Submitted by
Oliver
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: February 10, 2007
Strengths: If you get the sizing right and the correct length fork (no less than 170mm), you can ride it with relative confidence. But not total confidence. I didn't seem to have the same replaceable dropout problems that others had with the frame. The bolts did come loose, but I caught them in time to tighten them without major problems. My Fox Vanilla RC shock didn't give me trouble like it might have to some others. That's most likely because I didn't go to big with it. The linkage hardware did come loose over time, but once again, I caught it all in time to tighten it without any problems caused as a result of the loosening. I also liked how the derailleur hanger was thick, as well as the whole dropout, really. If the headtube was thick, if the top and downtubes swelled up to meet with the thick heatube, and if the geometry was worked out to feel good and inspire confidence, the X design of the main frame would made for a very strong front triangle.
Weaknesses: -Specing a fork with less than 170mm travel does not work with this frame. -Thin headtube. Mine cracked with only 2 years of light use -Steep head angle -Geometry does not inspire confidence -Does not inspire confidence
Bottom Line:
This review is for the frame only, 2003 model XTS Moto. Specing a fork with less than 170mm travel does not work with this frame. It'll ride very high in the rear, as it has a stiff spring, and will make you feel like you're going to go over the bars on everything higher than a 2 foot drop. It makes even 2 foot drops feel scary, big and awkward. Even certain maneuvers that only get you a few inches of air might feel scary. That was my experience with it when I had a Rockshox Psylo as my fork. Diamondback actually speced a Psylo on the 2003 XTS, which is what initially made me think it was alright to do. Wrong I was and wrong they were. The ride was much better when I threw on a lower profile, shorter stem (45mm from originally a 90mm), as well as a longer fork. The ridiculous 2 foot drop making you feel like you're going to lose control feeling was gone, but the rest of the geometry still didn't inspire me to push myself at all. I attribute this to its steep head angle and top tube that was a bit too short for me, as I'm 6'2. I was on a medium frame that should have been a large. Once I helped the geometry out with my parts changes, about half a season of riding caused a small hairline crack to form at the bottom on the headtube right at the front. The headtube is long, which helps put less leverage on it, but it’s also much too thin for a freeride bike. It needs to be 3 times as thick. I had a regular FSA Pig DH Pro headset that should have been a deep cup. I would have had to custom ream the headtube for this mod, but it should have been done. All in all, I'd consider this frame responsible for keeping me back for a good 1.5 to 2 years from progressing as a rider. All while my friends on hardtails were going bigger with more confidence than me, I'm only now catching up and it's 2007. The headtube problem is unacceptable considering how I didn’t go big at all on this frame because of all the other geometry problems it had. Diamondback's fine print doesn't help the situation either, as they don't allow any warranties on frames bought separately, bikes with parts upgraded, or bikes and frames bought online or through mail order bike shops, or even bikes or frames that have been shipped out of the USA. This is the first review I’ve posted up so far on this site but this is something anyone who’s considering buying an XTS should look at. I’ve been completely honest about everything I’ve said. I'll give the value rating 3 Flaming chili's because when you get a whole bike, the parts you get for the price seems decent compared to some other companies. 1 Flaming Chili for an overall rating because a frame failure under these conditions is appalling.
Similar Products Used: Santa Cruz Bullit, Santa Cruz VP Free, Norco A-line, Iron horse SGS, Giant Faith, Devinci Wilson, Giant DH Comp, Scott Nitrous, Giant AC - All demoed, not owned long term
Bike Setup: Things you'd expect on a freeride Bike
Strengths: good parts spec.good warranty.agoura cycles is the best.
Weaknesses: nothing any bike will brake if you ride it beyondits means
Bottom Line:
ride hard, have fun,if you need more bike than this you know who you are. I have ridden mammoth /black diamond it worked great. double black diamond i could use more bike
Strengths: Strong frame, great components, weight (approx. 41lbs), climbing ability, multi-purpose, and the thing just looks awsome.
Weaknesses: I wouldnt want to ride more than 10 mi. on flats with this thing, although you could. Other than that, superb!
Bottom Line:
If you are looking for a bike that will let you take large drops, while at the same time allow for you to climb a hill, then this bike does it pretty well. I like to think of my bike as a cheap mans DH rig. Nothing flashy about it, but yet it can still handle the rigors of DH abuse. Im a college kid that didnt have tons of money to spend on a bike, but for $900 dollars, I feel like I got every penny worth in this bike.
