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Submitted by
bharathan
a
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Bottom Line: | I ride mostly on roads & 'not so intense' tracks. It is a great bike. Wished I'd gotten in sooner as I'm fit now! Done over 2,500km & still going strong! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
sam
a Weekend Warrior
from perth, australia
Date Reviewed: October 21, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | mundaring/john forrest | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | fleet cycles | | Strengths: | great frame - 2004 model. good gearing. great setup for upgrading to a jumping/street hardtail | | Weaknesses: | rims, crank | | Similar Products Used: | merida matts sport, avanti ridge rider | | Bike Setup: | truvativ hussefelt dh cranks, gigapipe dh bb, sun mammoth rims | | Bottom Line: | great bike to use as a base for some upgrades to a great jumping/street bike. great frame and riding geometry. its a small frame (13")and has a short stem and good gearing - deore lx. forks (judy tts)are stiff - i prefer it this way but so not a problem. cranks - shimano - are crap and bend really quickly, as did rims. im a heavy rider (95kg) though so this may have contributed to this. highly recommend though especially for the beginner all-round rider who want s tostick to it or for upgrading to jumping'street. probably no good for xc or road use but. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris Paterson
a Weekend Warrior
from Brisbane, Austalia
Date Reviewed: May 16, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Bunya State Forest | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Second Hand | | Strengths: | The RST 381 shocks are great and hard to bottom out, and the frame is very strong and feels secure, while flying down hills | | Weaknesses: | The rear RST disc brakes, I'm looking at getting some replacements before I hit any more trees. | | Similar Products Used: | Giant Rincon, Haro V3, Mongoose Pro Dulie | | Bike Setup: | RST 381TL Shocks, RST Discs, Wellgo Clipless pedals, Mavic Rims 220(front) 231(rear), Gripshifts, Shimano Cranks/Derailers | | Bottom Line: | Really good starter bike, especially for the price, though the rear disc is just plain dangerous, and there is no mounting points for V-Brakes on the rear. A great entry bike, and the new ones have decent Shimano Discs, Horray! | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ben
a Racer
from Victoria
Date Reviewed: May 11, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Lysterfield Lake | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$700.00 | | Purchased At: | Top Gear Bicycles | | Strengths: | Solid components and a frame that will take a beating. Looks good | | Similar Products Used: | Giant XTC series bikes, Cannondale 800 series mtb, Specialized rockhopper | | Bottom Line: | Seems like a few people didn't shop around and realise what they were buying! Montaris is a great entry level bike for xc mtb for trails and road riding. It's not for jumping or downhill. Bloody good value for an intro into mtb. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Vandy
a Weekend Warrior
from Melbourne, Australia
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Andrew Hill Loop | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$450.00 | | Purchased At: | Whilles Wheel Williamstown | | Strengths: | Strong Bike solid bike. Looks sharp in Charcoal. great gears for the price. | | Weaknesses: | Pedals are cheap assss. I bent one in a meeting with a tree [the tree won] .. had to replace mine with some DMR V8's. Also there is a funny sqeaky sound at the stem? | | Similar Products Used: | Giant Iguana. | | Bike Setup: | Deore Front and LX rear. Judy TT. | | Bottom Line: | Great bike. Would recommend it for anyone wanting a decent bike with a great set up but under $1000 AUD. Avanti is a NZ brand making it big in Australia. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mangos Bert
a Racer
from Brisbane
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Strengths: | Deore LX gearing, strong body | | Weaknesses: | small creaking noise from handle bar stem on 2 bikes, the seat is not the best i have sat on | | Bottom Line: | Has taken awhile to get adjusted to this bike coming from a Shogun Trailblaser 3 (stolen after 2 weeks of owning). The gearing is the strong point of the bike while the seat and the odd creaky noise are the bad points.
This bike takes to cross country riding like a duck to water but has taken a while to adjust to road riding. Suspension is a little tough at first but I am still to form an opinion until the bike is a little older.
