Submitted by
Tino
a Weekend Warrior
from Roxbury, CT
Date Reviewed: December 30, 2001
Strengths: very light, very stiff, very fast, this frame climbs and accelerated likes its on fire, great paint job too
Weaknesses: harsh ride, narrow rear chainstays don't accept anything bigger than a 2.1 inch tire, need a $40 head tube adapter to fit anything but a Headshok on
Bottom Line:
This is a fantastic, race ready, cross country frame. Its just not the frame to build up as a bike to take on any 6 or 7 hour hour rides.
Bike Setup: XT hubs, front derailluer, shifters, cranks, rear cassette, XTR rear derailluer, Hayes hydraulic disc brakes, Mavic F-519 wheels, Michelin Hot S tires
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
John Moore
a Cross Country Rider
from Weil im Schonbock, Germany
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2001
Strengths: Frame and shock combination work well, in both cross county, single track and in down hill ski run in Garmisch. Germany is cover with trail, the F3000 is at home here.
Weaknesses: There is a bike shop in every town in Germany. The head shock is a good, But I have to hunt for a shop that will service it. That is really not a weaknesses.
Bottom Line:
For the past 3 years I have put about 1500 miles a year on this bike. I had to replace the chain 3 times, cassett once, and three sets of tires, Bottom Bracket, and I have lost count of how many break pads I have gone through. This last week I've had the bike in to rebuild the Headshock. Bottom Line this F3000 with this setup is a long distance, easy to maintain, ride every day bike, both on single track and cross country.
Similar Products Used: I have ridden Focus (Killer Bee) a Germany made bike, with XT, both are about the same. Killer Bee is about 2400.DM (1000$). Focus has Mavic Crossride wheel set, XT everthing else.
Bike Setup: I mail order my bike in 1999, So I could pick the component package I wanted. I went with XTR/Gripshift. This is a very good setup, but expensive. No disc breaks
Weaknesses: Dog s**t material, FLEXY STAYS, it made me nervous
Bottom Line:
This bike is really pretty weak. First of all it uses extremely thin walled tubing and it is butted thinly. Its really not that stiff. The rear stays are the same ones used on their road bike. For being flexy, it defeats the whole point purpose of aluminium. Aluminium's fatigue is a lot worse than steel. So if you like the little bit of flex, get a steel bike. This frame is outragously priced for what you get. Keep in mind AL is NOT REPAIRABLE. Some True Temper OXIII platinium could make a bike just as light. Also cannodales just make me nervous. They are not that well built. You can't see the bead quality of the welds because they are sanded down and "heat treated" hmmm...sounds like a bulls**t explaination of why they can't build a decent frame. Now, i will agree that the frame is well aligned and precisly measured, but klein does a better job in my opinion. Also, looking at the fork on the head shock, eh. What a piece of crap weld. It was f**king all over the place, totally random. Extremely bulls**t quality. By the way, the internal butting sounds like a crock of sh*t to me...there are something called gussets. Anyway, if you want an aluminium frame look at K2, Spooky, Planet X, Klein or Ellsworth. They will all be much better and stiffer, last longer. The flex or "cush" factor just mean go straight to nice steel. Hey and if you want ti, but think you can't afford it... just go to www.mattchester.com
Similar Products Used: k2 zed 4.0, i own all steel bikes
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Paul
a Cross Country Rider
from Singapore
Date Reviewed: September 22, 2000
Strengths: Strong, Light and Fast
Weaknesses: Mine came with non lockable shock 8( , no place to mount a good solid carrier if needed. paranoid to leave it (even locked up) anywhere
Bottom Line:
Love it ... MAD colour, strong, light and fast
They guys at TWA did a good sell on it, but I did my research too - some here. I also got a $300 trading on my old frame...well less said about the old clunker the better
Submitted by
Bill
a weekend warrior
from Long Branch, NJ
Date Reviewed: December 26, 1998
Bottom Line:
I was pretty happy with my last bike, but it was fairly heavy. I had a Trek 970 frame with a Manitou SX fork, Mavic Crossland wheelset, Thudbuster Quadrapivot suspension seatpost, XTR shifters and V-Brakes, XT Pedal and derailers, etc. It was a great bike but it weighed more than 30 lbs. This year I wanted to buy a new frame to lighten it up. With major professional assistance from Michael and Don at the Peddler (many thanks gentlemen), I finally decided to buy the F3000 frameset. So far, buying the F3000 appears to have been one of the best decisions that I ever made. I put my old wheelset, shifters, brakes and Pedal on the bike. I added new CODA Tarantula Crankset, a Thompson seatpost and some other stuff. The bike weighs about 20-21 lbs and it flies. I still cannot believe that there is that big of a difference between this bike and my last one, but there is. This bike is in a whole different league. The F3000 is shockingly fast. I went from dragging my sorry ass up the big hills with my lungs on fire to rocketing up them barely winded at the top. Accelerating on this bike is like getting shot out of a slingshot. Steering with the Fatty SL is remarkably precise. The Fatty SL is also extremely smooth and very adjustable. After riding the F3000 riding my last bike felt like I was riding underwater. The F3000 is great.
