Similar Products Used: garyfisher mudpuppy (kids bike) size three and 1 1/2 inches, and i jumped off a car, and it lasted longer then this bike.
Bike Setup: frame, wheels 9 and 3/4 gears, shiver dual crowns, and no brakes i just spill.
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Submitted by
Wayne Foster
a Weekend Warrior
from Burlington Ontario Canada
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2001
Strengths: Tough light plush feeling frame. Light bike overall. All around good value for the buck.
Weaknesses: Chain slap. Bottom bracket cheap and lasted one year. Rims bend easily. No rebound adjustment on Jett Seat hurts butt.
Bottom Line:
THE SLAPPER. I am 200 LBs and 6ft 1 and have hammered this bike a lot for the last year... This 21 inch bike is great value for the money and handles well. The Jett works well for slow to average speeds. I enjoy riding this bike even after just purchasing a new Trex 98 full suspension bike. Plan to upgrade some of the parts as time goes on. Overall a great lighter bike for the money with a great frame.
Submitted by
Dean
a Cross Country Rider
from Pembroke Pines, FL
Date Reviewed: August 9, 2001
Strengths: Solid frame with nice looking chrome and black finish. Tires are fine for all-purpose riding.
Weaknesses: Wheels are OK for light trail riding but go out of true in the rough stuff. Seatpost is not durable. Cranks are tough, but too heavy. Seat is ridiculous uncomfortable. Chain slap makes a Lizard Skin or the like mandatory.
Bottom Line:
This is a great bike to learn on. It's just when your skills begin to improve and you move on to more demanding trails, you have to upgrade. When I changed out every single component, this sled was a lot of fun on the trails. Just completed my last upgrade: the Homey Factory. Climbing with the Hard Rock's geometry was difficult, but I'll always remember that this was the bike that got me into the sport. Now it will be retired into a single-speed play bike. Bottom line: If you're going to use this as a mode of transportation and some light fire-road trail riding, it's perfect out of the box. If you want to thrash trails, plan on upgrading or shelling out a lot more for a higher-end sled.
Bike Setup: XT tranny, Judy Race, Titec Hell-Bent riser, Mavic 517s, Titec Big Al stem, Selle Italia saddle, Avid Arch Rivals, Wellgo 813 clipless.
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Submitted by
Aaron
a Racer
from Colorado Springs, CO
Date Reviewed: June 25, 2001
Strengths: Looks sweet, descent components for the money.
Weaknesses: Chain slap, really heavy.
Bottom Line:
I loved that bike. It was the bike that got me started. I won my first race on that bike. It was easy to upgrade and the best starter Mtn. bike you could ask for.
Bike Setup: Changed out the Rock Shox Jett's for Manitou SX and upgraded brakes.
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Submitted by
Mat
a Weekend Warrior
from Sacramento
Date Reviewed: June 6, 2001
Strengths: Strong frame and decent component set.
Weaknesses: Tires, Wheels (came out of true in first week), Front Derailleur
Bottom Line:
This is a great bike for the money, but if you plan on doing any serious trail riding your money would be better spent on something else. The one thing that really sucked about this bike was the rear wheel. It would go out of true after almost every ride. Otherwise, if all you need is cheap transportation then this would be a good choice.
Bike Setup: Mavic CrossRides, Panaracer Smoke/Dart, Clipless pedals, riser bar
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Submitted by
David
a Cross Country Rider
from spokane
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2001
Strengths: great frame, good looks, price
Weaknesses: Cheaper components
Bottom Line:
This was my first true mountain bike. I've had it for a year now and It has been great. I had the cheap kmc chain break on me about 2 mo ago but that is my only complaint. When I bought this bike I didn't want to spend alot and I liked that it had a good frame.When I was looking at bikes this was the best bang for the buck, other bikes with similar setups ran anywhere fro $700-$900. This spring I've upgraded just about everything except for the grips. You can always find great deals on components. I would recommend to anyone who wants a great bike at a great price
Weaknesses: RS jett wore out fast, tires to skinny, chainslap, no name brakes, component could be better, rims dont stay true
Bottom Line:
The bike is not to good, but was a great bike for me to learn on, and you need to start some where. It wasnt so bad i didnt improve. I should have bought a better bike instead of all the upgrades. well it gets the job done.
Submitted by
Dave McNasty
a Cross Country Rider
from Richmond VA
Date Reviewed: April 11, 2001
Strengths: Strong Frame, ummmm durability, good bike to see if you like mtb, doesnt cost a whole lot, if one gets serious, one needs to get a better bike though, good climber
Weaknesses: weight of jett on front makes the descents a little scary, deore rear, crap every where else (acera) brakes wear quickly, handles like a school bus on slow tech stuff
Bottom Line:
Good bike to start on, i started on it. I ride 4-6 times a week from 12 to 16 miles a ride, and the roc kept through it all. Very good durability, fine point of bad components is that they may be heavy, but can do the job. As i said, good beginner, but if rider seeks harder trails, more xc, then a better bike is needed, period.
