Submitted by
Eric
a Weekend Warrior
from Oregon Date Reviewed: August 12, 2000
Favorite Trail:
Jungle Boogie
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
Great bike for the price! Pretty light weight, very strong and durable, very maneuverable, and a lot of fun if you upgrade to front suspension. All together this bike was built well.
Weaknesses:
Junky factory gel seat, fairly weak front derailleur, grip shifts pop apart easily.
Similar Products Used:
none
Bike Setup:
Univega Rover 305 w/Rock Shox Judy XCs, Panaracer Fire XC pros, Specialized seat, and clipless pedals.
Bottom Line:
It is a great bike to ride around on weekends with, and it is a fun bike to upgrade. I give it 5 Flamin' Chilis because I know that I have had lots of fun with this bike.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
scott
a Downhiller
from alaska Date Reviewed: August 4, 2000
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Weaknesses:
Bottom bracket
Bottom Line:
The bottom bracket just went out. The part is made by Tange and is heavy compared to a UN 72. The bike has just over 200 miles on it and only 20 of those were off road. The BB started to make a creaking noise, when I took it apart I found one of the PLASTIC cones (is that the right name?) had snapped in two. The bearings inside the BB were also pretty rough when you turned them with your fingers. The rest of the bike is holding up okay. I use the bike for commuting and poser trials stunts. In the process of fixing this problem I've found that the cranks are heavy and not servicable. When I pick up the bike without the cranks or BB it is pretty light. This must be where I could save some weight.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Scott
a Downhiller
from Alaska Date Reviewed: April 17, 2000
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
Price, 7005 aluminum frame
Weaknesses:
Low end compenents, kind of heavy, gel seat!
Similar Products Used:
Older Rockhopper Comps
Bike Setup:
New seat, clipless pedals, threadless headset, Judy XC
Bottom Line:
This bike is a good deal for the price I paid. I got it as a left over '99 thus saved quite a bit of $. I compared it to Trek 820's and Specialized Hardrocks but none came close to the price and the Rover had an aluminum frame. The bike is stiff and well made. Pretty cool to see a headtube gusset in this price range. The components all suck but do work okay. I hate the grip shifts but at least they are nicer than the wierd looking over and under shifter pods on the Trek's. I was surprised by how difficult it was to find a low end bike without a suspension fork. I wanted rigid so I could use the Judy I had laying around. All the other low end bikes I looked at came with crappy Insync (is that what they were?) suspension forks. No reason to pay extra money for junk I didn't need. Overall this will be a good second bike that is worthy of being upgraded over time.
$ 309.99
Overall Rating:
