Submitted by
b muzza
a Weekend Warrior
from backobeyond, oregon, usa
Date Reviewed: January 16, 2006
Strengths: Needle threader handling (Genesis geometry is for real), up & downshifts flawlessly under load on the uphills, hinder stays the appropriate color even with the infamous stock seat - this bike a precision upgradable piece, for not much money.
Weaknesses: Paint chips a bit on the '05 red & black, but Walmart has some near-perfect touchups:Dupli-Color HA 00955 "milano red", & HA00982 "nighthawk plack pearl" Dupli-Color product seems tougher than the Fisher original. Both are Honda colors, by the way.
Bottom Line:
Bought the Tas to aid in recovery after a bad motorcycle accident. Would have stayed with the rigid Iguana artifact, but the Axel Manitou fork on the Tas(and some fat gel gloves) GREATLY helped to manage my set of injuries.
Tassajara is serious piece if you want to go play with big boys for a value price. It won't embarass you, and you can always upgrade, when you get to know what you want.
Similar Products Used: An ancient Iquana Giant rigid, which is still a quality piece.
Bike Setup: Quickly went from rim brakes to Hayes Nine XC, which cost $300 installed, almost as much as the entire bike, which was purchased at a rental fleet sale. New Hayes hydros are two steps above the standard Hayes Sole offered on the factory Tas Disc. Anyone still stressed over hydraulic disc brakes ought to get over it. Performance difference is huge and worth it, if you can swing the cost. Precision braking makes for precision set ups on a snakey, slippery single track. The complaints I read about disc brakes add up to two things: old style discs, and/or improper installations.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
b muzza
a Weekend Warrior
from backobeyond, oregon, usa
Date Reviewed: January 16, 2006
Strengths: Needle threader handling (Genesis geometry is for real), up & downshifts flawlessly under load on the uphills, hinder stays the appropriate color even with the infamous stock seat - this bike a precision upgradable piece, for not much money.
Weaknesses: Paint chips a bit on the '05 red & black, but Walmart has some near-perfect touchups:Dupli-Color HA 00955 "milano red", & HA00982 "nighthawk plack pearl" Dupli-Color product seems tougher than the Fisher original. Both are Honda colors, by the way.
Bottom Line:
Bought the Tas to aid in recovery after a bad motorcycle accident. Would have stayed with the rigid Iguana artifact, but the Axel Manitou fork on the Tas(and some fat gel gloves) GREATLY helped to manage my set of injuries.
Tassajara is serious piece if you want to go play with big boys for a value price. It won't embarass you, and you can always upgrade, when you get to know what you want.
Similar Products Used: An ancient Iquana Giant rigid, which is still a quality piece.
Bike Setup: Quickly went from rim brakes to Hayes Nine XC, which cost $300 installed, almost as much as the entire bike, which was purchased at a rental fleet sale. New Hayes hydros are two steps above the standard Hayes Sole offered on the factory Tas Disc. Anyone still stressed over hydraulic disc brakes ought to get over it. Performance difference is huge and worth it, if you can swing the cost. Precision braking makes for precision set ups on a snakey, slippery single track. The complaints I read about disc brakes add up to two things: old style discs, and/or improper installations.
Strengths: Great climbing ability. decent componets.
Weaknesses: crappy tires, friend swapped them out when he bought the bike with panaracer fire xc pros. cheap and heavy stem. bike handles a little whacky on descents. Cheap chain rings and crank. CHAINSUCK!!!
Bottom Line:
Its a decent bike for a beginner but the chainrings suck and cause chain suck. I have no idea why GF bikes always have this issue. Get rid of the bontrager crank and you will be set. I swapped the chainrings out and put on some race face prodigy rings I had laying around. Not a bad buy.
Similar Products Used: old mongoose sycamore, pre pacific.
