Submitted by
Steve Hendy
a Weekend Warrior
from United Kingdom
Date Reviewed: April 3, 2002
Strengths: This review is for the SLX not the CLX. Gorgeous frame.Climbs like a dream, never left by my hard tail friends.Rear end is very stiff and work equally well on small and large hits. All pivot points are either sealed csrtridge bearings or bushings with grease ports. Servicing is as easy as it comes.
Weaknesses: Pinch bolts.Mine were not thredlocked.One came loose and removed the internal threads.I've now got a bolt securing the main swing arm and it works like a dream.
Bottom Line:
Excellent all round full sus bike. Feels light and responsive but at same time robust enough to take the knocks. Not sure about the pinch bolts. If they're fitted make sure they're thread locked! If you're looking for a light full sus frame for fun all day trail riding this bike will not let you down. Not for you if you like getting airbourne on a regular basis.
Similar Products Used: Cannondale Super V, which whilst a good bike is nowhere near as good.
Bike Setup: Pace pro class 2 forks. Fox Vanilla r. Hope Mini discs. Hope hubs Sram 9 shifters and mec. XT cranks.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
ken southall
a Cross Country Rider
from wellington, new zealand
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2002
Strengths: A dream to ride, very smooth and comfortable. Irons out the track to leave my testicles intact!
Weaknesses: The shock (helios stratos) has never been running perfectly since new. It developed some free play, and the lockout packed in. It is now on it's way to the States for a once over, so have an old fox in place to keep me rolling. I have been informed that they come back as smooth as butter, as someone else had the same prob as me!
Bottom Line:
The hardtail I used to ride caused my gonads to look like mellons! The women loved it but not me! This bike is just so nice to ride, smooth as silk and pretty quick too. It climbs like a monkey and looks like a bannana! Last weekend I completed the Karapoti Classic hell race, finished in under 4 hours but didn't want to stop! If my mate wasn't at the finish line with a Guinness I probably wouldn't have! Reccomended for anyone who likes to spend a few hours in the saddle, and who thinks that their gonads are more important than saving 10 seconds in a race.
Bike Setup: Purchased with SIDS, SRAM gears, kooka crank, white industries hubs, mavic rims, full xtr, but have since put front disk (Avid cable operated) on which kicks xtr ass! (and about half the price).
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
christian
a Weekend Warrior
from San Jose, SF Bay Area
Date Reviewed: March 6, 2001
Strengths: beautiful design, IMHO the sexiest multi-pivot frame so far, excellent machine and weld work, pretty light, definitely smooths out a rough ride
Weaknesses: bottom pivots....what can i say but they can drive you nuts! they require constant attention, or the squeek enough to drive you nuts...just when you think you lubed the bushings more than enough, the squeek comes back eventually. Even though Robert R wanted to use bushings for designed-in friction, sealed bearings would be a nice option. oh yeah, too many ppl stop and stare, both in admiration, and in a way that makes you think they want to rip-off your bike...don't go biking alone!!!
Bottom Line:
I really enjoy this bike, If it weren't for the annoying creaks and squeeks that come from the bushings, this bike would be perfect as far as my riding goes. However, because the bushings need constant attention, this makes the bike a little flawed. I am surprised there has not been a better way to protect the bushings, and the grease ports hardly make a difference in the lower pivots. It's best to take the pivots/bushings part and grease everything inside and out. Anyway, I am hoping Mike can get back to me on his machined pivot and bearings solution as it sounds like a great improvement.
Otherwise, the bike tracks beautiful, very agile and quick. the rear doesn't at first feel like it's doing anything, but when you look, it is absorbing some insane bumps! it really is smooth. Honestly, it's probably not much different than a kona with the same design, but it does feel pretty dialed, maybe different leverage ratio? the bike is such a work of art so i am reluctant to really go hard on it, but from what other ppl say, it appears the bike is plenty strong. if it is anything like my san andreas, then it should be pretty durable.
i also got mine from a guy who custom painted it a deep metallic blue....the frame looks gorgeous...i wish MC would offer some sweeter paint jobs than the typical powder coats....standard paint does not do justice to the frame at all.
I am giving it 5 chillis for value as anyone can get the CXS on closeout for a fraction of the regular price. Overall rating is 4 chillies due to the higher than normal maintinence required.
final verdict: the bike is a blast to ride...pros definitely outweigh the cons. i am very happy with it. Mike, please contact me with your bearing info!!!
Similar Products Used: Kona Stab, Turner Burner, Specialized FSR
Bike Setup: xt/xtr, race face, syncros, spinergies, easton...blah blah blah....
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Mike Shewchuk
a Cross Country Rider
from calgary
Date Reviewed: February 12, 2001
Strengths: great climber, super stand over clearance, looks trick.
Weaknesses: The pivots are the weak point of this bike. Even if they can be lubed, they squeak and I have worn my out. I have since solved that problem by redesigning and machining new "I" beams with oversize sealed bearings. I also installed sealed bearings on the lower swing arm. So far the whole package has been working great with absolutely no noise from any of the pivots. There is less stiction and the suspension is more active on small bumps. I was shocked to see the new moho with only the lower swing arm pivot updated to sealed bearings, a tremendous amount of wear takes place at the "I" beam pivot also. Not only did it solve the noise and wear problem but the entire rear triangle is tighter than new. The only draw back is that it added a few grams to the total weight. I can live with that.
