Submitted by
Drummer888
a Weekend Warrior
from Auckland, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: November 30, 2009
Strengths: Seriously strong, plush, neutrally balanced, and great in corners.
Weaknesses: For an XC bike its probably a little on the heavy size.
Bottom Line:
Ive just finished building this bike - using it for a bit of XC, but its fast becoming a downhill bike. I love riding it on quick flowing downhill sections of trail with medium jumps. It lands plush and strong on the jumps, and you can dig it hard into corners, and it just never gets out of shape. With the long front forks on the front, its great on drops as it has a good steep head angle.
Similar Products Used: 98 Specialized FSR, Marzocchi bomber Jr T's Rockshox rear.
Bike Setup: 06 Giant AC2, Hayes Nines, Truvativ cranks & BB, Amoeba chainguide, Marzocchi 66RC 170mm forks, Manitou swinger 4 way rear shock.
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Submitted by
aragon1253
a Weekend Warrior
from Ontario
Date Reviewed: August 27, 2009
Strengths: Indestructible, lots of travel, nice on downhill slopes and the brakes have good stopping power.
Weaknesses: Psylo shocks pisses oil, rock shox rear is too bobby. Also its a bit heavy.
Bottom Line:
I've ridden this bike for years (model year 2000)and nearly killed myself a bunch of times but you just can't break the frame.
Each time something breaks I just upgrade it so now it's totally tricked except the Hayes breaks (still stock) and the rims. The bob is gone in the back with the Fox DHX5.0 coil and it rides like a totally different animal (now it climbs well and does not bob because of the pro pedal).
The stock bike with Psylo's needs a different shock and the Rock Shox Deluxe just bobs too much.
I love this bike but this is not a XC ride. It kills at crushing logs and taking abuse.
If you need to get new bearings or bushing kits to replace your Rock Shox Deluse then http://www.mountainbikecomponents.co.uk/
Similar Products Used: GT, Kona Stinky, Stumpjumper, Slayer, Element 50.
I loved the Stumpjumper with the brain and the Element 50 was sweet. The GT with iDrive stock kicks the Giant. The Stink was no match for the AC2
Bike Setup: I replaced the stock front shock after it bled to death with a Marzocchi Junior T and the rear Rock Shox with a Fox DHX 5.0 coil
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Submitted by
ekai
a Weekend Warrior
from fremont, ca, usa
Ya, a little old school, climbs & pedals well in the 5 1/2" rear travel mode--too much bob & squishy ride in the 6 1/2" rear travel mode-but very plush. Climbs lousy in 6 1/2" mode. Neutral handling--no glaring faults. Seat tube seems to be the greatest weakness. Cranks almost always creak, but goes away with serving--maybe a Shimano set up would be better.I jump very little in quality & quantity, so being old school myself--I need to keep the rubber side down! I'm not sure I would trust it on medium to big air...its just a good competent all around bike-nothing out standing, but no glaring faults either. Works well at North Star, Tahoe, Skeggs, Boggs, Soquel, UCSC,etc--it does what I want to and that's all that matters---now if I can only get a new 2009 Intense VPP Tracer! It looks very appealing.
Similar Products Used: Heckler, FSR Enduro Extreme, others
Bike Setup: Talas 32 RLC, DHX 5 Air, Mavic crossmax, XT derailuers, Stock race face BB & cranks, FSA carbon stem & bar, Thomposn seatpost, WTB gel saddle, Salsa grips, Juicy 5's 7" rotors
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Submitted by
debusama
a Weekend Warrior
from Spokane, Wa, Spokane
Date Reviewed: December 14, 2008
Strengths: Good bike for the price, it did very well on descents.
Weaknesses: A lot of bob, even when adjusted for less travel.
Bottom Line:
I used to do a lot of to hikes the tops of mountains, and then shooting down. I also do some cross-country riding. This was my first FS bike. It worked well for the mild DH riding I did, but I was surprised by how much power was absorbed by the rear shock. Lately, I’ve lost interest in downhill riding in favor of long XC rides, and I found the bike so cumbersome on the trails I like, that it was mostly just collecting dust while I took my old hardtail out on the trails. I’m now riding a XC designed FS bike that works much better for me. Overall, I think it was great when I used it for what it is designed (light freeride/downhill). It was not, however, the do-everything bike that I was hoping for. Overall, I’d say this is a perfect bike for a not so hardcore downhill rider, but if you do a little of everything, I’d go with something else.