Bike Setup: marz. z.1 atoim race 80mm, panaracer fire xc pro 2.1 tires, everything else pretty much standard
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Henry Sanchez
a Weekend Warrior
from San Francisco
Date Reviewed: May 6, 2004
Strengths: Solid feel and smooth gears. My legs are rock hard and this bike hasn't let up or let me down. Good stock parts. Unless you know of every component out there, this bike will feel like the best bike you've rode.
Weaknesses: Low neck.
Bottom Line:
I'm not the serious biker and never would have thought a couple hundred dollars would make a difference in quality, but it does. My father gave me this bike as a birthday gift and i love it. I've tested bikes in the price range of 200-300 and thought they were good, now I realize how they fail in comparison to this bike. In the past, I would have passed on this bike thinking it'd better have dual shocks or something for me to buy into it for that price, now I realize the feel is everything. I highly recommend a neck extender, a Serfa dual density gel seat, and slicks(for streets) and this bike is a gem. I've ridden alot of my friends bikes who spent alot more, but this bike with those upgrades are tailored for comfort and long smooth rides. The best bike I've had or ever ridden, I love you dad and I'll cherish this bike till the wheels fall off.
Bike Setup: Neck extension, Serfa dual density gel seat, slicks, and everything else stock.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
pete
a Cross Country Rider
from plymouth, nh
Date Reviewed: September 26, 2003
Strengths: cheap, good looking, genesis geometry if you dig it
Weaknesses: deore components tend to cause a lot of shifting problems, fork is a little soft but adjusting the air pressure has helped a lot, seat is uncomfortable and is already bent, frame is a bit heavy
Bottom Line:
When I bought this bike I was just getting into mtb and it seemed great, but after riding all summer the cheapness of the component set really starts to stand out. In particular I have heard that with a 9 speed cassette you really need at least LX derailleurs, and i will definately upgrade those before next year. I was unsure about the Pilot XC fork at first but it seems to have stood up well and it's starting to grow on me. I bought this bike partially because most of my friends had treks and I wanted something different and I thought the genesis geometry felt cool. But now I realize why everyone has treks; because they are extremely durable and thats the most important aspect in buying a bike. So sometimes I do wonder if I should've bought the Trek (4900).
Having said that I do love my bike but it needs a lot of upgrades. I am however still not convinced that it will stand the test of time.
Weaknesses: haven’t found any real ones yet with the bike... only with my riding skills.
Bottom Line:
bought it new as a closeout bike... ok price considering the ’03 disc cost about $300-400 more and had lesser quality disc brakes on it.
so far the bike’s been great. it climbs and handles well, and as my skills and strength/conditioning improve, i expect that the bike’ll handle the harder sections that i can’t really ride yet without falling or having to walk through without much problem.
rear disc’s kinda noisy on downhills, but that’s probably cause they’re still breaking in – i don’t use the rear brake too often. the saddle took a bit of getting used to, but so far it’s been ok and i haven’t had any real problems with it – staples are still intact, leather hasn’t torn or anything like that. other than that, the stock components are decent... better than what i’ve seen on some more expensive bikes. eventually, i’m probably going to upgrade to some higher-end components, but that probably won’t be until something breaks.
Similar Products Used: none. it’s my first real bike.
Bike Setup: disc version (red/black), stock (specs differ a bit from the stock specs found on epinions) – except for fisher fishstick bar ends. manitou six elite fork, magura julie hydro discs, shimano crank set, shimano deore derailleurs, hubs & rapidfire shifters, bontanger crowbar, wtb sst.x saddle, bontanger sport seat post, alex ta19 rims, irc mythos xc tires, serfas grips, some no-name platform pedals.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Justin
a Cross Country Rider
from Chelmsford
excellent bike for the avid cross country rider. this bike takes to the hills very good. you will definately need to upgrade the fork because it stinks. I am buying disc brakes for it. if you decide to upgrade to discs, make sure you buy new wheelset, because i made that mistake. there are a pair of shimano deore rynolite ds-1's a jensonusa.com if you are interested. im only giving the bike a 4 because of the fork and lack of disc compatible wheels. also comes with pretty nice tires for gripping in the slippery stuff
Bike Setup: stock, manitou magnum fork, upgrade to clipless
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Fred
a Weekend Warrior
from Davis, CA
Date Reviewed: May 20, 2003
Strengths: Genesis Geometry, similar quality shared between the stock components and the Disc Brakes.
