Submitted by
Theoted14
a Weekend Warrior
from South Hadley, MA, USA
Date Reviewed: March 14, 2009
Strengths: Light weight 7.5 lbs with rear shock (Light for a 170mm travel bike). Manitou 4way swinger is holding up real good without any maintenance all these years still holds air better than any air shock I've ever had and when pumped up keeps the pedal bob at a bay. Nothing has broken on this frame so far and with the exception of a little chain lube on the pivot points every other ride has been maintenance free.
Weaknesses: The seat post slides down on agressive techincal riding about 1/4 inch so I thightened it with the allen bolt oposite the clamp and now it stays put. What's up with a 34.9 mm seat post? Good luck finding one in a pinch.
Bottom Line:
I got this bike on ebay to replace my Jamis Dakar XLT. I wanted a change and a bike that was even more all mountian meaning more travel. This bike gave me 1.7 inches of travel at the same weight so I stripped my Jamis got this frame and put all the stuff on it. With the exception of some heavy duty stuff like a sun singletrack wheelset,big heavy tires and some more stuff that made the bike look bad ass. When I was done the bike weighed over 36 lbs and it felt like it on climbs and XC trails. The following year (07)I realized that this frame is heavy duty and plush enough that I can ride all the technical stuff I want with Moderate and relatively light XC components. So I changed to the mavic 317/XT wheelset Nevegal/Blue groove tires, carbon handlebars. Got a Fox Vanilla (coil/oil baby.Air sucks on forks). and some other minor mods and got the bike down to just over 30 lbs . It felt like a different bike. It felt like a long travel XC bike climb like a goat and handle anything I would dare ride. I don't do bid jumps or drops I just love rocky technical singletrack and rolling winding XC trails. And the best part is that I don't even have to think about the frame or fork or rear shock for that matter. The wheelset is holding up great because of the plushness of the travel and when I ride XC I just jack up the pressure in the back end to eliminate any pedal bob on the climbs thanks to the swinger 4way. I'm sure there's better bikes out there but how good are they after four years with basicly no frame maintenance including the rear shock for 3 years? I know they don't make this frame any more but I plan to ride this one to the ground and replace it only when it's necessary.
Similar Products Used: Jamis Dakar XLT (Great bike, no pedal bob in the saddle with 4 way swinger)Various hardtails, I still like hardtails and will be converting my Giant XTC into a single speed for this coming summer to see how I like it.
Bike Setup: Mavic xc317/XT wheelset,Kenda Nevegal rear/Blue groove front,Fox Vanilla RLC fork, Avid bb7 mechanical discs w/Aligator rotors,X.7 shifters w/X.9 derailler. Steel chain ring 32(lasts three times as long as aluminum (alloy), stylo team crank, carbon bars, flite seat. Shimano 436 pedals. 30.5 lbs with pedals
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Florian
a Downhiller
from Germany, Munich
Date Reviewed: June 24, 2007
Strengths: Light, strong and does all I want: Long Uphill (climbs like a pro, even with 170mm Frok in the front), Downhill, Street to the next Lift. 1.5" Steering Tube. Did i say its light? :-)
Weaknesses: Manitou Nixxon lost Air after first ride, Tested a Manitou Sherman (170mm) and loved it - sold the Nixxon after repair. Tire clearance @ rear allows only max. 2.5" Tires. Original Seatpost can not be lowered enough.
Bottom Line:
Thats the Bike which takes it all: Steep, technical SingleTRAIL-Downhills (Vertriding in the Alps, Lago di Garda), fast Downhill (Bikepark) - and even CC-Tours up to 90Km a day (which i do very seldom now, thanks to the tires and wheels ;-). Perfect allrounder! If you can still get one of the 2005 Models, buy it!
Similar Products Used: None, only CC Fully´s before (which i had to repair every other month...)
