Submitted by
Eric
a Cross Country Rider
from Hockessin, DE, USA
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2002
Strengths: excellent X-country bike light frame at around 3lbs i believe
Weaknesses: original pedals suck
Bottom Line:
this is one hell of a bike plain and simple, relatively light and can take a beating. I have just started racing and it has carried me to the finish line in first numerous times. i love this bike and will never sell it
Strengths: Super Good Frame, Upgraded to hydro discs front and rear(AWESOME)
Weaknesses: Dont keep the Judy 100's. I was only 145lbs at the time and I destroyed them in 2 months.
Bottom Line:
I have raced this bike 20 times or so and the only thing that has ever broken is the forks(but as you can see i changed them to Marzochhi's...recomend doing that). Very nice frame but the bike is a tad heavy for racing. Very good acceleration and descending capabilities. Fell from 6 feet broad side on a tree and only lost a little paint in the incident. Whoever says the frame is week must have hit a brick wall at 100miles an hour. Anyway i give it five flamin' chillis. Unbelievable bike. Dont spen anymore that $1400US on a bike cause this will kick any freeride bikes ass.
Bike Setup: Marzocchi Bomber Z2 Bam, F/R Hydro Discs. Rokko 2.4 DH Tires. Easton CT2 bars. Rock Shox Seat Post.
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Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from New Jersey, USA
Date Reviewed: March 9, 2001
Strengths: Spec'd hydraulic front disc brake. Rear disc tabs and hub make upgrade to dual discs very affordable. Most Icon products held up well (except cranks). LX/XT drivetrain works well for non-competitive riding.
Weaknesses: Still not sure about the suspension post. May try a lighter-weight rigid post. The Judy 100 fork was good for the first year, but completely crapped out thereafter. Bent the crank-spider and trashed the chain-rings, but that was mostly due to hard riding. Upgrading to a rear disc was definitely the way to go.
Bottom Line:
This bike has held up very well over the past 2 years plus of fairly heavy riding by a 195 lb. rider. The Judy 100 fork however, is not a good fork for any sort of extended abusive riding. There was also the issue of adjustablity of the fork. Marzocchi is a much better option if you have the cash to upgrade. I've raced this bike a handful of times and found that it is a bit heavy for this use, but performs extremely well on any sort of technical terrain. The jury's still out on the suspension post. If you listen to the stupid magazines, suspension posts are no longer cool, but it hasn't bothered me enough to go back to rigid. The longer travel for will affect climbing because of a more relaxed head angle, but I have gotten used to it, and the ECC on the Marzocchi fork has helped with this. Overall, a great bike that's fun to ride.
This bike is nice. My bike has the dual LX v-brakes, so there's not as much all-weather braking, but the performance of the bike improves when 1.) you don't have to worry about clipping in and/or out in sticky situations, and 2.) you don't have to worry about getting mud and/or rocks in your face while you're riding in the mud (which there is a lot of around here). Bottom line is that if you can get this bike for under $1000 like I did, do so. It's a deal. But it's not a DH or even a DS bike. It's just a bike, so treat it like one and it won't break.
Similar Products Used: Azonic DS-1 (only thing close that I've tried)
Bike Setup: Stock (LX v-brakes f&r) except for Odyssey Shark Bite pedals, a THE front fender, and I cut the seat post down.
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Submitted by
Craig Heffron
a Downhiller
from New york
Date Reviewed: September 30, 2000
Strengths: Holy Sh*t!! I love this bike.Fast, sic brake rocks, shocks are very good.
Weaknesses: Some weak Components. I had to replace the duerelleur twoce, the chain twice, and some other parts. Im only 15, and cant keep breaking things. But overall, this bike is ill!!
Bottom Line:
The bottom line? GET THIS BIKE!! It's almost fully customizable, very good for both ds and xc, planning on getting another after this. U might wanna put another disc brake on it though. I love this bike. Get this bike if you want to get into ds, but also want to do a bit of xc. If u try ds and really like it, this bike will hold up very nicely on some tough tracks such as the mount snow course, whistler/blackcomb mountain, and the mt hood course.
Similar Products Used: hmmmmm, none, this is my first ds rig.
Bike Setup: custom, chain stays, eastin pedals, dh headset, T.H.E front fender (looks HOT!!), control tech seatpost.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Rob
a Weekend Warrior
from Prince George, B.C.
