Strengths: THE most fantastic riding ever! Miles and miles and miles of awesome singletrack - flowing, smooth, rocky, technical, switchbacks, drops - you name it, it's there!
Emma, Simon & Eoin - very friendly, helpful & generally welcoming; couldn't have asked any more of them.
Guiding - at a pace perfectly suited to our group and always leading to the best trails.
Food & accomodation - tasy food, plenty of it & great accomodation.
Weaknesses: Having to come home afterwards!
Overall: Don't think about it, just go, you won't regret it!
Strengths: - Look good - Excellent value for money, just £25 including postage - Top quality hard wearing black finish - Nice and wide -26" - "Trail" bars have nice rise & sweep - 1.5" rise, 5 deeree upsweep, 9 degree backsweep - Solid, strong bars - 1 year no-quibble guarantee
Weaknesses: Slightly heavy, but they are only £25!
Overall: -Excellent bars that represent fantastic value for money!
Strengths: Great price for a Ti frame. Beautiful build quality, lovely welds, attention to detail etc Exclusivity & you get to talk/meet the designer himself.
Weaknesses: Rear-facing seat clamp slot. A little on the short side for all day riding for some.
Overall: After riding one for 5 weeks, I'd best describe the Kobe Ti as a 'play bike', although a friend did do 45 miles on it one day with no problems.
Having 125mm up front and with the short geometry, the Kobe Ti really inspires you to play around on jumps & drops & push yourself to the limit in technical singletrack, swallowing up rocks, roots & drops with ease. It just flies! Climbs really well too, which quite surprised me.
If you're after a bike for mainly short/play rides, and that will inspire and encourage you, this is it!
My full review and photos here: http://www.jdymond.freeserve.co.uk/dialledbikes/kobeti.htm
Strengths: Rides like a dream: - responsive yet comfortable, - very stable & well balanced so that whilst flickable & fast, it's still reassuring, - climbs well, descends even better.
Soooo much more comfortable than aluminium yet not that much heavier.
Great mud clearance & clean lines, especially if you get the disc-only model.
Looks fantastic!
Lovely build quality with that lovely Reynolds 853 steel, nice touches like cowled dropouts and disc mount reinforcing strut.
You get to order from & deal directly with the man who designed them!
Takes 100-125mm forks which is far more sensible than 80mm these days.
Individual - unlikely to see another one around (yet!).
Price includes chainstay protector & Salsa QR seat collar. Plus deals on Hope discs & other parts available when bought with frame.
Not bad price either considering competition such as Rocky Mountain Blizzard (also 853) is £600.
Weaknesses: None. Although it may well encourage you to ride beyond your (current) capabilities!
Overall: A superb bike, I haven't once regretted buying it. For info., mine's a large (19") frame, built up with XT groupset, Hope/317 wheels, Hope Minis, Fox FloatRL 100s and a 100mm stem amongst other parts...
It's just a delight to ride, manages everything with ease and then screams "ride faster & harder". It'll push you to your limits & further, with big smiles all the way.
I've actually written a full review here I liked it so much: http://www32.brinkster.com/jdymond/cotic/soul.htm
Strengths: Price - £40ish incl. p&p all the way from New Zealand - unbeatable when the cheapest UK bike bag is around £100+ Folds up nice and small for storage etc. Lack of padding means it's convenient for bike storage/transport all year round. Good strong material with reinforcement at strategic points, strong carrying handles & zip.
Weaknesses: Lack of padding - but it's easy to use bubble wrap, card & pipe lagging or combine with a cardboard bike box rather than spending £100+ on a padded bag.
Overall: Superbly versatile bike bag at a great price.
Strengths: Price not bad considering it's Hope stuff. Good looks & overall image. Not too weighty.
Backed up by excellent customer service from Hope always.
Weaknesses: Poor sealing. Lets in any crap and water that gets near it and bearings lasted 6 months. Hope have stopped making these headsets already, apparently as the bearing supplier dried up.
Overall: A very disappointing product from Hope, which lasted 6 months.
*However*, excllent Hope customer service replaced it with one of the new "Hope headsets", which is superb.
