Submitted by
wallacio
a Weekend Warrior
from Hong Kong
Date Reviewed: July 17, 2009
Strengths: Super feather weight as a mtb bike, stiff and very responsive especially at uphill acceleration. Mine is a size 17.5 frame with 2.64lbs as I also washed off the top paint coat for nude carbon revelation before puting the stickers on again. Set up with parts like XTR shifters and disc brakes, Chris King, carbon stem, seatpost, pedals, Crossmax tubeless SLR, and the whole bike weights only 18.8 pounds.
Weaknesses: When you go downhill too fast, the bike swings a little bit.
Bottom Line:
It costs a huge portion of my savings to build this bike. Even the frame was issued in 2000, I still bought it a few months ago as I always did hope to get it, and for some reason it's hard to find this frame as Giant only produced it for a brief while.
As the frame is already light, it unconsciously gives you an addiction to build the whole bike with light components, which means burning much more cash. But consider the time-frame that I am gonna use this bike, it is all worthwhile with performance, weight all put into consideration
Similar Products Used: Specialized Grasshopper, Proflex 5500c, Dean Scout, Trek 9900, Trek Pro 9.9 XC, Merlin XLM
Bike Setup: Trigon monocoque stem and handlebar, Rock Shox SID Team w/ 100mm travel, XTR: front and back deraillers, shifters, center lock disc-rotors (Hope discs), bottom bracket, cassette, chainrings. SRAM chains. Chris King headset. Selle Italia Flite Evolution 3 saddle with Unlko carbon monocoque seatpost. Time ATAC carbon w/ Ti axles. Mavic Crossmax Disc SLR w/ Mavic skewers. Continental Race King 2.0 tires. Hope seatpost clamp
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Submitted by
mickrida21
a Weekend Warrior
from Cleveland, Ohio
Date Reviewed: July 7, 2009
Strengths: Lightweight but still good for uphill. Handles well. Incredibly strong carbon frame. All components still holding up well (routine maintenance) after roughly five seasons of grueling activity. Easy to maintain.
Weaknesses: Came with platform pedals (upgraded to egg beaters)...thats about it.
Bottom Line:
Great all around bike. Stay on top of adjustments and maintanence and it's possible to ride this bike for years.
Submitted by
david.bolden
a Racer
from Monmouth, OR USA
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2008
Strengths: Everything, unavailable, exotic, light, responsive, obsorbs low frequency bumps, climbs and descends great, great breaks(love the adjusters), quality of complete package is second to none. It is a great value for the money.
Weaknesses: If anything it would be the half pipe shifters. They are loud and realy indexed. I had to adapt to them to keep from inadvertantly shifting.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the best hard tail I have ever ridden. The frame is bullet proof and durable. It is much more soldily built with better carbon than the Trek 9.0. It has endured some severe high speed craches with ill affect. This bike would instantly make anybody a better rider. It is a shame Giant stopped producing the frame. That's all I got to say about that.
Bike Setup: Stock except the pedals and tires. I scrapped the Wild Grippers and used Pythons instead. I changed the pedals to Egg Beaters. I put Mavic Cross Max disk specific wheels on as well, these added a little weight but was worth it.
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Submitted by
Brian ferguson
a Cross Country Rider
from Auckland New Zealand
Date Reviewed: March 29, 2008
Strengths: The strengths are summed up as -There are no weakneses
Weaknesses: Absoultly none that I can find
Bottom Line:
I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER HARDTAIL!!!! This is the most exotic/erotic machine I have ever ridden on. It beats my tcm that I have had for ten years (I thought that was awesome) before some complete idiot hit it with their car and cracked the frame. It was not hard to build a 8.4kg hardtail with the mcm Great for the rider who likes super lightweight bikes that are stiff, climb like a rocket, handle like an f1 car and feel as though they are on speed/lsd for accelerating. Fantasic vibration dampening and silkysoft over the small bumps -10,000% better than alu
Similar Products Used: 1995 Giant tcm and tomac buckshot
Bike Setup: 19inch frame 1330 grams Sid sl Fork 1150 grams, USE alien carbon post, tnt bottom bracket,kooka levers, xt thumbies,syntace f99 stem, lp composite h/bar, precison billet v brakes, nukeproof ti hubs with dt rev spokes, xpedo ti/mag pedals, xt derailuers, carbon cranks, ti skewers, titec 100 carbon barends. all bolts on bike replaced with ti
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Submitted by
paul timson
a Cross Country Rider
from christchurch,new zealand
Date Reviewed: March 11, 2004
Strengths: strong,forgiving ride from the carbon-kevlar frame,light and flex free with fast acceleration
Weaknesses: none so far only rode it for 6 months
Bottom Line:
have only had the bike a short time,nothing broken yet,got the frame and built the bike from ground up,carbon absorbs the vibration enough to feel less fatigued after a days riding compared to my atx 870 aluminium hardtail,mcm weighs in at 25lbs,not too light due to the strong wheelset and flatjacket tires,saves fixing flats,thats a pain,well made frame with plenty of beef in the frame tubes and stays giving a solid feel,marzocchi mx comp is a great shock,mine set to 115mm,by changing the internal springs,dual air,and running heavier grade oil,im running magura louise brakes with kool stop pads to give the brakes more power,hopefully the carbon-kevlar frame will handle some abuse but large drops are out of question,will keep you posted after i clock up more time on this super fast race machine,buy one you wont regret it,it will inspire confidence in your ride
Bike Setup: shimano xt components,lx hollowtech crank,carbon bar,fsa stem,ritchy ocr wheelset,wtb seat,marzocchi bomber mx comp,specialised armadillo tires,magura louise disk brakes,lx controls
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Submitted by
Erik Kwant
a Cross Country Rider
from Arnhem, Netherlands
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2001
Strengths: Very light frame, Cool colours, replaceble dropout.
