Strengths: Light & lockoutable; can thence climb like a hardtail but laps it up when she's going down. Bling.
Weaknesses: Price, unless you got one quick when Scott were trying to offload their 'illegal' US stock - haha suckers. Can sometimes feel a bit squishy - but that might just be me riding on a hangover
'UBER X/C RACE BIKE CAPABLE OF COPING IN THE ROUGH '
Strengths: Very light for this level of travel. Fully lock outable so can climb in an almost HT stylee. Massively discounted due to US patent law problems
Weaknesses: Tyres not the best, but soon wear out anyway.
Too gorgeous to get dirty
Overall: A bike to flatter the limited abilities of middle aged playboys like me
Strengths: Ultra light, ultra fast, ultra responsive. Summer racing dream bike. Very little to go wrong
Weaknesses: Tendency to throw pilot into the bushes. Freaky when the going gets tough. Can you remember Vee-brakes?
Overall: Can be found new for £1300 - worth it for spares alone. You can spend the left over cash on some pink and yellow lyrca for the complete 80's retro look
Strengths: Tiny. Feather weight, 100's of hours of battery & bulb life, seconds to fit / remove. Cheap. Waterproof
Weaknesses: Can see where you are going (but others can see you)
Overall: Ideal 'get you home' lights for when your main lights have run out of power. I use them on road in the daylight too as an extra safety measure
Strengths: Light. Gucci hubs. Spokes not broken...yet
Weaknesses: Not too strong. Need special spoke key to straighten. Not compatible with XTR cassette (pretty dumb for the most expensive MTB wheel out there!). Spinergy stickers came off almost immediately
Overall: Awful lot of dosh without any real advantage
Strengths: SHAWWIIIINNNGGGG!!!! Light, nimble and super quick. Head turning looks. Ultra plush lefty. Lack of swinging arm = less weight and less to go wrong. Full XTR - say no more squire. No point in £600 more expensive 'team' bike.
Weaknesses: Expensive. Gucci bits can be difficult and pricey to repair. Racing geometry may not suit everyone.
Overall: Goes like a hard tail on the climbs but like a plush full susser on the D/H.
