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Specialized FSR Comp 1998

MSRP $
# of Reviews 8
Average Rating 4.5/5
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Submitted by Smiley a Cross Country Rider from San Jose
Date Reviewed: June 16, 2009
Favorite Trail:Quicksilver
Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
Price Paid: $350.00
Purchased At:Craig's
Strengths:Light frame, heavy duty, good at jumping, looks awesome, upgradable
Weaknesses:bushings require too much maintainance, shock hard to adjust (preload, rebound, lock out,) because it's in the frame
Similar Products Used:Trek fuel EX 9
Bike Setup:Race face cranks, Shimano XT brakes, derailer, shifters, bontranger inner tubes, Slime shield, Maxis tires, Fox shocks, too many more
Bottom Line:Awesome bike! i highly recomend to anyone who XCs, races, and/or jumps!
Value Rating:5Overall Rating:5

Submitted by Cheetah a Downhiller from Joinville, Brazil
Date Reviewed: December 29, 2003
Favorite Trail:Floresta Bike Park
Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
Price Paid: $650.00
Purchased At:Second hand bike
Strengths:Great geometry for XCountry
Confortable
Light
Weaknesses:Bushing links
No good for Free Riding
Similar Products Used:Cannondale Super V900FR
Bike Setup:Same as previous review
Bottom Line:Ok, almost 3 years since the first review my free ride skills are much better. So definetely I rate the FSC Comp as a "First Free ride" or "Begginner freeride" bicycle.
Nowadays it's impossible to go through drop offs, jumps and rocky gardens with this setup.
Go for it if you need a kind of light full susp xcountry.
Value Rating:3Overall Rating:3

Submitted by Stevie a Weekend Warrior from San Jose, CA USA
Date Reviewed: November 13, 2002
Favorite Trail:Saratoga Gap/Long Ridge
Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
Price Paid: $900.00
Strengths:The Suspension...The Ride...I can get up to 27mph on flat terrain...
Weaknesses:The Drivetrain needed upgrading. Suggest Shimano XT or XTR. I have XTR.
Similar Products Used:Santa Cruz ATB
Bike Setup:Still upgrading various components. Now has XTR front and rear derailleurs, XTR chainrings and crankset, the JudyXLC forks, Ritchey bar and post, Shimano M545 pedals, Comp non-disk brakes
Bottom Line:I love this bike, even though I dumped it riding it home from the bike shop. I wasn't used to the suspension. Now, three years later, I'm still throwing money at it. It's been a great ride, even after falling down muliple embankments, through poison oak, and underneath an SUV once! I'm Specialized forever!
Value Rating:5Overall Rating:5

Submitted by daniel cooper a Cross Country Rider from portland, OR
Date Reviewed: January 20, 2002
Favorite Trail:all the secret ones!
Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
Price Paid: $995.00
Purchased At:local bike shop
Strengths:Lightweight for a full suspension, great geometry and travel for heavy XC riding or even light downhilling. Just has a good feel for all-around riding.
Weaknesses:chainrings are weak, cheesy stem, and the judy T2 fork that i got with it is pretty much a pogo stick.. nothing weak about the frame though.
Similar Products Used:K2 evo 3.0, FSR Enduro
Bike Setup:XTR shifter/brake levers, avid 2.0 brakes, ODI yeti lockjaw grips<--these rock! Koski riser, azonic shorty stem.. blah blah
Bottom Line:I am glad as hell that i got this bike! It has been with me through mud, over small cliffs (well, ok.. nothing more than 3 feet), long extended rides, steep and brutal assaults, and has never let me down. As noted earlier, the only complaints i have with this bike are the chainrings--they are pretty weak and wear out quickly, the fork ('98 Judy T2), and the super long and heavy stem. Once i upgraded the appropriate parts, i found myself with the bike of my dreams--lightweight, maneuverable, tough, AND affordable. 'nuff said
Value Rating:5Overall Rating:5

