I bought two of these way back when... one for me , one for the wife... we still own them and i'm riding mine about 100 miles a week(urban)... I really didn't start riding alot until earlier this year when i finally came to grips with the fact my legs could no longer handle running and that i better come up with an alternative to shed pounds. And shed pounds i have - nearly 40 of them on thios bike. I ride this primarily urban/street wise, though when we go camping/rving i love to try trails, but i'm clearly a novice. This bike has replaced our second vehicle entirely (SOLD!) and i run every errand i can on it... No gasoline, not as much maintenance and repairs are far less costly! I also tow our two kids in a duo stroller attached to the rear.

Anyway, i digress - the bike... Overall for about 300 george washingtons each some more for accessories, i have no regrets with original purchase. However as with everything you buy, things become outdated right after you buy them. The 7 speeds in the rear are now obsolete and 9 is the standard (i think this is freehub and non-cassets based as well). Bottom pull/swing front derailleurs are now the standard, where as this is top pull. So after owning for 7 years, and components wearing out, i'm at a point where i need to decide whether to invest in new (but outdated) components or just buy a new bike... still debating this decision...

The components are ok - you can see the full specs provided by epinions, so i won't duplicate here, but in short, the BB is the worst part of the bike... this thing started making tons of noise at under 1000 miles. Granted i started seriously riding when i was 230-240 lbs, but that riding was mostly urban miles and the rest on some minor florida trails in the ocala forest, etc - i'm not doing jumps (other than 6" curbs)

The Acera X / Alivio derailleurs leave a lot to be desired in the smooth shifting department... My front derailleur has always been poor and getting worse (and i've had them adjusted many times - by me and by local bike shops... The rear is ok, but it's clearly in the middle of Shimano's product range.

The grift shifts got very old after a while and had to go. Though simple, they're not convenient especially for road riding... Rapid fire is by far a better choice if you're really going to ride (my wife's bike still has the grips though and she likes it for the leisurely riding she does)...

I think the V Brakes it came with are just generic arms. They are ok but do not have set screws for the spring arm tension which makes adjusting a royal pain. If i keep this, i'll be upgrading to Avid Single Digit 7's in the near future.

The bike came with a rigid fork - no shock and i have yet to add one. For urban use, it's not too big a deal... Though my arms were certainly feeling pain after my last attempt in ocala... If i decide to keep, i may upgrade, we'll see...

On the nuts and bolts side, it frustrates me that i have an aluminum frame that won't rust, but the accessory bolts are all chrome and rusted. As did the original cabling - which i don't thing was stainless stell) and now my crankset is rusting as well.

Anyway, i think Giant makes a nice frame and offers fairly good components on their bikes (the current yukon now comes with Deore on the rear and a front shock / hayes disks brakes) for a little more money than what paid all those years ago. Few bikes are made in the US anymore - i think cannondale and a few upper level lines of other MFG's are the only exceptions... This is frustrating to some, but like tablesaws and many other items it's reality...

In conclusion: based on my past experience with this bike, the Giant Iguana was in the running for my pending purchase until yesterday... I've now limited my choices to the Gary Fisher Tassajara and the Specialized Hardrock Pro Disk (based on price/components). So i either keep the old Yukon for a few more years and upgrade it or get one of those two.

I don't think i could go wrong either way. Nor do i think you could go wrong purchasing a current Giant hardtail in the Yukon-Rainier range).


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