Submitted by
John Stults
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Barbara, CA
Date Reviewed: May 21, 2007
Strengths: All around great bike. Suspension has a lot of travel, and can really take a good pounding. Holds me real well. I'm 6-2, 280, and stays very comfortable. The front and rear shock lock out is a nice feature as well. Really helps for the climbing.
Weaknesses: Two things that I really don't like and will have to ugrade later is that there isn't an on the fly lock out. Have to bend down while riding to lock/unlock both shocks. Other is i had to trim down the seat post. When it's as far down as it goes, still sticks up about 7-8 inches, so you can't get down low when going downhill.
Bottom Line:
Wonderful bike. Have ridden other full suspension, and this is definately the most comfortable I've ever ridden.
Bike Setup: rock shock recon front suspension, specialized X air shock rear
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Tim
a Weekend Warrior
from champlin, MN
Date Reviewed: February 14, 2007
Strengths: Have used this bike for 5+ years, Have to say this is the best bike I have ridden, I have a very bad back and weigh 200 lbs + so a full suspension was the only way to go (doctor recommended.) As with any full suspension bike maintenance is key, take care of what you paid for and it will take care of you. Yes BB was loud after break in but once properly adjusted no problems. Swapped out rim brakes for disc's and rims/hubs also, stock seat is harder than nails. But to get a good workout your not in the saddle much anyway, right?
Bottom Line:
Weekend rides with guys who work at bike shops who have the latest and greatest (trek fuels blah blah blah)and can outlast them on a 5 year old bike, says it all! ( no, I'm not a triathlete. Bike just lets you ride very clean and easy! 4 chili's because some upgrades are needed. Overall VERY pleased with my purchase - have not rebuilt shocks as of yet, even after 8-10 foot drops year after year.
Submitted by
Freerider Dude
a Weekend Warrior
from Scottsdale AZ. USA
Date Reviewed: September 18, 2004
Strengths: So far this bike is varry good.The guy I buyed it from upgraded the rear shock to a Fox vinilla float, and the tiers to tubless.
Weaknesses: I just had it tuned up at a bike shop but about 2 days after the crank started to sound like a stuped cricket that wouldent shut up! Now It's turned into a creeking sound.
Bottom Line:
This is an ausome bike. Pritty plush. I would recomind this bike to enyone.Have only crashed once because I culdent get out of the silly toe clips(or traps), so I took them off.So 5 Flamin' Chillis!
Similar Products Used: Havent tryed enything good enugh to list.
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Submitted by
Daniel Stromborg
a Cross Country Rider
from Eagle Rock, CA 90041
Date Reviewed: February 1, 2004
Strengths: front / rear suspension lockout, downhill capability, overall versatility.
Weaknesses: Just plain crap for hardware. I've had to trade out most the bolts that came stock on the bike for stainless. I also had the drivetrain side front pivot bolt slide out on my one of my first rides-- left me 10+ miles from home, had a nice walk in the cleats that day. I also have had to replace the bearings in the 4 bar linkage twice now. I haven't noticed anyone else having this problem. Going to call Specialized tommorow.
I also have had a number of major creak issues, which get old. People have told me Specialized tend to be loud....
Bottom Line:
Before I bought this bike, I read the reviews posted. The low BB was a common issue for many. Personally, I have no idea what the problem is. I ride everything from fire roads to rocky, technical single track. I've gone Superman many a time, but I can't blame a single crash on the BB. Maybe it's me. For an all-around ride (it's my only bike) it performs great. But there are a number of pain in the ass maintance issues I have had to deal with repeatedly. The rear suspension is great, but the bike can be noisy. I ride 4 days / week, maybe 40-70 miles. It's treated me great so far, just those issues I put forth above.
Similar Products Used: Titus Racer X-- a buddy lent me his bike when I was looking for a new bike and this was the closest feeling bike I could afford.
