Submitted by
Lee
a Weekend Warrior
from Newcastle Australia
Date Reviewed: August 5, 2011
Strengths: XT dual control brakes/shifters, balance of uphill and downhill ability, looks horn, lack of maintenance required to keep it running, suspension, tubeless wheels.
Weaknesses: Does not comme with full length shift cables, low spec cranks
Bottom Line:
This bike does it all. Before this I rode a Giant NRS 1 (still ride it occasionally) because of its pedalling efficiency, but soon began to find its downhill limits. Since I got the 2004 Jekyll 1000 the Giant has been ridden mostly on the road because I can still climb everything on the Jekyll, and it is so good down hill. XT dual control brake/shifters are awesome. You can easily change gear while braking, brakes require no bleeding/adjusting, and shifting is great since I put full length cables on. 130mm Lefty fork with TPC is super stiff, good at climbing and great at descending. 135mm Manitou Swinger shock with SPV resists bobbing nicely, gets heaps of traction when climbing, and feels terrific down hill. This bike is perfect as a do it all trail bike. It climbs well, it descends well and it requires only basic maintenance between rides. Bought the bike new in 2004 and have no plans to replace it with something new.
Bike Setup: FSA V drive external bearing BB cranks, 400mm Ritchey seat post (soon to be Gravity Dropper Turbo), full length shift cables, 8" Shimano front disc, Maxxis High Roller UST front tyre, Maxxis Larson UST rear tyre, mud flap protecting front derailieur
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Submitted by
jekyll
a Weekend Warrior
from toronto,ON,Canada
Similar Products Used: HD Super V but broke the frame - the replaced as advertised no charge.
Bike Setup: Race face, thompson seat, XTR, Looking for new brake set-up...suggestions welcome
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Submitted by
The JD
a Weekend Warrior
from Gainesville, FL, USA
Date Reviewed: January 20, 2009
Strengths: Frame is solid holds steady even with the beating I have put on it. Factory components are decent for casual riders and the options to upgrade are limitless.
Weaknesses: Front fork if a fatty is really weak in performance. The lefty is a step up but still a 100mm travel can only offer so much.
Bottom Line:
Great bike outperforms the kona's and treks I have tested. I cant say enough about the frame design even 5 years after being made its styling and feel fit me better then the scapel, rush, and other bikes in the category.
Bike Setup: Easton Carbon fiber handlebar, seatpost. Juicy brakes, carbon pedals. Lefty 100mm fork, Fox rear shock.
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Submitted by
Nick Graham
a
from Victoria, B.C. Canada
Date Reviewed: February 3, 2007
Strengths: Very light, yet durable. I use this bike for cross-country, freeride and I've even used it for dirt jumping before I got a proper dirtjumper. The Jekyll has proven itself to be a great bike by being light enough for cross-country yet tough enough to endure trips to Whistler.
Weaknesses: When put into the "freeride" position the bottom braket is too low to the ground.
Bottom Line:
Great bike. If you get the chance to buy or even test ride one of these bikes, go for it!
Similar Products Used: Kona Kikapu, Kona Stinky, Devinci Hucker, Brodie Hellion.
Bike Setup: Eight inch hayes mx-2 mechanical disc brakes. Mavic xm117 front rim with alexrim dm24 rear rim. Deore lx rear derailler, and deore front derailler. All parts except frame, fork and cranks are off of a 2004 brodie hellion (other than the odd specialty part).
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Submitted by
Anthony Hocking
a Cross Country Rider
from Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Date Reviewed: October 29, 2006
Strengths: Light for its capabilities, endless travel, efficient climer, chews up big hits and rough terain, Lefty fork is sweet, super solid frame. Looks like a lamborghini on 2 wheels.
Weaknesses: original specs included XT derailler & XT dual-controllers. Not nearly as good as SRAM X9 equivelant. Eason EA50 Handlebars too wide.
Bottom Line:
This is an amazing "all in one" bike. Its brilliant for XC, the best thing ive ridden on trails, and can follow the downhill boys on most runs. For someone who wants to do everything, this is the bike that is capable, and very forgiving if your not an expert rider.
