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Submitted by
rustyrazor
a Weekend Warrior
from Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 18, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Hiawatha park | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$1100.00 | | Purchased At: | Verns | | Strengths: | Good Value | | Weaknesses: | Chain snapped right away. Spokes need to be tightened often. | | Similar Products Used: | My buddies have Trekk, Giant, Specialized, GT I'm not sure of the models but I've tried most of them and prefer my charger. | | Bike Setup: | Stock except a seat post shock. | | Bottom Line: | I used to ride it a few times a week but now it's down to weekends. It's great for all the single track stuff and XC ski trails. It's not too bad if you have to bike across town too.
I maxed out my budget and I think I got the best value for what I spent. I'll probably spend more next time | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brendan
a Weekend Warrior
from Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: March 28, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | kelso | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$999.00 | | Purchased At: | Brant Cycle | | Strengths: | Great bike for the rider who wants to tackle trails that have a few small drops and obstacles but also wants to be able to climb back up the hill fairly easy | | Weaknesses: | I had trouble with the derailleur hanger. It bent on me and when i tried to bend it back it snapped. | | Similar Products Used: | oryx forget the name similar price range, | | Bike Setup: | stock | | Bottom Line: | For the price you pay, it comes with quite solid components and won't let you down. Its a great all around bike for people who are in between riding genres and wan't to tackle a bit of each. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Merlin Toth
a Cross Country Rider
from Saltcoats, Saskatchewan Canada
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Duck Mountain Provincial Park | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$675.00 | | Purchased At: | Bike Doctor Saskatoon | | Strengths: | Strong stiff frame, quick handling, great components for the price (on sale) | | Weaknesses: | Long top tube for the size (17"), great for the climbs but a bit uncomfortable on the long level trails, | | Similar Products Used: | My trusty ten year-old Norco Bush Pilot. The Charger is a BIG improvement. | | Bike Setup: | Shorter adjustable stem, better seat,Post-Moderne suspension seat post, sram pc-59 chain and upgraded to an LX front derailleur after my nephew trashed the original Deore, everything else is stock. | | Bottom Line: | A great bike for the price. Most of my riding is done on back roads, fire roads and cross-country ski trails. Nothing technical and no jumps so this thing suits me to a tee. Sure the back end gets a bit skippy on some of the steep rough down hills but it sure beats the heavy FS bikes going back uphill. Shifts are always nice and crisp even under moderate loads. I have seen a lot of complaints about the LX rear derailleur, the EXR Comp fork and the Shimano mech discs, but these have all worked beautifully for me, however I do all my own maintenance so nothing goes unserviced. If you are into jumps and bike bashing look elsewhere (about $1000 more elsewhere) but if you want a sweet-pedaling bike that seems to want to jump out from under you when you hit the pedals and will take you up and downhill all day long for not a lot of bucks,you can't go wrong with one of these.
Before I bought this I test rode about a dozen bikes in the $650 to $900 (US) range: Kona,Jamis,Devinci,Marin and I always kept coming back to the Charger, nothing else pedaled as nice. And when you are ten miles back in the bush on some ski trail, pedaling eficiency and dependability is what it's all about. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jordan grant
a Cross Country Rider
from canada
Date Reviewed: April 13, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | riverside drop | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1100.00 | | Purchased At: | sackville sportswheels | | Strengths: | good disc brakes.fram is strong for the most part.I do some jumps, and this bike can take the pressure. | | Weaknesses: | the pedals suck.the shoscks are nice but the bottom out even when they are tightened.the seat is a sack of crap. | | Similar Products Used: | sasquatch,storm,ryde,kona srap | | Bike Setup: | upgraded to new seat and hydraulic disc brakes.plus bomber shock with 125mm travel.and the pedals | | Bottom Line: | this bike is a good steal. I've upgaded a bit, by i'm big and pretty hard. i've used many bikes and this is the best for my price range. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Trevor
a Cross Country Rider
from Melbourne, Vic, Australia
Date Reviewed: February 5, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | coffs harbour cross country trail | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$800.00 | | Purchased At: | Ride on Bikes, Phillip Island | | Strengths: | Good solid frame, good level of componentry! handles lots of abuse and still a solid performer!! | | Weaknesses: | Tyres!! Scrap them and buy some good ones!!! And put some clipless pedals on too!! Only things i've changed!!
