Strengths: Good idea. Plenty bright enough. Fit thickwalled bars with no problem.
Weaknesses: Switch is too easily pressed - always gets pressed when leaning bike up against wall. Unreliable - one stopped working after 2 hours use. They don't seem well constructed. they are longer than they need to be. Grey colour is a bit lame. Fit doesn't feel secure, and grub screws will probably mark your bar.
Overall: Great idea. It's a shame they didn't do a better job with the design. I could design something far better with little difficulty.
Strengths: Extremely easy set up with the "Caliper Positioning System." Less messing with shims. You do need to read the manual first though, as the sequence is not totally intuitive.
Excellent, consistant performance. I was very surprised how good cable discs could be.
Works flawlessly when set up right, with good lever feel (tested with Avid 1.9L speed-dial levers), when the pads are worn they still work fine but lever feel is not so good.
They are tolerant of poor pad setup, but work best when set up as per the manual.
Don't seem to be affected by using a cheap unsealed cable in the worst conditions.
The pads work great in all conditions from hot dry and rocky to cold gloopy mud.
Have had no problems whatsoever with overheating, even when dragging on long, loose alpine descents. (Which is more than can be said of my Hope O2.)
Work with your standard v-brake levers.
Good looking disc design with edge cut outs to give consistant wear across the pads and keep things cleaner.
Clear water quickly.
Pad wear is good.
Weaknesses: Pricey. I got mine for £45 which was much more like it.
The pads need adjusting after every muddy ride (and sometimes part way round) which is a bit of a hassle.
I had a problem with one pad adjuster not having the full range of adjustment when new but that problem has disapeared with time.
Pads are expensive, as with all discs.
Extremely weak before bedding in.
Overall: great brake, in all conditions, but needs occasional fiddling for optimum lever feel. Would buy again.
Strengths: Excellent traction in all conditions (have used them in loose dry rocky conditions, thick mud, slimy mud, soft soil, hardpack, wet rocky conditions, sandy conditions etc.)
Understated good looks
Can run very low pressures without pinch flats. I bought wider tyres to reduce the number of pinch flats at the low pressures i tend to run, and they've done that just fine. Onyl pinch flat i've had was casing the edge of a step when jumping up a flight of 3. I don't think many tyres could take that at 20psi.
Not too heavy as DH tyres go. Kevlar bead means they don't get kinks in them when in the post.
Long lasting wear - they are only showing slight signs of wear after a fair bit of hard riding. Lasting much better than the Fire XC 2.1" tyres that they replaced.
Weaknesses: A little on the expensive if bought at RRP, but chain reaction do a great F+R deal. When considering long wear they are good value, though.
Maybe not the best tyres out there on wet roots, but few tyres can deal with them well.
Overall: Excellent tyre for DH and freeride in all conditions.
Strengths: Works well as single ring, few chain offs, wearing reasonably slowly, quality of finish is good. Neatly machined. Width is good compromise of weight and stiffness/strength.
Weaknesses: Looks awful - Has to be the most unimaginative shape chainring ever.
The laser etched logos are only on one side of the chainring, and that''s the wrong side if you''re using a triple-compatible crankset. The etching isn''t symetrical in places you would expect too.
Overall: Works great, and if this ring is going to go inside a big chain device that hides it, fine, but it looks silly otherwise IMHO.
'Great video if you like DH and non-"north shore" freeriding'
Strengths: Very well put together, fantastic camera work.
Excellent WC DH and duel footage. Also freeride sections with Nicolas Vouilloz and Fabien Barel are outstanding.
No north-shore stuff which i don''t think makes such good viewing. Only one short clip of people being silly off the bike. That kind of stuff gets really boring IMHO.
Price.
Great soundtrack.
Great locations and scenery, especially Norway.
Some great riders who are less well known that are cool to watch.
Interesting interview with Nico shows why he''s so quiet.
Weaknesses: Real lack of helmet cam action - only one short clip.
Slightly short parhaps at 32mins, but i prefer quality over quantity.
More variety in the dirt jumping department would have been good.
Lack of chapter divisions on the DVD.
Overall: I bought it as a totally unknown quantity, and was pleased to find it a great video, i would buy it again.
On the other hand, if you like north-shore, huge drops, XC or people acting like idiots in you mtb flims, look elsewhere.
Strengths: Plush, air spring is tuneable to different weight riders with no spring change, look good for a budget fork, really is very smooth for an 80mm travel fork. Can be upgraded to 10mm travel.
Weaknesses: Had problems with chroming coming off the bottom of the stanchions into the oil and causing leaks, and road salt corroded the crown very badly even after being wiped clean. A crack developed from the corrosion pitting so now I don't dare ride them.
Overall: When they're working they are flawless.
However the quality of manufacturing just isn't as good as better bombers, but what do you expect for the money?
Good value, as the problems I've had seem to be isolated cases.