Weaknesses: Bit flexy at the bracket, painting job
Bottom Line:
Very nice bike for cross country racing, light, take some of the shocks. Is a bit flexy at the bracjet but that doesn't effect riding. Ride it now for 2 years without any problems with the frame. This surprises me. The last to frames broke, The 1995 version ofter 2 years and the 1999 version after 3 months. The 2000 version or later is the best you can get is you like building a very light cross countr racer. It's only a lot money.
Strengths: Rigid, light, geometry, specs, ride's very fast and smooth, awesome single track hill climb bike, hands down.
Weaknesses: Formula hubs, xt bb, needed stock next lp's, and a 9.0sl carbon.
Bottom Line:
I maintain this bike in the stand to racing standards and tear it up when its off, the most fun a hardtail can give. ride's stiff, fast accelerates like a rocket. NO complaints yet. Fun to build up and even more fun to ride the Utah hill's.
Similar Products Used: DBR Carbon main tube's hard tail. Gt LTS xr 1000
Bike Setup: HUgi 240 hubs, dt revolution-alloy nips, wr carbon stem, action tec bb, lp kevlar bar and ends, use carbon post, crossmax front, kooka racha lever, avid sd mag fr-brake, hope xc rear, selle trans am ti, control tech bolt on skew's, next lp's, sram woody sl, kenda klimax lite fr, continental xc 1.5 rear, xtr 12-34 cassette, beebop ultra hollow pedals. 20.4 lbs.
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Submitted by
Mike D
a Racer
from Long Beach, Ca. USA
Date Reviewed: October 7, 2000
Strengths: This bike climbs like a cat, and is very quite. Great parts specs from the factory - Ready to race out of the box!
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
This is the perfect bike for going fast. It climbs like nothing I've ever ridden and with the power and feel of the Hope Disc brakes, going downhill is a blast! Not the lightest bike out there but when you are 6' 185, the last thing you want is to feel the bike frame flexing under you. Very stable in corners and light enough for my racing needs right now. If you can afford (or even find one they are very limited now) and are looking for a frame that is strong and forgiving, this is the bike.
Strengths: HAND MADE FRAME RACING GEOMETRY KILLER PARTS PACKAGE
Weaknesses: SRAM HALFPIPE SHIFTERS SHORT STEM
Bottom Line:
THIS BIKE IS SO GOOD THAT I PURCHASED 2 OF THEM! THIS IS THE ONLY BIKE I WILL EVER RACE UNLESS GIANT MAKES A LIGHTER FRAME WHICH ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN IN 2001, GIANT IS NOT GOING TO MAKE CARBON FRAMES THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF ALL THE WUSSYS WHO THINK THEY NEED A FULL SUSPENSION CROSS-COUNTRY BIKE. IF YOU WANT ONE OF THESE BIKES YOU BETTER ACT FAST I WAS TOLD I GOT ONE OF THE LAST 6 THAT WERE LEFT IN THE U.S. THIS BIKE HAS GOTTEN ME TO THE FINISH LINE EVERYTIME IN THE FRONT OF THE PACK! I HAVE NEVER FINSHED BELOW THE TOP TEN (I THINK THE BIKE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT) IT JUST HAS A GREAT DESIGN FOR GOING FAST!
