Strengths: The genisis geometry rocks. Decent components. The 6061 alum. is very strong and light. Inexpensive.
Weaknesses: The stem is to long making to relaxed but this can be fixed by replacing it. It comes with toeclips instead of clipless. The wheels come a little off so i had to true them.
Bottom Line:
It is not to relaxed and not to agressive, on down hills your wieght is not to much on the front wheel so you don't flip over the bars. On uphills your wieght is distributed so you have enough traction but so you don't flip over backwords. So all and all it is a great bike needing just a few ajustments and part changes.
Similar Products Used: Gary Fisher Tassahara, a gary fisher big sur and Trek 9500.
Bike Setup: Shimano coponents incuding deore and LX. Rim brakes and Shimano 515 pedals. Promax brakes and brake levers.
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Submitted by
Steve
a Cross Country Rider
from Salem, Oregon,USA
Date Reviewed: October 16, 2002
Strengths: Great price, Avid mechanical disc brakes, nice frame (it even has rack mounts), low price.
Weaknesses: Brake levers are not too good, BB appears to made out of a section of pipe, wheels are okay but check spoke tension regularly, and the chain rings are, well, cheap.
Bottom Line:
I actually like this bike alot. Yes, I have swapped out a lot of the original parts over time but I do that on all of my bikes. But I did ride the bike for quite awhile in it's stock condition and thought it was just great. But the main reason I purchased this bike was because it came with Avid disc brakes at such a low price, and disc brakes are so nice here in the rainy, muddy, NW. I recommend this bike to anyone who wants a good bike that is inexpensive,(but not cheap),easy to ride, and just plain fun.
Similar Products Used: Bontrager Privateer, Ibis Mojo.
Bike Setup: I have changed the BB to a Shimano UN-72, brake levers to Avid Speed Dial 7's, handlebar to steel Bontrager Crow Bars, tires to Tioga Factory DH 2.1's, fork to a Marzocchi Z-2.
Strengths: Overall good, strong bike. Agile yet stable and confident. Breaks good enough without excelling.
Weaknesses: Not very comfortable
Bottom Line:
It is a great bike and I do not regret one single moment having bought it. It is a great ride for my purposes as a weekend warrior as the site tends to call it. I ride twice a week. Rides always off track, rarely road trip, but suspension in hardest setting, this works reasonably. Comfort could be better, will try another saddle shortly. Bought the bike at around 900 USD, but because year 2001. Original price would be 1025 USD
Bike Setup: Standard, but came with Manitou Magnum
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Submitted by
Anjal Amin
a Weekend Warrior
from Jersey City, USA
Date Reviewed: August 24, 2002
Strengths: All 27 lbs. of the The Hoo Koo E Koo is great. It's light-weight enough for the beginner to mid-level rider. I've beat it up plenty on the black-diamond trails and it's all with stock components. It takes a beating. The frame is solid and comes ready for a rear disc brake addition.
Weaknesses: Though the stock components are great, I've had the shifter apart slightly after banging it into some rocks. But, then again, what bike wouldn't have a jolt after some knocks?
Bottom Line:
If you want something that will take a beating, allow of upgrades and have around $800, this is the bike to get.
Favorite Trail: Grand Tour, Hartshorne, Middletown, NJ
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Price Paid:
$800.00
Purchased At: Performance Bike Shop, Alexandria, VA
Similar Products Used: None.
Bike Setup: Shimano shifters and derailleur. Bontrager crank and seat-post.
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Submitted by
Christine Young
a Weekend Warrior
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: August 19, 2002
Strengths: Looks cool, very light and a great frame that allows plently of furture upgrades.
Weaknesses: Bad crankset. Good brakes but the feel could be a little better. Purchased from bad after service retailer. Otherwise 5 Flamin'Chilis
Bottom Line:
If you buy this bike put on a Shimano Deore crankset. Throw the Bontrager one out. It sucked big time. A bent but still usable large chainring and a very badly twisted middle ring after approx 70 miles of street use. Gear shifting is snappy and precise after this, and the rings don't bend during normal use! Gary Fisher made a bad crankset choice on this one!
Bike Setup: Stock now with Shimano Deore crankset.
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Submitted by
eric c
a Cross Country Rider
from manchester ct usa
Date Reviewed: August 3, 2002
Strengths: almost everything
Weaknesses: the brakes rims
Bottom Line:
this bike rules ive beat the hell out of this for a year and nothing has gone wrong its a good jumper-beater ive had a ton of bikes and even my expensive bikes didnt go this long without something breaking i seriously reccomend this bike for a beginner or a veteran mountain biker low on cash (now the bad)the brake pads suck mine were toast in a week (i ride alot of mud) the paint is chipping off my rims but i got better ones anyway pretty minor complaints buy it and beat it
Similar Products Used: 85 giant iguana 94 kona cinder cone 97 kona cinder cone 2001 kona bear deluxe 2001 trek, cannondale,giant,schwinn,gt
Bike Setup: clipless pedals sun rims xt hubs
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Submitted by
Juan
a Weekend Warrior
from Boise, Idaho
Date Reviewed: July 10, 2002
Strengths: Great frame, geometry and components, especially the fork.
Weaknesses: Shifting needs to be adjusted after a few miles. After a year the brakes have worn a lot.
