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Submitted by
steve
a Racer
from high falls new york U.S.A
Date Reviewed: September 14, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | dead glen | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$2000.00 | | Purchased At: | acord bike shop | | Strengths: | the bike is very light good for a cross country racer. The frame is stiff to and dose not flex when taking heavy hits, of going through a tight turn radius. | | Weaknesses: | The main weekness is how much the fork an shock bob. the fox vanila rx comes withe a lockout installed whitch is good for up hill climbing. the manitu black super air needs to be replaced. I have allready blew out 2 o-rings and a compresion disc. I recomend that you get eather a Manitu minute 2:00 or a fox talas both are good forcks and they both come with a stable platform valve. the manitu can be conged from 100-130 milimeters of travel. the fox talas is feachured in 80 and 100 milimeters of travel both will coast you around 550$ | | Similar Products Used: | cove foreplayxc | | Bottom Line: | this is a very good bike just do the modifications i told you about and you should be fine. this bike should only be used for experenced riders or people who know what they are doing with a high proformenced bike. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ed ellsworth
a Cross Country Rider
from charlemont
Date Reviewed: August 20, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | singletrack | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$1650.00 | | Purchased At: | bad shop in conn. | | Strengths: | well the other day i bashed jamis about not being able to come up with a derailer hanger for my bike. | | Weaknesses: | yesterday when i got home from work there was a message from jamis telling me they are sending me a hanger direct | | Similar Products Used: | all i can really say is that the guy ive talk to in the past was no help. allmost rude | | Bike Setup: | then i called and left a message on the presdent voice mail volia two days later theres one in the mail | | Bottom Line: | i like the bike ,i like the company, but some of there dealers leave alot to be desired. i hope to go rideing this weekend | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ed ellsworth
a Cross Country Rider
from charlemont
Date Reviewed: July 22, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | hawley | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$1660.00 | | Purchased At: | conn | | Strengths: | nice bike,good value | | Weaknesses: | took 2+ months for bike to come in. | | Similar Products Used: | sugars | | Bike Setup: | stock except bars and stem. | | Bottom Line: | jamis is a little company that cant deliver. took over 2 months to get the bike now i,ve been waiting 3months for a derailer hanger. basicly i have not ridden this bike at all this year. and the season is half over! so this makes two years in arow that my riding season has been cut short not a good thing in new england | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
KEN
a Cross Country Rider
from HINCKLEY, OHIO
Date Reviewed: December 11, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | BEANS BIKE PARK | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$1700.00 | | Purchased At: | FAIRVIEW CYCLE | | Strengths: | OUTSTANDING BLEND OF QUALITY COMPONENTS AT AN EXCELLENT PRICE. IF TREK OR FISHER WERE WRITEN ON THE SIDE, IT WOULD BE SELLING FOR MUCH, MUCH MORE. | | Weaknesses: | NONE NOTICED, BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS UPGRADE IF THAT EXTRA MONEY IS BURNING A HOLE IN YOUR POCKET. | | Similar Products Used: | SUGAR | | Bike Setup: | STOCK, PLUS A ROCK GUARD | | Bottom Line: | WANTED TO UPGRADE FROM A FISHER HARDTAIL, LOOKED AT SUGARS, GIANTS, SPECIALIZED AND JAMIS(BECAUSE OF READING GREAT REVIEWS IN MAGS AND ON LINE).THE JAMIS WON HANDS DOWN.WAS LOOKING FOR BIKE TO RIDE CROSS COUNTRY SINGLETRAIL WITHOUT THOSE NAGGING FATAL INJURIES FROM NOT ENOUGH CONTROL IN EXTRA STEEP AND ROUGH AREAS. THE EXPERT FITS THE BILL PERFECTLY. IT IS COMFORTABLE AND NONTIRING TO RIDE. THE DISC BRAKES DELIVER SMOOTH, CONSISTANT STOPPING POWER IN ALL SITUATIONS.THE FULL SUSPENSION GREATLY IMPROVES THE BIKES STABILITY, AND I HAVE NOT ONCE USED THE REAR LOCKOUT BECAUSE OF A MUSHY RIDE. THIS BIKE EVEN IMPRESSED MY FRIEND INTO GETTING A JAMIS, AND WHEN HE HAMMERED THE FRONT FORK A BIT TOO MUCH, THE CUSTOMER SERVICE HE RECEIVED FROM JAMIS AND FAIRVIEW CYCLE WAS OUTSTANDING. I RECOMMEND THIS BIKE HIGHLY. WHOEVER SAID MONEY DOES NOT BUY HAPPINESS HAS DEFINATELY NEVER RIDEN A JAMIS EXPERT! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
josh
a Weekend Warrior
from springfield, mo
