[pvfjr]

I just picked up a new (to me) '03 Giant Warp DS1. It looks like it's seen a few mods, but I'm wondering what's good and what's bad. I'm a little cloudy as to the exact definitions of FR, XC, DH, dirt jumping, etc and the differences between them; but I figure I'm probably more of a XC rider. It's been a while since I've done any biking, and this will be my first real bike. Last one was a $125 Pacific, but hey, it withstood almost 3000 miles with regular maintenance.


Click pics to enlarge

The DS1:



First off, it has a set of Marzzocchi Bombers in the front, which I'm sure are an upgrade. I believe it was supposed to have Manitou Axel Supers when it was stock.

It's also got some Deore shifters. It seems that XT's seem to be the ultimate components, but how do Deores rate?


And the rear shock...


Deore rear deraileur and SRAM cassette...


Truvativ ISIS drive Hussefelt crank, and Azonic pedals...


Hub...


Double walled Alex rims...


Avid disc brakes...

 

[pvfjr]

A couple of the big questions I had:

This thing came with these tubeless tires, that leak like crazy. The seller told me about it before I bought it, and filled them for me before I got it from him. They were both flat within the next 8 hours. I was going to do a leak check on them to find out where it's leaking, but they have some weird valve stem that I don't have a way to air up! Is there some sort of adapter for these things? What would it be called, and where would I find it?




Manufacturer Information says that this bike is a 27 speed, but I'm only seeing two gears in the front, and they look pretty small. Did somebody gear this thing down for trail riding? It's gonna be my only bike for a while, so I'd like it to be road friendly, but it doesn't appear that I'll be able to go very fast with this setup. How hard/expensive would it be to go back to a 27 speed? Advisable?


That's all for now. Let the component debate begin.

 

[skatetokil]

Looks like a decent all around bike. only thing i see that's total junk is the rear shock. my first upgrade would be to something like a swinger air on that bike (pedaling platform, fairly light). Parts spec is a little on the heavy side for possible road riding (get a set of slick tires and you'll hate your life much less). Going to a third chainring will cost you $20-40 depending on how badly your shop gouges you, and while I have a bad habbit of snapping off my third ring, you might like it fine for real xc riding.

 

[mcoomer]

Congrats on the new (to you) bike.

Tires first I suppose. Pull the tires off the wheel so you can check things out. Check the bead of the wheel and tire to make sure they are in good shape. You can pick up a tire sealant for tubeless tires at you LBS or you can try soap and water to wet the bead (I recommend the sealent). The valve appears to be a Presta valve and will require a pump or adapter that is made for it.

The middle chain ring can be replaced and if you're going to ride the bike on the road you probably should do it. If it's going to be a trail only bike I wouldn't worry about it. I've never done it myself but from what I gather it's not too difficult. A check of this site should get you all the info you need to get it done. Otherwise, check for broken teeth and wear and replace as necessary. The same goes for the cassette.

Ditto what skatetokil said about the shock. Upgrade it, your ass will thank you. A Swinger 3-way will work for sure but there are obviously other manufacturers out there. mtbr.com is a review site that you can use to find out what other people think of their gear. Do some research, check out MTBR, then hit up EBay and look out for good deals. It can be done, and for a lot cheaper than buying new from the shop.

Looking at the rest of the pics, you've got good brakes but I notice that the cable is corroded a bit. Check all your cables and clean/replace them as necessary to ensure they are in good working order, with no resistance to movement. Bad cables will really screw with the derailleurs, causing lots of shifting problems. The Deore components are not top of the line but they are decent and should work just fine until you upgrade them or wear them out. The Avid brakes are good but should probably be checked and cleaned as well. Clean and lube the chain while you're at it. If you're going to work on this yourself, may I suggest Park Tool Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair. Trust me on this!

That should get you started. It appears that you've got a decent bike to start with. Some elbow grease will have you tearing it up real soon.

Good luck,
Mike

 

[pvfjr]

Thanks for the replys guys. It looks like I'll be headed to the LBS to get an adapter for these presta valves if I ever have time. Maybe I'll have them help me get these tires figured out. It looks like there was a layer of rubber layed down inside the rim, wrapping all the way around the wheel. It looks like the tire is glued to this flat piece of rubber, but the glue looked kind of crusty when I peeled back the tire a ways. It doesn't appear that the bead of the actual tire was really sealed against the rim itself, as it would be in the automotive applications that I'm familiar with.

