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Submitted by
Eric
a Weekend Warrior
from Columbia, TN
Date Reviewed: December 30, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Lock 4 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$400.00 | | Purchased At: | Ebay | | Strengths: | Simple single pivot design. Manitou Swinger 4-Way rear shock. Anodized Frame. | | Weaknesses: | Cockpit a bit tight for cross-country/all-mountain(to be expected from a freeride bike) Overall good balanced feel. Brake jack from single pivot suspension design | | Similar Products Used: | Norco Fluid/Cannondale Prophet | | Bike Setup: | FORK:Rock Shox PIKE 454 RIMS/HUBS: Sun Singletrack/XT and Ringle. DRIVETRAIN: SRAM X-9 CRANK/BARS/STEM: Truvativ Holzfeler TIRES: MAXXIS ADvantage 2.4 BRAKES:MAGURA Julie | | Bottom Line: | Great bike for the money. Would I buy one again?(YES) I built my bike from the ground up and it took 5 months to aquire all the parts.(and money!) I invested $1800.00 dollars in the build up of this bike. I should say it is the best bike I have ever rode and if paid the $3200.00 for it I should really talk it up. The only problem with this whole MTBR thing is; if you pay $2000.00 or more for a bike are you really going to say it sucks? Thats a lot of money to me, but chump change to some... I guess it just depends on the person. Thats where trust comes in to play. We are all mountain bikers so lets keep it real out there. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
daren
a Cross Country Rider
from st george, UT, USA
Date Reviewed: January 2, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | pioneer pucker | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$1900.00 | | Purchased At: | lbs | | Strengths: | incredibly well appointed, solid as a rock, o so plush suspension, very little pedal bob, amazing brakes, full saint! | | Weaknesses: | a tad heavy, well worth the weight of the parts though! | | Similar Products Used: | gian vt, kona coiler dee lux, specialized enduro, Santa Cruz SL, KHS 504xc | | Bike Setup: | full saint, all stock | | Bottom Line: | Buy one if you can find it. I've ridden a lot of bikes and this one is the freakin bomb! I can't believe how well it eats up the trail, how forgiving the suspension is and how tight all of the pivots feel. No creaks, moans, shivers, vibes, no nothing. Pure trail cadillac. I have never felt this confident going fast down sketchy trails. . If you're a weight weenie, race freak, or hill climb a alot on pavement you may not like it. That's fine, I just ride my guts out about every other day and I absolutely Love it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt Connors
a
from Boze Angelas MT, USA
Date Reviewed: April 9, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | SOUL HOLE | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$2000.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Saint, Manatou 4way, Sherman Firefly. Simple single pivot design, frame is beefy enough for DH, and is perfect for what ever else you desire. | | Weaknesses: | None so far, I do question why Dual controllers were specked on a Freeride bike. The fire fly is a great fork however this bike begs for seven inchs up front. | | Similar Products Used: | Kona Stab, Specialized Enduro- This bike falls right in between. | | Bike Setup: | Full Saint, Double track rims(Burly wheelset), I have a Sherman Slider Plus on the way | | Bottom Line: | First of all this bike should not be in the XC class. It can be lightened up to 34lbs with a new wheelset, and it does make an excellent Long Travel All Mountain Rig. I got to do a lot of winter urban assult and this bike loves to take medium drops. It loves to be off the ground. The Saint stuff is great, If you can find one of last years models get it, However the word is they are extremely rare finds. This bike decends single track like a beast, smooth fast easy to throw around and it bunny hops awsome. The swinger 4 way is heaven sent for pedaling. F**KING AWSOME BIKE!!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave C
a Weekend Warrior
from Sackville, NS, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 13, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Evil Birch | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$2500.00 | | Purchased At: | Sportwheels | | Strengths: | Very solid bike, handles well. Many adjustments can be made on suspension, takes a bit to get used to. The components seem to be very good (mostly Saint), braking is excellent | | Weaknesses: | seat is not very comfortable | | Similar Products Used: | none - hardtail was the last bike | | Bike Setup: | stock | | Bottom Line: | This is a great bike, I would recommend it to anyone.. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Grant Gamster
a Cross Country Rider
from Paducah
Date Reviewed: September 6, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Lake Glendale | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$3000.00 | | Purchased At: | Hooper's | | Strengths: | Light Frame, Anodized, the front and rear SPV, Saint, everything but seat and seat post | | Weaknesses: | The only thing that I can say is junk is the SDG seat and seat post. | | Similar Products Used: | Every Santa Cruz, Kona Coilers and Stinky, Specialized Enduro, Haro Werks XLS | | Bike Setup: | Stock, but with WTB Rocket V seat, Thompson seat post, egg beater, the new syncrose ds28 rims and WTB Weirwolf race 2.5 tires. Total bike weight for a Med frame is 34lbs | | Bottom Line: | If you are looking for one bike to do it all. This is it. Great components. For about $150 you can get the bike down to 34lbs and with six inches of travel It will just flat out rip! This bike rides faster and smother then any seven inch travel bike I have ridden | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
