Some back story as to how this came about;
I was after a modern carbon fibre full suspension machine to hack about the trail parks and the like but couldn't really source anything different or stand out from the current crop of generic bikes at a reasonable price. There were a few nice ones but with prices in the £2k to £4k region it was a bit more than i wanted to spend.
However on my look out i stumbled across a totally standard 1997 Giant MCM980 which is a carbon fibre front and aluminium rear triangle. Not really what i was after as i wanted modern but my retro fondness and my eye for the lovely frame took hold. It was all original with original tyres and coupe deluxe rear shock and XC long travel forks with a mixture of XT and LX groupset. I replaced the elastomer’s in the forks from suspensionforkparts.net and set about putting it to use.
I used it a couple of times in its standard state at Cannock and some XC but tbh it was showing its age, although i really liked the geometry of the bike i thought i had made a bit of a bad decision getting another retro machine. To be fair a long time has passed since 1997 and many things have developed for the better and i just wasn’t up to the pace of my mates who were pushing their machines to the limit and at the end of a the runs i would be beat with aching hands from the V’s and aching upper body etc.
However whilst out and about on the 980 some fellow riders would comment on how nice the frame looked and how different it was, and that’s when it hit me, I had a plan, I will embark on a project to modernise this bike as it is different and it is carbon fibre and it will be a one off and it wont cost £2k+ – awesome.
I have therefore spent the last few months researching what to change – forks and rear shock were a given, thinking of colour schemes and the various ways to do carbon fibre and red. I have sold other period parts i was collecting to upgrade this as i thought i will go as much modern as possible. Also added to this was the complexity of not trying to overly change the geometry and to try and work out the rear shock stroke so as not to bottom out the rear end etc.
So here it is after many months of calculating and sourcing and a good few hours of building my modernised MCM980 with, in the main, modern forks, wheels, tyres, brakes, and rear shock. I kept the M737 running gear as this is fine and didn't really need changing plus it saved a fair amount of money. I am very happy with this bike as it is a one off build and look and it feels very nice to ride as the modern equipment, particularly the front and rear shocks, are a revelation as i have only ever ridden 96 & 97 Judy forks.
I took these with my iPhone so not the best of resolutions.
I was after a modern carbon fibre full suspension machine to hack about the trail parks and the like but couldn't really source anything different or stand out from the current crop of generic bikes at a reasonable price. There were a few nice ones but with prices in the £2k to £4k region it was a bit more than i wanted to spend.
However on my look out i stumbled across a totally standard 1997 Giant MCM980 which is a carbon fibre front and aluminium rear triangle. Not really what i was after as i wanted modern but my retro fondness and my eye for the lovely frame took hold. It was all original with original tyres and coupe deluxe rear shock and XC long travel forks with a mixture of XT and LX groupset. I replaced the elastomer’s in the forks from suspensionforkparts.net and set about putting it to use.
I used it a couple of times in its standard state at Cannock and some XC but tbh it was showing its age, although i really liked the geometry of the bike i thought i had made a bit of a bad decision getting another retro machine. To be fair a long time has passed since 1997 and many things have developed for the better and i just wasn’t up to the pace of my mates who were pushing their machines to the limit and at the end of a the runs i would be beat with aching hands from the V’s and aching upper body etc.
However whilst out and about on the 980 some fellow riders would comment on how nice the frame looked and how different it was, and that’s when it hit me, I had a plan, I will embark on a project to modernise this bike as it is different and it is carbon fibre and it will be a one off and it wont cost £2k+ – awesome.
I have therefore spent the last few months researching what to change – forks and rear shock were a given, thinking of colour schemes and the various ways to do carbon fibre and red. I have sold other period parts i was collecting to upgrade this as i thought i will go as much modern as possible. Also added to this was the complexity of not trying to overly change the geometry and to try and work out the rear shock stroke so as not to bottom out the rear end etc.
So here it is after many months of calculating and sourcing and a good few hours of building my modernised MCM980 with, in the main, modern forks, wheels, tyres, brakes, and rear shock. I kept the M737 running gear as this is fine and didn't really need changing plus it saved a fair amount of money. I am very happy with this bike as it is a one off build and look and it feels very nice to ride as the modern equipment, particularly the front and rear shocks, are a revelation as i have only ever ridden 96 & 97 Judy forks.
I took these with my iPhone so not the best of resolutions.