Date Reviewed: August 23, 2000
Strengths: Awesome Value...$1400can with dual Hydraulic Hayes Sweet frame and good fork
Weaknesses: Icon components. I bent the bar and stem in the first month and broke a crank a week ago. Paintjob stinks
Bottom Line:
Awesome bike if you love to rip downhill but don't like lugging a DH rig back up. Awesome parts spec for building a custom rig. Your friends will hate you after you kick their $4000 dh rigs' wazoos
Strengths: Strong, light, and stiff frame, nice seat post
Weaknesses: Judy 100 weighs a ton, hayes mechanical brake has no stopping power, flexy cranks
Bottom Line:
This bike performs well for the money and has a very nice frame. The fork needs to come with boots or be rebuilt frequently and the hayes cable disc brake has got to go, but it did for Y2K. I bought this bike as a second hardtail to tool around on to save my race bike. It is fun to ride and decsends very well. This bike is worth the money, but if I were you, I would buy the frame for 600 bucks and put the parts you want on it.
Strengths: Hayes disc brake, smooth riding with judy 100 shocks, rock shock seat post, icon crank
Weaknesses: has shimano lx and xt derailers. needs xtr
Bottom Line:
very nice free riding bike but is still good enough to race with, atleast it has worked well for me. this is a good bike for someonw who just wants to have fun and also once in a while go race. it also has a good price of $1400. even if you dont buy this bike, atleast buy a trek because they are the best.
Bike Setup: hayes disc front, judy 100, rock shock seatpost, icon crank, shimano lx front and xt rear derailer, bontrager rims.
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Submitted by
Tony
a Cross Country Rider
from Knoxville, TN
Date Reviewed: June 26, 2000
Strengths: 1. Judy 100 Front Fork 2. ICON Crankset 3. Bontrager Rims w/ Disk Compatable hubs on both wheels 4. Caliper mounting flange on frame for Disk Brake upgrade. 5. Hayes Front Disk Brake (cable activated)
Weaknesses: 1. No Shock Boots 2. Turning Ability
Bottom Line:
(My previous bike was a Trek 930 Shock, so that's a reference point for me.)
The Judy 100 shock is great. Several people I've ridden with have commented that the shock works a lot. I agree. I think the spring in an oil bath is the way to go. Personally, I like the raised bar and shock seat post. They both seem to help my lower back. The front disk brake is nice and works very smoothly. I can climb a lot better with this bike. It is very smooth and feels good on the trail. I would have never thought that a bike could make such a difference. The only thing I don't like as well as my old bike is that the 8500LT doesn't turn as crisply, although it has wider bars. I ride a lot through curvy, twisty tree lined trails and I was able to zip through those sections on my old bike. Of course, it may be that it will just take some getting use to and later I'll be zipping through the twists just as nimbly with the 8500LT.
Weaknesses: Poor cable disc in front and poor crankset.
Bottom Line:
This bike rules !!!! It's a great climber and downhiller. But if you race... you need to up-grade the brakes. Perfect all-mountain hardtail, fast and light.
Strengths: judy 100's, hayes brake up front, stiff & light frame
Weaknesses: cranks, stem
Bottom Line:
It's a good bike and I got it at a smoking deal, 1000 bucks which I was happy about. I wasn't a big fan of Rock Shox suspension seat post but everyone has their own personal preference. The Judy 100's have been great for me especially since I put speed springs in them, I had to put them in since the 100's were a little too plush for me. I do a lot of free riding, dirt jumping, downhill with this bike and it has held up really well seeing that most people use this bike for cross country. The only problems I've had with this bike is the crankset and I just ordered a new one since I'm not a big fan of Icon.
Bike Setup: Easton riser bars, thomoson elite seatpost, 00 XT cranks and BB, azonic shorty stem, speed springs, primo flat pedals
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Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Ireland
Date Reviewed: April 20, 2000
Strengths: Great stiff frame makes for good climbing ability.Hayes brakes work a treat.Marzocchi forks very plush.XTR rear derailleur.
Weaknesses: Dont like the handlebars.Nothing else.
Bottom Line:
Just ride this bike,its immense fun with the best of both worlds good at going uphill and down.Good light frame makes it easy to add more upgrades later.Great quality overall.If your into serious riding-buy it!.
Submitted by
MATT BRADSTOCK
a Cross Country Rider
from Wellington,OH
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2000
Strengths: The fork kicks ass and the the hayes hydras yank your friggin eyes out of socket.
Weaknesses: I hate spoke rims.
Bottom Line:
the frame looks friggin awesome and its light as hell. with some upgrades this bike kicks some serious arse!!if your one of those p*ssies riding a boing-boing, you need to sell that piece of sh*t and buy a trek hardtail!
Similar Products Used: cannondale F900 schwinn moab disc
Bike Setup: judy 100 fork raceface turbine cranks xtr shifters and deraileurs hayes hydra front and back rockshox seatpost(luv it) icon bar ends chris king headset gore ride-on cables and a spin eon disc wheelset
