Light! Light! Light! The best paint job I have ever seen. Attention to detail is brilliant and the ride is the most responsive with bursts of speed on tap. I'm selling the frame on Ebay shortly as I've just bought a Instinct frame

The company name?

Trek? Kona? Specialised? None have a soul. The Vertex makes you feel like a better, fitter rider than you really are.

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Giant, RM9

Weight/Strenght: This super light bike has the feel of a heavy steel frame. Excellent climbing, and excellent descending.

Stock component group. The Shimano wheels lasted less than one month and I had to replace them with a set of bullet proof, 3 year old, King/Mavics from my last bike. Also the tires were too scary, 380 grams somethings, I don't even remember.

This is the perfect XC frame. But just stick with the frame and fork, build the component group yourself.

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Specialized M2xx, GT Zaskar

-this is a freaky light bike
-it handles realy well
-suprisingly durable
-super fast
-climbs sick fast
-descends realy well for a 21lb hardtail
-the frame has a reay nice smooth fast feel to it

-on fast rough trails it bounces around realy bad

I bought this bike and realized what I'd got myself into. A super light extremely fast xc bike. I ride in Canmore a lot and used to be able to do the 24hr race loop in an average of 56 minutes on my old s-works, now I can consistanly do the lap in 51 minutes and if I push the envelope I can drop 48 minute laps. I Put most of this success on the bike it's light weight helps so much on the hills going up and it's smooth frame and bomber fork keep the descents under control. Due to this bike Canadian inspired geometry this bike is brilliant technical trails up or down. Descending this bike is fun unless things are realy rough and fast because the 21lbs of bike just bounces around underneath you and is kind of a sketchy feeling. All in all I find this bike to be a very durable machine I use it for xc rides in the mtns about twice a week and 1 or 2 city trails rides every week and it has held up very well. I don't freeride on it so nothing is bent ofr broken ( I use my pipeline for that ). Anyone who wants a super light weight xc bike with deadly characteristics should look into this bike for sure. I wouldn't even consider abusing it though because I'm pretty sure that would get expensive fast. I scared that 1 wrong move or huge crash and this frame will break. But for all normal xc trails this bike will last a long time, and keep you happy.

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1999 kona king kihuna
2000 specialized M4 S-Works hardtail

Boy is it light
Less harsh ride than regular aluminum frame
Dialled-in handling

Idiosyncratic parts pick - mediocre Shimano wheelset???
Five-month wait for delivery

You don't have to race to appreciate the killer handling this bike offers, but you do have to be ready for the sucking sound in your bank account. The extra hit you will take swapping out the Shimano WH M535 wheelset for something more easily servicable tends to crank the price tag up rather more than necessary.

Since price probably isn't an issue if you're buying this bike, the performance is worth it. Great handling on technical climbs and descents: point the bars and you're there, good response to body english as well. Light weight makes a huge difference hopping trail obstacles.

Downhill experiences are less comfortable than climbs, where the light weight trades off into a tendency to bounce easily off rocks and roots. I have not yet felt comfortable sitting back and letting the bike carve turns, still need to steer actively and pick careful lines. This may improve when I swap the Maxxis Minotaurs for my old favorite Smoke/Dart combo; still not used to the Minotaurs'cornering.

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Not in this lifetime

Weight, this bike is really super light.
The sizing of the bike is spot on too, I'm 5'10' and the 18.5' frame is sweet.
The scandium tubing of the Vertex Sc team is not as harsh as a standard alu frame and for me strikes a good balance between flex and ridgidity.

None really, it is a pricey bike but you get what you pay for.

This bike will change the limitations of your climbing. I have been very happy with the bikes desending, with the 1' riser and a slightly shorter stem this baby carves the corners like nobodies business. This really is one of the best bikes you can ever own period. For the serious racer I can strongly recomend this bike

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nadda