Now doubting the value for money of this bike and the longetivity and durability. Strong frame, quite lite and takes a bashing.
One thing I would like to mention which may only have been related to me. I am 6foot1 and purchased the large frame bike. I still found I got a sore neck from reaching over to the handle bar that was a little low for my liking. This was resolved by the bike shop exchanging the neck with another that come up a little higher.
All in all though a solid bike that is getting better and better the more it is riden. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Aaron Hickey
a Weekend Warrior
from Geelong
Date Reviewed: May 23, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Anywhere with dirt!!! | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$900.00 | | Purchased At: | Marshall Cycles | | Strengths: | Where to start...
The frame: It's big, chunky and very sexy looking.
Components: Deore/LX, great stuff on a lower priced bike.
Price: Great price.lol.
Everything else: There's too many to mention. | | Weaknesses: | Forks: Judy TTs' seem a little solid in their travel, doesnt suck up many of the smaller bumps; although the fork may not be broken in properly yet. I like a stiffer setup anyways, so it's not really a weakness for me. | | Similar Products Used: | GT Pantara (Mate's 96 Model I think), Huffy stuff, other K-Mart Crap | | Bike Setup: | Standard 2003 model... Judy TT Forks, Deore all round. | | Bottom Line: | I wasn't too sure of this bike at first, when I saw it on the web, but once I saw it in person, that was it I had to have it....Forked over the cash straight away.
The Montari certianly looks and feels like a bike that will last, The bike feels a bit beefy (heavy), although it's a very solid bike...Looks like a good platform for entry level racing too, but some may want to change to a different fork for better proformance and tuneability.
All up a great bike for an even better price, thats why I gave it lots of tampon thingies...You wont be dissapointed :-) | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
tom
a Weekend Warrior
from palmerston north, new zealand
Date Reviewed: January 11, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Makara Peak, Wellington | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$550.00 | | Strengths: | Frame, Shocks and the rear mech. Quite light. Looks nice. | | Weaknesses: | The wheels have buckled, the seat has ripped and bent in an uncomfortable way, the truativ 5d crankss are useless. I've already had to replace the non-drive side crank because it became totally unrideable and now the replacement has started to go. (I've done some trials, drops up to 4.5 feat and xc riding) | | Similar Products Used: | DiamondBack sumthing and an appolo lsx1.3 | | Bike Setup: | Spds, new seat, alex Dm24 laced to an lx hub on the front and soon new cranks. | | Bottom Line: | Buy this bike if your gonna do xc riding because the wheels and cranks will not cope with anything rougher. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve
a Weekend Warrior
from Brisbane, Australia
Date Reviewed: October 30, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | 250 | | Strengths: | Good strong frame. Judy TT shocks good. Handles very well (much better then a freinds specialized hardrock) | | Weaknesses: | non-adjustable front deraileur, broken truvative crank (1st day), crappy seat, hand grips, tyres, rims, pedals | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized Hardrock | | Bike Setup: | LX front and rear deraileur, specilized cranks, neoprene handgrips, specilized tyres, veulta seat | | Bottom Line: | Put together very poorly in shop. Crank broken - a least was replaced for free. Once tyres, deraileaurs and handgrips changed it is pretty good. Probably a better idea to spend more to begin with. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
andrew
a Downhiller
from australia
Date Reviewed: June 17, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | forth hill | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | nice strong frame, good wiegh
| | Weaknesses: | mine is a little big, i picked it up 2nd hand so i didn't have any choice on size. | | Bike Setup: | judys tts, deore v brakes, michelin/specialized tyres, pazzaz dh stem and bars | | Bottom Line: | i use this my montari mainly for dh and just gunning around. it's a pretty strong frame, i am planning to upgrade to sum bigger travel shox so i'll see how it handles them. i would recomend this bike for sum one who wants a reliable, fun bike. I havn't tried, but i rekon it would be an alright xc racer. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
David Butcher
a Weekend Warrior
from Pt Noarlunga, South Australia, Australia
Date Reviewed: April 30, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Kuitpo Forest singletracks | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$500.00 | | Purchased At: | JT Cycles | | Strengths: | Great looks, reliable gears, great brakes, nothing has broken or gone wrong over 2000km | | Weaknesses: | not the lightest bike on the block | | Similar Products Used: | Previous bike was Raleigh 2000 - good low budget intro bike still going well | | Bike Setup: | Has Tektro Novella mechanical disks - work great with heaps of power and control - only problem being a very slightly warped rear disk which rings at 30kmh.
