This bike (and it's more expensive brothers) is the bike of the moment, and for £800 is about as good a full sus'er as your going to get at the price point.

Five weeks with 'Goose has seen only the seat and peadles changed and a slight tweek of the stem hight and sus' settings. The sus' as standard is nearly perfect, a couple of winds of preload and four clicks of rebound for the rear, minimum preload and rebound up front and I've got a nice plush ride that's couped with everthing I've riden over so far.

The rear mech took a nock two days in and needed straighting and the gear change fettling, but is supper smooth again (SRAM x.7 rear mech & changers).

Only down side is the paint finish, it seems a bit poor in places and is a touch thin. Plenty of stone chips have appered on the down tube, free drive link and rear stays. If it continues it will need a re-spray within 12 months.

8/10 with room for improvement

maybe you should put that in the reviews section...?

sounds good...keep us posted

For the price, excellent bike shoulda got one rather than the Trek but hey, buy in haste regret at leasure :)

Ohh... Still going Strong and but a veiw niggles.

The bike is looking used now, the cables are rubbing of paint (to be expected)and the stone chips are getting more numorous(also to be expected), over all it's looking a bit grubby dispite being cleaned after every ride. For the useage it's getting it's standing up Ok but not great.

Component wise, rear shock is good no problems, forks are good but I will need slightly softer springs (<£50) to get the full 130mm travel. SRAM shifters, mechs etc are still 100%.

Brakes have been changed for Hope Mono M4 front(180mm) and back(160mm). The front Hayes so1e wasn't powerfull enough on the down hills and the master cylinder on the rear started leaking.

I've not regreted buying this bike at all, and with the right upgrades it'll only improve. As for the paint, Battle scares!

Battles scare me too :(

A softer spring (£25) has now been fitted in the forks, removing the few small handling problems I was having on tight twisty single track. New wheels fitted, Hope XC hubs with Mavic 321 rims shod with Trailrakes for the current muddy weather.

On a ride in the peaks I managed to break the rear mech and hanger (both replaced with original parts), but it's currently in the LBS having the BB removed (stuck fast) and the rear suspension bushes replaced.

Still an 8/10 bike, and holding up well to the week in, week out abuse I give it. Could be lighter though (new shock and forks should do that)...

Now it's winter, does the suspension linkage act as a mud trap? Looks like it would to me.

Having ridden (well I have seen him in the distance :( ) with Paul he gives it no quarter and despite his claiming its heavy he climbs like a goat ;)

Can't remember him suffering with mud trap in the frame, though he was on his HT today as the Goose is still at the bike shop.

4AM, yeh it does cling on to quite a bit of mud, there are a fair few nooks and crannies that make it a bit annoying to clean.

I really get on with the bike tho, and agree with Paul, the Soles aren't up to much, mine were replaced with Avid Juicy 5s.

Replaced the shock with a Fox and the forks will be changed to Pikes in the near future, other than that i just changed the pedals and stem. Once i get the new forks i don't think i'll need to get anything else for it til stuff starts breaking.

Great bike for the money, and you can pick up '05 ones for about £650 now.

So if you've already got a nice fork, pedals and disc brakes it would be a good investment then?

Definitely, the frame in the Teocali range is the same from the £800 Comp up to the £1700 Super, just different components and paint job.

The rear linkages don't collect too much muck, but their are a few nooks and crannies that need attention when cleaning :(

An air shock and lighter fork, along with a decent finishing kit should knock 3 or 4Lb of the weight without compromising durability.

Doesn't collect mud any more than any other bike I've seen/riden - just a bit harder to clean with the freedrive out the back...

Actually, I've seen the super on sale at my LBS for £1350. Looks like the spec on that is totally sorted.

I can hear my credit card whimpering in the corner.....

As Paul said, the frame is the same as the ones higher in the range, altho i think you do need to budget for a new shock really. The x-fusion it comes with works ok but isn't well supported in the UK.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the market for a full sus at the price. I genuinely think the freedrive/i-drive design is one of the better systems about. The only real competition is from the specialized FSR, which is quite nice but the spec isn't as good and it also comes with an x-fusion shock which will probably need replacing sooner rather than later.

I think once i've spent all that i intend to on mine it will have cost the same as the next model up in the range, but have the components i want instead of what mongoose think i want.

£1350 - give the credit card a hammering.

Just fitted a Manitou SPV 3-way Swinger (£139 from Chain Reaction Cycles) with Goldtec HD fitting kit. Just about bedded the thing in after 1 1/2 hour local riding and a 3 1/2 hour Peaks ride on Saturday with CCM ;)

So far so good, the lighter weight and SPV help big time on the climbs and tech stuff. The bike is more responsive, but not quite at a HT level though.

The bikes in bits at the mo after the Peaks ride, so I can give it a good clean. Had to order new head bearings(£2) also. The Manitou Splice Comp forks are hanging in there but the black coating on the santions is wearing down and there's six or seven what look like rust spots appeared on there too :( Looking at getting either Pikes or Minute 2's as replacments latter in the year.

Mike Davis had one of these when we went to spain last year and it rocked for what is essentially is quite a "cheap" full-suss.

I have a couple of friends who have bought pikes (on offer for 05s incl. on-ones sites) and they seem superb. Stiff, reliable, quality parts and very plush. I have some revelations which are kind of pikes on a diet and you might want to consider those as well.

Ah, with a ruff riding style verging into the lightweight freeride territory or aggressive All Mountain (? too many labels) the Manitou 3-way swinger is proving a little too light weight, blasting through it's travel easily. I can live with the zero sag/high PSI setting when I'm playing locally, but not on a full ride. The 4-way swinger might be a better choice in the long run.

No new forks yet and the Splice are in dire need of a service, as there beginning to pack down while riding, knocking 20-30 mm of the travel - bad.

I'm in two minds at the moment as to spend money (£1200 roughly) upgrading it, or holding out a little longer and getting a new frame as well (G-Spot/Sin/Six Pack) decisions, decisions...

I've got one of these and it's been completely ragged to hell and back through the Scottish Highlands since April this year. I picked up the 05 model for £650 which was a complete and utter bargain - you can get the 06 from Pauls Cycles for the same price now with hydraulic discs rather than the Avid BB5 mechanical ones. Having said that I prefer the BB5s to my mate's Magura hydraulics, they just stop you faster if they're properly tuned! My only complaint is how the hell are you meant to pick the damned thing up with that top-tube?! I also end up drinking mud due to the bottle cage position... but not a big deal.

All I've had to replace is the chain/cassette/middle chainring. The bike I also swapped the forks for some MX Comps and realised in the process how floppy and crap the Splice Comps really were; it now rides like an absolute dream; except for some funny noises eminating from the freehub since it seized up mid-ride and I had to hit it with a piece of wood to get it going again... I think I'll have to replace it pretty soon.

I want to replace the rear shock for something a bit more refined. How does this work - I've heard things about each shock/frame combination needing specially-made bolts/bushes/bits of metal to fit it properly - how does this all work?