Strengths: - cheap - Marginally better in wet than Vs - easy to work on, reliable
Weaknesses: - not cheap enough - severe lack of power - poor wet weather performance - rotor has almost no holes in it
Overall: These would be fine for a hack about town bike or something like that where the long pad life would be an advantage. However mine just weren't up to offroad, the power just wasn't there. To be fair, mine were 2002 models and they may have improved but if you wan't to upgrade to discs save a little more and buy the excellent deore hydros. There is interstellar sized gap between the performance and you will curse the day you didn't dig a bit deeper. I've had a shot of avid mechanicals and they seemed a lot better so they might be worth looking at.
Having said that mine still work the same as new after an awful lot of use so i guess that's something. For light offroad or road there could be something in these.
Strengths: - Good alternative to lycra - Well made, good features - Work well on the bike - Ideal for the colder days
Weaknesses: - Not as functional as lycra
Overall: These are a good set of trousers, and the modest price doesn't do credit to subtle touches and build quality. They really have had a lot of R&D and it shows through. A good example it the bottom of each leg has a a section which can be buttoned up and reduce the length. It's neat, clever and works well.
The knees are re-enforced and are backed with a thin bit of insulation which is great in winter for keeping the knees warm. They do get a bit sweaty on long climbs but this isn't down to the breathability of the fabric.
If your into doing the miles lycra would be better. For Trailriding, Freeriding and those with a hate of lycra these are a great product. I can see me using them quite a bit during the winter but the lycra won't be retired just yet.
Strengths: - Top End ZR9000 frame with fancy tubing - Competive component Package - Good disc brakes - Genisis Geometry - Looks great
Weaknesses: - Tyres aren't great UK allrounders - Rear brake bosses on frame
Overall: This is an incredible hard tail to ride. The frame geometry is superb and encourages harder, faster riding. It is probably as good as an XC hardtail can get from that point of view.
The frame is impressive in its quality and detailing - the external butting, neat sculpted gussets and dropouts. The paint finish is durable and looks good.
The Pilot SL is as a good performer and has most of the high end 05 rockshox technology built in. The "FloodGate" allows the lockout blow off to be adjusted and as a result the lockout is much more useable. The air preload, compression damping and rebound adjustement allow individual set up. The fork tracks well and is reasonable stiff thanks to its weight and CroMo stantions.
The bike has an 05 Deore chainset which is stiff and better than much at the price. The deore & XT shifters work well as you would expect. The Bontrager finishing kit is better quality and lighter than a lot of kit you find. The 31.8 oversize bar and stem do provide a stiffer setup that is appreciably better. The wheelset is holding up well, but the stock tyres don't cut it in damp condition. They aren't horrendous, but deffinately keep them for the summer. The Hayes HFX-9s are harsh but effective stoppers that are improved for 2005.
The best thing i can say about this bike is that it is so well thought out and specced that you can take it straight out and ride it. The parts are good enough that no short/medium term uprages are really needed. I was told Fishers ride really well but i have to say i wasn't prepared for it to this good. Gary Fisher has been making XC bikes for a long time, and if the HKEK is anything to go by they're still about the best you get.
Strengths: - Loads of features and adjustment - motion control & floodgate are great - Stiffer than it looks - Smooth stroke
Weaknesses: - Heavier than you expect - Mine loses air out of the preload and the top cap has never screwed back in after i took it out once
Overall: You get lots of features usually found on higher end forks. The air preload, rebound/compression adjustment and lockout all work very well. The nice bit is the floodgate which allows you to adjust the blow-off for the lockout. The lockout is great and something which i use more than i thought i would.
The fork rides well and takes the hits and stays in control. the tracking is good, probably due to the steel stantions and extra heft.
The air preload does lose air and it may need sorted soon. the topcap just won't screw back in, and felt like it was forced in in the factory. So some niggles there.
Still, i'm happy enough with this fork and the features and performance outclass a lot around the price range.
Strengths: - ideal wet/all condition tyre - a sensible width and volume for hard XC -light for what they are -look the business
Weaknesses: - drag a bit on the hard stuff
Overall: These are superb tyres, the extra grip has really improved my speed and confidence. Aggressive tread really gets stuck in to loose or wet conditions. The light weight of the protection version makes the bike feel responsive.
There really is nothing to fault with these if you ride in varied conditions. if you want something that rolls better consider gravities.
Strengths: - powerful - rotor design clears mud very well - 2 bolt lever clamp allows easy fitting/removal - The attachment system allows for a good shim free setup
Weaknesses: - "Wooden" lever feel - Pads sit very close to rotor, so skiff a bit if not well set up or in the wet -lever adjuster screw creeps out and needs threadlocked. - bleeding them should be considered an art from.
Overall: I was worried about getting these brakes on my bike after seeing the 2004 brakes fail repeatedly in numerous ways. However, they seem to be holding up at the moment after after a few muddy rides.
These brakes are more than powerful enough for XC and do help improve your riding because of it. The problem is that the power is quite abrubt, especially on the back. On a hardtail it becomes quite difficult not to lock the back wheel. This is not helped by the heavy and poor lever feel. The lack of feeling through the levers makes it tricky to judge power. The lever creep is a well know problem with these brakes and is easy enough to fix. It does show poor attention to detail on Hayes behalf and it is unacceptable not to fix it during manufacture.
I'm not going to rip these off my bike right now, although there certainly are a lot nicer brakes available for the same or less money. They work, and are competent rather than spectacular so they get a "good" rating.
Overall: if you follow the instructions, clean and dry the paint before putting them on they still don't work. The could look really good, but they don't because the edges always stick up.
Why on earth make something that won't stick to bike tubes, for the purpose of sticking to bike tubes? I'll give them for reliability because they are reliably crap.
