Submitted by
Seth Glass
a Cross Country Rider
from Danville
Date Reviewed: September 24, 2002
Strengths: Super light. Maga fast. kills other racers. nice stiff fork, great for racing and XC riding
Weaknesses: Paint chips off easy
Bottom Line:
This bike is the best XC bike out there. carefull when u want to start hucking things, the front end rises really quick. its such a light bike. i custom built mine so it only weighs 19.6 lbs. I recomend this bike to everyone. even a great ride on the roads. climbs like a goat
Bike Setup: LX, XT deore components, Avid brakes, Panracer XC fire tires, double walled rims, carbon fiber noleen fork rulesq
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Paul Williams
a Cross Country Rider
from New York, NY, USA
Date Reviewed: March 12, 2001
Strengths: Everything!!! The best full-suspension xc race bike you can get. End of story!!!
Weaknesses: None!
Bottom Line:
I've raced xc on a full-sus' bike since 1995 and I can honestly say that this bike is the best I've ever had!!! Weighing sub 23lb it's super quick whatever the terrain-climbing, decending, single track or fire-road sprints this bike excells in all xc requirements!!!
Similar Products Used: Proflex 855, 856, 857, 957 and a K2 5500.
Bike Setup: Rock-Shox SID SL. Mavic Crossmax. Avid Ultimate Arch Supreme's. Easton bits. Middleburn 2x9. Pro-Shift's. Hutchinson Mosquito's. Race-Face. Flite. Ti bolts and spring.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Todd Werner
a Racer
from Austin, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: August 22, 2000
Strengths: Fast, fast, fast Light as hell Climbs like no other!
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
The bike is so light that it accelerates up the hills! I've taken the bike to just about every ride within 100 miles of Austin (including a few races up north of Dallas) and just recently to the Black Hills in South Dakota. I was a little worried about the tight geometry during those 3 mile downhills in SD, but it did great. Overall, the best bike for the money I've ever ridden.
Only problem, I wouldn't recommend it for riders much over 160 pounds. I hear the RSL will start to crack with larger riders. I'm only 155 and haven't seen anything, but I've heard it from other people at races.
Similar Products Used: Specialized FSR, Kona Sex One, Klein Mantra
Bike Setup: Stock everything with Mavic Crosslink wheelset, Richey pedals, Mythos tires
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross-Country Rider
from Portsmouth VA
Date Reviewed: December 1, 1999
Strengths: Strong frame, Light, Good price for the frameset Good Standover clearance
Weaknesses: Paint is easy to damage,
Bottom Line:
Obviously this bike is built with high end parts. I chose mostly light parts that I have history with and trust. It weighs(medium) the same as my friends Large Ellsworth with a XTR, SID and Crossmax’s (24.5) but the SID is almost a pound lighter than my Noleen. I bought the frame for $725 and built it up because I already had the fork and wheels and wanted to build it the way I did. Everything works the way it should as far as the parts are concerned. As far as the positives go I love the way this bike rides. The frame is stiff in the bottom bracket and steers very well with the Noleen fork. Both ends seem well matched with each other as far as travel and feel go. Neither the fork or the frame is overly plush. I have never bottomed out the bike despite riding it as hard as possible for me. I did swap out the original Ti spring for two steps up in spring rate to better match my weight. This is more of a race bike as far a feel is concerned. If that is what you want this bike is for you. My Ti bottom bracket has never made a noise or felt flexy despite me being at the limit (but not over) as far as Race Face is concerned. At first I did have a problem with the post creaking but once the anoidization wore off it stopped creaking. If I were to try and complain I would want more adjustment in back on the firm end of the scale for both compression and rebound. I have mine full firm and it seems perfect but I have no room to tune further if I wanted to. Also I do sometimes feel the feedback in the rear end while cranking in the middle gear. This has gone away now that I have figured out how to ride a full suspension bike better. For a simple 3 bar F.S. (full suspension) bike this is a great bike. It lets me ride faster and in more comfort than a hard tail could ever hope to do. My goal with this bike was to build a sub 25 pound F.S. bike with no air shocks and strong enough to ride hard with no concerns on singletrack. If you look at most F.S. bikes they are only light if they have an air shock in back and a SID up front which really isn’t very strong. I would say this bike meets all my goals at this point. I’ll let you know if I have any problems with quality as I’ve only been riding the bike for about three months.
