Lateral stiffness, braking power, light weight, handling

A little rough in the rear end, fork lacks some adjustability and smoothness; brakes drag

This is a good budget XC racer. It helps that I got employee purchase pricing, but I like the bike anyway. It is stable on downhills yet quick enough in the singletrack. The best part about this bike is its lateral rigidity. The Headshok fork shows absolutely zero flex and tracks through rough corners better than any other XC fork, period. Too bad the fork doesn't have externally adjustable dampening, and it bobs if you keep the air pressure low enough to be smooth on smaller bumps, but it has great lockout. The frame also tracks well and sprints awesome, but at the cost of a little harshness in the rear end over bumps. The Magura disc brakes have tons of power but lack good modulation and exhibit some drag that I haven't been able to get rid of. I added a Flite saddle, SRAM 9.0 shifters and derailleurs, Icon handlebar, and Time pedals, which are all awesome. The Deore/XT parts that came on the bike were fine, but I just like the SRAM stuff better. The wheels are light and strong, but you might consider some different tires--my Mosquitoes wore out really fast.

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Specialized Rockhopper A1 FS

Frame, Weight, Headshok, Brakes, Ride.

Wheels

Awesome! Lovely bike, expensive as priced, but I got 350 pounds off, due '02 models out soon. Ride is great, really notice it's lack of extra mass uphills. Mag Julie Brakes (alloy levers)are excellent in every respect. Survived nasty off which rear rim didn't, and I came off badly too. Probably get a USE EVO post when they come out, but as it is, I get far less pain in the back than my old Saracen.
Love it, Buy one!!

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Carrera Integer '97, Saracen Tufftrax '01

Light weight, super handling

Howling disc brakes

My son and I bought identical bikes, except for frame size and color. I was set on a Schwinn Moab 1 until Dave Love gave us a smokin' deal for purchasing two bikes at once. The F700 has a step lower components than the Moab, but there's than wonderful frame and the fact that Cannondales are built in my home state.

The published specs list Cannondale Expert rims and Magura Julie brakes. Our bikes came with Sun DS1-XC rims and Magura Claras (oddly enough, 2000-model Claras).

Love the way it handles, climbs and stops. Unlike other reviewers, I have no complaints with the pedals (my first clipless), seat or tires (seem to work as well as the Michelins on my old Diamond Back). The disc brakes require frequent diddling to maintain the fine line between dragging and a mushy lever, but they are easy to adjust and VERY powerful. If squealing brakes don't bother you, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this bike to anyone looking for a hardtail in this price range.

CAAD 4 frame, Magura Julie Hydraulic disck brakes, Super head shock, Geometry

Mosquito tires, seat, wheels and hubs, pedals

This model only comes in two colors, Blue w/ yellow or Mustard Orange, I went for the Blue w/yellow! CAAD 4 frame is like a cat..lands with great stability and absorbs shock, takes off in the sprints lightning fast and is extremely agile! The new Magura Julies (dual piston) on this model have super modulation and good stopping power, I haven't heard them squeel yet! Now the mosquito tires, I've heard really bad things about these however, I haven't experienced many challenges with them but I do notice some lose of traction in the corners! I figure I'll ride them a few more times and then donate them to one of our teenage riders in the club! The coda pedals have already been donated, I'm a true believer in Time/SPD's! Head shock? As long as I'm riding cross country this is the system for me!
Get rid of the seat as soon as you can, it's not good for long or bumpy rides, when you buy a new seat get yourself a Thudbuster and this bike is set! The hubs, wheels and cranks will be replaced as soon as I wear them out, they're not the best by any means but as long as you bought em' you might as well ride em!
Overall, for riding cross country on moderately technical single track, is there a better system out there!!? Nothing handles like a Cannondale!
I'm true and Blue when it comes to Cdale's head shock and frames and I couldn't be happier with my purchase!
Big props out to Dan from the bike shop for fitting me with the proper frame size, it's amazing how well your bike will perform when it fits you!!!
Buy this bike if you cross country and want value, performance and style for your money, don't buy this bike if you are a major down hill freestyle kinda rider!

Peace through riding kick A&& trails!!

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Cdale Delta V 700

Frame; Paint job; Head-Shock

Peddles; wheels; can only get upgrade stems and shock from Cannondale; need to remove front wheel to adjust the pressure of the air shock

Great performance, good value.
Better components can be found on bikes in the price range, but I'm willing to pay for the extra for the frame.