Weaknesses: Heavy rear hub, seat and the shifter for the front derailleur is backwards compared to the rear derailleur.
Bottom Line:
Great quality and reliability for a low cost. Disc Brakes area great despite the extra noise and the IRC tires are great. It did take me a bit to get used to the Genesis Geometry though. I have been use to riding a older Giant and the GF tends to respond differently going through downhill turns. I would recommend this bike as a minimum level for XC riders who are just getting into the sport as I am. A lesser bike would result in mechanical failures on the trail...like my friend.
Similar Products Used: Giant Iguana, Giant Rainer, GF Hookooekoo
Bike Setup: Stock except for Nasbar clipless/platform Rodeo combo pedals.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
A Bike Guy
a Weekend Warrior
from Wheeling, West Virginia
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2003
Strengths: Geometry - Price for the set up offered
Weaknesses: Pedals. The seat is just total garbage. Grips got torn up pretty quick. Had the dreaded chain suck.
Bottom Line:
Within the first two days of riding the totally uncomfortable seat's staples which hold the cover in place were popping off. This had to be the cheapest seat that Trek could buy to put on a Fisher bike. Had chainsuck which tore up the chainstay and bent a tooth on front sproket. Got fixed with some adjustment. Overall, however this is a quality bike with a great feel that is a steal for the money paid. Easy climbing and stable down the hills and over the rocks.
I real y like the bike and got it at a great deal from Don Johle's Bike World in Garland Texas. Definatly worth the money for the step up from the marlin if you are buying new.
Bike Setup: egg beater clipless, hell bent low rise bars, Kar Rim rims, Ahead headset, cat eye computer, wilderness Trail Bikes saddle and tires
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Dana Farnsworth
a Weekend Warrior
from Tampa, Florida
Date Reviewed: January 10, 2003
Strengths: That Genesis Geometry feel, decent derailluers and fork, tough as a brick construction.
Weaknesses: Like everyone else, I must say the seat is uncomfortable to say the least.
Bottom Line:
Although I have a full suspension bike that I ride more, I can't or better yet won't get rid of this bike. I keep returning to "feel" to describe this bike. It has a certain feel to it that is just right. Road/trail vibration is minimal and all of the components work smoothly. I've not experienced any chainsuck problems. There's hardly a bike for less that gives you more, although I feel this bike is just a tad on the "expensive for what you get" side of the bar.
Bike Setup: Stock with exception of seat replacement
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
MTS
a Weekend Warrior
from Pittsburgh PA
Date Reviewed: January 4, 2003
Strengths: Genisis design, Deore drivetrain
Weaknesses: Seat, Pedals
Bottom Line:
This is one comfortable bike. I like to ride distances on Rail Trails and other easy to moderate trails. The 210 Knobbys are great for the old RR balast or the ocassional mud or snow I encounter, even though they slow you down a little. The stock seat had no flex I quickly replaced it with an ergo. The pedals are also weak, feet sometimes slip off. Will be replacing soon. I also wish their was more adjustment with the bars,but this seems common to most Mt bike bars. All other components work great for my riding. I plan on taking it from my house to DC this summer on the Allegheny Passage Trail. From the performance so far this bike should have no problem with the 300 mile trip. I would highly recommend this bike. If you ride in rain or especially snow go for the Disc brake model.
Submitted by
Jam
a Cross Country Rider
from California
Date Reviewed: January 3, 2003
Strengths: Genisis geometry, full Deore drive train, bontrager components
Weaknesses: A little bit of chainsuck its not that bad though, no name parts like front hub and others
Bottom Line:
Great bike for its price, great bike in general, a competition level bike anyone with a limited amount of money who loves biking and needs a good bike should purchase this