Changed standard tyres for MythosXC slicks at purchase - these have been good in dry conditions used so far. | | Bottom Line: | I shopped around for several months but the only other bikes that came close in value were 50% more expensive.
A great bike for the money - the 2002 model looks even better - only needs clipless pedals to be a brilliant package - I'm looking forward to getting into some low level racing on this bike | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave Hamilton
a Weekend Warrior
from Rotorua, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: January 12, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | marzochi downhill, redwoods | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$700.00 | | Purchased At: | Key Equipment, Rotorua | | Strengths: | 45cm frame is strong and can take the knocks, good base for up grades. RST 381's can take the hammer of a 110kg rider, good riding postion for 180 - 200 tall person. drive train medium quality but again strong. front disc is good in the wet. cheap enough replacement parts/pads. | | Weaknesses: | have broke spokes on rear wheel, rear disc brake pretty crap no braking effort, have cooked front pads on national downhill track, front shocks could be better -not bottom out. | | Similar Products Used: | Gt all terrian, Gary Fisher & specialised full susp. | | Bike Setup: | Get some knobblys, but a suspension seat post, upgrade shocks, frequent maintainence on RST disc-X caliper and pads | | Bottom Line: | A good value for money entry level mountain bike which is strong enough to take the big hits without getting to techo or expensive. I your a rider who tries new things and generally fall off, wipe out, crash, bash and expect the bike to carry on, good, as i have little trouble with my machine. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Duncan Smith
a Weekend Warrior
from South Canterbury
Date Reviewed: October 1, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$580.00 | | Purchased At: | Howes, Timaru | | Strengths: | Good frame and ergonomics for a bigger rider.(at the largest frame size) I'm 6'2 and 120kg ish and have given mine a good hammering without problems. Really comfortable reach to the bars and plenty of seatpost still inside the frame. | | Weaknesses: | No problems. Components are middle of the range in keeping with the price. Probably 300 NZdollars cheaper than comparable US manufactured bikes. | | Bike Setup: | Get the forks serviced at regular intervals. | | Bottom Line: | Good value for money. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter Thomo
a Cross Country Rider
from Brisbane
Date Reviewed: August 22, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Castle Hill, Ipswich | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$600.00 | | Purchased At: | NRG Cycles | | Strengths: | Frame, Value for money | | Weaknesses: | Nearly everything | | Similar Products Used: | many bikes | | Bike Setup: | stock except for tyres | | Bottom Line: | This bike sucks. The shocks top out, the shifting has gone haywire the rims buckle and the spokes break. Not to mention that the chain breaks as well as the hubs. I have had many problems with theis bike but I know others who have got the same bike and there's is fine | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
TONY (TERROR) GEE
a Weekend Warrior
from NEW ZEALAND
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | REDWOODS........ | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$600.00 | | Purchased At: | PINS MANUKAU | | Strengths: | GOOD STRONG FRAME CAN TAKE IT. | | Weaknesses: | DISC BRAKES FADED ONCE UNTIL CHANGED TO HARD PADS.
