Mountain Biking - Help me with some upgrades

First Post!

Ive got an '02 giant iguana that i love too ride but, a few of the parts are in need of replacement. First of all I NEED new wheels, theres no question about this. I cant count how many times ive had too re-true them its just getting annoying. Secondly its time for a new bottom bracket. Id love too be able too replace the cranks too but thats just not in the budget right now. So, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. My budget is moddest but i do realize that most of the time quality comes at a cost. Im not tryin too win any races, i just need something reliable. Thanks in advance.

Do you know if your BB is splined or square taper? Probably square but if you don't know be sure to check. The UN72 is a good, inexpensive BB with a square taper. Not much to choose from in square taper anymore. Race Face makes one also but it's about 60 bucks.
http://pricepoint.com/product322.html

Oh, and Welcome to the Forums! :)

Just curious: what's wrong with your bottom bracket? If it's an '02 it can't have worn down so quickly, can it? :confused:

Remember Chi - not all bottom brackets are made equally. Nor do all riders ride with the same smoothness for that matter.

Originally posted by Chi
Just curious: what's wrong with your bottom bracket? If it's an '02 it can't have worn down so quickly, can it? :confused:

I went through my Truvativ in a month...I wasn't smooth and I weigh more than the average rider and I do drops and dh...it depends on a lot of things. My Raceface has lasted a year thank god.

If you aren't doing Freeride you would probably be good with Sun Rims Rhyno Lite wheels. Pricepoint has good deals on them with LX or XT hubs. I wish I ordered mine from there. They are selling the above cheaper than what my LBS sold mine with Deore hubs. If you really need a new BB and want new cranks, you may be able to buy both and stay with in your budget by ordering from Pricepoint, or JensonUSA. I find they have the better deals compared to other online stores. SuperGo is worth looking at as well.

Yes, its a square taper BB and yes, it is worn out. I dont do any DH or Freeride, mostly just trail riding.

Wow ... I actually baby my bikes ... :p

The problem with the BB is understandable if its a square taper. When I got my Trek MTB it had a square taper BB and I had to retighten that at least once every time I rode. Due to that I made that my first upgrade going to a splined BB and crankset.
The Sun rims are good ones and you should be able to find all sorts of deals on them. If you look in MTB Review they always have E-tailers with good deals advertising there.

If you are looking at new wheels, the Rhyno lites are solid, they are alos heavy rims, they may not be lighter than what you have on your Iguana right now, Zac weinmans?, but they are sure beefier. I think I saw at wheelworld.com that they had some Rhyno's , yes I just checked, about 99 a pair, with LX hubs, with XT hubs they are 159!
My Rhyno's never needed truing after I built them, and I am not a finness rider!

How do you know if your bottom bracket is worn out? Sounds, feel any other signs?

Another vote for the Rhyno Lite wheelset. If you have really gone through the BB this fast, you proably need a beefy wheelset. I picked up a Rhyno Lite for the rear of my bike after the factory wheel bit it last season. So far, it has held up to snow riding, all the MTB'ing I have been able to get in so far this year, and tons of stairs/curbs/etc while the trails were melting. The thing is still perfectly true and smooth. It might not be the lightest thing in the world, but it is really tough. I consider myseld more of a finess rider on the trail, but I wanted something I wouldn't want to worry about. I'm planning on racing XC for my second year this summer and am using the Rhyno Lite on th rear. When the front factory wheel has finally had enough, I'll be putting a Rhyno Lite up there too. I bought my wheel from the LBS, so I knew it was properly built/trued before riding it, and this could play a big part in its performance so far. If you don't know how to true a wheel yourself, you might want to consider bringing the wheelset to your LBS to make sure it is properly tensioned and trued.


-Moab

Originally posted by Chuvak
How do you know if your bottom bracket is worn out? Sounds, feel any other signs?

Mine had side to side slop AND when I spun it by hand had a 'slow' spot. The side to side slop is what did it for me. :)

As for ryno lites I am having a good time with mine as a front but I still wouldn't trust it as a strong rear rim. I have broken too (2)many to TRULY trust it.

I'm running Rhynolites front and rear. I'm 6'4" 250# and not GENTLE. I've had no problems so far.

Originally posted by Raiyn
I'm running Rhynolites front and rear. I'm 6'4" 250# and not GENTLE. I've had no problems so far.

Yeah I know :D...thats why I don't diss them like I used to. I am hoping I had two bad rims and that they are strong like you say :D

thanks for the help.

I'm in the market for some new wheels as well, and thanks to the reviews here, I might be going for the Rhyno Lites as well. :)