So where's a good place to find a 3rd chainring? What kind of specs do I need to look for, or is this stuff pretty universal and interchangeable? I'd like to add a 42 tooth ring back onto it if I could. I'll be happy if I can do that without having to buy a whole new crank set.

I guess I'll have to measure my rear shock and start figuring out what to shop for.

And about my front fork, it seems kind of soft. I haven't sat on the bike and measured the sag (don't want to sit on it till I get air in the tires). So would the bomber be an air shock? Would I need to put air in it or something? Could there be an oil leak or something? I don't really know what type of shock it is or how to maintain and check it.

 

[splat]

I had DS1 , It is a Decent all around bike. it should treat you well.

If the tubless tires are a problem , you can take out the Rim Strip out and put a tube in.

 

[Boomer-61]

This bike is ok for its intended purpose but I think you will end up spending a lot of money on upgrades to make it into an XC ride. If XC is your true intention my advise would be to sell this bike and buy an XC specific bike. As I scan the photo's you posted everything is built heavy which is good for DS. I'd guess that bike weighs around 35 pounds, not good for XC. The geometry is for DS, slack head tube angle and seat tube angle which is good for hammering down hill but terrible for XC. XC bikes need tighter geometry, especially the seat tube angle, you want your body positioned over the pedals not to the rear of them like this bike. The suspension design is not the best for XC either. There are many designs out there that are more efficient. I'm sorry to sound like a kill joy but by the time you upgrade everything your looking at a bike that weighs around 27 pounds on a good day and you've spent over a thousand bucks getting there.

 

[pvfjr]

Well I'm not too picky about things yet, so I'm just gonna ride it for what it is at the moment. I definitely won't be dropping a grand in upgrades on this thing. I *might* put an air shock in the rear, and maybe a third chain ring on the crank, but that'd be about it. If I find it lacking, I may buy another bike for road/XC, and keep this one for any possible DH/DJ I may get into. But for now, it's gonna have to serve my purposes. I'm still keeping my eye out for a Rockhopper or a hardrock, if I see a deal I can't pass up. As far as weight goes, all I've ridden until this point were walmart bikes, so at least it's an improvement. I'm not gonna get competitive in any way, so I really don't care if it slows me down a little bit, or is somewhat inefficient.

Anyone have any input on my shock issues?

 

[SkaredShtles]

That Giant will be 1000x better as a XC bike than your Pacific was. Just ride and have fun!

 

[blue]

This bike is ok for its intended purpose but I think you will end up spending a lot of money on upgrades to make it into an XC ride. If XC is your true intention my advise would be to sell this bike and buy an XC specific bike. As I scan the photo's you posted everything is built heavy which is good for DS. I'd guess that bike weighs around 35 pounds, not good for XC. The geometry is for DS, slack head tube angle and seat tube angle which is good for hammering down hill but terrible for XC. XC bikes need tighter geometry, especially the seat tube angle, you want your body positioned over the pedals not to the rear of them like this bike. The suspension design is not the best for XC either. There are many designs out there that are more efficient. I'm sorry to sound like a kill joy but by the time you upgrade everything your looking at a bike that weighs around 27 pounds on a good day and you've spent over a thousand bucks getting there.

Please don't listen to this ill-informed imbecile.

The Warp DS1 is an entry-level beginner XC bike. The headtube angle with a 100mm fork is around 70 degrees. With the Z1 at 120mm of travel, it's probably at 68-69 degrees (slightly more "chopper" than most XC bikes). You can sell the fork for a more suitable XC one without problems, but it's not necessary right now.

It looks like the moron who owned it before thought it would make an excellent...freeride? bike. The person who owned it before you mounted parts to it, hoping to turn it into something it's not (As retard above posted). Take it to your LBS and have them take off the bashguard for a big ring if you intend to do sustained road riding. The tires currently mounted look like 2-ply (heavy) Minions...ask the bike shop what tires they would suggest for XC, and have them mount them, as well as some tubes. Tubeless systems are finicky, and I'd suggest you get a bit of mechanical experience before screwing around with them at all.

At this point, you're going to be fine with the shock mounted. You probably won't be able to notice its shortcomings for some time, and you've got no reason to spend money right now. The Warp DS1 is a great bike for a rider just starting out. Take what I've suggested to heart, I think it will help a great deal. You can probably get the chainring, new tires, and installation all for under $100, even at a pricey shop.

