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Submitted by
Ladislav Beneš
a Cross Country Rider
from Praha, Czech Republic
Date Reviewed: January 9, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Brdy mountain range | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | Bikeranch, Praha | | Strengths: | Very good component mix for the price, sealed bearings, variability of geometry settings, good own saddle. | | Weaknesses: | Not enough stiff rear triangle and stem, unsufficient rear shock, weight. Unusual geometry of the frame. | | Similar Products Used: | 2006 Trek Fuel 80, 2007 Scott Genius MC-50, 2006 SBC Stumpjumper FSR, 2006 SBC Epic FSR | | Bike Setup: | Usual - only changed stem, rear shock (Manitou Swinger 3-Way) and brakeset. Set to 110mm on rear wheel, mostly to 110 on front wheel as well, in steep climbs adjusted | | Bottom Line: | The bike is now 5 years old and still rocks. The O2 shock is great, sensitive, but not good for a single pivot system. With swinger 3-Way shock, the bike's only bigger weakness is the low stiffness of the rear triangle. It survives even very rough XC, but some of the pedalling effectivity is lost in it's deformation. The frame itself is very durable (my weight is 73kilograms), no special maintenance is needed for the frame's bearings, or the Fuji hubs. I changed the stem for better handling in downhills.
The Duke fork is pretty heavy in OEM version (2kg), but smoothens perfectly, the stiffness is still OK for 30mm upper tubes. Maintenance done once in 2 years. Only missing LO on road when racing.
I chnaged the brakeset, because there is no good service network for Magura in CZ, but otherwise there's no need for that.
I do 2500 kilometres per year on this bike, mostly for fun, I do only short little jumps, I ride the roughest terrain (roots, stones, forrests), I do a lot of climbing. For this the bike is ideal. Can be used for hobby racing. Ideal for lighter-weighted riders. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Hal Wolter
a Weekend Warrior
from Berkeley CA USA
Date Reviewed: October 28, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | side-o | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$1162.00 | | Purchased At: | velo sport | | Strengths: | very light. takes a pretty good beating. | | Weaknesses: | front fork is AWEFULL. i did a 5 foot to plat and the seal blew so bad it squirted oil in my face. i got it fixed and the next weekend off an 8' to steep tranny the other side blew. the rear shock claims lockout but nothing even resembling lockout exists with the shock and neither fuji not x facot have offered a waranty fix. also after about a week the bushings on the rear shock wear out and the shock comes loose no mater how tite you make the bolts and it rattles to all heall. also when the bike bottoms out insteak of the fork ending its travel the rear triangle will actually hit the frame in the rear where the cable for the front derailer comes down. also the brakes are the bottom of the line in the word of hydraulics, which would be ok if you wernt paying the msrp of $1,800 for the bike. | | Similar Products Used: | ellsworth isis, GT i-drive, specialized rockhopper fsr | | Bike Setup: | stock w/ bearclaw pedals and a salsa bashring | | Bottom Line: | good bike for VERY light crosscountry. ou take this thing on anything other than groomed trailes your askin for trouble. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Josh
a Cross Country Rider
from Southington,CT, USA
Date Reviewed: August 31, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$950.00 | | Purchased At: | Cheshire Cycle @ Repair | | Strengths: | 7 inch front disc duke u-turn I did a 5 1/2 foot to flat drop landed hard and a 12ft long x 5ft high drop over stairs bike wanted more quick,handles well and climbs great | | Weaknesses: | ritchey seatpost,stock saddle(285g!) and the stock Disc OCR's | | Similar Products Used: | haro werks 2.0 | | Bike Setup: | maxm handle bars and seatpost avid mechanical's mavic f219 rims bomb proof | | Bottom Line: | this bike is great it did more than i thoght it could do.
great cross country bike and is an impressive freeride bike. rear shock is great but check your air every 3 rides | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Aaron Eckard
a Cross Country Rider
from Meridian, MS
Date Reviewed: May 1, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | McDowell MTN in Arizona | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1800.00 | | Purchased At: | Air Park Bicycles | | Strengths: | For a full suspension this bike is decently weighted (27lbs). Rock Shox Duke w/ U turn is great. Paint job is eye appealing. Handles good, comes w/ disc brakes. | | Weaknesses: | I would change out the rear shock, the manual states it locks out but it really doesn't. It just get stiffer. It seems I'm always putting air into the rear shock. The rear shock isn't as stiff as I'd like it to be. The front left disc pad rubs some and I can't figure out why. | | Similar Products Used: | Trek 8500 | | Bike Setup: | Stock from the shop. I might put a riser bar on it though. | | Bottom Line: | I've put this bike through the ringer and I've only had it 5 days. I bought it in AZ and rode for a week there after I bought it. I did everything on it I could and it seems to be a decent bike. I plan on calling the rear shock company and getting some help with the supposedly lock out feature in the shock and the front brake pad rubbing, but other than that this bike is great. It handles great and on the down hills I've gone over some pretty big rocks and have made it through ok. If you get this bike and plan on riding it in rocky terrain, watch out for the paint job, it'll scratch. For the price this bike is a good full suspension bike. This bike is good for catching airs and riding some pretty good trails. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gianluca Quan
a Weekend Warrior
from Guatemala
Date Reviewed: March 8, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1900.00 | | Purchased At: | Adrenaline | | Strengths: | The rear shock work really good, the bike never jump, it's lite and all the components are realy good, it's soft to ride. | | Weaknesses: | When you are in a downhill, the chain always fall down or brake, the tires are to small, it's beter a 2.1 | | Similar Products Used: | Giant NRS 1 and Giant AC air | | Bike Setup: | Always check the air in the rear shock | | Bottom Line: | The bike is really good for the price and you can compare with another brands that are so expensive | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Hal Wolter
a Weekend Warrior
from Berkeley
Date Reviewed: November 29, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | selby | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1162.00 | | Purchased At: | Velo Sport | | Strengths: | the price. very light. awesome for jumping. the fork is wonderfull. its the best fork ive ever ridden. i like it more than the 03 sid. the lockout on the rear is great. | | Weaknesses: | after a week my rear brakles started squeeking and bareley working. also the handlebars came loose and almost trashed me off a jump.the rear deraileur has started skipping too. the bike is currently in matinence so i dont know exactly what went wrong. | | Similar Products Used: | ellsworth isis. '03 GT i-drive 1.0. | | Bike Setup: | stock setup but with different pedals | | Bottom Line: | this is a great bike. all the necesary matinance is covered under waranty. i am more than happy with this bike. it is a great ride. espesially for its price. i highly recomend this bike for the intermidiate crosscountry/freeride biker. my jump height has more than doubled with this bike. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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