Submitted by
Stuart
a Cross Country Rider
from Montreal,Que
Date Reviewed: September 19, 2003
Strengths: Great fit and finish,outstanding welds beautiful wheels from their house brand Wheeltech
Weaknesses: Maybe the weight of 525 reynolds but what a SWEET ride!!As they say Steel is real
Bottom Line:
After riding a hardnose bush pilot this bike has made me feel as if I died and went to heaven!!My riding tech.,speed has all gone up to another level that I though wasn't goin' to happen to this guy!Already took it to a 24hr race and the bike did not let me down!I would recommend this bike to anyone . And they say X-Mas only comes once a year!
Strengths: The frame, value .... not a bad part spec, though I know little about the prodigy group. The frame is reynolds 725 - by the way - not 525.
Weaknesses: I broke the chain within a week, this is something I have seen many other new 9 speed users do as well. The bike was put together poorly, narrow housing that quickly gunked up and such.
Bottom Line:
swap the wheels, upgrade the breaks and you have a fine racing machine ... I love it. Now we will see how it holds up.
Similar Products Used: Old Fisher Chronos .. steel has come a long way baby, give it a try. Retired a Klein Mantra after two broken frames, who needs the full suspension headache?
Bike Setup: Replaced the LX brake levers with Avids, picked up a light wheel set (whith cartridge bearings) from a friend ....
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Trey
a Racer
from Pullman, Washington
Date Reviewed: December 26, 2001
Strengths: Climbs well, handles well and is a great deall overall
Weaknesses: Race Face components bend and break to quickly--very disappointed in race face quality
Bottom Line:
The bike is great, the race face prodigy series sucks. I weigh 170 and have bent the seatpost and chainring in the first 2 months of use. I am now trying to get someone (race face)to replace the parts. I rate the bike (frame and fork, SRAM and Shimano 5 but race face 2 or less)
Bike Setup: Stock....Judy SL, SRAM and Shimano, Race Face parts
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Kathleen
a Weekend Warrior
from Denver, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: October 27, 2001
Strengths: Super responsive handling; stiff cranks (even I feel fast on it); light feel
Weaknesses: Other than the rider? Can't think of any yet. Well, the seat sucks -- but that's always the case with a stock seat.
Bottom Line:
I've been riding a dualie for over 5 years and it has served me well, but I realized I'd pretty much trashed the heck out of it -- it's becoming the old GMC Gremlin that refuses to die once and for all -- at what point do you stop throwing money at it just to keep it going for one more good ride? So I decide to start checking out bikes this summer -- I don't ride as hard as I used to, plus I've kind of been jonesing for a steel hardtail -- aluminum is too stiff, especially when you've been riding a dualie for years, and I don't throw money around the way I used to, so titanium was out. I fell in love with the Hammer Race the first time I rode it on a test ride -- super responsive, stiff cranks, and spec'ed out really nicely (I couldn't believe the MSRP was only something like $1199). But I put it off, thinking I should stick with the Jamis for one more year. But when I saw my baby at VeloSwap today for $800, I couldn't resist. Took it for its first real ride today, and it is a dream. I am not a dream on it -- I'm going to have to learn all new body english, especially climbing over rocks, as I've developed definite dualy-climbing habits. But so much fun on the switchbacks, and even on the downs. The handling on the fast, windy singletrack can only be described as pure joy. This is a GREAT BIKE -- by far the best thing out there for the money.
Favorite Trail: Tipperary Creek (Winter Park/Fraser CO); Prime Cut (Fruita)
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$800.00
Purchased At: VeloSwap
Similar Products Used: Jamis Dakar Gary Fisher Sugar 3 (old) Specialized RockHopper Comp
Bike Setup: Hammer Race; Gary Fisher NiTi frame;XT rear; LX front shifters; LX brakes; RaceFace cranks & front chainrings; SRAM cassette; RaceFace Prodigy seatpost (looks very cool); Mavic 221 rims; SRAM 7.0 V-brakes
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Submitted by
Dylan Baer
a Cross Country Rider
from Telluride, CO USA
Date Reviewed: September 1, 2001
Strengths: Great bike if your ride includes everything
Weaknesses: They didn't put the head tube sticker in the middle
Bottom Line:
Love the way my bike rides. The improvements I made have been when the spec parts break. If you have never ridden a steel bike, than get one and ride it like you stole it. I ride mostly with suspension guys and I dont know why they have all that weight and do all that maintaince. The other steel bikes I've been on are of "high" quality steel and I can't tell the difference. The value is unbelievable
Bike Setup: xtr/rino lite, race face, king, Z2 atom race, Ti bb,assort other chingasso parts
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Submitted by
Kevin
a Cross Country Rider
from Calgary
Date Reviewed: July 11, 2001
Strengths: - Race Face cranks, rings and stem - Ritchey Nitanium Frame is sweet - Judy sl shock are sweet with the 3 travel options - Shimano xt rear and lx front are awesome - LX brake levers
Weaknesses: Are you joking
Bottom Line:
This is an awsome bike for getting in to mountian biking or already in it. The components are sweet for the price and I couldn't find another bike this good the the same price range. This bike gets five flaming chilis for value price and overall rating.
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Date Reviewed: June 5, 2001
Strengths: The frame: Ritchey Nitanium tube set, great welds, nice paint - it handles beautifully
Weaknesses: None, except that since steel is out of fashion, I had to special order it (& wait)
Bottom Line:
The product information listed on this site is for last year's Hammer Race. This year's frame is far superior, as it is Ritchey NiTi (last year it was Reynolds 525). The price has gone up too, but it's so worth it.
I had been quite happy with my mid-80's steel Fisher until it got stolen last year. I rode nearly every available mid-priced bike & the Hammer was by far the most balanced (great ride quality, not bad weight, "reasonable" price, high quality/common sense parts mix). I realize that this description might not sound inspiring, & when you see the bike it is understated. But... if you ride just because you love feeling like you did when you were a little kid on your first bike without training wheels, going a little too fast...if you care more about quality, than what other people think, then this might be your next ride.