Similar Products Used: Giant Reign, Rocky Mountain ETSX-70
Bike Setup: SRAM X9 derailler & shifters. Took 2" off riser bar. Original Hutch Scorpion tyres are rubbish for most terain.
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Submitted by
Denis van der Wal
a Weekend Warrior
from Utrecht Netherlands
Date Reviewed: December 9, 2005
Strengths: It was just the bike I needed ! Handling, looks and solid as a rock !
Weaknesses: Bearings on the rearwheel
Bottom Line:
I can go out with freeride pedals and the seat 3" lower for an ultimate city-ride . Or set it up for nice trails. Even ride marathons with it ( after I throw away the ciggies ). Very, and I mean VERY fast on singletrails and I can sit and enjoy the surroundings on a very fast downhill track. Only thing is, I'm still looking for the balance when doin' airtime.
Weaknesses: bloody fox float rc rear shock, "has to be trunion mounted fox float- special make for jekyll" as quoted by c-dale rep
Bottom Line:
I really wish the rear shock was not an issue because the bike is otherwise fantastic. I must be far and tell you I am no doubt pushing the envelope on what the engineers anticipated for weight of a rider. I am 240lbs. So- heavier riders may want to either find a ride that better accomidates yo big behind, or just stick to a hard tail. BTW- the lock-out on the shock was the first thing to fail... It is not like I am doing any spectacular drops either.. The lefty fork is much stronger than its appearance suggests. The illusion is it will track funny but that is not so.. It will take all you can give it and bounce back- and sticks where you drive it. The lockout for the fork is located well and handy in some situations. I wished the brakes didn't make so much noise, but I had heard about coda beforehand so all I am doing is confirming they are screamers. One of my riding buddies thought I had run over some sort of bird the first time he stopped abrubtly in front of me! If I would have had a grill full of feathers I probably could have convinced him it was so! The bike is great. Both c-dale reps and fox shocks reps have been good searching for remedy of the downfalls. I now have a back-up shock and I would recommend you do too before going off on a weekend of riding. I will however read some reviews to educate myself on hard-tails.. The jekyll will be mothballed for the ht I decide on because of the shock issues... I like my red meats too much to diet to the weight the shock can handle!
Similar Products Used: more than enough to know what i want, not enough to realize one major fallback. Rear shock special make for jekyll, no other will work. So you are not goiing to upgrade, just replace/rebuild- which means downtime.
Bike Setup: all stock except for saddle- c-dale stock is hard as a rock
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Submitted by
AP
a Cross Country Rider
from PRINCETON, NJ
Date Reviewed: October 8, 2005
Strengths: Solid frame for all mountain riding. Lefty has been good to me through thick and thin. Great climber as well as descender. Bike has made it easy to negotiate technical terrain. Frame is beefy enough for all mountain, but not over built for XC.
Weaknesses: Difficult to remove front wheel when you need to. Rear shock is in the most awkward position in frame which makes it difficult to pump air into it. Ugrades/replacement of rear shock limited due to design of frame/positioning of shock.
Bottom Line:
AS FAR AS XC AND ALL MOUNTAIN GOES, THIS BIKE HAS DONE IT ALL. FRAME AND LEFTY HAVE STOOD THROUGH THE TEST OF TIME AND ABUSE. MUD, SNOW, ROCKS, STREAMS, DINGS, CRASHES, AND RAIN. THE LEFTY "FORK" IS FINALLY SHOWING SIGNS OF USE AND ABUSE, BUT I BLAME THAT ON MY LACK OF MAINTANENCE. THIS FRAME HAS DELIVERED A STABLE AND RESPONSIVE FEEL TO THE BIKE AND THE LEFTY HAS BEEN A PLEASURE TO USE AS IT HAS TAKEN THE BITE OUT EVERYTHING THROWN AT IT WHETHER XC, ALL MOUNTAIN TERRAIN OR URBAN RIDING. THREE YEARS OF RIDING 3-5 TIMES A WEEK DURING SEASON AND FRAME/LEFTY HAVE HELD UP. OBVIOUSLY COMPENENTS WEAR DOWN/BREAK AND HAVE TO BE REPLACED, BUT REAR (FOX RL) AND LEFTY ARE STILL IN ONE PIECE. I WOULD SAY THAT AS AN ALL MOUNTAIN BIKE THE JEKYLL HAS MET ALL OF MY EXPECTATIONS IN THE AREAS OF - WEIGHT, CLIMBING, DESCENDING, HANDLING, BB HEIGHT, FRAME ALIGNMENT, AND ADJUSTABILITY. IT IS AMAZING WHAT A GOOD COMPONENT SPEC CAN DUE FOR THIS FRAME AS THE RESULT IS ONE AWESOME MACHINE. I ASSUME THAT THE JEKYLL WILL FADE OUT UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE PROPHET, BUT ITS TRACK RECORD WILL LIVE ON. I PLAN ON MOVING ON TO A TURNER FIVE SPOT, BUT I WILL ALWAYS APPRECIATE WHAT THIS BIKE HAS DONE FOR ME AS IT (ESPECIALLY THE LEFTY) WILL SURELY BE MISSED.