Submitted by Joe Martin a Weekend Warrior from Sultan, WA.
Date Reviewed: November 18, 2001
Favorite Trail:Tiger Mountain
Duration Product Used:2 Years
Price Paid: $995.00
Purchased At:Bicycle Centres
Strengths:Strong Frame. Good Geometry for all around use.
Weaknesses:None
Similar Products Used:Gary Fisher
Bike Setup:1998 Specialized FSR Comp. Zoki Z2 Atom 80. Cane Creek AD-5. All XT drivetrain. MountainSpeed bearing kit. Mavic 517 rims. Koobi Au Enduro saddle.
Bottom Line:Excellent price/performance. I've ridden this bike in all conditions and its never let me down. The level of components were fairly low and were replaced as they wore out.
Value Rating:4Overall Rating:5

Submitted by Cheetah a Downhiller from Campinas, SP, Brazil
Date Reviewed: April 12, 2001
Favorite Trail:wherever on the bike
Duration Product Used:Less than 1 month
Price Paid: $650.00
Purchased At:Second Hand, in Brazil
Strengths:Excelent Performance and Confortable Frame Geometry
Reliableness
Good Custom brakes,stem, front hub
Weaknesses:Bushes demand too much maintenance
front derailleur
incredibly heavy seat stem (also weird dimension)
Similar Products Used:GT RTS2, Alfameq Condor, Caloi FSR, DBR (full)
Bike Setup:Campagnollo Annapurna rims, DT spokes, shimano 8sp xt derailleurs, Proshock air 90mm front, rshox deluxe rear shock, panaracer firefox tyres, avid brakes, lx gear command, carbon fiber seat (hollowed)
Bottom Line:Perfect for free riding. Too smooth for Xcountry racing (obvious). I´ll search for alternative rear susp axles (plastic bushes suchs). One can face serious DH if you have a double crown fork and a bigger rear susp.
Value Rating:4Overall Rating:4

Submitted by David Sherwin a Weekend Warrior from Northridge, Ca, USA
Date Reviewed: December 6, 2000
Favorite Trail:Cheseborro
Duration Product Used:2 Years
Price Paid: $1000.00
Purchased At:Cycle World, Northridge
Strengths:I fall often and hard, but the bike takes a licken and keeps on ticken! Very strong frame and components.
Weaknesses:Chain suck! I have had to change my front rings twice. Stayed with XT and it is now doing very well. I have also had to change both derailers. What a waste of money! Chain suck cost me to spend time and money. I think that maybe it is a combination of finding a good mechanic and poor design of angle for proper gear adjustment. Last problem is the weight of the bike, too heavy.
Similar Products Used:First time purchase. If you are going to get involved with mountain bike riding, why not start with the proper equipment!
Bike Setup:As factory except, Continental rear tire, XT rear and the Minkow Comp male friendly seat.
Bottom Line:Highly recommend Specialized products. I have just over 700 miles on the bike and I really do fall often and hard. I am suprised that any bike could hold together this well. It would be nice if I could take a couple of pounds off of the bike.
Value Rating:5Overall Rating:4

Submitted by Ryan a cross-country rider from USA
Date Reviewed: October 9, 1998
Bottom Line:
This bike is awesome!! It is my first full suspension and my first specialized and I have to let you know specialized has a customer for life. The geometery of this bike far exceeds any other(I'm convinced it's the geometery, not the tires, not the fact that full suspension gives you more confidence, but the geometery). I'm coming from a GT Ricochet that I thought I would hang on to to use when I plan rides that scale steep ascents but now I think I'll be selling it soon. I'll tell you this bike is well outfited with not the top of the line components(witch I think sacrafice too much durability for weight to do any real world riding). I am proud to say that this bike is totally Shimano free!!! witch is the way I like it! But anyway the main places I'm finding this bike really excels in is slow speed handeling in technical terrean, steep down hills, the more technical the better, the faster the better, the steeper the bette up or down, hell it the best all over the place! only problem I've had is with adjusting the rear shock for some reason that screw disc thing will not turn unless you show it some pliers, but I'll soon be replacing it because I don't like rock shox either. this is all after 3 very long rides so I will be updating this review in a few months. RIDE ON!!!!
Overall Rating:5






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