Patented FSR 4-bar linkage design with adjustable 3.8" to 4.6" of fully active (highly effective), fully independent (highly efficient) rear wheel travel
Completely new XC-inspired Enduro frame design is super lightweight and disc brake ready, with tuneable (69 or 70.5 degree head angle) geometry & adjustable travel (3.8" or 4.6")
Hayes hydraulic disc brakes front and rear
XT front/XTR rear derailleurs with XT shifters
New forged Specialized StrongArm II Pro 44x32x22T crankset with titanium clipless pedals
Submitted by
Tom Draina
a Weekend Warrior
from Allentown,PA
Date Reviewed: November 2, 2002
Strengths: Hayes brakes(except occasional squeal), shift components, great overall feel. Suspension very adjustable.
Weaknesses: Seat(save for smoothing out body puddy on your car) headset( replaced twice,2nd one seized again??) formula hub in rear very noisey. No confidence in front tire. Replaced tires
Bottom Line:
Awesome bike overall, had Giant for two weeks, sold it and got fsr. Ride all year round, bike never let me down, never tweaked a rim until my buddy planted his butt on it when falling(thanks Doug). Woud recommend this bike to any non downhill rider. Scooters was great to deal with and Specialized also helped me out.
Bike Setup: changed seat (after therapy from pain caused by factory seat), tires, like panaracer. that's it!
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Submitted by
Howard
a Weekend Warrior
from Valdosta, GA
Date Reviewed: October 31, 2002
Strengths: Strong and durable, been two years of beating and still strong
Weaknesses: As any bike, you'll need to upgrade by YOUR riding ability, and your style of ridding.
Bottom Line:
This is my second entry, the first was a few months after I picked this bike up. After 2 years of heavy riding, this is still my #1 bike. I started free riding on top of XC and single track stuff, and this machine eats it all! I would estimate about $300.00 in upgrades (I do all my own work, and buy parts on sale) but cheaper than my other bikes, most of them would last a year or so, and I would sell before it wouldn't be worth selling. If you can get this bike second hand, you'd sale big, and I think you'd get all the better of a deal!
Similar Products Used: Specialized FS, Cannondale FS
Bike Setup: For the style of riding here in the South, tooth fairy ring for logs, seat but of course, and the 100 little tweeks.
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Submitted by
Joe
a Weekend Warrior
from Davidsonville
Date Reviewed: December 8, 2001
Strengths: Disc brakes, smooth XTR/XT shifting, great suspension, comfortable riding position
Weaknesses: The seat looked painful so I swapped that out before leaving the store.
Bottom Line:
This bike has no weaknesses for all around recreational riding. The Hayes hydraulic disc brakes are awesome, it shifts very smoothly and is all day comfortable. The Manitou X-Vert fork and Fox shock work well together in all conditions. Others on this site have complained of a low bottom bracket height. This bike has the same bottom bracket height as a Sugar 2, so for me it's not a problem. Compared to other makes, this bike is large, so check the fit carefully. I normally ride a large bike at 6'0", but a medium FSR enduro Pro fits me perfectly.
Similar Products Used: Proflex 656, Gary Fisher Sugar 2
Bike Setup: Platform style SPD pedals
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Submitted by
Mike Husting
a Cross Country Rider
from Port Washington, Wisconsin
Date Reviewed: October 27, 2001
Strengths: Excellent front & rear suspension package.Component selection is also top notch.
Weaknesses: Seat,and also the routing of the rear hayes brake line( which can be taken care of with a zip tie on the swing arm.
Bottom Line:
I weigh 230lbs so the bike is perfect for me especially with the extra gusseting that is used on the top end of the bike.I run thr Fox rear shock setup so it has around a 1/4" to 3/8" sag and this seems to be perfect for me.To all of the riders that complain about the bike having to low of a bottom bracket I have two suggestions,1st you could go with shorter crank arms ( you would have to make your saddle higher ) and secondly do a little research on the next bike you buy.I love the bike because it gives me more versatility than my FSR XC PRO.If you want a hardcore Xc bike this is not your bike but if your a big guy like me or just want an excellent bike to beat the snot out of this is it.Oh by the way Bens in Milwaukee still has two of these beauties left at this screeming good deal.
Similar Products Used: 1999 FSR XC PRO,1999 XTC SE1
Bike Setup: Stock except for the following,Control tech stem,Serfas seat & Time atac pedals.Also a Lizard skins rear shock boot.
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Submitted by
Tom
a Cross Country Rider
from Auburn
Date Reviewed: October 5, 2001
Strengths: The full suspension is great, I love the hayes disc's, the manitou x-vert super is a great shok.
Weaknesses: The low bottom bracket hight, and I wish the fox shok in the rear had lockout. The pedels , seat , and headset suck.