Bike Setup: Manitou Kingpin Stance, Manitou 4-Way Swinger, SRAM, Holzfeller (Crank, Stem, Bar), Maxxis Hookworms, Hayes HFX-9
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Richard
a Weekend Warrior
from Las Vegas, NV, USA
Date Reviewed: February 24, 2006
Strengths: Manitou 4-way shock, saddle, cranks, bars, stem. Not many complaints. It has a good build. The tires, are the best I have ever ridden.
Weaknesses: The rear shock-mounting bolt. Where the shock meets the rear swingarm. That bolt has been bent, and I havent even done anything harder than a 5 ft drop. It still fits in the shock mount, so I almost wonder if it isnt factory? I've heard of other people breaking the bolt though.
Bottom Line:
For what I paid I couldnt have even got close to buying the parts for the frame, so good deal there. As I said the shock mounting bolt is bent, thats lame. You can tell the bike only has 6.5" of travel. But thats never stopped my from keeping up with my buddy on his Iron Horse SGS. I love the Manitou shock. The Jr-T is fine if you arent a serious downhiller, or care about the wieght. I think my entire bike wieghs 43lbs. A bit steep for freeride bike. Bike pedals really well. You can feel the wieght, but it never looses traction, so if you can just push a granny gear you can go for ever up the steepest grades. Bottom line is if you dont go too big, but like a pretty plush bike to soak up the trail and for the occasional big hit, you wont find a better bike, for the price. There not exactly brand name so they go dirt cheap on eBay.
Similar Products Used: Owned, Kona Stinky, ridden, Iron Horse SGS, Santa Cruz Bullit, Rocky Mountain RM7
Bike Setup: Pretty much stock, except for lock-on grips, a snafu saddle, and a Black Spire 38 tooth chain guide.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
mesa hollinbeck
a Downhiller
from norwood co USA
Date Reviewed: June 11, 2005
Strengths: very good components for the price, solid frame and fork.
Weaknesses: the only problem i have run into with this bike is the shock mount bolt (the one connecting the shock to the swing arms). I have broken this bolt twice, but with no serious consiquences. Both times the bolt simply cracked but still held the the shock in place allowing you continue to ride. replacing the bolt is not hard or expencive ($3.00 hardware store item). the cabble routing is not the greatest but could be worse.
Bottom Line:
the bike is an great choice for a entry level freeride downhill rig and can handle fairly large drops (15 feet is as big as I've gone and the bike did fine). it is not as plush as the devinci or banshee, but is way cheaper, so if you have the cash go for a 3-4k bike but if not this bike will work well.
Similar Products Used: 02 kona stinky, 03 banshee scream (such a nice bike) and a 04 devinci johnson (also very nice but not a banshee)
Bike Setup: I have the 03 XTS moto which is very similar to the 04 (same frame) I changed the saddle and grips at the shop and have placed a piece of old tire under the bottom bracket to protect the cabbles. (works very well)
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
James
a Weekend Warrior
from Auburn, AL, USorA
Date Reviewed: April 14, 2005
Strengths: Extremely cheap, fairly lightweight, manitou shock. I ride this bike on average 3-5 miles a day on a college campus doing urban freeride. I'm used to a 4" travel front & rear doing freeride. Handles huge 7' flat to flat drops. Have done a multiple 12-16 flat step drops, and many other random jumps. Daily do a 10 step flat to flat going to class. because of fsr design when sitting down, pedals very quickly with hardly any BOB, which is amazing for a big bike.
Weaknesses: Due to hard hits, the 6.5" setting is too soft with a 450lb spring (I'm 170lbs). The 6.5" is amazing to just ride on though. The 5.5" is enough for me on jumpin, but due to the hard hits the bolt that holds the bottom of the rear shock has started to bend. Aparently this happens on Uzzis that take punishment like this. Also have a 2.7 and 2.5 tyre, and the 2.5 rubs on the rear when travel is near bottom. Oh well.
Bottom Line:
Amazing bike for the price, like the FSR frame design a lot. I ride very hard, and so far this bike has been holding up amazingly well. Could use more travel and/or stiffer shock in the rear so I can really huck it, but 250 for a frame I will not complain. I highly reccomend this bike, Diamondback is no longer the crappy brand in bikes, I'm glad to see in 04 the came out with some real serious s%*t. I'm giving 4 chilis for overall because the rearbolt is startin to bend within the first month, and if my legs can take it, I do not see why that cannot. I highly reccomend to check on ebay, there have been a few frames pass through that are sell for less than 400 because of the name. This bike I believe is equal in freeride peformance to my buddies 2005 demo 9 which cost him twice as much.