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KHS, Giant

weight, headshok, gears

pedals suck, i took my pedals from my old bike, shimano pd 858, nice!!!! head shok a little too loose at first

This bike is awesome!!!! if you want a lightweight bike that wont break the bank, but will hold up to cannondales name, look no further. This is the bike for you!! The clipless codas suck, if you want to just randomly clip out during the rides keep the pedals, if not, get new ones!!!!!!! all in all, this bike rocks!1

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specialized, GT

Low weight, stiff frame. Disc brakes. Headshok with lockout. Instantly recognisable as a Cannondale.

Hutchinson Mosquito rear tyre wearing really quickly (500 miles). Snapped saddle bolt.

I bought this bike for daily commuting to work and for weekend trail riding and XC racing. It does all three superbly, if fact it cannot be ridden slowly! From the moment my feet are clipped in I have to push the bike at full speed. On the road it is effortless, on singletrack it inspires confidence to go faster all the time. I only wish I had bought one sooner, but the UK price of £1250 was a little high. I bought mine for £900 due to the foot and mouth fiasco and at that price it is a killer bargain!

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None

Light, light, light, light frame, geometry, simple HedShok suspension fork, Magura Claras

Sun rims, Magura Claras

Great, quick bike. Wonderful geometry for climbing and pretty decent on the downhills, but the bike can get a little out-of-control sometimes. One can really move this bike quickly, it is very responsive in tight switchbacks, sudden climbs or drops and vastly technical areas with lots of roots. I love and hate the Magura Clara disc brakes. They are very high maintenance and require constant adjustment. They also serve as saftey devices on the trails due to the horrible screeching you get from them when they are wet but dialed in. I have already taco'd my rear rim on a standard but intense ride. Seems the wheels are not the greatest, so I'm gonna use my GWBush tax refund to build a new wheel that really works.

Good bike all around for the money.

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Specialized Stumpjumper M2, Gary Fisher Big Sur

Headshok fork; excellent climbing; Magura Julie disc brakes (when correctly adjusted)

CODA clipless pedals; CODA expert RIMS; C'dale seat

I've put about 350 offroad miles on this bike since buying it earlier in year. Overall I'm very happy with the bike. It climbs great and feels solid. Its also pretty light (stock) - spec'd at < 25 lbs. My initial reactions to the CAAD4 frame (not having ridden aluminum frames extensively in the past) was that it is very stiff -- and hard on the back. I upgraded the seatpost to the Thudbuster, and this was a huge improvement. However, I think that the Thudbuster somewhat spoiled me, and now I'm more inclined to stay in the seat (even when I probably shouldn't, like rocky downhill, quick switchbacks and technical sections). The geometry of the frame makes this bike quick and good for climbs. FYI I am about 5'10.5", 175lbs - I chose the size "L" (18" seat tube) frame, which seems to be right.

I'm very happy with the Magura Julies. I've seen these same brakes on other bikes, but with different levers. The levers that came stock on my F700 are composite, but have a "metal" look to them. There seems to be another set of Magura levers that is distinctively plastic, and really cheap looking. So long as you get the metal-looking ones, you'll be fine. When these brakes are dialed out, they are very solid and smooth -- if they aren't adjusted, they are mushy. There is definitely some additional time/effort required to keep the brakes in top adjustment (which includes wiping down the rotors every few rides to get rid of dirt and brake dust), but they are worth the effort IMHO.

The CODA expert rims that come stock on this bike are so-so. Granted, I give them plenty of abuse, but they do not hold trueness or roundness all that well. Of course with the disc brakes, this is really not a huge issue, but its nice to ride on round wheels ;)

The drivetarin of the bike is pretty much standard Shimano Deore XT/Deore... and works well, as expected. There are definitely other bikes that are in this price range with better components specs (i.e., XTR, and nicer cranks than the C'dale PX3), but these are not huge improvements in overall ride quality. The bottom line with the C'dale is that the frame quality is excellent, ride and geometry are very good, and the selection of the components (stock) are very good as well. If there was only one upgrade that I think is a "must do", its to ditch the CODA clipless pedals in favor of Shimano or Times.

One last comment/caveat. This is a hard tail bike. My review is based on this (compared with other hard tails). That being said, I'm pretty sure that I'll be upgrading to a softtail or FS sometime in the next 1-2 years!

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My old Shogun Team Comp (1987!); test rode other REI, Cannondale and GT bikes.

Frame is very stiff and agile, HeadShok with lockout feature, Bike looks great

Shimano components are mixed, creaking BB after a few rides

Great bike, very agile on the trail. Climbs great, even better with the locked-out HeadShok. The brakes work awesome, but require some maintenance. The look of the bike is equal to a much more expensive one. this is the right one for cross-country racers, who like to ride at full speed. Not recommended for bumpy trails, the tail is very stiff and is forwarding every bump straight to your back.
The original price is too high, so watch out for a bargain. If you can get it for reasonable price, go get it!

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Hagan Titanal, Scott Hardtail