Date Reviewed: December 4, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | chadwick | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$1700.00 | | Purchased At: | Sports Xtreme | | Strengths: | Climbing, desending, speed, comfort, weight, this bike is very well rounded. | | Weaknesses: | none, it goes above & beyond its intended purpose. | | Similar Products Used: | sugar, fuel | | Bike Setup: | XT XTR LX mix, vanilla rlc rear shock, hayes mag. brakes, black super fork. | | Bottom Line: | the bottom line is, this bike did anything I wanted it to, it's a fast smooth desender, it climbs better then my any bike I've ever oned(I never even needed the lockout). It handels awsome, I have no complaints, my favorite trail is a free ride trail & the bike held up to everything I've put it through. This is a great f#@$in bike. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jason Cicero
a Cross Country Rider
from Meriden, CT USA
Date Reviewed: April 25, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Any | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1700.00 | | Purchased At: | Tony's Bikes | | Strengths: | Same as below! | | Weaknesses: | This is an update from my last review, the weaknesses have not changed but the updated information is important. | | Similar Products Used: | Same as below! | | Bike Setup: | Same as below! | | Bottom Line: | As mentioned earlier this is an update from my previous review. I would like to credit Tony's bike shop first for finding the problems and quickly trying to find out the soulutions. The firmer spring that I wrote about in my previous review finally came in after about a week of waiting. When my LBS went to replace the spring in the right fork leg they noticed that a threaded bolt that runs up from the bottom of the right fork leg (underneath the rebound knob) was cracked. Obviously this needed to be replaced, so Answer was contacted and after another week of waiting the wrong bolt was shipped! They were called and sent the correct bolt after...3 DAYS! Problem number 1 fixed. When the firmer spring was order for the rear shock (Fox Vanilla RL) it was assumed that it would correct the problem with the rear lock-out, wrong assumption! The rear shock would not lock-out at all. All of these problems had me very frustrated, as you could imagine. The weather here in the Northeast has been beautiful and I have been mountain bike-less! Last but certainly not least, the rear chainstay problem that was the reason for the recall of the rear chainstay linkage, has not been addressed yet either. From what I heard the welds on the chainstay linkage were too weak and they were breaking. Jamis is suppose to have fixed this problem and are now producing and sending out stronger and more safe chainstay linkage replacements. Keeping all of these problems in mind my LBS and I really pushed Jamis hard and they have agreed to take the whole bike back and send me a brand new one. This sounds like a reasonable solution to the problem right? I will be without my bike for at least another 3 weeks! Keeping all of this in mind, as of right now, I still am going to stay with Jamis! I am pleased with their customer service and believe that I just got the bad lemon! I hope to post yet another update when I finally have what I hope will be a fully functional bicycle! The drop in the overall rating is due to Jamis allowing a bike to leave them with so many problems in the first place. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jason Cicero
a Cross Country Rider
from Meriden
Date Reviewed: April 11, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Tyler Mill | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1700.00 | | Purchased At: | Tony's Bikes | | Strengths: | Good name company, quality components, great price...all around great bike! | | Weaknesses: | No real weaknesses as of yet, but upgrades may be needed to the stock bike for a true dial in. There is something wrong with the chainstay on all of the 2002 Dakars, so Jamis is sending my LBS a replacement sometime in April. | | Similar Products Used: | Gary Fisher Sugar 2+ (disc) | | Bike Setup: | Stock setup! Black Super Air fork, Fox Vanilla RL in the rear, Mavic 223 disc wheels with xt hubs, Hayes hydralic disc brakes, a mix of xtr-xt components, Cane Creek Zero Stack integrated headset, 4-bar linkage suspension, very nice set-up! | | Bottom Line: | Jamis makes an incredible bike for the money! There is no way to argue that fact. They are a small company though, so finding a dealer can be tough. I have a Jamis rode bike and I love it, so it was a major factor when looking into the upgrading of my Fisher hardtail to full suspension. I have to be honest I really wanted a Fisher Sugar...but I did not want to pay the difference in price for what I felt we lesser components. I that I got better components on the Jamis for less money.