 

[Mudpuppy]

I agree with this guy. Go to a shop tell them what you plan on using the bike for and get new tires and a new chainring to replace the bashring (the part that is on your bike right now instead of a third ring in the front) I wouldn't worry about the other stuff yet. Ride the bike until you have problems with other stuff or have enough experience to tell what parts you like or don't like. You'll probably be ready for a new bike by that time anyway if you really like riding.

 

[pvfjr]

Well thanks for the info. I'm a serious DIY'er, so I'd rather do everything myself if I can. I've already got a lot of mechanical experience in the automotive field, so I don't think I'll have a problem picking this stuff up. I'll try and figure out my chainring bolt pattern, and start searching for a 3rd ring. I already spent more than I wanted on the bike, so rather than buying new tires right now, I'll probably just throw some tubes in it. Then I won't have to get a presta adapter. So are there certain types of tubes that will serve my purposes better? Brands? Styles?

 

[blue]

Tubes are tubes for XC. Just get a regular 26 inch 1.8-2.1 Schrader tube. Bike shops, grocery stores, big box stores...they all have tons of them.

 

[pvfjr]

Sweet, I didn't know if a bike shop tube would be any better than a wal-mart tube. I guess I'll go pick one up from the BX on my lunchbreak this weekend.

 

[Mudpuppy]

Sweet, I didn't know if a bike shop tube would be any better than a wal-mart tube. I guess I'll go pick one up from the BX on my lunchbreak this weekend.

They can be better quality. But the only problem I've had with Walmart tubes is I got ~3 in a row with loose valve stems that leaked a bit. I just tightened them up with my valve stem thingy and they were fine. For tires, just check the size that is printed on the size of the tire and get a tube that is designed for that size (it will say on the box). If you get too small of a tube it can stretch too thin and flat easier, and if it's too big, it can get wrinkles cought between the rim/tire and flat easier.

Your cranks look to be a 4-104 pattern. Cranks and chainrings are sized by number of bolts and the diameter of a circle drawn through the center of the bolts. So you can measure the center of the bottom bracket spindle, to the center of the bolt and double that measurement (you could just measure all the way across but not if you had a 5 bolt pattern). That should give you the 104mm. The 4 is from having 4 bolts holding the chainring to the cranks.

 

[sneakysnake]

They can be better quality. But the only problem I've had with Walmart tubes is I got ~3 in a row with loose valve stems that leaked a bit. I just tightened them up with my valve stem thingy and they were fine. For tires, just check the size that is printed on the size of the tire and get a tube that is designed for that size (it will say on the box). If you get too small of a tube it can stretch too thin and flat easier, and if it's too big, it can get wrinkles cought between the rim/tire and flat easier.

on that bike a tube that is around 2.1 will work wonderfully, i've run 1.95-2.1 xc tubes in 2.5 tires on dh bikes and they've been running great. so i would say that you dont really have to worry about which tubes you run for right now.

 

[blue]

Most tubes come out of the same few factories in Taiwan and Indonesia. True story.

 

[Wumpus]

Then I won't have to get a presta adapter. So are there certain types of tubes that will serve my purposes better? Brands? Styles?

I don't know for sure but those rims may be drilled for presta valves and a schrader valve won't fit then. You can drill them out for schrader if you're brave.

 

[pvfjr]

I don't know for sure but those rims may be drilled for presta valves and a schrader valve won't fit then. You can drill them out for schrader if you're brave.

Funny you mention that. I ran into that last night, and I was brave, and I did drill them out. Didn't know if I should though. Funny thing was, with the double walled rim, the hole in the inner wall already fit the shraeder valve perfectly, but the outer wall had to be drilled out about another 7/64 from what it was.

I managed to find a moment to go to GI Joes, now I've got tubes, and a rough first adjustment of the bike. Seems to fit me pretty decent, though I had to take the seatpost to the max to get it high enough. Must be a DH post. Now to find the time to ride...stupid 12 hour shifts with no days off.

My tires turned out to be 2.35, and I stuck some 2.125 tubes in it, so no big deal.

 

[blue]

Yeah...2.1 tubes in 2.35s are all right. You've usually got "wiggle room" when it comes to that.

 

[umberto]

nice bike, my friend has a ds1
tires/tubes, drivetrain, and rear shock (to air) are what I'd probably change first. If you're going to strictly ride xc then you can change the fork