gr eg
a Downhiller
from colorado springs, co usa
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | palmer park | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1500.00 | | Purchased At: | prodeal | | Strengths: | annodized frame looks cool, saint component spec firefly front fork and swinger 4-way rear air shock | | Weaknesses: | wheelset extremly heavy , bike also a little heavy 39.1 lbs | | Similar Products Used: | santa cruz heckler, haro xtreme x3, santa cruz bullit | | Bike Setup: | stock you don't need to replace anything suprisingly | | Bottom Line: | this is without a doubt the best climbing 5 inch travel bike i have ever ridden, spv is a miracle worker. have taken 6 ft drops and still have not bottomed out the front or the rear suspension the swinger 4-way is the best feeling air shock i have ever felt it is so smooth. the only issue i have with the ext is the wheel set, eventhough the double track rims are great downhill rims you don't need them on this bike because they are heavy and combine them with maxxis minion tires and downhill tubes and you get a heavy wheelset my stock bike weighed in at 39.1 pounds by shedding the wheelset for some mavic 823's and some michelin tubeless tires you can save 4 to five pounds off the weight. overall the bikes climbs like a champion it feels like you are on an extremly burly cross country bike and when it goes downhill it performs like a downhill bike soaking up everything. Go and buy one if you can find one because it is an extremly limited production bike so good luck!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
DL
a Cross Country Rider
from USA-Washington
Date Reviewed: June 11, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Light frameset - relatively speaking. Quality appears good. Swinger 4 way air shock is excellent. | | Similar Products Used: | Heckler, Bullit, Blur, Kona (King & Bear), Titus Quasi, GT IDrive, Trek (whatever 5"rear travel), Specialized FSR's - ETC | | Bike Setup: | 2004 XT front to rear - Z1 SL fork. Just purchased frame. | | Bottom Line: | THis is an excellent all around trail bike -- built to 30lbs complete. Bike is an excellent pedaler and a very good climber -- descends with authority -- handles well in the air. Frankly, it may be one of the best 5" plus (mine is 6") travel bikes in existence -- it is at least as good as the Heckler in all situations, has more travel,is about the same weight and may be a better climber. It is a superior trail bike to the Bullit (Bullit is a better big hit machine). It is far superior to any similar travel Kona I have ever ridden(and I have ridden many). It is a better trail bike than the Quasi but not as good a descender. The Blur is a better trail bike particularly in tight situations (switchbacks & tech)and climbing, but Blur is not as confident on faster downhill situations. All in all this is a very good package -- although I built my own and just purchased the frame it appears that the parts pick on the factory build is very good for the price range. It's a keeper. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Grizz
a Weekend Warrior
from ...
Date Reviewed: March 6, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$2100.00 | | Purchased At: | ep | | Strengths: | SPV and Saint make this bike!It rides like a xc bike when you need it to and becomes a FR beast when the going gets rough. | | Weaknesses: | That seat. The saint parts will probably out last the frame ;-) | | Similar Products Used: | Listed in prev. post | | Bike Setup: | Stock with Thomson post and WTB Power V DH seat. | | Bottom Line: | Ok I replaced the seat and post and it is 1000% better. I like the I-beam idea they just need to add some support to the outer edge of the seat.
I have ridden the bike on more trails and urban now. I like it even more now than I did in my first review. What I thought was flex in the rear was the 2.5 tires at 28psi rolling around. I put on some 2.35s and the feeling of flex is mostly gone (still not as stiff as a Bullit but less weight). I have ridden it to work twice and it feels like a short travel XC bike when you are spinning along, but jump off a drain or a stair gap and it feels as plush as my bullit. I'm tempted to throw on some light wheels, a Minute fork, and XT bits to race it XC. Naw, I'm leaving it as is for now.
I can't say enough great things about the fork and shock! They are the best I've been on!
Haro did a great job of specing this bike out!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Grizz
a Weekend Warrior
from The South
Date Reviewed: February 20, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | anything | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$2000.00 | | Purchased At: | EP | | Strengths: | Parts spec. full SAINT!!
SPV suspension Super sweet. It climbs great for a freeride rig. | | Weaknesses: | They run very large. My Med is bigger than a large Bullit!
The rear is a bit flexy compaired to the Bullit. The seat blows dead whales. And the MSRP is a too high.But it would cost you more to build a bike with the same spec so... | | Similar Products Used: | Cdale Super V,Jeckel,Gemini; SC Bullit and Heckler. | | Bike Setup: | stock, but I'm ordering a real seat and post tonight. | | Bottom Line: | The bike rides great! The parts spec is the best. I love the way it rides but the seat and post have to go. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
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