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Specialized 99 S-Works FSR XC Bike 1998 or Older


  • Average Rating: 4.5/5
  • # of Reviews: 2

Product Description

99 S-Works FSR XC


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Reviews 1 - 2 (2 Reviews Total)

User Reviews

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:4
Submitted by Richard a Cross Country Rider from Melbourne, Australia

Date Reviewed: July 11, 2000

Strengths:    Light weight, fabulous suspension, Fox Vanilla FLOAT RC shock.

Weaknesses:    Sizing, maintenance, plus other small gripes - see below.

Bottom Line:   
This is a great bike. The operation of the suspension is almost perfect, and is set up as an excellent compromise between travel/plushness and resisting bob. The bike climbs better than any hardtail I've tried, as the suspension keeps traction over rough ground where a hardtail might bounce and spin. Very comfortbale for long days in the saddle. However, the bike has a few annoying faults.

I bought this bike in a bit of a hurry, and ended up getting a frame size that was too small. I was riding a 17" Specialized hardtail at the time, and bought a 'medium' sized S-Works FSR-XC. It has a reasonably long stem on it, and thus the frame's geometry puts my weight too far forward, making the cockpit feel cramped. Great for climbing, but a little uncomfortable on descents. I should have bought a large.

The suspension does require a bit of maintenance, but the rear end can be disassembled with a minimum of fuss in about 10 minutes. Grease ports would probably help this situation.

The rear derailleur strikes the lower suspension (rearward) pivot over rough ground - this is really annoying, and something I would describe as a design fault. Compare the new Giant XTC's righthand dropout to see how it should have been done to give the derailleur sufficient clearance.

Because of the position of the shock, there is very limited adjustment of the seatpost. Like, maybe an inch.

All up, a very competent bike, but some aspects not very well thought out.

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Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Bike Setup:   XTR mostly, with LX cranks, crosslink wheels, Manitou SX LE fork.


Overall Rating:5
Submitted by Joe a cross-country rider from Altadena, CA

Date Reviewed: October 9, 1998

Bottom Line:   

99 S-Works FSR XC, I saw this bike in a couple of publications, it looks too sweet, with its new M4 frame full suspension weighing in at 23.5 Lbs.
I'm going to order this bike now, they are not even shipping it yet.
The suggested retail price is $2995.00, Team Red looks killer. check out The Specialized Web Site at http://www.specialized.comI would also like to get feed back from other people than know about this bike and post what you think !!
This bike needs it's own category. If anyone from MTB Review is reading this, maybe you can create an entry for The Specialized S-Works FSR XC 99 model.

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Reviews 1 - 2 (2 Reviews Total)

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Crankset for 99 FSR XC S-Works

My bike is equipped with a Strongarm crankset, and I've been wondering what options are out there to replace it. I just replaced the XTR bottom bracket (116x73) by another XTR   Read More »

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