Yes, that’s a nice bike. Giant still makes ATX aluminum frames sold with lower end parts, it’s their “cheapie” line. But many of these original ATX frames are great because they have holes for mounting racks already.
The simple solution for the weight issue is to ditch the heavy front MTB forks. You can save 800 grams, they are useless. I replaced them with a super light aluminum pair, no damping. Also, I changed all the parts, removing the clunky heavy stem, post, pedals, brakes, etc, and the drive train is Deore 10-speed… Easy to maintain, long-lasting, and I only changed the lowest crank ring down to 22 teeth…
Recently, I bought another identical second hand ATX frame for 40 dollars off an online site. I also bought a whole new set of parts to build up this sister bike… And, I chose Deore 9-speed… With a bigger gear range on the front crank…
As for wheels and tires, I am into comfortable, slow touring, so I stick with the 1⅜ or 1¾ road tires… They wear well and in many out of the way places in Asia, Africa or South America, you can find those tires because a lot of 26ers got sold all around the world… (I find the new 29ers really ungainly and those bikes look so heavy! Not good for touring. I think they are meant only for tall guys…)
I agree… It isn’t nonsense… I remember when I lived in Peitou between 1995 and 2003 or so… I would train for my summer trip to Tibet by ascending the steep roads up to Seven Star Mountain and Yangminshan… Especially on the back route up, from Daoxiang Road and over the top next to Seven Star Mountain and on to Yangminshan, I seldom saw ANY traffic on weekday mornings… As for bicycles on those roads in the 90s and noughties, there were almost none. There were only a handful of riders and usually you’d see them only on the weekends… I usually had the road to myself…
I miss those days, it was such a gorgeous, challenging ride, and a big thrill speeding back down…
Actually, two… Being in the middle of nowhere, I thought I might need them. On that trip in '97, I stayed in guesthouse places along the way from Yunnan to Chamdo and back to Sichuan. I was carrying some food and warm clothes. Later, in '99, when I rode from Xinjiang to Ngari, western Tibet – that was another ballgame – more wilderness and few settlements. So, I camped out most nights in a tiny tent. But looking back, I carried too much.
Nowadays, I only carry two 20-liter panniers with no more than 10 kilos, including a mini-stove and one pot, and a 1 kilo tent.
When I went to Ladakh in 2016, I just bought a second-hand jacket from roadside sellers on the way… In mountains, I always have a down fill sleeping bag, but it only weighs 600 grams. Traveling light is more fun, and you can always pick up what you need on the way as needs demand…
I am a snail… The great irony is that the roads up to Yangminshan have grades often steeper than most roads in Tibet… But the climbs there go on for 30 kilometers up 2, 3 or 4 thousand meters up from valley to the top. Then down again, then up again, etc, etc…
5,008 meters (is that correct from the picture?) - would be taller than anything in continental US. I’m thinking the logistics for keeping fueled up would be hard. Unless there are villages on route. Must be a huge calorie loss. I’m guessing you’d lose 10+ pounds on a trip like that…
I carried a dry cereal made from sesame seeds, ground beans and grains. I had nuts, raisins, and Chinese army energy biscuits – like granola bars full of flour and sugar. There were restos in big towns. I didn’t lose much weight.
But the altitudes of 5000 metres were difficult. Before topping that pass, I had to get off my bike and rest, then walk for the last few hundred metres because the air was getting thin. I felt tired and was gasping. But I made it even so. I had no headaches, and became acclimated simply by starting down in Yunnan and riding all the way from Lijiang to get over three passes and finally enter Tibet at Yanjing. But there’s yet another climb up from there into Markam… It was slow going, but food was available…
Back then the roads were smooth packed red clay… The army ignored me. They didn’t close Tibet to independent travellers until after 2008…
I think you misunderstood the quote , we both agree that there were not that many bikers in the nineties. So many times people cheered at us while passing in their cars, that doesn’t happen any more…
Why I replied was; I don’t understand anything of why people react so hostile if others have a nice bike (or car or whatever).
Is it just jealousy?
Who cares if they use it or not, if they are good bikers or not?
Mind your own business, enjoy whatever you do, be too busy with that, and let others do theirs … (and disclaimer; my most expensive bike is maybe NTD. 30.000 in today’s money, so I am not defending myself ).
Now no more, back to your epic ride, that deserves a threat by itself!
Very very impressive rides!
Showing this bike during a last, quick shakedown this morning, before gifting it to the next owner.
Nothing too special, but rare, and like new.
Completely overhauled and serviced it, then rebuilt it as flat-bar with stronger wheels.
Will gift it to a good friend, who was better to me than I was to him in the last year …
This one will fit him way better than the “one size too small” MTB he is riding now, and hopefully helps to get rid of overweight, blood pressure issues, and some more.
Just thinking how to give it to him without rejection …
Well, maybe he only meant it is a lot more expensive now to own a fancy bike, and so many people do, it’s a status game rather than a joy sport. I have no idea. But consciousness of biking has increased a lot. I still think all the high-end stuff is a gimmick to make people spend too much. . . If you buy a frame you can build the same bike for half…
True, that’s just the way marketing and the capitalism model works though.
Look at the car industry, I know of people who don’t like to have cars that are older than five years old, because they are unfashionable, or move to a worse house in a better neighbourhood.
“Prestige” is an intangible value, but a costly one.
It’s amazing to me how much money most people where I live (here in USA) spend on bikes. Most people are shocked when I tell them I want to buy a new bike for $2 - $3,000 USD. They have no idea that most of the people I ride with are on Specialized S-Works machines costing around $8,000 USD!
It’s most of those guys that pass me on the flats and on the downhills. But I’m on their tail on the uphills every time! Ha ha!
Right now I’m happy with my upgraded Cannondales. The Shimano components have finally come down in price and the upgrade is well worth it to e.g. XT Deore.
Yeah I’m the same, I have a 2013 Specialized Allez. No carbon on it anywhere, rim brakes, external cables, no dropped seat stays or integrated cockpits or any of that, not knocking that stuff, it just pre-dates it. It cost £500 new and at the time I was almost embarrassed to say how much that one cost!
“In what way is it specialized?” my friends would ask…
I’ve been thinking about replacing it with something a bit fancier, a Dogma F12 or a Tarmac, but realistically I wouldn’t even leave my Allez outside of shops, and there’s been a spate of bike jackings, so I’d be paranoid about it.
Plus, according to the marketing descriptions, someone who steals the Tarmac and uses it incorrectly might inadvertedly leave the known dimensions of our universe…
Darkness, Light, Speed—three elements so intertwined they cannot exist without the other. Nothing in the universe moves faster than light, but before and after is constant darkness.
, we both agree that there were not that many bikers in the nineties. So many times people cheered at us while passing in their cars, that doesn’t happen any more…
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