Weaknesses: Short lifespan, prone to failure, overpackaged, overpriced.
Overall: Each pack contains only four self-adhesive patches. The patches are easy to apply and will get you home but they don't cope well with the expansion of an MTB tube. After a while, the patch looks wrinkled, feels brittle, and becomes prone to cracking and failure. It doesn't have to be this bad with self-adhesive patches. The Park Tools Super Patch GP2 comes in a tiny, light pack, with 6 stretchy, less failure-prone patches per pack. Even better, do the job properly and use a real puncture repair kit.
Strengths: The diagonal ribbed grip pattern is very grippy, the end cap is neat and the overall result looks good.
Weaknesses: Their write-up says "The multi-directional rib pattern provides excellent shock absorption without the lateral shift associated with traditional ribbed grips." This is true, but there's still a little sensation of movement in the ribbing. Then again, it's hardly anything. Don't know why I'm even mentioning it.
Overall: I prefer the Ruffian MX grips for the grip surface alone, but the overall package here looks better. The old ODI bar end plugs looked shonky, were unnecessarily large and were easily damaged. The new snap-caps are simple plastic discs that snap into the outer clamp. They look very neat, far better than the old ones, and, for the weight-weenies, they weigh next to nothing. I've crash-tested them on an oily road and they'll scuff, of course, as any bar end cap would, but the scuffing is less noticeable than on metal end caps and they don't deform like the old ODI ones did, and they stay put. Each grip uses two lock-on clamps, which I would assume should be more secure than using the end caps that are secured with just a grub screw (but I've no evidence for this assumption). Overall, I like 'em. I'd be even happier if the Ruffian MX grips were available with the new snap-cap ends, but as things are, these are neat, grippy and secure and I'd be happy to choose them again.
Overall: MTB components need to be fairly robust. These levers aren't. I slipped on a rock whilst getting back on the bike during a 100km enduro and the bike fell, without my weight on it, and snapped a lever on a rock. Game over. On examination of the snapped end, it looks like the very light, brittle, almost ceramic-looking white metal alloys that some novelty toys used to be made of. Go for something a bit more solid unless you're confident about never falling off.
'A FOLDING BIKE THAT'S CAPABLE OF DECENT XC RIDING.'
Strengths: Feels pretty solid, can be folded to go in the boot of the car, can be taken on the London Tube. Capable of handling some rough terrain.
Weaknesses: Not all that small when folded. To go in the back of a rental Renault Clio, the back seats had to go down. Harsh saddle. Brittle Avid FR-5 brake levers.
Overall: I'm pleasantly surprised by how well this worked out. I've used the bike for some considerable XC riding, including the full 100-mile South Downs Way and one of the Thetford Winter Series 4-hour solo races and it perfomed quite well. The advertised spec stated SRAM grip-shifters but, thankfully, it came with SRAM X7 trigger-shifters instead. The cable disk brakes are easy to maintain, but I prefer hydraulic now. The brake levers are brittle and forced me to retire from a 100km enduro when a lever snapped after a light slip. I made the following upgrades: Shimano LX levers; SRAM X0 front shifter (the original Suntour clogged easily with mud and wouldn't shift to the small ring); Thomson Elite seatpost with Specialized BG Sport saddle, ODI Ruffian MX grips (the original grips were squirmy), Crud race guard, SKS Crossboard front mudguard. Now, it looks as though after the 2006 model, Dahon have discontinued it, but if you look at the spec for the 2007 Dahon Matrix it looks as though you get the same frame and very similar components for a much lower price (currently retailing at about £530, compared to £680 for 2006's Zero-G). Of course, you'd need to swap the road tyres for a pair of XC tyres, but that's no big deal. Other than the tyres, the 2007 Matrix looks just like the 2006 Zero-G. For city use, it's difficult to find a rack that fits well, as a 26"-compatible rack sits very high, with 110mm gap between wheel and rack. It works OK, though. Overall, very good. Not the world's best folding bike and not the world's best MTB but a good compromise if storage or transport are important issues.
Strengths: Clamps firmly to the seatpost and stays put. No flapping around and no deviation horizontally or vertically when riding. Available with long or short bracket to suit different bike geometries.
Weaknesses: Needs very high seatpost mounting to cope with long-travel rear shocks. Bolts are a bit long and stick out unnecessarily, but you can easily replace them. Cannot be removed without removing seatpost.
Overall: Unlike some rear guards, the Race Guard will work with fat 31.6mm seatposts. It stays put so you don't have to wonder if it's still where it's supposed to be, even after taking big hits. There's good coverage and it keeps the mud off. If you're using long-travel rear suspension, you will probably need the short-bracket version. On my 14" Orange Five, it fits OK but has to be as high as it can go on the seatpost. There is approx 95mm height difference between the top of the short bracket and the lowest reach of the mudguard; this may help you to work out if your tyre would hit it at maximum travel. I've used it on a hardtail and full-sus, for the 100 mile South Downs Way and for three XC races and have had no problems with it.