Bike Setup: Stock Except Fork: Manitou Shermann 170mm; Wheels (Hope Pro 2 w/ Mavic 729; Tires: Front Schwalbe Al Mighty GG, Back: Schwalbe Big Betty; Seatpost from Nitrous 10.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Al Sonntag
a Weekend Warrior
from Novato California USA
Date Reviewed: December 10, 2006
Strengths: Goes up and down hill great Soaks up the bumps big hits and stutters equally well. An all day all mountain bike.
Weaknesses: Nixon fork had issues loosing air until rebuilt with factory upgrade kit. It's been bullet proof since
Bottom Line:
This bike does it all. Uphill without to much penalty (about 32lbs) 6" plus of travel. The IT fork is useful for instant traction on the short uphill burst but mostly I've left it in the full up position. Rides single track and fireroad blasting well. Can't go wrong. It has held up very well in the last year and a half of 4 day a week riding... Stop reading and go out and ride now!
Similar Products Used: Trek Y 33 Carbon, Cannondale (multiple), Merlin Titanium, Giant Carbon
Bike Setup: XT and XTR mix, Disc brakes. nixon fork, manitou swinger.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Andy Booth
a Weekend Warrior
from England
Date Reviewed: November 21, 2006
Strengths: Light weight for the length of travel. Looks great. Well specced for the price
Weaknesses: The Manitou forks have let me down and Im not too sure about the swinger 4 air shock.
Bottom Line:
I purchased this bike because I found I was doing more and more freeride type trails and the FSR XC was a little bit short on travel. The Scott Nitrous SL11 I purchased was an ex demo bike and as such had quite a few scratches etc but basically a new bike (I was told by the bike shop). When I got the bike home I set about setting the bike up for me. I found that there was no adjustment on the compression and rebound on the Manitou Nixon forks. The fork has to go back. I decided to get out on the bike before I sent the forks back and the ride is wonderful. Very plush in comparison to the FSR ride, but then you would expect it to be. Had a few outings on my usual trails and just couldnt fault the bike. It stays very level in the air (unlike the FSR XC where I tended to nose dive on each jump) and goes round corners really well. The bike is heavy though, that is complared to the FSR XC, and the hills are a bit of a slog. The IT switch on the forks help a lot but its still hard going. On my fourth ride out (still not sent the forks back at that point) I noticed there was quite a lot of sag. Four rides and the rear shock has dropped to around 50% sag. Maybe I just set it up wrong or maybe Im losing air from the swinger 4.Time will tell and maybe the shock has to be sent back. Generally though, I am really happy with my purchase. You cant blame the bike design for a blown set of forks and since I purchased an ex demo, I guess the problem is down to me and the shop who sold me the bike in a poor condition. But all that will get sorted and I will be back riding my Nitrous and going bigger and faster on each ride. The Nitrous seems to be quite a rare bike with not that many around. Im glad I found one of these bikes, they ride really well and look great. If I had payed the full price for the bike when it was new I would be a little disappointed but the £1000 discount, I really cant complain
Similar Products Used: Specialized FSR XC, Specialized Enduro
Bike Setup: Manitou Nixon Comp forks, Manitou Swinger 4 Air shock, XT groupset
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Rob
a Weekend Warrior
from Brookfield, CT
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2006
Strengths: Light weight (for a full suspension), good components, good geometry, looks beautiful, very responsive.
Weaknesses: Saddle is not terribly comfortable, probably going to replace it with a WTB Laser. Grips are so-so, but if you are wearing gloves it is a non issue. Frame fit me fine, but I may have to cut the seatpost a bit for full shock clearance. It is heavier than a dedicated XC bike, but you cannot really complain given its travel. That it's just a smidge over 30 pounds is very impressive given its design.