Bike Setup: lots of new stuff, original tires were a joke, as were the grips and bar. Cranks wore out on me.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Steve
a Weekend Warrior
from Gilroy, CA
Date Reviewed: November 9, 2003
Strengths: Light weight, well designed, very upgradable, great handling bike, gusseted well to last years
Weaknesses: Stock components which I switched out over the years. I think only the frameset is original
Bottom Line:
I've had this bike for over 3 years now and over the years Specialized made minor changes, all of which I made in component purchases to upgrade my FSR. I've never been happier with this bike. I keep contemplating replacing it with another bike, but I keep coming back. There just isn't anything out there worth the money to replace it. Sure the Blur, Intense's Spider, Turner frameset and others would be a great choices, but the bottom line is that I wouldn't get that much of an improvement to what I have now. Granted my upgrades substantially changes my original purchase. My Marzocchi 100mm coil Marathon changes the front geometry to 70 degrees, perfect for high speed descending and raises the BB height to 13". Then I changed my tires to 2.2 Specialized Enduro Pros. I now have 13.5" on my BB and can clear most log crossings without scraping my chainrings. I'm thinking about changing out my Fox Float, but it's working so well and doesn't leak, so don't fix what isn't broken. However, a Fifth Element may be my next upgrade. Total weight for all my upgrades is 25.8 lbs, 4" of front travel, 3.9" in the rear and Avid "Ultimate" Brakes, the best v-brakes bar none. My perfect all around trail bike that I can occasionally race XC on. I might consider a Turner if I ever break this bike.
Five flaming turds for overall ratings and three turds because I had to change out so many parts to make it my perfect bike.
Similar Products Used: Haven't ridden anything recent to compare
Bike Setup: Race Face crankset, Avid Ultimate brakes (just as good as Avid Mechanical Disc), Mountainspeed linkage and bearing kit, Chris King Headset and hubs
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Dallas, TX
Date Reviewed: September 6, 2003
Strengths: Fast. Great climber. Way increased my confidence and skill -- learned to just go straight instead of picking lines. Awesome suspension. Rockster Pros great on asphalt.
Weaknesses: Ditto on most of the compaints. Great frame/suspension combination with weak components for the price at the time. First to go were the Avids that required endless adjustment weak. Fox steerer tube cut too short, no room to raise the bars. Endless "creak" in the cranks still dealing with, multiple shops have worked on it. Did lose a linkage bolt behind front cogs. Tires were horrible on anything loose with no bite on the rocks. Loathed the 515 pedals. Much adjusting of front deraileur required, rubs. I suspect something to do with it mounted on a bracket, not frame. Grips slipped from day one.
Bottom Line:
Bottom line, this bike changed and improved my riding immeasurably. Almost two years on it now. Looking at new bikes I wish I had a reason to dump it, but over all I don't. In spite of the headaches I'm completely comfortable on this. The crank noise is the only thing I can't shake. After this much time most of it has been pretty well gone over: new cables, chains, etc. I ride 30-40 miles a week mostly intermediate and technical stuff, so it has the miles on it. Both the rear shock and front fork have been back to Fox for rebuilds but they didn't charge. But with my miles it's expected. I think and've heard others say this '02 stumpjumper was the last best specialized fsr. 03' I think are heavier. If you can find one in good shape I say grab it. Upgrade as needed. It's a fast light bike that'll do you no harm.
Bike Setup: Crossmax tubeless, pythons and fire pros, XT cranks/bottom bracket, xtr v-brakes, easton monkey light riser bars, odi, egg beaters
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Dan
a Weekend Warrior
from Lafyette, CA
Date Reviewed: August 19, 2003
Strengths: Killer looks, great suspension performance, great value, and a great ride.
Weaknesses: Not really any weaknesses if you use it for its intended purpose. Although, some discs would be nice to have stock.
Bottom Line:
This is an awesome bike for trails and cross country. It's light enough to go uphill, yet plenty strong enough to take a lot of abuse on the way down. There is hardly any noticable suspension bob when it's set up correctly, and the geometry is awesome. This is not the bike for World Cup downhill courses, but if you're into all around speed and efficiency, and you enjoy taking a few hard hits, this is a great choice.