Bottom Line:
This bike fits me like a glove. The genesis geometry rocks. I have a friend with a Paragon and he cannot tell the difference when riding on it. Climbs very well. Mine didnt have disc brakes, thats probably the only upgrade I would do. KEEP THE CHAIN LUBRICATED!!You'll be glad you did. My next bike will be a GF!
Strengths: Genesis Geometry really really helps me with not being sent over the handle bars, like the different feel of the geometry, good shifters and deralers.
Weaknesses: The seat really hirts the tant after riding a long time. Broke my chain the first week I got it
Bottom Line:
Great bike for people who ride for fun. Also ride alot but don't want to spend alot of money for a great bike.
Submitted by
Philip Kelly
a Weekend Warrior
from Arlington VA
Date Reviewed: May 21, 2002
Strengths: genesis frame, brakes, etc.
Weaknesses: bought it at performance. they F--k things up good. didn't bother properly tightening the fork oil seal, or the crank arms. chain is also a weakness, snapped it once already.
Bottom Line:
good bike for intermediate riders. the disc brakes are fabulous, make stopping easy. only when the rear wheel is locked, it has a tendency to "hop" as the spokes flex, absorbing and releasing energy. the Magnum R fork is ok, but the retards at performance didn't bother torquing the bolts on top of the fork properly so it was leaking all over when i rode it home from the shop. the components are light-years ahead of the s--t on my old bike, a '91 trek 850 antelope. first thing i did was change to clipless pedals, probably going to swap out the fork and wheels soon, i'd like more travel, and i've already knocked the rear wheel completely out of true, and bent it. nice eh? it's pretty sick. the dropout may be slightly bent, not sure. overall, this bike is good, but don't buy it at performance.
Bike Setup: foam padding on frame, clipless pedals, replaced a spoke, parrafinned chain.
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Submitted by
Ben
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: April 23, 2002
Strengths: Great LX Rear and Front derailers.... Avid Disc do the job form rain or dry... Handlebars and wheels are pretty good for the money... Sick Frame.
Weaknesses: The Promax brake levers are very sloppy and totaly ruin the effect of having the front and rear discs. Consider upgrading to Shimano LX Levers for 25 bucks... Also the seat could really damage the boys and i'd recomend replacement.
Bottom Line:
The bottom line here is it is a newbie rider/ intermediate rider should start off on this bike. everything is upgradable and some of the componets are pretty good. I would get a new seat and new levers before starting out. It is a good price for the money and has a great geometric frame. The Manitou Fork is known to have some problems, and it is comparable to the Rock Shox Judy XC. IT is a great bike for the money and the discs are a good start.
Similar Products Used: Cannondale CAAD2 (another dependable frame) and Mountain Cycle San Andreas
Bike Setup: Swapped out the stock Magnum R fork for my beat-up, leaky 1998 Marzocchi Jr.T (which works much better than the Magnum). I also put the crappy Avid discs on my wifes bike and put XT V-brakes on this. I swapped out the 9 speed trigger shifters, cranks (Bontrager cranks suck, they flex so much) and 9 spd cassette for an old 8 speed grip shift and drivetrain. Oh yeah, I tossed the heavy stock bottom bracket and put in a lighter Shimano UN-72.
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Submitted by
Sasha
a Cross Country Rider
from Dallas, Texas
Date Reviewed: January 15, 2002
Strengths: awsome geometry
Weaknesses: very gummy shifting, front der broke last week, cheap shock will last only a limited time
Bottom Line:
very versatile bike for an intermediate rider, good bike too build on (as soon as I run into some extra cash), highly recommend switching to clipless pedals, Sram 9.0 SL ders ( keep the shimano shifters), and a better shock... i would recommend Fisher to any one because of the awsome geometry of the frame, not for his choice of components
Submitted by
Cory
a Weekend Warrior
from Peoria Il
Date Reviewed: December 21, 2001
Strengths: My Hoo Koo E Koo handles great in all weather conditions, The Genisis Geometry prevents me from fliping over the handle bars,Especially after 8 beers or so.
Weaknesses: Havent experienced any weaknesses yet. Only that we ran out of beer on the trails last week. (tragic riding circumstance)
Bottom Line:
My bike is my trusty companion, Night, rain, snow,It hold up to the elements. Its the best medium priced hardtail I believe.I wouldnt recomend drinking beer on a mountain bike, Cause you could get seriously injured.But if you do, Make sure all riders have their own backpack and 12 pack.
Bike Setup: Its set up to tear up the trails, and holds up to a backpack full of cold beer.
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Submitted by
Sara
a Weekend Warrior
from Portland, OR
Date Reviewed: November 12, 2001
Strengths: This bike climbs and descends hills like a dream! Avid Disc brakes for the wet Northwest seem to be the best thing I could have done. A little crisp on the shifting but at least you know it has made the change.
Weaknesses: Gear shifting was rough for the first month - often shifted on its own during hard uphills. Works great now! Disc brakes are a little on the heavy side (better stopping in the NW though). The stock seat is a killer!
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the price. I look forward to my rides every weekend. The bike has really made me learn to trust it! It is a little large for the frame sizing but manageable. It takes the downhills like a bulldozer! For the newcomer to mountain biking, I couldn't be any happier with the buy.
