Submitted by
James Baker
a Cross Country Rider
from Anchorage
Date Reviewed: April 20, 2002
Strengths: Light, agile, plush ride but handles like a hardtail.
Weaknesses: Rims, paint chips easily, lockout lever doesn't hold.
Bottom Line:
The bike has been fun and reliable. When the suspension is set properly for your weight it's very resistant to bottoming. Have had no problems with air leaks. With it's infinitly adjustable air springs you can set them for any situation. The front fork is extremely easy to maintain. Had the back rim crack and was replaced under warranty. The rear shock started oozing damping fluid (after two seasons of riding), and was repaired by K2 in less than a week. I'd recommend this bike for light weight riders that want a suspension bike. Considering the pounding that a mountain bike takes it's amazing how well they hold up.
Submitted by
Greg M.
a Cross Country Rider
from Atlanta, Ga.
Date Reviewed: August 17, 2001
Strengths: Plush ride but is firm on climb.Paul Turner designed the push/pull rear end.Turner is considered one of the best designer in the business,not to mention he founded Roc Shox. K2 has GREAT customer service.Nice yellow paint job
Weaknesses: I blowed the fork after 3 months,bent rear derailleur hanger real easy. K2 had my shop fix both right away no questions asked.
Bottom Line:
First time took bike out shaved 2 seconds off my best time on a short trail I use for setup testing.Bike is eye candy.I took off the lock out lever and cable,the bike really don't need it,it climbs really well.You will become friends with this bike in a short period of time and will make you a faster,better rider
Bike Setup: Couldn't get a RSL so bought frame and built up. XTR rear derailleur,XT front,XTR cog,XT shifters,Easton CT2 flat bar,Raceface crank and rings,Ti BB,Avid arch rival brakes and levers,Raceface stem,Mavic Crossride wheels,Time pedals
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Submitted by
Sophal
a Weekend Warrior
from Paris France
Date Reviewed: June 18, 2001
Strengths: nervous and confortable, rigid, quite light (12.3 kg), good suspension, good fork, rear shock lockout, well balanced.
Weaknesses: not designed for scary downhill
Bottom Line:
love the ride on the razorback, it is confortable on long ride and still nervous (low bobing). it has short travel (3" rear and front) but is more confortable than many longer travel bikes. suspensions are very effective and feel more precise than most full susp bike. you can lock the rear shock if you want to accelerate hard or climb a steep hill. The mega air fork is really stiff (32mm plunger)precise and confortable, good rebound setup range.
Bike Setup: razorback RSX with Mavic crossroc tubeless wheels and XT disk brake at the front.
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Submitted by
simon kirk
a Cross Country Rider
from plymouth,england
Date Reviewed: January 11, 2001
Strengths: light weight
Weaknesses: travel
Bottom Line:
total custom build from frame, this bike rode perfect from the start, low weight and tortionaly stiff frame and cranks make this the perfect trail and single track weapon good mud clearance for those here in the UK. this bike has been used all year in all weather and is still going strong, the pivots are sound and smooth.i will never change to a hardtail again. this is the bike for the trail rider...
Similar Products Used: trek oclv,santa cruz heckler,proflex 956
Bike Setup: hope xc4,ringle stem/carbon monkey bars xtr gearing/titec s post/middleburn xc duo cranks rock shox sid sl forks
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Submitted by
Jon
a Cross Country Rider
from St Louis MO and Atlanta GA
Date Reviewed: October 8, 2000
Strengths: lot lighter than last bike ('99 rockhopper FS) esp for full suspension, totally upgradable, if you have $, the Noleens are very nice
Weaknesses: trashed my front rim three weeks ago (likely my fault), the rear lockout is usless, took it off, Sharp rocks in MO cut through sidewall in Panaracer Fire, no use for water bottle cages, especially on small frame, bent the hell out of the front chain ring, thats about it, had to buy a shock pump, she's pretty sweet
Bottom Line:
she's my baby and i love her, it still works and i beat the hell out if it, goes down hills good, pretty plush,
Similar Products Used: Schwinn Rocket 88 (piece of junk) Trek 8000, Zaskar (weight), Stumpjumper, Klein Attitude Comp,
Bike Setup: stock except for new yellow Velosity front rim looks rad, dumped Bel-Air saddle, I broke down and took my dad's Terry Liberator, the boys like that one better. used my old Shimono 535 pedals,
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Submitted by
Greg Mowrer
a Cross Country Rider
from Issaquah
Date Reviewed: June 28, 2000
Strengths: Awesome bike all-around! Great adjustability and performance on the Noleen air-shocks. Great going up-hill, no bobbing at all, and great downhill too. Excellent braking.
Weaknesses: The thumb-switch for the rear shock didn't have enough resistance to keep the shock locked out. If you push the thumb-switch too far you can pull the cable through and it won't lock out any more. Hopefully K2 will come up wiht an up-grade for this switch. Seat could be better. Hard to find.
Bottom Line:
I love this bike! I was unsure about going to a FS as I had ridden some that were too soft for climbing and all around riding. Thank you to the previous posters that helped me decide to go with this bike. It rides like a hard-tail with the lockout but the shocks are so easy to adjust that you almost don't need the lockout anyway. Great all around XC bike!
Submitted by
Erik Eriksson
a Cross Country Rider
from Espoo Finland
Date Reviewed: June 20, 2000
Strengths: Everything unless fork.