Bike Setup: Fox Float RLs, Mavic 317s, Eggbeaters, Selle Italia, Avid 185mm Discs, Monkeylites, Thomson, and XT/XTR.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Adam
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto, Can
Date Reviewed: May 6, 2003
Strengths: climbing, relatively light, well matched fork and shock
Weaknesses: low BB, sub-par components, chainsuck, squirrelly rear end
Bottom Line:
All of the problems associated with this bike are well covered by other reviewers. 9-speed wears really quickly, but that's a problem with the industry. Be very careful of the suspension bolt coming out by the bottom bracket. Mine stripped itself out, so they had to replace the frame (gave me red/grey Pro colours). A helpful solution to the low BB is to convert the Fox Forx to 100mm - it rides way better. Also, the steering was a bit quick with the stock 80mm setting on the plush Fox. All 2003 bikes now come with 100mm.
It's a good bike to ride, but you have to have patience with the quirks and flaws.
Strengths: Excellent entry to middle of the road full suspension
Weaknesses: Wide stock bars & low BB
Bottom Line:
I am a big kid around 220LB and I beat this bike. I ride hard & have a ton of fun. Only after 3+ years of riding 3 to 4 times a week am I seeing components break at this point, thus the upgrades. It would get 5 if the BB were higher. There is a trick I have learned around that, crank the psi a little higher in the back shock.
Bike Setup: Monkeylite bars, Crossmax wheels, Raceface Cranks & BB, Hayes Disc
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Chris Messina
a Weekend Warrior
from Orange County, CA
Date Reviewed: March 18, 2003
Strengths: This is a follow up review: The suspension on this bike is it's greatest strength. Specialized made an excellent choice by going with the Fox Floats for both front and rear, and this suspension setup does nothing but impress me. The bike itself still climbl like a mad dog, it has impressive DH capability, and it's an attractive looking bike.
Weaknesses: There are a couple of things here that, over the months of riding this, have caused me to not love the bike quite as much as I did in the beginning: 1. The bottom pivot bolt (where the front of the rear triangle attaches to the frame) came shooting out during a ride and severed all the teeth off my granny gear. Specialized replaced everything, but it's kind of a dangerous thing to have happen. 2. CHAIN SUCK!! No, I'm not saying the chain sucks, but this bike gets massive chain suck when shifting into the granny gear under power. Fortunately, I rarely find myself in the granny gear but if you're one who spends some time there, be sure to ease almost completely off before downshifting otherwise it's end-over-end time! 3. As mentioned time and again here, the rear end is somewhat "squirelly." There seems to be a lot of play in the rear triangle area that feels a bit odd until you get used to it. Just remember that when you first start riding this bad boy. 4. The Avid brakes blow! Before I replaced them with discs, it seems that all I was ever doing was tweaking these stupid things so that they either wouldn't rub or wouldn't have too long of a pull on the brake levers. If you have the coin, replace these things right off the bat!
Bottom Line:
Very good frame set for the most part, but it's definitely worth upgrading if you can. There is very little left on this bike that's still factory and that's mainly because most of the parts I've replaced have been below my standards. If you see one in your local bike shop on clearance from last year, I'd definitely recommend picking it up because the frame set and suspension make it worth it, but set aside a little extra cash to do a couple of upgrades (especially the piece of crap brakes) and you'll be much happier.
Submitted by
Bob
a Cross Country Rider
from Woodbridge, NJ
Date Reviewed: December 30, 2002
Strengths: Great suspension, climbs extremely well and handles singletrack better than any other bike I've ridden.
Weaknesses: The tires are useless for the trails I ride... I'm not sure what they're designed for, the BB is low, the pedals seem to pack up with mud quickly and the LX front derailleur seems a bit low end for the price.
