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Submitted by
cris gaston
a Weekend Warrior
from philippines
Date Reviewed: August 8, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$400.00 | | Purchased At: | lbs bacolod | | Strengths: | terribly simple, with its single pivot design. Can't feel any significant bob, but that didn't matter when i changed the shock to a float RL, durable, bearings seem a lot bigger than the one sta cruz uses. The bottom bracket is 73 mm which gives a little more space to reinforce the shell with bracings. Very rugged tubings and swingarm. Low maintenance-- i hardly tinker with it. | | Weaknesses: | heavy; tubes are somewhat bigger than standard- 34.9 seat tube, 73mm BB shell which are somewhat rare in my country; the stratos rear shock blew out after a year of light use. CAble housing rubs the head tube paint raw. | | Similar Products Used: | giant nrs, specialized fsr xc | | Bike Setup: | manitou black platinum fork, fox float AVA RL shock, lx/xt derailleurs, deore shifters, araya 810 rims, juju 32 hole hubs, specialized pedals and tires, shimano 440 cranks, hg 73 chain | | Bottom Line: | despite its weight, this bike gives you a feeling of indestructibility. The tubes are bigger than average, and the swingarm is really beefy. Even the bearings are oversized; there's less flex due to the single pivot design. If durability is your main criteria, not weight or bling, and have little time for maintenance, this is a good bike for you. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
WIll
a Weekend Warrior
from Layton, Utah
Date Reviewed: February 8, 2006 | | Favoriate Trail: | Gooseberry Mesa | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$560.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | The bike fits my riding style and budget perfectly. The frame design feels solid and is equipped with adequate components. | | Weaknesses: | The fork is rather stiff, but for the price I paid I can't complain. A new fork would cost almost as much as the bike. I don't like the placement of the cables across the top tube. I am getting a lot of cable rub where the cables run. Disk brakes work great, but require a lot of maintenance to keep them true. | | Similar Products Used: | Shogun Prairie Breaker | | Bike Setup: | Stock setup other than XT rear derailleur. | | Bottom Line: | I am having a blast riding this bike. It is a great entry level bike that won't break the bank. I enjoy riding singletrack at the local ski resorts and the XC trails throught Utah. So far the bike has held up extremely well. As my skills grow I will probably want to move on to a more advanced rig, but for now I am enjoying the ride. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeremy C
a Cross Country Rider
from Seneca, SC
Date Reviewed: January 7, 2006 | | Favoriate Trail: | Issaqueena | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$550.00 | | Purchased At: | Jensonusa I think | | Strengths: | Soo much better than the commuter bike I used to ride around. I'm 6'4" and around 250 and with the exception of the rims seems to handle my weight quite nicely. Really seemed good for the price I paid. | | Weaknesses: | Rims could be better. I bent the stock rims within maybe 3 rides. Buy some Rhynolites. (keep in mind my weight and that my bike's a 2004 version, could be different now). Also had some problems shifting at first. Replaced the shifter cables with a Flak Jacket set and this made a huge improvement. The seatpost bent. Also, the fork that comes with the bike is kind of weak and doesn't travel as far as claimed. | | Similar Products Used: | Some Gary Fisher set up for commuting. | | Bike Setup: | 2004 xc 304 with Rhynolite rims, Flak Jacket shifter cables, new seat post, and some other random stuff. | | Bottom Line: | Ok, it may seem like I whine about this bike a lot and have replaced a lot of parts. Seriously though, I really love this bike. With the upgrades that I thought I really needed (excluding pedals) I'd say it was around $700, still a bargain. If you want something to get you into a more serious bike but don'want to spend TOO much money this would be a good bike. I give this 5 for value, and 3 for overall simply because I haven't ridden a lot of other bikes. This bike seems great to me, but if you're spending 5X I'm sure there's something better out there. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim
a
from Cumming, GA USA
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | Bull Mountain | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$650.00 | | Purchased At: | North Star Bicycles | | Strengths: | Very strong, proven design (SC Superlight etc) | | Weaknesses: | Relatively heavy, No rear rim brake capability. | | Similar Products Used: | KHS XC 304 (2003), Giant ATX 990 | | Bike Setup: | Mavic Disc 223's, XT front and rear derailleurs, Monkeylite EC70 riserbar, Raceface Stem and Post, WTB Laser V Saddle, Panaracer Trailblasters, Shimano m580 LX Crankset. | | Bottom Line: | This is a great bike. For the money I think it's one of the best bikes available, especially for the frame. You could buy a Santacruz Superlight frame for this design and save some weight but you could spend as much or more for the frame than you would for this entire bike.
I upgraded the components on this bike to shave some weight but it's still heavier than my old Giant ATX 990.
I believe KHS has now gone to the NRS style shock on all of their XC frames but you can still find 2004 models for a good price. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from New York
Date Reviewed: March 13, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$900.00 | | Strengths: | Super strong, takes big hits, corners nicely. Good acceleration. Great for high-speed sinle track. | | Weaknesses: | Fron fork is pretty good, but I would have preferred a manitou black. U-turn feature is quite nice. | | Similar Products Used: | santa cruz, cannondale jekyll | | Bottom Line: | This is a great bike, amazing value. Pretty much does it all from single track to downhill condiditions. For the price, the overall value cannot be beat. I ride it on a local downhill course and as well single track with killer hills. Would highly recommend it to anyone!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter Graham
a Cross Country Rider
from Brisbane Qld. Australia
Date Reviewed: July 28, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | bunya state forest | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | Breakaway Bicycles Australia | | Strengths: | Amazingly strong rear suspension setup.. and excellent all around XC bike that does well on the street rides as well. The feel of the ride is comparable to that of its specialiazed and kona counter parts.
| | Weaknesses: | Could have a better front fork. | | Bottom Line: | A great bike for the money .. and capable of much more then just XC riding. You could easily pay 4 to 5 hundred more for a bike of with the same fittings. After riding alot specialized and Kona bikes I found the KHS to be an amazingly awesome all around ride. Two thumbs up! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
andrew
a Weekend Warrior
from Fullerton
Date Reviewed: March 15, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Aliso Woods | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$700.00 | | Purchased At: | InterBike @ Las Vegas | | Strengths: | Solid Welds, large quality Tubes, smooth suspension, very nice downhill plushness. good braking system. comes with a 8" front hayes Rotor and 6" in rear. | | Weaknesses: | weight, weak choice of frork its a RockShox Judy SL u-turn. at least a Psylo would have been better.. | | Similar Products Used: | Giant Warp DS-2, Haro X3, | | Bike Setup: | Factory Setup | | Bottom Line: | This bike is by far the best deal for the price and is capable of handling almost anything you can dish out from cross county and single track riding improve the fork and you'll be good to ride flat out downhill terrain! This is the perfect bike for the weekend warrior who is into all different types of riding! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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