Bottom Line:
This bike is great! I had a low end hardtail cannondale before and this was a huge improvement. Riding on the step downhills on the powerlines is soooo much easier! the XT/XTR shifting is incredible.One thing that I defentanly want to upgrade is a lock out in the rear, or buy a float RC, or RL. All my friends just stare at it cuz it looks so nice, though it looks nicer dirty!
Similar Products Used: Gary fisher sugar 2, trek fuel 90, schwinn rocket disc and stage 2, stumpjumper m4 fsr comp
Bike Setup: 00' enduro pro with race face stem, bars,and crank. Shimano 848 pedels, chris king headset, fiz'ik seat,michelin hots tires.
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Submitted by
Joe
a Weekend Warrior
from San Francisco Bay Area
Date Reviewed: September 26, 2001
Strengths: Great design as far as suspension is concerned, nimble handling and a great climber. Hayes disks stop dime. Frame seems bomb proof.
Weaknesses: Seatpost, stem and cranks all had to go. The post would slip on occasion, the cranks were flexy and the stem is just plain bad. Plus low BB height makes you extra careful on single track or else SMACK.
Bottom Line:
This is the perfect all around bike for almost any condition. It's a solid climber and even better descender. It soaks up most hits nicely and tracks great at any speed.
About the only problem is when you switch to your hardtail and realize that you can't take on half the stuff that you can with the Enduro.
Strengths: Great choice of components except for the seat, rear tire, and tubes. Durable, and good on cross country and downhill.
Weaknesses: The seat, low bottom bracket, tubes, and rear tire.
Bottom Line:
I just came back from Attatash in new hampshire, rode some cross country and downhill trails and the bike handled great. The only problems were the rear tire which sucked at gripping to anything, the tubes which I blew out, and the seat which feels worse than sitting on the seatpost. Other than that the bike handles great and the supers take anything.
Strengths: Light for a fullie trail bike, xt/xtr stuff, handles the drops well, excelent on the technical stuff. Sealed bearings in the swing arm
Weaknesses: specialized stock components, climbs poor when suspention is not set up to rider pref's, spec disc adapter makes the rear a bit shaky in quick stops, no disc tabs (included on 01 bikes. Swing arm is a bit on the thin side.
Bottom Line:
Specialized needs to stop making components in general, they are garbage, especially the tires they are easily the worst tires i have ever used, you just don't put 1.9's on your trail/free ride bike. Good, no, great descender. The geometry allows the rider to be more forward than usual on descents. The slack head tube angle can be come a pain. Maybe specialized should sell seperate linkage's to get different head tube angles and travel other than the cheezy two options. Good overall bike, but will be selling soon.
Similar Products Used: fsr xc (trail riding specs)
Bike Setup: panaracers )xc pro's 2.1(, club roost bar, rf stem, custom rear shock boot
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Submitted by
Crypto Tiger
a Cross Country Rider
from bay area
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2001
Strengths: Great bike. Responsive, climbs well, nice tight turns. Love the disk brakes, and rear shock isn't pogoing.I have the 15" size, and it's one of the few bikes that I've found that is small enough and that is nicely equipped. Xvert Super is a really nice coil shock. Much better than the Trek Y bikes (for me at least). Nice rims too.
Weaknesses: Stock cranks suck, low bottom bracket (same problem as everyone else). Not sure what I think of the stock Specialized components. Also, the fenders act like sails in the crosswinds.
Bottom Line:
This bike rocks! It's much more responsive than the Trek Y-22, and for the money I paid for it, I got a great deal including the front shock as well as disk brakes. Once I took off the fenders, it handled much better. One of the best full suspension bikes out there. Five chilis for both value and overall. Enough writing, I'm off to go ride.
Bike Setup: Stock, other than XT cranks and flat handlebar with bar ends. And the fenders have been removed.
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Submitted by
JB
a Weekend Warrior
from Connecticut
Date Reviewed: July 1, 2001
Strengths: Great suspension, a good, do-it-all bike. Climbs well, stable on the downhill technical sections, handles light freeriding with a ease.
Weaknesses: A few of the house components (cranks and stem). Probably seatpost but mine is never high enough to make a difference.
Customer Service (the handling of frame warranty problem).
Bottom Line:
Great bike for light-to-moderate freeriding. If you want to be at ease or without fear of breaking something, component upgrades suggested.
Specialized's customer service is horrendous. Since I had the bike I have been plagued with the rear wheel slipping and slamming into the chainstays. My LBS worked and worked the issue with Specialized until Specialized finally, after 14 months, agreed to look at the frame. They claim they are going to replace the frame but after four weeks, the only thing I get out of them is that "they don't have a frame to give me". Hmmm, maybe it's time to register a complaint with the Connecticut and California Better Business Bureaus.
The low overall rating is a result of Specialized's poor, nearly illegal warranty practices.