Submitted by
darrick
a Weekend Warrior
from san jose, ca usa
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2005
Strengths: climbs extremely well.... descends even better... lefty is the best i have ever used so far....
Weaknesses: stock crank is cheap...
Bottom Line:
bottom line this bike is for bike lovers. forpeople who love to ride... and ride hard....... u can jump.. u can do a lot... ahah just ride. its what the bike was made for
Similar Products Used: blur..enduro..liquid 20... palomino...
Bike Setup: stock
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Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego, CA
Date Reviewed: October 20, 2004
Strengths: Great all mountain bike. Lefty is a plus. Handles any trail with ease.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
One of the best mountain bikes I have ever ridden!!! Man does this machine take a beating!! I have put around a thousand miles on this thing in less than three months without a single problem until a freak incident last week. I collided with a couple on a tandem mountain bike as they were coming down. We slammed into each other as I was crossing paths on a perpendicular trail. All three of us were ejected from our bikes. I landed in a nearby stream. The woman on the tandem rolled down the trail until she crashed into a tree. Luckily nobody was seriously injured. During the crash, my right brake lever tore off. The brake and shifter cables also severed in the front. After picking up the pieces and limping back to the parking lot to dry off I noticed that the front brake rotor was mangled and the rim bent after several spokes broke off. Taking bike back to shop for repairs. I still rate this bike high because the damage would of happened with any bike.
Strengths: GOES UP AND FLIES DOWN. Putting everything else aside this is the main strength of this bike
Weaknesses: 1. Need to remove the link between the shock and the swingarm to access the rear shock valve (but it is still a quick straight forward process)
2. Need to overpump the SPV side of the rear shock in order to keep air after the pump is removed from the valve.
Bottom Line:
This is a follow-up (6 month) review to the one I posted on the 10th of May 04.
By now I can confirm that the Jekyll is indeed a perfect all-rounder. I only used my hardtail once, since I got the Jekyll, during the 24hrs of Adrenaline race in Canmore Canada during August. I still climb anything me and the gang used to climb with our hardtails. In any climb, exept for the steepest technical uphill of a true XC course, the Jekyll will go up without any feeling of pedal power loss.
On the downhill the suspension practically flattens all the "bads" on the trail. I didn't do any freeriding or jumping but the jekyll makes rough, badass rocky trails ridiculously easy. It also tracks straight while being very manouvrable in tight singletrack
Submitted by
Scott Lowe
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: September 15, 2004
Strengths: This is a nice bike. The Lefty fork is very sweet, with smooth, lengthy travel (I was a Rock Shock only type of guy…..not any more). The rear shock is fitted in a housing with fully adjustable geometry, which may not seem to be a big deal (I first thought nothing of it until I started messed with it), but it does make a difference! The stock wheels and disc break system are good quality, and the frame is strong, fairly light, and is forged in the USA.