Weaknesses: None (unless you dont like a stiff frame)
Bottom Line:
Anyone reading this review who is considering buying this bike, or the frame and building it up, please write down my E-mail(if after reading this you decide to purchase it)so you can write and thank me. Without a doubt, this is the best buy on the market. I purchased the frame at a local BS for 579.00 and had all the standard equipment from my SE1 (as well as a few extras) transfered. No company in the bikeing industry can offer a frame this good at this price.(I doubt you can get it as cheap as I did,but its still a great deal)This bike has many of the SE1 comp. on it, and its still incredible.Im going to replace all the sub-par comp. with high end equipment, and this bike will be even better if thats possible.If you have thought about this bike, BUY IT RIGHT NOW!, I found out that GIANT is not going to ship anymore to the U.S. after this year. I REPEAT: NO BIKE COMPANY CAN OFFER ANY BIKE OR FRAME THIS GOOD AT THIS PRICE. And what an eye catcher! OH yea, about those formula brakes. It has taken one and a half years, but they finally work great.They are cheap and light and I might just keep them.
Strengths: LIGHT , FAST , AND RESPONSIVE ! THIS IS SIMPLY THE BEST HARDTAIL I HAVE EVER RIDDEN !
Weaknesses: I CANT FIND ANY YET AND I BREAK EVERYTHING !
Bottom Line:
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT IF YOU ARE A RACER WHO WANTS THE ULTIMATE UPGRADE IN PERFORMANCE AND YOUR WILLING TO SPEND THE MONEY , THIS IS THE BIKE FOR YOU ! IT MAY BE A HARDTAIL AND SOME WILL COMPLAIN ABOUT THAT , BUT I CANT USAULLY HEAR THEIR WHOLE ARGUMENT AS I AM PASSING THEM UP THE CLIMB ! ANOTHER PLUS IS THAT GIANT HAS BEEN MAKING FRAMES FOR OTHER FAMOUS COMPANIES FOR YEARS SO YOU KNOW THAT THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING WHEN THEY BUILT THIS RACE MACHINE !
Bike Setup: SRAM 9.0 SL BETSY SHIFTERS AND DER. , 99 SID XC , NUKEPROOF SUPERFLY/517 , RACE FACE PRODIGY CRANKSET , AND XT V-BRAKES
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Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Machesney Park, IL 61115
Date Reviewed: March 11, 2000
Strengths: Carbon/Kevlar frame! Rock shox sid sl! Hope Pro cross country disk brakes! All Race Face components! Sram 9.0 halfpipe works great! Nice light Michelin tires! Time Atac pedals!
Weaknesses: Caution!!! This bike might be to light or to fast for some riders!
Bottom Line:
This is a great bike!
If you can't afford $3,000.00 buy the MCM SE1 it's only $1750.00!! Carbon frame, hayes hydro brakes, sid, and race face/ titec!
Bike Setup: I switched wheels to spin eons, put green michelin tires on, and put on tomac grips from back in the day.
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Submitted by
L.K. Foster
a Weekend Warrior
from Tainan, Taiwan
Date Reviewed: February 3, 2000
Strengths: Carbon fiber absorbs most of the shocks that aluminum passes on. Stronger down tubes than an ATX 890 which is important if you have a downtube clamp bike rack like the Thule 599.
Weaknesses: Cost, around $320 more than the aluminum ATX 890 frame over here in Taiwan.
Bottom Line:
All the power efficiencies of a hardtail with nearly the comfort of a dualie. It's much more comfortable to ride than an equivalent aluminum frame, something that is very important to my 40-something butt. Yet it also gives me half a chance (OK, maybe a quarter chance) to avoid getting spanked on hills by the 20-somethings I ride with.
Similar Products Used: '99 Giant ATX 890 (wife's bike) '98 Specialized FSR Comp '00 Giant XtC Team
Bike Setup: Rock Shox 2000 SID SL Rock Shox suspension seat post Magura HS33 hydraulics Mavic Cross Link wheel set Michelin Wild Gripper Sprint S in the butt-ugly green Shimano XT/XTR
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Submitted by
Jeff
a Cross Country Rider
from Pittsburgh, PA
Date Reviewed: January 21, 2000
Strengths: light, 2.7lbs Hope discs best xc race bike I've ridden
Weaknesses: not cheap don't know about durability yet
Bottom Line:
Just got this bike a couple weeks ago. Haven't done much riding on it yet, but I'll update after I put in more miles on it.