Submitted by
Jean-Roch Graulier
a Weekend Warrior
from Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Date Reviewed: June 14, 2001
Strengths: Suspension, Looks, Weight, Brakes
Weaknesses: Front mud guard attachment
Bottom Line:
My first full sus. A fantastic bike to do what I do: go about the countryside, sweating in the climbs, getting mental in the descents. It is light enough, climbs wonderfully and the suspension is excellent. The brakes are awesome, I will never have anything but hydraulic discs from now on. It doesn't seem to mind the Scottish riding condition, which are rarely similar to California's (I ride all year round), provided you clean it after each ride. And it looks soooo good! My only gripe is the front mud guard attachment. The mud guards themselves are quite good at protecting me, and I think they enhance the look as well. But the mounting at the front is not good enough and the mud guard can move sideways, particularly when shaken about in a downhill. A bit "cheap" on a bike at that price. Overall however, a fantastic bike. And Scotland is a paradise for MTB, despite the weather!
Submitted by
Preston Peterson
a Cross Country Rider
from Kirkland WA
Date Reviewed: June 11, 2001
Strengths: Frame and Suspension Design Value
Bottom Line:
IMO, the 4 bar Horst link suspension design is the way to go. Remains active during pedaling and braking.
I like this bike because its so versatile. I put on a 5" bomber and made up some heavy wheels. With a 24" rear wheel I can fit a 2.6 Gazzaloddi. I switch to a shorter stem and big wheels and flat pedals (takes 10 minutes), and I have a freeride bike. Otherwise a fully functional x-country bike. Just as a datapoint those skinny little Mavic 321 rims have held up to 7' drops to flat and I weigh 185. The Manitou forks held up as well, I replaced them simply for more travel.
The hot setup for this bike is to buy a 7" long 2" stroke Stratos Helix Expert shock. This solves the low bottom bracket problem by cranking up the bike 1", and ups the travel to 6.1". Even without the Bomber, the geometry stayed good (with the bomber its just a touch too tall), and you could still lower the head angle using the link. With the 24" wheel and the bomber, the freeride attitude is perfect.
Bike Setup: Bomber Z1, Race Face ISIS, x-country rims and freeride rims. 8" rotor front.
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Submitted by
ERIC G.
a Racer
from PITTSBURGH, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: May 22, 2001
Strengths: ITS LIGHT AND NIMBLE. THE FRAME IS STIFF. NICE COMPONENTS ON STOCK BIKE.
Weaknesses: STRONG ARM II CRANKS ARE TO FLEXY. IVE REPLACED THEM WITH A TRUVATIV HUSSELFELT W/ CHAIN GUIDE. THE STEM IS A BIT TOO LONG MAKING THE STEERING SLOW WITH MY 2" RISER BAR UPGRADE.
Bottom Line:
GET THIS BIKE AND GET FASTER. THIS BIKE HAS HELPED ME TO REALIZE THAT A CHEAP ARSE BIKE WILL HOLD YOU BACK. THE SUSPENSIONS ADJUSTABILITY IS HELPFUL, BUT IT WONT ACCELERATE LIKE A HARD TAIL. OVER BUMPS THOUGH, YOU CAN STAY IN THE SADDLE AND PEDAL. FOR URBAN RIDERS, IT WILL NEED SOME MODIFICATIONS. THE REAR SHOCK IS MORE FOR XC THAN BIG DROPS, SO ILL BE REPLACING MINE SOON. tHE WHEELS HAVE HELD UP BETTER THAN I HAD THOUGHT. IVE REPLACED A COUPLE OF SPOKES AFTER THEY HAD BROKE AND HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS. IM GOING TO UPGRADE TO THE RHYNO LITES
Strengths: THIS BIKE IS LITE, AND REALLY PLUSH, BOTH REAR AND FRONT. YOU CAN RUN STRIAGHT OVER LOGS AND NOT EVEN KNOW. JUMP A 4.5" RAMP, YOU WOULD FELL NOTHING, TRUST ME, IT'S AWESOME!!!!!!
Weaknesses: NONE!!!! HAHA
Bottom Line:
THIS BIKE IS AWESOME, YOU CAN'T ARGUE ABOUT THAT. IT MAY BE A LITTLE PRICY, BUT IF YOU ADD EVERY PRODUCT ON THIS AWESOME BIKE, YOU WOULD PAY TONS MORE, IF YOU ARE A SERIOUS BIKER, AND LOVE TECHNICAL TRAILS WITH 3 FOOT DROPS AND RIVERS, THIS BIKE IS FOR YOU. IF ALL YOU DO IS RIDE AROUND THE BLOCK, DONT GET IT!!! I GIVE IT 5 FLAMIN THINGS FOR BOTH RATINGS!!!!!!!!!!