NO REAR SUSP. | | Similar Products Used: | MASPORT MOTOR MOWER. | | Bike Setup: | AS PURCHASED | | Bottom Line: | NOW I HAVE A REAL MTB.....GT I DRIVE 2000 | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris Collie
a Cross Country Rider
from Dunedin
Date Reviewed: July 6, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | signal hill | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$600.00 | | Purchased At: | Browns Avanti pro cycle centre | | Strengths: | good strong and light frame.ive thrown it around everywhere and is fine.good brakes and front rim. | | Weaknesses: | back rim teands to bend with downhill and jumps.dont get disc version,ive upgraded the forks on it to bombers-z3's. | | Bike Setup: | shimano acera changers & front deralier.deore back delarier.
ayara gp-710 rims.kenda kwicks. | | Bottom Line: | get new tyres if off roading. for xc the shocks are fine,but if you wanna take it further upgrade. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Luke -
a Racer
from Australia
Date Reviewed: December 21, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | a local cross country Track | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1200.00 | | Purchased At: | Winning edge cycles | | Strengths: | Frame and brakes, i got the Disk brake option and i love the diskes the front one is enough to totaly chuck u over the Handle bars that bout the only pain ful thing bout the bike! | | Weaknesses: | The pedals but WOW big deal eheh | | Similar Products Used: | Classic intimidator, Giant yucon se, Mongoose hilltopper sx. | | Bike Setup: | Factory standard for now eheh | | Bottom Line: | This is the best bike i have ever Ridden,
its good but i still havent botherd to adjust the shox which means by the time im in 24th the front wheel is Bouncing all over the road! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Carrick
a Cross Country Rider
from Sydney Australia
Date Reviewed: December 10, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Thredbo X-country | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$800.00 | | Purchased At: | Cyclery Northside | | Strengths: | great frame that wil take all most any thing that you throw at it. Great fork that takes most terrain losses travel over time ( wipe some Mantiou Prep M lube makes the shox good as new)
Smoth shifting that last over time this bike is ment to be very heavy even the scales tell you this but it feels light as a feather on the trail | | Weaknesses: | I bought the Disc version and the rear RST disc wear almost point less having there because the lack of braking power. | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Hutchison Python Golds,DNM V8 , XT hydrualics discs | | Bottom Line: | excellent bike spend a few dollars and it will run like a dream for you with a few dollars spent a good bike for a starting racer aswell as a jumper | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark Hoppus
a Weekend Warrior
from NSW
Date Reviewed: October 23, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Eangadine - Newcastle | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$730.00 | | Purchased At: | Woolys Wheel | | Strengths: | Thisbike is the best priced value for maoney bike ive ever ridden - the looks attracted to the bike - it has a cross country and slalom feel due to its riser bar, the handling is great at any spped or conditions!! and the alloy frame is absolutely strong, i bought the montari the rigid version and to this day ive been riding it with no complains | | Weaknesses: | Ive read a lot reviewer saying that the rims is the biggest drawback to this bike, well i say that they just cant ride!!ive been everywhere with this bike - and i do a lot of stunts, jumping and the rims is as perfect when i first bought the bike | | Bike Setup: | 40 cm - standard | | Bottom Line: | Value for money - Buy it and test the darn thing for yourself! this bike is ideal for the city cross path and nothing else and to the idiots whos whinging about their rims buckling while riding off road - what do u expect from a $ 730 bike? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brad
a Racer
from Sydney, Australia
Date Reviewed: July 22, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Sea Acres Nature reserve | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Very stiff frame design, good components, very light,stops well, durable,good value,very strong frame,good looks | | Weaknesses: | Rims prone to bending,coil shocks with no air dampening,Kenda kinetics tires prone to pinch flats. | | Similar Products Used: | Avanti Hurricane,Giant ATX 840,850,870 and 890 | | Bike Setup: | I have replaced many components on the bike with higher products such as DH bars,Velociraptor tires, Velocity Deep V rims. | | Bottom Line: | A great cross-country bike.Will bring good results in races.Dont expect components to last forever or stand up to the forces of downhill racing or jumping, especially if you are heavy or tend to land wrongly over jumps.As a person who works in a bike shop, I see a lot of similar bikes and the only similar one that is really any better than this is about $600 more.Overall, great for cross-country,light downhill etc and well priced.One final piece of advice, harass the bike shop guys for an upgrade of wheels and shocks,it may cost you more but it will be worth it in the long run. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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