There are a few things that might need to be changed on the stock setup depending on your size. 1) The Black Super Air fork comes with a medium rated spring in it. I weigh about 200 lbs. so to dial it in correctly I needed to upgrade to a firm spring. *Important note* The Black Super Air fork is supposed to come with a lock-out, that is the way it is advertised by Answer...but after many emails and phone calls I found out that the Black Super Air that comes stock on the Jamis Dakar Expert DOES NOT come with the lock-out feature. It was a decision made by Jamis when they purchased the OE forks from Answer. Jamis does not advertise the bike as coming with a lock-out fork, so it is important to note that when comparing bikes for purchase. 2) The Fox Vanilla RL shock on the rear comes with a 500#-1.65 rated spring on it. Once again because of my size I needed to upgrade to a firmer rated spring. The upgrades you might need to make will depend on your size and riding style.
Overall the bike is great, a little heavy for a true x-country racer, but great for all around riding! It climbs good (it actually climbs really good I am just spoiled by Genesis Geometry) and decends like a pro! The components are great and will work the way they were designed with proper care. I give the bike 5 chilis for value and 4 chilis for overall. I would have given it a 5 overall, but all bike have room for improvement!
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Submitted by
Carlo
a Weekend Warrior
from Beckley, WV
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1400.00 | | Purchased At: | off the net | | Strengths: | Manito Black Air fork, XTR and XT components, adjustable cockpit, lock out on rear shock, the list goes on. | | Weaknesses: | Haven't found any yet. It's not as light as my old hardtail, but it actally climbs better. So I can't really call this a weakness. | | Similar Products Used: | Giant NRS 2, Sugar 3 | | Bike Setup: | stock, except for the normal add ones, chain stay cover,etc. | | Bottom Line: | This bike is great. I love the ability to lock out the rear shock, even though I rairly need to. This bike is a very good climber. I tried a Sugar, but it didn't have enough travel for me. I really like the NRS, but the Jamis was a MUCH better value! I've had this bike about a month and love it so far. I'm a firm Jamis fan now. Absolutely the best value in biking. Plus I saved big bucks off the suggested retail. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Don Myers
a Cross Country Rider
from West Hartford, CT, USA
Date Reviewed: December 12, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | West Hartford Res | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$35.00 | | Purchased At: | Racer's Edge, Berlin, CT | | Strengths: | Jamis Service and stiff, strong frame. Jamis replaced my 1994 Dakar Pro frame free of charge 3 months ago after I torqued the chainstays so badly the deraileur hanger wouldn't align properly. I love the new frame and cartridge bearings, muich stiffer and probably more reliable than the bushings I had to replace on the older model. | | Weaknesses: | A little heavy, but then so am I at 215. Not really quick side to side (edge to edge if they were skiis). | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized FSR, Gary Fisher Sugar, Cannondale Raven, Specialized Stumpjumpers, Raleigh M-.., Titus, We have 5 mtn bikes. I like the Jamis best. | | Bike Setup: | Jamis 17" Expert, Fox FLOAT R, Manitou Expert Air, XTR/XT brakes, deraileur, cranks, Titec DH Berzerker seat, Mavic 517 wheels and hubs with "notubes" tubeless system, Coda peddles. | | Bottom Line: | A great frame, very stable at speed and over big and little bumps. Not as quick up the hill or in the tight twisties as my '94 Jamis, but much less "uncertain". I can't thank Jamis enough for their warranty for an older bike. I can't see any reason to change. As long as the size is right I'd recommend it to anyone as a trail (not a race) bike for long rides and occaisional ski lift trips. Essentially it is a great durable bike for what most mtn bikers do. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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