Weaknesses: Noleen fork(s) works great untill it/them crashes!
Bottom Line:
This Bike is great! At first I was buying GT but it was kinda rocking-chair as tested. (Maybe caused by low pressures) The geometry is very raceable and nice. People says Easton Ultralite frame is a bit heavy, well I think that it´s just OK to me. Noleen makes good rear airshocks. At same time I wanted to punish Noleen cause of broken front suspensions which I have two ones. When forks don´t work U have to do something wise and thats why I bought Manitou Mars CL. (Now I have lockdown in bouth: front and rear suspension so I can make my bike at stiff for ex. long climbs and it´s useful.) Bike nice to look and it is ecxellent for all terrains, speeds and surfaces.
Similar Products Used: GT XCR3000, Scwhinn Rocket 88 Stage 4.
Bike Setup: Stock with Manitou Mars CL front suspension.
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Submitted by
Curtis Creager
a Cross Country Rider
from Bellevue, Wa USA
Date Reviewed: June 5, 2000
Strengths: First of all K2 is in Washington St, O-YES. This bike is very well made plus the frames geometry is great (for me) Rear shock works very well I'm impressed!! Front Fork works very well going down Tiger Mt if ya know what I mean THX Tim. The bike is Just plain sweet!
Weaknesses: Seat was good for about two Weeks. Changed the seat to a Flite "new gel" Ti & THX Sean for the pedal switch. Could also have a lighter wheel set.
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the XC rider & also the Adventure racer (ME) I'm pretty new to the FS bike thing I don't think I could have picked a better bike to own. Great value for the money. Get one next year if you can!!
Similar Products Used: Tested a few bikes twice the price Specialized and so on. But came back to the K2. Other makers had nice product but to get the weight and price this one was it.
Bike Setup: Stock tires & wheels, Race face Air Alloy bar, Flite "new gel" Ti Seat. The pedals will change to Ti axle who knows what brand?
Strengths: Suspension works great! The rear suspension is very smoth and has enough travel for pritty hairy tecnical stuff. The geometry is perfect for racing. God spect bike right out of the box. Front suspension is great! Avid brakes are very good. I love it. If you can get one, buy one! Good damping adjustment in front and rear.
Weaknesses: A bit heavy. Uncomfortable seat! Had to change it with a selle italia flite.
Bottom Line:
A great bike for serious mountainbike racing. The rearsuspension lock up gives me great advantages at steep acends and you can go crazy in the downhills. Good tires.
Similar Products Used: This is the first fullsuspension bike i`ve had and i love it!
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Submitted by
mike p.
a Cross Country Rider
from austin, tx
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2000
Strengths: Great suspensiom. Front and rear Noleen shocks are sweet.
Weaknesses: Weight! Lock-out lever.
Bottom Line:
It took me a little while to get the front fork working right (No fault of K2's though. My pumps gauge was way off and the pressure was too high). The suspension is balanced out perfectly. It climbs well and tackles rocky/ rooted trails with ease and comfort. The rear shock was easy to set up and the rebound actually works (unlike other rear shocks I've tried). My biggest complaint would be the weight. It's touted as a light-weight dual-suspension bike, but it's not. Although the parts on my bike aren't the lightest they aren't anywhere near the heaviest either ( upgrades stated above with LX/Sub4 rims, Truvativ Stylo cranks, un-72 bb, XT cassette, Cane creek headset.) My large weighs in at 27 lbs. You could put stupid light parts on the bike and maybe loose another pound and a half. Although the weight is a little high, the performance of the bike doesn't suffer. Because of the well designed suspension I can sit and climb until my legs give out. The geometry seems pretty spot on also. It carves tight singletrack almost as well as my Cannondale hardtail. Overall I would reccomend this bike to anyone looking for a short travel duallie. I'm giving it 4 chilis for value because I think the price could be a little lower and a 5 overall because other than the weight there's no complaints. O
Bike Setup: Stock w/ Avid Mag brakes/levers, Monkey Lite bar, Flite saddle, 9.0sl der./shifters, Hutchinson Python Gold tires.
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Submitted by
Atle Kleiven
a Cross Country Rider
from Norway
Date Reviewed: March 21, 2000
Strengths: Nice looking frame, the rear shock is very good and you can lock it up, race ready geometry!
Weaknesses: A bit heavy (L frame = 2700 grams)
Bottom Line:
A very good CC bike for the serious mountainbiker. The suspension works great if you don't need a lot of travel. The new airshock with lockout works better than last years titanium spring- shock.
Similar Products Used: Razorback RS 1999, Trek Y, C'dale Raven
Bike Setup: RSX frame and lightweight parts, XTR, Race Face, Syncros, RS SL w/englund fork...
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Submitted by
Edward Jenssen
a Weekend Warrior
from Seattle, Washington, USA
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2000
Strengths: Excellent suspension, felt very controlled and secure. Fairly light for a fully suspended bike in this price range. Fit and finish appear excellent.
Weaknesses: None that were readily apparent.
Bottom Line:
I would love to own this bike. I have raced and ridden off road motorcycles for many years so I know what good suspension is and this bike is excellent. I plan on testing several other bikes prior to purchasing one but they will have to be quite good to beat out this one.
Similar Products Used: I do not own a full suspension mountain bike at this time but I am actively researching them to find the best one for me and have test ridden several others including a Kona Manomano and a Schwinn Rocket 88 Stage 3
