Strengths: Progressive stopping, plenty of bite and astonishing fade resistance. I've gone back to 160mm rotors and they hold up fine even on Pyrenean descents. The original pads last well too. More bite that Hope M4s, more subtle and less fiddle than Hayes, more fade resistant than Magura.
Weaknesses: I've waited a year before posting a review of these things expecting some niggle to report but there's not much to moan about. The RH lever got lazy to return but a drop of lube on the pivot cured that. The bite point isn't adjustable but stays within a reasonable range; if you want to adjust buy K24s.
Overall: Very, very good XC brakes that will take DH abuse.
Strengths: Fantastic value for money. Works well with a 100mm suspension fork. Not an elastic band. 145mm rear hub.
Weaknesses: No rear disc mount. Rear tyre size 2.1 max (4mm clearance).
Overall: Our 5th mountain tandem after examples from Dawes, Sirius and LOOK. Equipped with a Marzo DJ III fork and strong dirt jump components we've finally found a tandem that tracks and steers well, and doesn't have that hinge in the middle feeling when pushed hard.
After some fairly rough outings there are still no tell tale fatigue marks in the paint - we're hoping to get two or three seasons out of it.
Strengths: Good grip on loose sufaces, OK in mud if it's not sticky. Very good when leaned over, in ruts or on cambers. The steel version is robust. Good front tyre.
Weaknesses: The steel version I bought for my tandem weighs 400 odd grams more than the folding version on my enduro. A lot of the extra weight is in the sidewalls which is a good thing because the folding sidewalls are very thin.
Overall: 60mm wide on a 30mm rim which is less than my 2.3 Tiogas. Getting the bead seated requires patience and much pulling with 10psi in it. I can't rave about a tyre that needs a lot of energy to move it along and isn't bombproof, but the grip over a variety of surfaces still makes it one of the best big tyres I've ridden. If you're light like me buy a gravity. Value rating is for the steel at 10.50 euros
Strengths: Changes better than the latest XT up the block when new.
Weaknesses: Jockey wheels wear out faster than XT and then start sticking/ wobbling. After a few dunks in the gloop its no better than LX which is still better than the latest XT.
Strengths: Stop my moutain tandem and free rider like throwing out an anchor. Work well hot or cold, wet or dry.
Weaknesses: Pad wear - less than 40 kms in muddy conditions on the tandem. Rotor holes fill up with mud. Rotors warp and rub.
Overall: Not perfect but the best brakes I've used. Even the weak points noted above are no worse than other brands. No twiddling knobs to release them when they're hot, no rotor rubbing on caliper, no boiling fluid - just great stopping till the pads need changing again. Carry spare pads in you pocket unless you want your discs to look like mine.
Strengths: None mud specific tyre that works better than most mud tyres.
Weaknesses: Not much tread so it drifts over loose soil and gravel. Small thorns go straight through.
Overall: Narrow (for a 2.1) gives loads of clearance and it deals with sticky mud better than Michelin's specific offerings. Feels like a slick on loose stuff.
Overall: Just riding along it steers nicely, makes a happy ticking noise and feels a bit over-sprung. Hit something hard and it swallows it up like no other 100mmfork I've ridden.
Spring rate is about 30% higher than 04 and rebound damping feels just right with standard oil - 04 was a bit slow. Even with no air preload I have yet to run out of travel.
The clicking of the 04 is more of a tick now - sounds like the damper valves to me.
Overall: Finally found a fork that suits my mounaitn bike tandems - Look and KHS. I didn't even need to change the springs - 0.7 bars in the air preload is enough. They soak up abuse like nothing I've ridden before and I can still put my feet flat on the ground when I stop.
Weaknesses: The springs the wrong way round and it changes sometime after you've shifted.
Overall: Remember 1cm pitch chains, biopace rings, IG chains, pedal bearings in the end of cranks, roller clutch hubs and other Shimano inovations that did'nt quite work as well as what they replaced. Well being able to slightly over shift to encourage the chain to climb the block is useful and with this mech you can't. Buy LX or SRAM X9 till Shimano get the message. bike-components.de were recently selling this mech at 33euros, a lot less than the 2003 model.
