Submitted by
Ben
a Weekend Warrior
from TAS Date Reviewed: February 19, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$800.00
Purchased At:
second hand
Strengths:
Solid frame, huge gussets, rides vry confidently
Weaknesses:
It's a very solidly built frame, downside: weight, who cares tho, its not meant as a xc bike
Similar Products Used:
kona scrap, jamis komodo
Bike Setup:
Z1 freerides, hayes 9, mtx, azonic pedals, headspin hubs,sram, blackspire
Bottom Line:
Fantastic bike if you want a bike for hardtail downhill or freeride, i use mine for everything for trails, dh, fr, and dj/4X... if u dont like weight, it's probly not the bike for you, but if you want a sturdy bike that'll take just about anything, this is probably the bike for you...
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Colin
a
from ashland Date Reviewed: July 17, 2005
Favorite Trail:
Mt.Ashland
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$475.00
Purchased At:
Ebay
Strengths:
Sturdy as hell, feels unbreakable, great for down hill and dirt jumping.
Weaknesses:
A tad bit on the heavy side but you'll learn to deal with it
Similar Products Used:
9.5, p.2 scrap others
Bike Setup:
dirt jam, hayes ih2 truvativ bashgaurd, smt chainguide,
Bottom Line:
This bike is solid, great for dirt jumping or down hilling use it for both and it out preformed all the others iv tried, it's a little bit heavy 36 pounds but, its worth to have this bike, get the right components on it and it is a kick ass bike.
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Submitted by
Tom
a Downhiller
from Adelaide, SA, Australia Date Reviewed: February 7, 2004
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
frame, bars
Weaknesses:
psylos, cranks, rims
Bike Setup:
Z1 dropoffs, truvativ cranks, sunrim
Bottom Line:
great hardtail if you set it up right. Powerpro cranks weak and psylos not right for the bike but the rest of the parts have the potential to be a great bike with a little bit of money spent. if you want a bike that you can thrash around for downhill, freeride, jumping or anything like that you should look at this bike(it even climbs alright).
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Submitted by
Joel
a Downhiller
from Wellington, NZ Date Reviewed: October 8, 2002
Favorite Trail:
anywhere that heads downhill..
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$400.00
Purchased At:
direct from Craftworks
Strengths:
Strong, looks mean... handles well, in fact very well!
Weaknesses:
paint does chip easily, although during the winter there is too much mud on the frame for the paint to chip ;-) Heavy.. although this is because it is damm strong.
Bike Setup:
Z1 Freeride forks (5" travel), XT rear derailler, truvative chain guide, raceface cranks/bb, magura gustav brakes and mavic 321 rims laced to XSIV hubs.
Bottom Line:
Great frame, incredibly stiff.. and creates confidence with it's stable handling.
if you are looking for a DH/freeride hardtail, have a good look at this frame.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
david
a
from arcata, CA, USA Date Reviewed: September 22, 2002
Favorite Trail:
jump trail
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$350.00
Purchased At:
jensonusa
Strengths:
it's strong, it's stiff, it's green! comes with SUPER NIFTY ritchey seatpost in INTENSE BLACK COLOR! did i mention it's green?
Weaknesses:
not a great climber. a bit heavy but who cares?
Similar Products Used:
NOTHING (looked at azonic ds-1)
Bike Setup:
marzocchi exr made in TAIWAN!, aheadset, machined stem, lx drivetrain, shifters, and hubs, rhyno-lite rear, mavic 223 front, intense comp 60 rear tire, michelin 2.8 DH front tire, avid mechs, and a slightly bent speed-v saddle.
Bottom Line:
the bad news first. it is not a climber (at least i find it hard to climb on it, but some would say that this is because i suck). that's not really bad news because if you are looking at this frame chances are you dont climb too much, so dont sweat it. once you swing that front end around and point it DOWN hill, however... wow. this frame is super stiff, it dives into turns really nice. i am a little pansy-man when it comes to dirt jumping but what i do feels solid on this massive frame. landings and drops feel solid, no more rattling and vibrations like on my old xc bike, this frame feels like it damages planet earth every time i touch down. the craftworks website claims the frame alone weighs 3 kg. i'm a silly american so i had to convert that to lbs (6.7). whew thats pretty heavy but the extra weight comes in handy when running over small woodland creatures like badgers and trailrunners. despite what others have said i have not had any problems with paint chippage, no more than on any other bike really. in conclusion buy this bike if you like jumping, drops, fast cornering, crushing road bikes beneath your downtube, cracking pavement on landings, or if you are a glutton for punnishment on climbs.
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Submitted by
Ty
a
from calgary alberta canada Date Reviewed: September 1, 2002
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
Ripalert.com
Strengths:
geo is great, awesome welding, good paint, alot of beef gussets every where. nice CNC rear yoke square chain stays/seat stays. nice lookin head tube, joind tubes to the headtube/main triangle gusset/lower head tube gusset. great overall frame, 5 year warrenty!!
Weaknesses:
really the only thing i could think of that really isnt a weakness is the weight but its not like its a xc bike and that little extra weight is from the thick gussets and its a well built bike so really i cant find any. ill post back in a couple of months tho
Similar Products Used:
none like it!