Weaknesses: The free hub (the slotted peg that the gear cog fits onto) has broken twice over a 650 mile/3 month period. This is truly a huge bit*h! And I mean HUGE (getting the part I mean). The closed bearing in this housing opens, and the bearings shred themselves-the rear tire starts to wobble-and then the disk break rubs and it’s just a mess! It’s only about a $30.00 part, but good luck finding a local bike shop in San Diego that has this part on hand! It basically sets you back about 5 working days for the order from Cannondale, and if your not lucky (like me) you may get stuck out in the middle of sh*t hole, USA (oh, sorry, El Cajon/Santee back country) with a busted bike that you can’t even push.
Some of the components are a little lame…. LX and Deore. The Hutchinson Scorpion Tubeless Tires are a bit loose in my opinion, so I would suggest at the very least swapping out the rear one right off the bat.
The handle bar/ seat stem could be upgraded, but they aren’t horrible.
Don’t get me wrong, nothing on this bike is crappy (except for the free hub on the rear wheel), but some things could use an upgrade.
Also, it’s a bit tuff to mount a computer on the Lefty, but all you need to do is buy a rear wheel mounting computer; no big deal.
Bottom Line:
Hey, this bike is what it is, and its sick. Overall, It’s the best bike I’ve owned, and that’s saying a lot b/c I’m comparing it to my other newer mountain bike, a Specialized St-jumper FSR Pro Disc.
I have only had one problem with it (the free hub thing). And although this is a problem to me, it seems like it is just a weird thing, and does not happen to a lot of people. Plus its not a $$$$ problem.
The Lefty Max is surly a front shock evolution, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a traditional forked shock. The frame is true, the bikes hardware is top notch, and the rear shock system with the adjustable geometry is tits. If you don’t have the XTR components lying around the house, or on an unused bike hooked up with XTR that you are willing to cannibalize, there’s really no need to upgrade anything. Off the sales floor, it’s good to go for the average rider. It looks sharp, and is a comfortable cross country/downhill combination bike.
All in all, if you are thinking about getting this bike, you should. Nothing else to say about it.
Similar Products Used: Specialized Stumjumper FSR Pro Disc Kona Dawg Primo
Bike Setup: All XTR cmpnts. Easton bar/stem ect.
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Submitted by
Jason
a Cross Country Rider
from St. George
Date Reviewed: September 11, 2004
Strengths: The frame quality is superb. I admire how Cannondale has spent attention to detail on the welds. Great price for the kit- except the LX front deralieur.
Weaknesses: The tires didn't work for this type of terrain. I swapped with a buddy that wanted them for racing. The LX front der. is not the best choice- trade up the front der., or have your lbs swap it out for and XT or higher.
Bottom Line:
I got this bike as a payment for my services (my client did not have enough cash). I was going to thrash it until my VP-Free came in (very long wait). I was never a big Cannondale fan until I got a hold of this. I can't believe how well this thing tracks. It is VERY stable and can handle alot- keep in mind- I got it for virtually nothing and I abused it. I was doing drops that cracked many other frames I have owned. After a few weeks, I really began appreciating this ride. THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE TO THIS BIKE IS THE ADJUSTABLE GEOMETRY. Since the shock is attached to a threaded yoke- you can get the feel just right. This is much easier that changing stems etc....
After six months and getting my $5K Santa Cruz VP Free, I must say, this Jekyll is the most fun ride I have ever had. I rode it on the down hill trails I took my V10 on- granted i had 8+ inches of travel- and I am still alive and so is the bike. My friends were surprises that I would suit up in body armor and wear a full face helmet and join them on nose bleed desents on this Jekyll. I was aprehensive at first, but realized that this is one tuff bike.
If i could redesign this bike, I would have the same frame design as the Jekyll feminine or the small with the slanted top tube. The stand over height is a little too high. I put a pad on mine (80's BMX style) to save my jewels.
I was planning on dumping it on e-bay after my VP Free came in but there is no chance. I am sure the Prophet is going to be an awesome ride- but it is not as tweekable as this- only two settings. If you can find one for a good price- GET IT. Take it from someone who has owned and thrashed many a bike- This is the best!
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Hey, just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Chris. I live in central NJ. I'm a fresh, new guy to the MTB world. Only rode out about 6 times borrowing a friends bike. Just pick Read More »
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