Mountain Biking - OK....time to spoil my bike rotten...advice.

I figure I might as well spoil my mountainbike as badly as i spoiled my roadbike.

The bike was marketed as primarily an XC bike, but the frame is beefy enough to handle lesser beatings as well. Either way, i am looking at lightening it where I can, and strenthening it where it matters, if that makes any sense.

Here's a pic of the beast itself, and the specs list...well the pic is outdated a bit...as this was before the v-brake conversion, the oury grips, and my swapping out the deore front disc caliper and rotor for the Avid/Hope setup.:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/catatonic_cyclist/IMG_9524.jpg

Raleigh Talus 17"
Ritchey Comp Seatpost/stem
Answer pro-taper riser bars
Oury lock-on grips
Deore LX brake/shifters (mechanical)
WTB Zero-stoack headset
Manitou Axel Elite fork (80mm)
Avid BB7 front disc brake w/ hope gothic rotor
Deore LX rear V-brake
WTB Speed-disc front wheel
Ritchey Grifter rear wheel (needed for rim brakes)
WTB Speed-V Comp saddle
Truvativ ISIS BB
Truvativ Stylo cranks
eggbeater c pedals
sram chain (forgot what model...it was like $35 though)
sram rear cassette (11-34, drilled upper cogs)
deore LX front/ XT rear derailers

get new wheels first, thats always the best way to improve your ride.

You converted the rear from disc to v-brake? Why?

You can lose quite a bit of weight by getting rid of the fork and going to something better. What do you have for tires/tubes, going to a lighter weight pair with a faster tread pattern will make a noticeable difference.

You mention what the bike is built for but what type of riding do you do?

The best place to lose weight is on tires and wheels. Even if you want to go with a heavier-duty wheelset, you can probably get something that is very strong but that weighs less than what you have now.

You converted the rear from disc to v-brake? Why?

You can lose quite a bit of weight by getting rid of the fork and going to something better. What do you have for tires/tubes, going to a lighter weight pair with a faster tread pattern will make a noticeable difference.

You mention what the bike is built for but what type of riding do you do?

The V-brake conversion was for two reasons:

1) nothing out here is technical enough to justify a rear disc. Mostly flatland, soft ground, but easily stoppable.
2) Sometimes I put a rack on this bike...and I do not own a disc-compatible rack

Mostly XC, but I also jump off stuff up to 2 feet tall.

Tires vary depending on what I'm doing, between WTB Weirwolf 2.1 (trail fun) and Specialized Nimbus (street riding). Tubes are some ultralight stuff...they seem alright.


edit: in the photo that bike had some kenda Klaw XT tires on them....chepos I used for road use until I got my Nimbus.

I also grabbed some parts from my currently dismantled roadbike, so this bike now has a thomson elite seatpost, and a specialized alias saddle. So far that saddle is far nicer than the WTB one.

I'm also debating on some xtr v-brakes since I have a chance to get them for a steal. I know the weight savings isn't much, but it is a darn nice brake....but now that I found some decent non-skewer based rear racks...I might just go back to disc anyways...who knows...