Litespeed Tanasi 2002 Hardtail
5
/5
REVIEWS
5.0
QIKRATE
3.5
WEB
0.0
|
|
Own this? Help your community (Tap a star to rate) |
|
|
|
|
|
USER REVIEWS
OVERALL RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
|
VALUE RATING |
3 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
|
As reported before: Light and very stiff. Very fast "off the mark" - The frame forces you to ride fast, it wrings every last drop of energy from your muscles. - As reported before, great welds and appears to be bullet proof after all of the grief my weight has given it over gnarly trails.
Cost, the extra stiffness of the frame (due to the 6 / 4 tubing) does not give a traditional "ti" feel to the frame. - Anyone wanting a forgiving frameset (read comfy over the bumps) should seek a 3/4 tubeset or more forgiving geometry. - However, if your a racer (and I'm not), this trait could never be considered as a weakness.
Cannot decide which bike to ride on the weekend. - Only really need one of these two bikes, but I cannot decide which one! - It all depends on how I feel on the day. - If you don't own a "ti" and your thinking of buying one, I would spend less on a Pisgah (or whatever the new name for this model is this year) and spend the rest on better equipment. - I think the extra money would only be noticed by a better rider than me, and I am sure that even the cheapest frame in the range, would more than cover my skills. - But sometimes its nice to own the best, even if you only dream your skills match it!
Similar Products Used:
I own a Merlin "Extra Fat" soft tail. - This is more comfortable by far, has a more "down hill" type geometry. (High bars from Cannondale headshock) and is generally more forgiving of mistakes.
OVERALL RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
|
VALUE RATING |
3 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
|
Telepathic handling in the single-track, excellent shock absorbtion, very stable when descending at speed over rough terrain, reliability due to the strength of the 6/4 titanium and of course it climbs like a mountain goat after several strong capucinnos!
Seat-post clamp sucked...seatpost kept slipping down! Replaced with stronger Kalloy one.
Decals scratch way too easily.
Price...ouch!
I've been riding "light-weight" full-suspension bikes since 1997 and unfortunately, have broken all of them! (I'm not a heavy guy, I'm a 38yr old 5'11" 165lb XC racer, I'm just very unlucky when it comes to crashing!)
So when I recently broke my 4th frame (name witheld to protect the innocent)in 5yrs, I had no idea what to replace it with. So I borrowed my wifes Litespeed Pisgah untill I could make up my mind what to crash on next.
I admit that I wasn't looking forward to riding a hardtail again, but the first time I rode the Pisgah down my favorite single-track, it blew my mind!
"how can a hardtail be this fast?"
So after many weeks of driving my wife crazy with "should I buy the Pisgah or the Tanasi", I bought the Tanasi because it's slightly lighter and stronger due to the use of 6/4 titanium.
And I can't ride the same bike as my wife!!!
And is it worth the money? Well, almost!
The Tanasi is unbelieveable, its faster than all my previous full-suspension XC race bikes on all types of terrain in all situations.
And use a ti seatpost, the bikes ride like a soft-tail.
So if you're a XC racer looking for your next race weapon, then get a Tanasi. "You're gonna like the way it rides, I guarantee it".
Similar Products Used:
Litespeed Pisgah, when my wife lets me borrow her bike!