so, my first post, a very important one, im buying a new bike, as a one bike does it all. Cross counrty, Freeride and a little bit of jumping. Main things i want are condifence on the downs, as little pedal bob as possible, low weight (relative to the others) and i like to have a relaxed ride feeling, not nervous like an xc bike. Anyone views as to which is best, im 73kilos, 5'8. they all look great, i think its going to be between the prophet or reign, as the hifi seems a little to cross country. unfortnalty im out of the country so cant test ride, so will be really trusting the reviews here! please help
Reign is heavier but stronger, prophet a bit lighter and simpler. Both very nice bikes. Personally I'd say...REIGN REIGN REIGNY REIGN! (hardly any bob, no brake jack and very little pedal feedback, also very strong and will be capable of pretty much anything you can throw at it)
/end giant plug/
btw which years model is it you're after - there are some bargains out there on 05/06 models.
I'm more than happy with my Prophet, it really is its versatility that makes it for me, in XC position it handles great in twisty forest singletrack or for a more planted DH feel just pop it in the FR mode. Bit misleading the term FR as it's not really a FR bike, I think it should be all mountain or something. I use it mainly for general trail riding anywhere, anytime, though I have also done 100km Meridas on it with no problems at all and they have a lot of climbing. It climbs really well with very little bobbing. I reckon you wouldn't be wanting to do any jumps/drops over 5ft on a Prophet though. Heres a review of the Prophet 3. Only problem with the P4 is that it comes with a fairly basic fork, Tora I think.
Having said all that, it depends what you want from a bike, the Reign will probably be better on Big Rocky descents as its more DH oriented.
...actually I forgot to mention that; like DK says the Prophet will be better on smoothy/swoopy terrain and the Reign mor suited to gert big rocks. It all depends on what terrain you ride really I suppose.
thanks guys, ill be using the bike here in Crete, which is rocky, but have to ride the ups aswell! i really like the look of the reign, its the 07 im looking at as pedalon.co.uk have some great deals on free gear with it. when i say freeriding though, im not crazy, 6-8 foot drops are my limit, i just am not a fan of bikes with steep head angle that feel twitchy if that makes sense.
I think itll be the reign, but if anyone has any last words please let me know!
btw, have you considered last years model like this? It'd save you £500, or you could use the savinga to buy it a better fork (the frame really warrants a better fork imo).
..the reign frame sells for around £900 on its own (same frame used on reign 0- reign 3)