| | Similar Products Used: | Many mates XC and normal mountain bikes | | Bike Setup: | Standard with wellgo clipless pedals and mythos XC tyres | | Bottom Line: | Buy this bike if you want value for money and long lasting quality! Good for all!!! Entry level to semi serious! I don't race so no idea there!!! Has been used on many BMX jumps and handles fantastic as well as many drop offs of good height!!! Anyone that wants a quality mountain bike and doesn't need a dual suspension for downhilling should buy this one! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeannot Bérubé
a Cross Country Rider
from Rimouski, Québec
Date Reviewed: October 26, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Rimouski River | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$800.00 | | Purchased At: | Boutique la mise au point | | Strengths: | Good parts, solid frame and great look. they shift very well for smooth ridind. | | Weaknesses: | sterm, pedals, fork and poor front break | | Similar Products Used: | most of XC bike between $1000 and $1500 | | Bike Setup: | changed for front hydraulic break, add clip pedals, down the bar by switch up sterm up to down, cut the bar 1,5 inches and cut the elastomer 1/4" for smoother travel of fork | | Bottom Line: | a bit heavy...I have an 20 inches one. but, this is a very good bike when tuned for the rider and the trail. I recommanded it for every one who want a bike under $2000 able to do the job... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jordan
a Cross Country Rider
from Guelph, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 15, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Guelph/Cambridge Trails | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1099.00 | | Purchased At: | Bits and Bikes | | Strengths: | Solid framework, mix of components, good mechanical discs, solid fork, wheelset | | Weaknesses: | Axiom stem makes you feel like you are sitting too upright on the bike. (Replaced it with a longer, flat Titec Big Al stem). Forks need spring tension stiffened, but after that is done it is fine. | | Similar Products Used: | Norco Cypress customized, Trek 4900, Rocky Mountain Fusion | | Bike Setup: | Stock, except axiom stem replaced with titec big al | | Bottom Line: | This is a great xc bike and should only be used for that purpose, but for racing it is a touch on the heavy side. A solid mix of components for the price, but for bigger riders, you may need to replace the stem with something longer and more solid. This is definitely a bike to look at and test if you are in the $1100 price range - you won't be dissapointed. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
pete
a
from australia
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Price Paid: |
$600.00 | | Purchased At: | secret | | Strengths: | everything | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | many | | Bike Setup: | at the shop | | Bottom Line: | it is awsome i would recomened this to anyone who likes cross country riding | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jackass 316
a Weekend Warrior
from Asia
Date Reviewed: July 4, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$750.00 | | Purchased At: | secret | | Strengths: | Cheap, good handling, takes good beating | | Weaknesses: | a little on the heavy side | | Similar Products Used: | GT backwoods | | Bike Setup: | XT front and rear de,truvativ stylo team cranks,chris king headset,ea 70 bar. | | Bottom Line: | its great bike, great looks with great parts. worth the buy. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brandon
a Downhiller
from Swan River, MB, Canada`
Date Reviewed: May 22, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Thunder hill | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$912.00 | | Purchased At: | Akinson | | Strengths: | Strong, light bike, good tires, pedals work good for jumping and strong rims | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | rocky mountain grind | | Bottom Line: | best bike i have ever bought under 1200$ dollars and it should be bought by a lot of people | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mark b
a
from winnipeg, canada
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | birds hill, river trails | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Price Paid: |
$1100.00 | | Strengths: | looks nice. easy to adjust fork travel. pretty tuff and tight suspension, felt good. rode for two hours without gloves and my hands felt great. did a 5 foot drop to concrete. handled it smooth but the shocks bottomed out both times, i figure they were set to low. tightened them after and they felt better. discs are sweet, good specs for the bucks. easy to jump. | | Weaknesses: | nothing really special. bars are way to long for tight trails. cheap looking pedals but they did the job. shifting gears was not as smooth as i had hoped. didn't feel to hot in the dirt trails. | | Similar Products Used: | i tested a bunch of bikes. jamis durango sx, brodie fury(no disc)sweet ride but didn't have the frame size for me. a marin pallisades trail. kona stuff, loved the test drive but thought i might want something lighter. this is the second time i have taken it out for a ride. rode all the river trails around the forks, down past the 'ledge and so on. good on straight stuff. | | Bike Setup: | stock | | Bottom Line: | i think i might need something with a little more nutsack. i want to take the cross country trails fast, and this is the bike to do it, but i don't think the charger can handle the urban drops and dirt jumps that i would like to beat myself up with. looking at the sasquatch and kona stuff. any help would be much appreciated. love the front suspension. if you want speed with nice forks and good specs, this is a good ride.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brandon Stock
a Downhiller
from Canada
Date Reviewed: April 15, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | thunder hill | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$900.00 | | Strengths: | Very good bike.
lots of conponents | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | rocky mountain grind | | Bottom Line: | the best hard tail under 1100$ | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross Country Rider
from Brisbane, Australia
Date Reviewed: April 3, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Naseby Forest, New Zealand | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$750.00 | | Purchased At: | Secret | | Strengths: | Long top tube (if you like that sort of thing). Looks good. | | Weaknesses: | Heavy like lead. Corners cut all over the place in sneaky places. | | Similar Products Used: | Many | | Bike Setup: | I've replaced almost every part because the original spec is all rubbish. | | Bottom Line: | This is not a XC race bike, despite being marketed as one. It is way too heavy. The Easton bars weigh a ton (unlike every other Easton product I've tried). The brakes (Shimano cable discs) are very good, but too heavy. The forks are absolute rubbish (Marzocchi should not have called these bombers, they're just coil and elastomer (unlike every other bomber model) and only move about 2 inches despite claiming 4 inches of travel), and are very heavy. The Firex cranks are good but they've left out the nice alloy chain rings and substituted nasty heavy steel ones! I didn't even get the SRAM chain as claimed in the spec, just a crappy Shimano one which are renowned for breaking. As you can see I'm not real happy with it, the perils of ordering a bike you haven't seen. I just can't believe a company like Norco would claim this is a XC race bike.
Good points? Well it does have a nice long top tube, longer than anything I've seen (24" for the large size) which allows you to run a slightly shorter stem. And it does look good. But that's not enough really is it?
At the end of the day there are much better specced bikes around for the same money. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
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