Similar Products Used: Mostly hardtails, ridden a Cannonade SuperV
Bike Setup: Noleen Elite fork, ESP 9.0sl shifters and rear derailer, XTR front derailer and cassette, Raceface: Cranks, Ti BB, XYO post, Easton Carbon Bar, Avid 50 brakes and ultimate levers, King headset, Icon stem and barends, King wheels.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
John Silveira
a Cross-Country Rider
from Ramona, Ca
Date Reviewed: September 19, 1999
Strengths: Sprints uphills Lightweight Stays flat in the corners braking Adjustable preload
Weaknesses: Paint Chips very easy Panaracer tires are to sticky for this bike
Bottom Line:
The Bike is the perfect compromise between a Hardtail and a FS. I was a staunch hardtail rider until I rode the Razorback RSL. I found it hard to believe that any thing could climb better than my Zaskar, but this bike sprinted up a few rocky sections that I seldom made on the GT. The rear suspension had enough float in it to keep the tire to the ground but didn't show signs of any bio-pacing. I removed the Panaracers after the first ride because it gave the bike a dragging mushy feeling (probably to much traction combined with the suspension design). I put on a set of IRC's Mythos and it gave the bike a more sprinty, lively feel. The bottom bracket starting creaking on the first hard ride but I reasembled it with with lock tite, no more problems. The brakes are nothing to scoff at. They worked so well I found myself diving deeper and deeper into the turns. It may of had something to do with the way the Razorback stayed flat in the turns. You could lay the bike all the way over with no washing out. The front and rear end seemed to perform in concert with each other giving you way more confidence than is probably healthy. Unlike air shocks that you can set to pounds, the adjustable coilover's gives you so many variables I am having a hard time getting the suspension dialed in. I have very little knowledge of linkage forks but the Noleen front shoch worked so well where ever you set it, I don't know where to set it. You really need to see one of these bikes up close, snazzy paint job, but I found that the paint scratched and chipped very easy. After spending some time on this bike I will probably never go back to a hard tail again. My go fast riding buddy Tim says I am much faster on this bike than my other one. My go fast riding buddy Tim dosen't like that!
Let me start by saying that this bike rips! I have been riding a shop demo for 3 days (7 hours worth of single tracking in Vermont). The bike is a mix of the standard Razorback and the Superlight. It weights an honest 24.5 lbs. with very little component trickery.First off I must say that I was prejudiced against this bike from the get go because of the linkage fork. To my surprise I really liked the way the fork worked. I was very stiff laterally, thus providing very good steering. The stiffness also made for very solid braking. The travel was nice and I did not feel that the fork was mushy or bobbed much (my usual fork is a stiffly configured SID).As far as the rear suspension goes it is like the Turner Stinger from whom it was licensed. I understand from a shop friend that K2 removed a lower pivot to stiffen the rear up. He said that as a result the ride was not as plush in certain kinds of hits. The rear was certainly stiff and although it only had 2.7 inches of travel it never appeared to bottom. The rear was active standing or sitting, though it seemed stiffer when I stood. I think this may have a function of the fact that my weight was more forward. With the pre-load properly set the bike did have some suspension movement when sitting and pedaling. This was only noticeable on pavement, I did not notice it in the woods. The suspension also had an added traction effect as I cleaned several sections that I had not made all summer (and I am less fit now).As far as woods manners goes the bike was perfect. It handled everything I threw at it very well. It climbed well without any felling of loss of energy to suspension movement. In the rolling stuff it was just fast. Downhill I regularly scared myself. Fortunately, the Avid 2.0’s hooked up to the very rigid fork and rear stays (they had a bar bolted in above the brake that stiffened the square tubes further, [I am not sure this will make it to production]) made for great slowing power.As far as my frame of reference goes for evaluating this bike I have ridden a number of fullys (99 Spec. XC, Ibis Bow-Ti, Pro-flexs, Treks, Fishers, Cannondales) and other then the very expensive Bow-Ti this bike is hands down my favorite.What can I say I think I may be another convert. As much as I love my present bike (Merlin mt.) I plan to apply to K2 to sponsor my racing addiction next year. I am sure that riding the Razorback will improve my results on courses in N.E., and besides the bike is just a blast to ride! Thats why I am out there in the first place. Try one for youself if you are looking for a low weight/short travel XC fully.