Bottom Line:
Terrific "all mountain" bike. If you want one bike that will do it all. Pedal, cruise, bomb, downhill, freeride, this is the one. Sure, it may not be as substantial as a true downhill bike, or as light as an XC rig, but it is an amazing compromise. I would imagine that for all but the most brave (insane?) FR/downhill riders, this bike will suffice more than enough. I am rating the value at 4 based solely on the MSRP of $4000. That I got it for $1500 on closeout would be closer to 6 flamin' chilis. If you can find any of these leftover, buy it now. Even at $2500 it's a great deal.
Submitted by
wildman
a Weekend Warrior
from colorado springs
Date Reviewed: April 3, 2005
Strengths: 32lb, and still takes a beating
Weaknesses: none so far
Bottom Line:
well, 3 test rides, adn today make for some good time to report on the bike. lets start with the good stuff. i love it. love it, love it, love it! it handels so well, and the balance is really spot on, i can pull the bars back slightly standing and sail off any ledge with a level stance. no pedal input needed to get the front up. the brakes are great, again, saved a few hikers and other head on bikers. i moved the levers in soem and moved the IT release for the fork right next to the grip. much better, much easire to push the button while wheelie'ing and get the forks to extend instantly. very plush fork, dont ask me how much air or cliks or whatever i have dialed, i have no clue right now. just rode on what ProCycling set up for my weight. the rear seems a little less plush but im sure its an air or clik or spv adjustment. will look into that. bike is totally light 32 lbs. HA i measured at 67.5 with me on or off (seems to sag the same at each end, then) and doesnt feel like some other 67.5's ive ridden. fast steering, the IT lowers nicely on the uphills and i just push a little, or a little more to fine tune it. then, POP, do a wheelie and back to full ext at the top. tires seemed pretty good, ground them thru a few loose turns and they kept me from going down. (course, dunno what ill do when its time for new ones, since the stupid scott logo is half on the rim half on the tire). seat is harder than id prefer. need to contact larry at mtn adn see what was on the el chamuco, i liked that one alot.
thats all i can think of for the good stuff. now the minor bad. i say minor cuz some may just be me. last week i couldnt turn the compression knob on the forks, so i took it in and asked them, alan there just cranked it free with his hand. guess im a woosey. it was just too tight he said. so that was freed up, i was worried before that. the travel measures to about 5 inches exactly (i compress the forks with the IT button pressed adn see where they stop and then measured) its advertised as a 145 mm fork which is abou 5.7 inches. so i dunno. i did see that i went past my mark when just riding and landing hard (past where the IT compression stopped. mabey that is just the bottoming feature? if so, why include it in the travel then, input??
the brakes were sqealing yesterday in the garage (i rinsed it off and lubed the chain, so i thought i gummed up the pads) i removed the rear pads, ran them across some 240 sandpaper and cleaned teh rotor with brake cleen on a rag. didng fix it, then realized it was the front rotor rubbing the caliper. i loosend the bolts, slid the caliper over to center it more adn tighttendd (pretty hard to hold where you want an tighten, will ahve to invent another caliper mounting for that) and adjust the rears too just for fun. seemed to fix it.
lots of chain slap, swingarm is nicked up pretty good, lizard skin or what ever scott puts on it isnt long enought ot cover the whole length. bummer.
thats all i can think of on that, will add more as time goes by
see my thread on the CFR forum for more.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=90588
bottom line, so far its awesome! ill post more later, gotta ride some more!
Similar Products Used: enduro pro, jamis dakar, ventana el chamuco, foes fxr (bikes tested during my research)
Bike Setup: bone stock M frame, with a longer stem only.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Chris Steele
a Weekend Warrior
from Keswick, UK
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2005
Strengths: Awesome setup, great riding position, the rear shock compliments the bike by reducing 'Bob' making the uphill's not such a struggle. well designed geometry allows you to comfortably throw the bike around with confidence keeping a good hold on the surface.
Weaknesses: Quite heavy at 31lbs but believe me its worth draggin it up! also, there are a million scott and nitrous badges on it.
Bottom Line:
Awesome freeride bike which doesn't make you pay on the uphill sections.