Similar Products Used: Tested a lot Santa Cruz Bullit, K2 EVO, and Specialized Demo 9 Ridden most everything else once.
Bike Setup: Less than 1k to build(college student budget) And 4 months of waiting for deals on ebay is worth it. 250 for frame, Avid 8", 04 junior T, John Kovachi built rhyno-lite wheelset. Raceface crankset, xt tranny.
Bike Setup: Stock except put on some Kujo's and Good and Evil grips.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Jerome
a Downhiller
from Littleton, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: October 28, 2004
Strengths: Fork, brakes, handlebars (like the oversize), levers
Weaknesses: had to send rear shock in twice already. chain sucks of course it is z.
Bottom Line:
Sweet. Not bad at all for what i paid. ($950) Been to Keystone (colorado) few times and it did awesome. I love the fork and the 4-way when it works. hayes 8-inchers sweet and the carbon levers feel pretty good. Great starter bike, recommend for anyone who wants to get into downhill/freeride.
Submitted by
brandon arago
a Weekend Warrior
from new jersey
Date Reviewed: October 3, 2004
Strengths: this bike is so amazing its got a real strong frame i have beaten the crap out of it and it still works fine . the 6.5 in of travel feels like 8 and the manitou shock is real nice plus the jr t works great also.those carbon brakes arent half bad either
Weaknesses: none realy just got to watch the bottom of the seapost on the shock piggyback i already dented mine so i just zipp tied a little piece of rubber to the top and thats stops it fromn gettin damaged
Bottom Line:
amazing bike for the money i can keep up with al the crazy a$$es with the 5000 dolar bikes and they hate the fact i paid half as much as them. not to many people have them either also i dont know if thats good or bad but um... yea its good
Similar Products Used: kona coiler and stinky,big hit,bullit
Bike Setup: 04 xts moto mrp mini me chain thingy and some tennis grips but other than that just stock
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Steven C.
a Downhiller
from Richland, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 21, 2004
Strengths: Beefy frame, amazing component spec for the money. I've taken this on pretty much every single and double black trail in whistler, doing the clown shoes drop and clearing the schleyer drop. I really like how easy it is to ride around town due to the steeper head angle and light weigh. I can also dirtjump pretty well with it (considering its no hardtail). I've also had hardly any mechanical problems with it.
Weaknesses: Steep head angle not as good for steep dh, carbon brake levers work fine but feel kind of cheap with the plastic molded over the carbon. I like metal levers better. Jr. T does spike some at high speeds, but not a huge problem. Could use more than the 6.5 inches of rear travel, but giving it more only steepens the head angle. I also bent the axle in the pedals pretty quickly. I'm on my third set of pedals but that's the only mechanical problem I've had. The worst thing is that the chain fell off a lot at whistler and it doesn't come with tabs for a chainguide so i'll have to get an e.13
Bottom Line:
Amazing freeride bike for the money. If you're reading this review because you're considering it, buy it and never look back. 4.5 just because the chain falls off on the real rough stuff
Strengths: This bike seems pretty tough. I have done some 4-5ft drops and the bike hasnt't even blinked an eye. I would say it is a good entry level DH bike. This is my first full suspension and I don't compete but everyone I talk to has good things to say about it.
Weaknesses: Front fork seems really soft and no external rebound.
Bottom Line:
I love this bike. I spent too much on it but I can do DH, trails and riding around town and have fun. Good entry DH bike and a blast anywhere else. (if you don't mind hauling this thing around!)
Strengths: great build kit out of the boz although i did chang out the fork to a 888r and the rear to a 6 way its a very light 34 lbs and instead of the 2" stroke rear shock i put on a 2.5" upping the rear travel to almost 8" and the spv makes it ride like a cross country fs bike
Weaknesses: cable routing is kinda strange done with clips and 1 solid piece of cable attached to the frame with clips that broke on the first ride but thats nothing a zip tie cant fix
Bottom Line:
if your thinking about etting a new bike for some dh or fr get this one its light plush and an all around good bike one than not only goes downhill but can also climb (you cant always use a lift or shuttle it) even at the retail of 2000 its a great deal