Bike Setup:
z1,ryno lights,all the stuff a bike needs =)
Bottom Line:
This is one hell of a frame cant wait to see how it does in the long run, i looked at many bikes and i wasnt able to find a better ride for the price i payed just under 700 cdn with 100 bucks off so its not to cheap but when u look around there isnt much that is worth buying other than the Craftworks. I still havnt been able to find a better frame for the money it is, built bombproof should be great for ds and trail ridding.
i would recamend one to any one nother great point is not many people have them in canada!
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Submitted by
Zach Nelson
a Weekend Warrior
from Massachusetts Date Reviewed: August 12, 2002
Favorite Trail:
Rock Trail!!
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$360.00
Purchased At:
www.JensonUSA.com
Strengths:
It is very stong, i ride Urban a lot, and i know that this wont break for a very long time.
Weaknesses:
A Tad bit heavy, but thats just going to make me a better rider.
Similar Products Used:
Trek 8500, but the craftworks is much better
Bike Setup:
XTR/XT, Marzocchi Z-1, Hayes 6", Race Face crankset, what else do i need?
Bottom Line:
Its perfect, besides a slight weight factor, i couldnt think of anything that this bike needs. I also love the color
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Submitted by
Zach Haas
a Weekend Warrior
from Corvallis, Oregon Date Reviewed: April 23, 2002
Favorite Trail:
Duffy Creek
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$1300.00
Purchased At:
Jensonusa
Strengths:
strong Frame, versatile, good acceleration
Weaknesses:
paint and weight
Similar Products Used:
GT avalanche
Bike Setup:
Z1 wedge, xt/lx mix, deore disc
Bottom Line:
beautiful to look at and even more fun to ride. A confidence builder. It is a fun play bike and can also climb better than the gt. 5 inches in the front soaks up everything. Awesome Bike
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andrew
a Weekend Warrior
from Victoria, Australia Date Reviewed: March 5, 2002
Favorite Trail:
most places around Beechworth, Lysterfield & Churchil
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$400.00
Purchased At:
Cycle Science, Mitcham
Strengths:
Pretty tough frame, it's survived a few crazy things, comes back for more. Forgiving. I've raced this XC, a little heavy but works without problem (at least it wont break!)
Weaknesses:
Rear triangle flexes a fair bit with XTR v-brakes. BB shell / downtube a bit flexy when you apply lots of power. Paint is very thin / chips easily
Similar Products Used:
a few
Bike Setup:
Z1 drop off's, Hugi240 hubs on D521's, XTR brakes, levers & crankset, XT shifters, Thomson post, Kore B1B stem...
Bottom Line:
I actually have the previous model, the Slalom Pro. This seems to be pretty much identical except for the non-reinforced headtube.
I've had this bike quite a while now, about 14 months, just clocked up 2500km the other day.
Teemed with a 5inch fork, the bike is very stable at speed, easy to throw around and generally a very fun bike to play with. It's been used for pretty much the lot, from general piss farting around, to a bit of DH (with Stratos S7 forks) through to a few XC races. The way it's built up at the moment, I really cannot fault the bike, as it's just such a tough, all round package. I've thought about replacing it, but I can't think of a bit that can do it 'all' much better than this can.
The paint finish is a little on the cheap side though, its a very thin acrylic & chips easily. The back end flexes quite a bit with strong v-brakes too, most frames do I guess so not really a major problem, the rear still locks up easily enough.
Thats about it Cya on the trails
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
five_eighths
a Weekend Warrior
from Byron Bay, Australia Date Reviewed: January 11, 2002
Favorite Trail:
Spookys
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$325.00
Purchased At:
Nerang Bicycles
Strengths:
Strong , sturdy, beefy welds, the perfect DS machine
Weaknesses:
Paint chips waay too easily,
Similar Products Used:
None worthy of a mention
Bike Setup:
email me for spec if you really want to know...
Bottom Line:
no wonder the give you free touch up paint, the paint on my CW is coming off in huge chips, looks like it only has one thin coat on it which is a little disappointing but I'll just powder coat it later on. Other than that it's one of the best bikes I'll ever own me thinks/
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mark Ryan
a Weekend Warrior
from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Date Reviewed: January 4, 2002
Favorite Trail:
big hill
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$375.00
Purchased At:
Cycle Science, Micham
Strengths:
Super strong frame, shape, looks.
Weaknesses:
None so far
Similar Products Used:
Specialised P3, Planet x jackflash
Bike Setup:
Shmano Deore throughout, Dice SMO rear rim, Z1 Drop Off forks.
Bottom Line:
This bike is what dreams are made of. No worries about sketchy landings damaging the bike. If u r looking at buying a strong reliable bike with a resonable price this is the bike for you. This bike isn't on the light side so it is not suitable for a cross country rider.
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Submitted by
Cory
a Cross Country Rider
from Rhode Island Date Reviewed: December 28, 2001
Favorite Trail:
Mt. Tom
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
Direct from Mr. Crafter
Strengths:
Well thought out, well built, strong as anything out there. Has more gussets than a train bridge
If you need a bike that you can be confident won't break and you are sick of riding what everyone else is look no further. When I bought my frame they weren't sold in the U.S. (Now you can get them from Jensen) so I called Robert Crafter and he sent me a frame from Australia! You won't find customer service like that from Cove! Bottom line; sick frame, great bike company.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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