Submitted by
just ride
a Weekend Warrior
from beverly,ma.USA
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2010
Strengths: Great bike strong and still lightweight. love the looks. comfortable bike with very few changes. Disc Brakes are great (surprized with the disc brakes they work seemlessly at the price of a regular brakes) gears and shifting has also been spot on after a few adjustments. For me this is a GREAT RIDE for a GREAT PRICE.
Weaknesses: Set - up could have been better Tires seem heavy (replaced) them and solved that weakness.
Bottom Line:
I bought this with extra money and quickly sold my trek 4300 and bought another one for the road and one for winter and dirt rides. What I paid for these two bikes is less than expense of one simular Specialized or Trek. My second one was even less money than my first one. The only problem is they can't keep selling these at these prices they are bound to run out of inventory.
Similar Products Used: Specialized,Trek,Gaint,Kona
Bike Setup: added a stem riser, changed the seat, changed the tires to bontrager Trail these work good for me on the street and trails.
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Submitted by
Novice mike
a Weekend Warrior
from Yonkers. Ny
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2009
Strengths: K2 zed 4.4 same as the iron horse quantum Frame is stronger tires are great fork saved me a few times from hurting myself brakes are great metal pedals which I like took out reflectors on rims
Weaknesses: Nothing yet I did one expert trail run boyee I need to practice lasted 40 minutes my legs started to give. Bike took the punishment steep hill. Rocks logs great
Bottom Line:
If your just starting mountain biking for a novice I think it's great heavy duty frame. Good coMponents for the price you can always upgrade the bike I've takento 5 trailsand so far so good get a pair of gloves a good helmet extra tubes and you re ready to rock and roll
Similar Products Used: Specialized hardrock. Trek 4500
Bike Setup: Stock for now
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Submitted by
Anderew Gaumer
a Weekend Warrior
from missoula,montana
Date Reviewed: February 24, 2004
Strengths: the frame is strong realy strong i did a 5 ft. drop on to a flat no problems. decent components good jumping frame
Weaknesses: i dont know if they were the bikes weakness or if i was pushing it but i did manage to snap the chain and rip the teeth out of the crank arm but no real big problems new pedals is a must
Bottom Line:
this is the perfect bike its light and durable perfect for geting around town put a new fork a 4 or 5 in. fork would be perfect and new pedals and you will be set
Strengths: nice crankset, frame is seriously stiff and takes some heavy abuse, great value for the purcahse price...
Weaknesses: as others have said, the fork has got to go, it's hella soft. dont like the V-brakes too much (used to hydraulics and disks). rims are mega weak, Im 220 lbs and the rims are already out of true and are minorly bent. ritchey handlebar has a very uncomfortable bend in it, replace it right away!
Bottom Line:
excellent frame to build up on, mishmashed components are decently put together, but overall you really cant complain about the value... I've bought bikes twice as much and have recieved the same groupo of components. buy the frame and build it from there.
Similar Products Used: cannondale, trek, specialized, giant, diamondback, iron horse, khs.
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Submitted by
Nathaniel B
a Cross Country Rider
from salt lake city, ut, us
Date Reviewed: September 7, 2003
Strengths: great simple bike. very light. anything that can survive the abuse I put it through is tough
Weaknesses: not great in mud. Bent my derailer hanger a couple of times
Bottom Line:
great x.c. bike. I took it road biking for a week and it performed better than some of the road bikes my friends were riding. It can handle all trails aswell. This is the bike you want on the Slickrock trail. Sometimes I wish I had a full suspension on the white knuckle downhills, but come uphill I'm thankful for it. Very light, good buy for your money.
Submitted by
Alex Hangley
a Cross Country Rider
from Washington, DC, USA
Date Reviewed: August 24, 2003
Strengths: Solid frame, good fork for the price.
Weaknesses: Factory delivered with poorly tensioned spokes, a misaligned bottom bracket (could only shift to the smallest chainring going *fast* downhill until this was fixed!). The chain had to go - the SRAM 49 (not available retail) has no master link, which would be fine if it weren't for the fact that I drown my bike in more mud every weekend than your average pig sees in a lifetime, and end up with chain suck problems even after stopping and rinsing the chain mid-ride. Seat is crap too - again a non-retail version of an otherwise reasonable product line - started bottoming out on me (at 165 lbs, this should not be happening) after a few rough landings, had to be swapped out for a retail-quality seat. Expect to toss the plastic wellgo clip pedals too - the screws started popping out of the plastic and they both literally disintegrated under my feet after a few months. Switched to spd, and giving that a try.
Bottom Line:
Good bike, well balanced, easy to ride, but be prepared to take it in for warranty repair *frequently* to get all the mfr kinks out of it. Expect to replace the seat, chain, and retension the spokes. Watch for other mfr assembly problems too. Good bike if you can get it significantly below retail ($799), otherwise there are better assembled bikes in this retail price range.
Favorite Trail: Difficult Run in VA (gotta love mud!)
Duration Product Used: 6 months
Price Paid:
$575.00
Purchased At: Performance Bikes
Similar Products Used: Not much else - but seen plenty of bikes in this price range that didn't have these problems.
Bike Setup: Pretty much stock, except the usual trimmings, computers, bottle cages, seat bag, etc.
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Submitted by
Ben Samuel
a Weekend Warrior
from Durham, NC
Date Reviewed: July 24, 2003
Strengths: Comfort, great saddle, good geometry for me, lx rear, deore front, tires grip well. 27 pounds including a heavy 4.4 pounds fork. I like most of the ritchey stuff
Weaknesses: Brakes are a little weak. Deore isn't going to be as good as the xt I'm used to. Fork is too soft for me even with firm spring kit. Oh yeah, the cage pedals are horrible, don't leave the shop with em.
Bottom Line:
This is a crazy value. You get a bike that might be $750-$850 from another manufactorer. It isn't as smooth a ride as an XTC se2, and it doesn't have disc brakes, but for 450? Is there a better deal? No where I've seen in the last two months. If you want a good XC bike without spending a ton of money, check out this one and the Haro V4. Value wise, nothing else comes close.
Similar Products Used: Giant rainer, CAAD4, XTC se2,
Bike Setup: Stock except for barends and clipless pedals.
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Submitted by
Bill
a Cross Country Rider
from Canada
Date Reviewed: July 21, 2003
Strengths: Light aluminum frame, reinforced gusset welds on frame near seat and neck posts. Great componentry (WTB motoraptor tires, WTB Speed V seat, Ritchey Girder Hubs, Ritchey handlebars and post, RaceFace crankset, Shimano Deore shifters, Manitou Axel Comp front suspension, Jagwire kevlar reinforced brake and shifter cables) Extremely versatile! Has frame set ups for upgrade to disc brakes.
Weaknesses: None so far.
Bottom Line:
A great ride both on and off road. Smooth and holds the line well on pavement, and easily chews up rough trails. At only 27 pounds, it's great for climbing and super fast and nimble on descents. Very versatile bike equally at home on pavement or trail. A terrific choice for the rider who wants a very good mid-range priced bike with some name brand components.
