and remove all spacers as well as the cone. There's a fair bit of steerer poking out now, but I'll see how it goes :)

Cheers

Verdict: Very fucking weird the first time I rode it.. But even after the second run down, I was getting used to the setup fairly quickly though. I suppose such radicle changes will feel quite fooked up the first time you ride. I've put the cone back in as the steerer is way too long (i.e. just asking to get "nadded" by it) to take it out. Also felt a tad "too low" with it out. All the spacers are on top though :)

Seat feels quite weird with it all the way down.. I like it probably at about half the height of what the minimum was before, and what the minimum is now. Maybe.. 2- inches from the tube
Justin Fox
22-10-2008, 09:09 AM
Good stuff Greg. Looks like you've sorted the stem and seatpost issue!