Submitted by
stevo
a Downhiller
from st. louis, MO USA Date Reviewed: December 21, 2008
Favorite Trail:
castlewood, clarke forest
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$1200.00
Purchased At:
ebay
Strengths:
awesome frame, very solid, paint looks good, handles great.
Weaknesses:
a little heavy, but it's built to go down not up.
Similar Products Used:
fetish fixation, SWD sixgun
Bike Setup:
Roco TST (coil), 66 vf up front, race face evolve DH components, singletrack wheels, hayes
Bottom Line:
this bike is great. although it is heavy, i can pedal it all day long with the TST rear shock. i think a 20" frame is a little big for me, i like to ride a smaller frame so it's a little easier to throw around. still, this thing is like a tank. it'll climb to the top easily, hit all the drops and jumps on the way back down, rail the berms, and shake it all off to do it again. i am very happy with this bike.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
casemaster
a Weekend Warrior
from FL usa Date Reviewed: March 22, 2008
Favorite Trail:
The Vortex Freeride Park
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$1349.00
Purchased At:
Mr Goodbike
Strengths:
Chopper style seating position with a head tube so slack you've got no more excuses. It can climb with hard tail trail bikes.
Weaknesses:
Low bottum bracket, Tire clearance for D.O.P.E. brake rod allows only a 2.1" tire where as the full bike minus floating brake comes with a 2.4" tire, 15" frame set came sans support brace between the toptube & headtube(could be a plus as its lighter and looks cleaner), bottle brazings are too low for remote resevoir shock, had to replace bushing kit in D.O.P.E. brake (under warrenty), loud colour, 9.3lb Frame wght.
Similar Products Used:
06 Kona Caldera, RM7, P2,
Bike Setup:
Hodgepodge: 15" frame with D.O.P.E. floating brake, Truvativ xc crank set, xt shifters, cassette and rear dérailleurs, 06 Junior T, Hayes HFX9 brakes 8" front 6"rear, MalletC pedals, Cowan handlebars, Thompson laid back 410ml seatpost, Race Face Evolve DH stem, Single Track Front, Intense Mag 30/DT Swiss Onyx rear wheel, Mutano/Velociraptor tires, thorn proof tubes. High pressure and fast rebound in front & rear.
Bottom Line:
This thing just swallows the earth and makes it all one big fluffy pillow. I started out replacing my P.O.S. with a 19" 06 Caldera. The geometry soon had me bending rims off only 3' high stair gaps. Frustration made me buy a custom DH rimmed wheel but, then the bike was all unbalanced. So I built up the rest of the bike around the wheel bit by bit while retaining the 27 gears. If your looking for a light freeride/enduro/local DH/slopestyle/dirtjump/extreme all mountain/Northshore trail bike then this is it. The bottum bracket is a little low for DH and Freeride but, that's just because of the big ring I run. My build is a little heavy for enduro racing but, I've been on many 10 or 12 mile rides some with the extra weight of a weeride baby seat, toddler and pack. With the Zoch up front this thing flys down technical quarry runs. The rear absorbs the biggest cases and high angle hip landings. It takes 4' drops to flat like they were big curbs but, can still bunnyhop a recycling bin with clips on. I've not had the balls to test its full huck ability but, 6ft drops with nice trannies are like a non event on this thing. It takes a lot of energy because of the weight and bob but, it makes a very forgiving dirt jump bike. I don't know how effective the floating brake is as this is my first squishy. I can brake ridiculously late into rugged off camber turns at the all mountain trail in San Felasco and take multiple hits under full brakes on short downhills no stress. A severe wrist injury meant that this bike was my commuter for a while as well, the plush ride coddling my pains and the propedal saving my energy. At 42lbs this is an indestructible build except for the usual drive train frailties. A fast rebound rate, clippless pedals and the smallest frame size help me manage the tankness. They will pry this frame from my dead hands.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Dave
a Downhiller
from N.Grafton Date Reviewed: November 10, 2007
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$3800.00
Purchased At:
Gravity Warehouse
Strengths:
Bullit proof design. Very strong bike, can handle anything from climbs to hucks. Components are very well selected. I love everything on this bike.
Weaknesses:
Little bit on the heavy side. My bike is 40 lbs. Makes for a tough climb on really steep stuff, but with the propedal shock it helps.
Similar Products Used:
none
Bike Setup:
Fox 36 Float 6" travel-awesome fork!! Mostly Race Face, Saint brakes are sweet. XT front and rear. I put the DHX 5.0 Coil shock on instead of air shock for huckability.
Bottom Line:
If you want just one bike that can do it all and you want top notch quality that you don't mind paying for, than this is the bike for you.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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