Bottom Line:
This is my first full suspension bike and I love it! I tested a few of the other popular brands and none had nearly the suspension performance. - The handlebars were too wide for me but this allowed me to cut them down to my ideal width. - It took me a 2-3 rides to get used to the low BB (I crashed a few times) but it doesn't bother me anymore. - I blew the seals out of the rear shock twice. The shop tried fixing it the first time but after the 2nd time, it was sent back to Fox and it's worked flawlessly ever since. - I love the fork... it's heavy but I wouldn't even consider giving up it's performance just to save a nominal amount of weight. - I plan to replace the pedals, front derailleur, seat and perhaps seat post in the near future. - This bike is perfect for XC / trail riding. I ride mostly technical trails with rocks, roots, mud, sand and moderate climbs / descents.
Similar Products Used: Tested: Fuel, Sugar & Scalpel
Bike Setup: XT brakes(because I had them sitting around), shortened handlebar, Panaracer tires... otherwise stock
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
N8
a Cross Country Rider
from Monterey,CA
Date Reviewed: December 27, 2002
Strengths: Solid X-Country bicycle. I opted for the '02 over the '03 because the '02 is lighter (no disc brake attachment - which on the '03 is -cheap-) has one less weld point, better brake levers and a better stem. Shifting is actually very smooth except for...
Weaknesses: My bike doesn't like the middle ring I often have grinding or problems finding one of the rings....it just won't connect. Seatpost looks pretty generic....
Bottom Line:
Wonderful bike. I couldn't imagine getting more bike for the money...I would have to spend a considerable amount more to top this bike. I would recommend this bike for anyone except extreme DH'rs it rides like a hardtail most of the time....but the suspension responds very well when called upon. I love it...it rides well....the shocks soak up -A LOT- of bump...I am a ~240lb rider and I love every minute....it does bob a -little- on uphill especially if you stand up and star digging in. Overall, the best bike that can be had for under ~$2500.
Submitted by
Attilio Petrini
a Cross Country Rider
from Frascati, Rome, Italy
Date Reviewed: November 13, 2002
Strengths: Fox fork and rear shock, light, very good handling, XTR shifter, Avid brakes
Weaknesses: maybe front derailleur, Strongarm II crank (chainsuck), seat
Bottom Line:
Was a very long decision process with the usual hardtail vs full suspended issue, but after I tuned the suspensions and adjusted the position of the handlebars (it took a couple of rides) realised I made the right choice: fantastic climber, superb traction and very very fast on descents, the handling gives loads of confidence and the suspensions soak up anything.... Now all my mates are considering buying a full suspended. I recommend it to all those who are not looking for a pure racing MTB but want a great one for hours of fast and serious XC riding. Dont' buy it only if you are a hardtail fanatic.
Similar Products Used: Specialized S-Works FRS XC 2002, Cannondale F800
Bike Setup: standard: lowered the handlebars moving the spacers...considering to replace the front derailleur with a 2002 XTR one and fitting disk brakes
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
PeteDog
a Cross Country Rider
from USA
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2002
Strengths: OK I love this bike, its just what I needed. I like to just go riding, and I tackle a variety of terrain and this bike handles them all. The Fox Fork is very smooth, and I haven't had any problems with it. Also the color scheme is very nice! Overall, with a few minor upgrades you'll have a top quality bike that you can take anywhere!
Weaknesses: The tires, atleast upgrade the front tire to something wider and with better traction. The Rear Fox is average, but gets the job done. Some of the "Specialized stuff" needs to be upgraded.
Bottom Line:
Great bike! Specialized are worth the money if you have it, you won't be dissapointed. I will point out that you will need to upgrade a few parts though. The most important are the tires and the crank.
Strengths: Great Frame! The fork is awesome. Just about everything else.
Weaknesses: The only weakness I found are the seat sqeaks a bit and the crank sometimes slips. Also it's a little pricey, but it's worth it.
Bottom Line:
This is a great bike, it'll do everything you need, plus like looks awesome! The FSR is the best full suspension bike I've ever ridden, and I've ridden lots of them.
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