Strengths: 2005 AC Hayes Hydro stop quick WTB Laser V seat is good Carbon seatpost & bars are nice addition Not too heavy (my medium is about 35lbs with heavier pedals, grips and a different rear spring.
Weaknesses: Stock shock is sprung for a light rider with a 500lb spring - but you can get a new spring 800lb for less than $30 from Giant and this helps so much for heavier riders. With the 800lb spring the bike no longer acts like a pogo stick. I used to hate to take it on the street for more than 5 minutes because of pedal Bob. 800lb spring changes the shock and supports my 200lb frame.
Front Fork - lockout would have been nice, but they had to keep the price down at this point.
Bottom Line:
Great value in an all-mountain full suspension bike. For 2005 they put on mid level components and cut the price in half! I wish they still had this in their lineup (or something similar at around 1k)
Strengths: It's a great bike once you add your own personal touches
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
this is a really good bike i've had it for just over 2 years and it's still going strong. you can do downhill, freeride, and if your keen XC and an enduro event. (i given it an overall 5 'cause i like my setup.)
Strengths: all of this bike suck, but when you take the time to change parts it really does the job. Now my bike, i can say that is better than a kona stinky or all bike in this categories !
Weaknesses: the rear shox is to soft but put an vanilla rc and you gotta see the difference.
Bottom Line:
if you wanted a good bike whit a good price to build up its the perfect bike for you !!!
Bike Setup: fox 40, fox DHX 5.0, XTR, E13, dt swiss wheelset (red)
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Submitted by
Tim Cox
a Weekend Warrior
from maleny, QLD, australia
Date Reviewed: January 1, 2007
Strengths: the good thing about this bike is its cheap as anything and has soft suspension with good parts.
Weaknesses: the suspension may be soft, but damn! i've bottomed it out at about 30cm, also i have a continuing problem wich i blame on giant for making the dropout out of aluminium! i've been through 5 in 4 months!
Bottom Line:
well, although this bike breaks easily, has suspension thats to soft, and needs constant maintanance, i wouldnt go to anything else! and thats not just because i'm broke, as soon as i get it fixed and get new gear parts and a new rear spring it will be the best bike, it has awsome geometry and handles like a dream! i wouldnt want anything else for my level of riding, if your a beginer, this is where you should start!
Favorite Trail: local track plus what ever else i find and some street
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Price Paid:
$1500.00
Purchased At: beerwah cycles
Similar Products Used: none
Bike Setup: at the moment i can use it because its completly dead! but i'm workin on it
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Submitted by
Josh
a Weekend Warrior
from united states
Date Reviewed: November 20, 2006
Strengths: great suspention, Nice wide kenda tires that don't wear easily, good strong breaks, handles nice on down hills, can handle almost anything, takes jumps and drops like a champ, awesome free rider, it can do cross country riding too. and it looks hot
Weaknesses: grips wear out FAST, chain rings have large rivets that catch the chain and jam it up when you shift into a certain gear. slow on the up hills
Bottom Line:
heavy but good all around bike for free riding and some downhill. GET NEW CHAIN RINGS! if your looking to just ride cross country turain go with something lighter but if you want a bike you can push this is a good one.
Similar Products Used: Norco sasquatch manik bigfoot ryde
Bike Setup: cheap frame design, weak and serious rattling sounds
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Submitted by
Pedro Luis Lopez
a Cross Country Rider
from Mendoza, Argentina
Date Reviewed: September 14, 2006
Strengths: Tengo la AC2, 2003. Las siguientes vinieron con otro equipamento de menor calidad. Las fortalezas son su agilidad, versatilidad, un caño realmente!!!. Si bien el RockShock Psylo XC w/Tullio and U-Turn, 3-5" travel por ahi es un poco blando, es manejable cuando te acostumbras y lo piloteas bien. El Manitou Swinger coil w/4-Way adjustmenent, es espectacular.
Weaknesses: Por ahi, cuando sales con Hardtails de compañeros se pone pesada hacia arriba.
Bottom Line:
Es una bicicleta sin igual. Una lastima que Giant no haya seguido con la linea de componentes por su precio y los siguientes años la abarato tanto que la calidad es incomparable.