Bottom Line:
great bike now that the pivots don't drive me crazy from the noise and constant lubricating that failed to work. I truly think that this bike will last a few more seasons and it works better than it did when I purchased it new in 1998. Anyone interested in more information on the replacement parts that I resigned and machined contact me. All parts were cad/cam designed and machined on cnc equipment.
Bike Setup: race face, xtr, manitou, strato helix pro
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
franc lockyer
a Cross Country Rider
from toronto,ontario,canada
Date Reviewed: October 16, 2000
Strengths: seems to be stiff enough for big guys. welds are clean along with nice paint. great for technical tight riding.
Weaknesses: none that i have come across.
Bottom Line:
Listen,If you want a bike that will take it all than this is it.Bash it.Crash it. Hell,even through it at that log crossing you can't quite get.This bike was made to ride smooth and fast,and along the way became bomb proof.If you want a bike that will improve the way you ride,than I highly recomend this one.
Weaknesses: lack of mtn cycles parts in sydney. have had trouble with terminator shock.
Bottom Line:
i've done many miles on this beast. i've blown both front and back shocks. had the odd interesting off and the frame is going fine. it's got some play in the rocker arm - but after two years i'm not complaining, simple fix. it has given me more enjoyment, more go fast - less of a sore ass! with good bits & pieces the bike is light and easy to manoeuvre esp in technical sections. with good setings there is not much buncing under power = fun. 4 star - the best is still to come.
Similar Products Used: early proflex, gt thermos, giant atx duelie the odd hardtail...
Bike Setup: med frame, judy sl, full xtr, spinergy all tooo expensive. but light as hell!
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
K. Fritz Lehr
a Cross-Country Rider
from Carrboro, NC
Date Reviewed: September 2, 1999
Strengths: Very Smooth Fairly Light Easy Maintenance Like the appearance
Weaknesses: Frame cracked 3 times in less than a year and each time it was warrantied I was without a bike for at least a month
Bottom Line:
I liked the bike a lot at first. It was very smooth, especially on the rough rocky and rooty trails around here. The bike was very light at the time for a full suspension frame and it seemed to be well put together. The problem was that the frame cracked just about every three months and every time the bike was sent back to me it had some sort of redesign. I am guessing that it is a structural problem and that is a shame. I finally was tierd of dealing with the frame after the third break so I bought an Ellsworth Truth from Irvine Bike Source. It is a big improvement over the Moho. It is not any smoother, but the Ellsworth climbs much, much better. The Moho absorbs more of your energy and I have owned the Ellsworth for 6 mos. now and ridden it harder with no problems. Just as a side note I tried to work with Mountain Cycle to trade my frame for the more durable San Andreas frame. They would not do it and wanted to charge me full price for the frame. At any rate, I would not recommend this frame to anyone b/c it broke on me 3 times and I only weigh 185lbs and ride cross-country. Buy at own risk, 1 year warranty on Moho CXS frame, Lifetime warranty on Ellsworth.
Bike Setup: Marzocchi Atom Bomb, Z1 Alloy, White Bros SC 90, Race Face Cranks, everything else XTR.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jason
a Cross-Country Rider
from So Cal
Date Reviewed: June 17, 1999
Strengths: built super strong
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
this bike just rules. i have had it for little over 2 years and have never had any problems with it. you could build it up to be a lite XC racer or build it for the trails. the frame takes whatever i throw at it and it keeps going. the only problem with the bike is that people stop and ask you about the bike because it looks sweet.
Similar Products Used: c'dale, santa cruz, intense
Bike Setup: marzocchie Z2 Bam
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
jeff
a Cross-Country Rider
from so cal
Date Reviewed: June 17, 1999
Strengths: everthing
Weaknesses: nothing
Bottom Line:
good to race dule samlom in i have to go eat my spam and butter now please e-mail me at .........................................................................................................................
Weaknesses: ? None that I know about (as an x-c bike).
Bottom Line:
Handling is excellent on tight technical trails. The frame is stiff enough not to twitch in rock gardens or landing jumps, and plush too. Standover height is much appreciated. Climbing over rough surfaces is outstanding - it stays hooked up. And the rear end doesn't stiffen much under downhill braking. It's not fundamentally different from my old ProFlex - just better. I don't know of any other frame that I would rather have for my kind of riding.
Bike Setup: DH3 fork, assorted XTR, XT, Speedplay,etc. About 24 lbs with a medium frame.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike Shewchuk
a Cross-Country Rider
from calgary alberta canada
Date Reviewed: May 20, 1999
Strengths: The moho cxs can be built up quite light and quality of frame and machine work is excellent. Great handling and stand over.This bike totally blows the myth that f.s bikes don't climb,its amazing.
Weaknesses: Although the pivots are greasable mnt. cycle in my opinion designed the lower swing arm grease port incorrectly. Inspection of lower pivot relieved premature wear on hard anodizing. I have since modified this design so that grease now penetrates the bushing surface. The stiction of the suspension has been reduced and life of pivots greatly increased. Not to mention the noise from lower pivot is gone. This problem was brought to mtn. cycles attention but they failed to respond. I have now noticed slight play in the top shock bushing and inspection of pin shows premature wear. I'm in the process of machining a new pivot pin from 7075 al. and getting it hard anodized like the other pivot pins. I feel that mnt. cycle is missing two very critical engineering points on a really great bike.
Bottom Line:
Great cross country bike, light weight, good handling , the best climbing bike I have ever ridden, it is amazing the climbing power of this bike!
I have just bought a Moho CXS frame and wonder what fork to use on it? what travel would be best? i know its more of a cross country frame so what should i go for?
thanks!Richar Read More »
