After my first cycle to work, I’ve been trying to bike every other day on my 10 mile commute, a month later and there are a few things I’ve noticed. The stock stem on the 2008 Giant XTC 4.5 was still stinging, so I bought a shorter, taller stem. By changing my riding position so that I wasn’t as stretched out as before, the stitching stopped occurring almost immediately. The 2008 Giant XTC 4.5 is great now that the riding position has been sorted out as it seems to have sorted out the weight distribution and the rear tire doesn’t seem to spin like it used to.
The Panaracer Trailraker 2.1 tires on the 2008 Giant XTC 4.5 seem to have fit. They find a buy in some of the nastier slime you might want to go through. I’ve had Slime inner tubes on me due to the amount of blackthorn bushes along the route and sharp flints, but I seem to have avoided things up to this point (anyone who complains about the extra weight is probably riding an indoor track). . Green goo is fantastic when it comes to punctures as you can usually travel to your destination and refill with air at some other point, if the leak persists for a bit and you’re off again, job done.
On a completely different note, a lady from Washington asked me on Twitter what was the best way to keep out the cold when she was riding her bike. Her immediate suggestion was a face wrap which, for convenience, is great, although it does get quite damp from your breath, which is not surprisingly pleasant. I use an Arctic Fox pull loop that doubles as a hat (good as a face wrap and doesn’t fall down). The more expensive options are a full face mask that will keep your head warm, allow you to breathe, and protect yourself, but it’s not great in the summer (if you’re like me, you’ll sweat no matter what you wear). If you don’t want to use anything around your face, just make sure you moisturize very well to help prevent your face from drying out.
The 2008 Giant XTC 4.5 is already feeling the effects of the abrasive compound that is British tracks with an interesting grinding noise starting to come from the bottom bracket. The flat pedals I replaced the standard swamp ones on the 2008 Giant XTC 4.5 with have started to fall apart a bit, with the beating they take, due to the bumpy edges. I find the suspension adequate if a bit harsh at times, even when I set the return spring as soft as possible. Oh! And the handlebars are starting to make a weird crackling noise that I need to investigate further.
I bought some Raleigh LED lights on Ebay which cost me around £15.00 a set (front and rear) so I bought two sets and fitted them. They’re absolutely brilliant with a battery life of around a month so far, but they’re still just as bright as before. LED is the way to go with this, you can buy sets for stupid money but personally these do exactly what I need and with the addition of an Energiser LED headlight I can see where I am going even on the cloudiest of nights. An additional suggestion is to use some plastic ties to secure the lights in case the ground gets too rough and you find your lights fall off (has happened to me)
Once again, I’ll update back as soon as I can with more tips and reviews on the 2008 Giant XTC 4.5 and other details I find.