Giant MCM990 Questions.
- Thread starter Tjompa
- Start date
For the Value: I bought a team edition frame, but that was many many years ago, so not really relevant. I do not know what they are worth, but there must be lots of people (like me) who drooled over the catalogue back in the day. It was the most expensive frame that Giant (ever?) did; about 1300 pounds frame only in 1997, even the ATX DH1 downhill frame was a full 1/3 cheaper.
There's is nothing else like it, carbon mono front, aluminium rear, forged linkage plates, low centre shock, oversized frame pivots, fluid lines that run from front to rear like a beach cruiser.No doubt Giant invested a lot of money into the development, but I think they never got it all back. They were hard to sell, because face it: it's a pretty decent frame, but for the fortune it costed you could get such a nice boutique frame and, well I guess, the price just didn't match Giant's bang for buck image back then.
As for the ride: it is a decent ride; nice suspension system not a lot of pogo, supple 100mm travel, freeride geometry.
Downsides however:
- not as light as you would expect from a carbon frame (3200gr excl shock)
- Rear stays are just a bit too flimsy; the back isn't as stiff as a Cannondale, Intense or Nicolai from the same era.
- no disc tabs and a long headtube (needs fork with plenty of steerer left), needs a direct mount front derailleur (be sure the adapter plate is incl with the frame!)
Positive:
- durable pivots, not a lot of maintenance required (bit more stiction then ball bearings of course)
- plush easy to set up rear suspension with little pedal influence (compared to other '97 bikes that is)
- Head turner, conversation piece
- ideal girlfriend bike / girls like em
Mind you, I bought the frame bitd for the rougher stuff, so when I really started to ride it in the mountains and found the tail was too wiggly I decided not to keep it as my main 'all mountain' bike, replaced it with an Intense. But just couldn't sell the beloved MCM, luckily the girlfriend really likes it and rides it, so it can stay.
btw here's another old MCM900 topic: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=75645
There's is nothing else like it, carbon mono front, aluminium rear, forged linkage plates, low centre shock, oversized frame pivots, fluid lines that run from front to rear like a beach cruiser.No doubt Giant invested a lot of money into the development, but I think they never got it all back. They were hard to sell, because face it: it's a pretty decent frame, but for the fortune it costed you could get such a nice boutique frame and, well I guess, the price just didn't match Giant's bang for buck image back then.
As for the ride: it is a decent ride; nice suspension system not a lot of pogo, supple 100mm travel, freeride geometry.
Downsides however:
- not as light as you would expect from a carbon frame (3200gr excl shock)
- Rear stays are just a bit too flimsy; the back isn't as stiff as a Cannondale, Intense or Nicolai from the same era.
- no disc tabs and a long headtube (needs fork with plenty of steerer left), needs a direct mount front derailleur (be sure the adapter plate is incl with the frame!)
Positive:
- durable pivots, not a lot of maintenance required (bit more stiction then ball bearings of course)
- plush easy to set up rear suspension with little pedal influence (compared to other '97 bikes that is)
- Head turner, conversation piece
- ideal girlfriend bike / girls like em
Mind you, I bought the frame bitd for the rougher stuff, so when I really started to ride it in the mountains and found the tail was too wiggly I decided not to keep it as my main 'all mountain' bike, replaced it with an Intense. But just couldn't sell the beloved MCM, luckily the girlfriend really likes it and rides it, so it can stay.
btw here's another old MCM900 topic: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=75645
