Incredibly strong frame and tough groupset, was first bike in Uk and had Shimano Hone prototype group set which is superb. Marzzochi bomber forks are great but rear Fox air shock is not suited for heavier riders. I- drive is top notch for climbing and forks lock out. Build quality is excellent and it survived a wipe out and fall off a 20 foot cliff with me landing on top of the bike, nothing bent!!!

Bottom bracket is a little low and you can get unsettled with heavy pedal strikes lifting the backend off the ground and whipping you around a little. However that said it does have an unbeatable feel to it and solid handling.

Exceedingly tough, solid handling free ride bike which I am pretty sure you will not break however heavy handed you are. Pedal strike is a small annoyance however you may be able to dial it out by revising the rear shock geometry to lift it up a little but has not been bad enough to bother. Buy one and rip it up downhill and beat your mates to the top with the excellent I-drive system.

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None, first free ride bike.

Tougher than Tyson. Light as s**nk. It ay got black paint. Awesome groupsex.

Frame looks a bit kooky, like a lot of it's riders. The stem is too long(story o me life)

I bought this bike to go as big as me mates, and guess what, it made me realise it ay got sh*t to do wid da rig it's what's in ya grollies dat counts! The bike though is awesome for the wedge. When me bros ride it they say it's smoovest fing since whenever but I is just scared to ride it ard. Buy one and you wo improve at all!

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VD 2, GT backwoods( rocks on s*it surfaces)

Sorted geometry well specced, light for a freeride.good package

Crap kidie decals on the paint.

For the money a good general pupose do a bit of everything kit..

Climbes like a gibon on speed..I drive is the mutts nutz.

Just a tad front heavey but ill sort that ..cant belive the spec i got for 1400 uk pounds at pauls bikes...in the last 18 months i have owned a Giant nrs,Giant VT. Trek liquid.
this bike beats em all ..get it while stocks last ...if you want a light weight freeride rig this is it jumps really well.

it took me a long time to find a bike that would jump ..XC and go up hill ...and handle the technical rooty twisty fast flowing pine wood trails ..this is the babe.
i would give it 5 chills but for the slight front end weight thing..

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Trek liquid 10 (complete poo)Giant vt (jusst as good less travel)Specialized Demo 8(great bike Down hill)

Proven I-drive design...good climber(just a bit heavy), stable @speed and sure footed in technical. Low center of gravity. Beefy build

Weight - but it wasn't designed for an adventure bike..

Got this bike as a replacement frame and built it up myself. It rules for an adventure bike! 31.5 lbs and 6"/6". Can't ask for more. Coil/oil is the way to go. And thru axles...eXellent! I'd buy it again! And GT reps went out of their way to help. If you're into riding killer carvy techno 1-track, buy one - just dump the SainT.

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GT's, Specialized, Santa Cruz,

good climber except when it gets really steep,descents are absolutley ace the rear sus just soaks up everything,I need a better fork!

none found so far

I've only had this bike out on four rides so far,3 on local trails with lots of roots and mud,it's quite impressive compared to my old ride even though it's a couple of pounds heavier,the other ride was out on the moors in sub zero temprature and very rocky the bike just sailed through everything I just need to save up for a new fork(marzocchi all mountain sl)to even up the travel to 6" both ends.price paid worked out at just over £410 once import duties,vat and customs clearance was paid(almost 30%).This bike I bought as a frame + shock on Ebay my riding style was changing & I needed something with more travel,I reckon it's a great bike for heavy xc & light freeride but built up with triple clamps would make good on most uk downhills.

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GT sts100xcr

Easy to ride, lightish, quick up and down a hill

Main one was constant peadal strikes - way too easy to tap the pedals over tree roots, rocks etc - tried lots of fork and shock pressures to try and overcome this but in the end decided the BB was just too low. Fork had a noisy top out and lacked adjustment.

Probably more suited to smooth bikepark trails than anything really rough or "natual" due to the pedal strikes but seemed to handle anything I could throw at it. Drops and jumps well and for a 35lb bike pedalled up hill better than it should. I bought this for a 3 week trip to NZ and would have brought it back to the UK with me if a) it was a Santa Cruz and b) it didnt suffer from pedal strike....

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Santa Cruz VP Free, Spesh Endyro SX trail, Giant Reign and a few others