Similar Products Used: none, getting a moab 2 soon
Bike Setup: deore rear, nameless rims, specialized comp tires, specialized seat, stem , seat post, brakes no name (i'm a cheapskate), acera front, acera cranks
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Submitted by
Bogdan
a Weekend Warrior
from Hamilton, Ontario
Date Reviewed: March 29, 2001
Strengths: Frame: strong and sweet looking (ball-burnished Aluminum) Rims: Weinmann 519 held out well despite what I've heard Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore
Weaknesses: Seat: good if you like a numb ass Crank Set: soft chainwheels shark-finned & caused chain suck
Bottom Line:
As good a bike as you can get for the money, but if you really get into the sport you can count on wanting to upgrade. If I knew I would enjoy the sport so much I would have probably spent more money and get a bike with better components right off the bat. To be fair, I need to put my riding experience in perspective ... so here's my story: I have had this bike for 1 year now and feel that I've got my money's worth riding it. I started out as a novice, but improved on my skills fairly quickly and have been doing a lot of riding on both XC trail and city concrete. My particular fetishes now are fairly technical trail riding and jumping & thrashing about on stairs and concrete ramps in the city. The frame has taken a lot of abuse as I am 6'2", 185lb and was not afraid to experiment (read as "crash") at both high and low speeds many a time. Through all this the frame held out beautifully and the rims only needed some minor truing a couple of times (to be honest, I don't think other rims would have stayed completely true after what happened). The only major problem I had was with chain suck which was resolved by replacing the crank set with a Ritchey Logic (still under warranty, but I had to pay the difference of course). As I got more involved in the sport and my riding abilities got better, the stock parts begin looking and feeling more like crap. First things to go were the seat and crank set (see weaknesses). Then were the tires both front and back, the stem and handlebar, and then the brakes and leavers. The next upgrade will be the Rock Shox XC fork ... I will ride the life out of it and then change to Marzocchi. My final verdict is that the bike is great for anyone starting out and if you get more into it, the frame is worthy enough of some decent upgrades. OVERALL RATING: 4.5 but had to round up! ;-)
Submitted by
nico wilson
a Weekend Warrior
from maui hawiia
Date Reviewed: March 27, 2001
Strengths: good entry to intermediate level bike, good pryce, luv the rapid fires! nice weight
Weaknesses: grips feel purty good but SLIP ALOT! seat sux along with the wheels the jett shox arent worth payin fer cuz ull probly wanna get a different shock that actually does sumpin within a week or two.
Bike Setup: pretty much stock sep for seat and grips but a pair of wheels and marzocchi z3 on the way fer my burfday!
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Submitted by
MiKoL
a Weekend Warrior
from Corvallis, OR
Date Reviewed: March 26, 2001
Strengths: Great bike for all-around riding.
Weaknesses: Stock seat sucks ass. The back tire was uneven, making the ride a little bouncy. This bike is known as the "chain slapper!"
Bottom Line:
Great bike, but I had to replace the tires for some higher quality tires, like the Hutchenson Pythons. I also had to get a new seat, and a chain guard. The chain is just way to close to the frame!
Bike Setup: Stock, with new tires, seat, and wheels.
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Submitted by
Bill
a Cross Country Rider
from Jacksonville, FL
Date Reviewed: March 5, 2001
Strengths: Great hardtail frame. Rapid Fire shifters work nice.
Weaknesses: I busted my ass when I couldn't bail out of my clipless when the front deraileur jammed...and the shop had just tuned the bike. Dump the FD.
Bottom Line:
Like everyone else...great bike for the money. I was considering buying an FSR xc...but may wait and upgrade this nice hardtail frame.
Bike Setup: Stock, added clipless. About to upgrade to SID XCs and definately a front XT or XTR.
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Submitted by
Jon
a Weekend Warrior
from Buffalo, NY
Date Reviewed: March 2, 2001
Strengths: Deore shifter works well. Frame is sturdy.
Weaknesses: Cheesy Specialized parts like brakes, stem. Jett is a terrible fork
Bottom Line:
It's a 15" , and I'm 5'6" at 170lbs. I have wrecked on this bike so hard, that I thought the frame must have been split in half. It just keeps on going. I have had no problems with the shifter pods, or derailleurs. A new fork is worth it, plus clipless pedals. I wrecked the rims 1 month after I bought this bike. In hindsight I should have bought a $1000 bike, but this one is perfect for a beginner.
Bike Setup: Judy SL fork, Mustang rims w/ XT hubs, Avid arch brakes & levers, Rock Shox seatpost, Time pedals, Panaracer tires, Trimatic saddle, Icon stem, Bontrager bar.
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Submitted by
Drewby
a Cross Country Rider
from Mooresville, nc
Date Reviewed: December 10, 2000
Strengths: Great Bike, Light Frame, Good brakes and shifters.
Weaknesses: Hard Seat, Dinky Tires, Squeeky shock
Bottom Line:
This is a great bike for your money. I'd invest in a Judy or a manitou shock if you're serious into the sport. A new seat is in order too. This bike is much better than a Specialized Rock hopper........This is definately the best hardtail Specialized makes! I give it 5 flaming piles of poo.
