Strengths: 7" travel on a budget longevity between servicing. easy availability of springs and oil weights to get it set up for all riders upto about 17 stone in weight
Weaknesses: oem springs not heavy enough for the average rider. in a number of cases the floating valve "bumps" in action under high speed compression. 30mm stantions on a QR system at 7" is too flexy really, land offline and the front end can twist, slowing you rapidly and almost throwing you over the bars.
Overall: on a budget this fork is the best in it's class bought brand new, but that isn't saying much. next fork up is the boxxer team and that's not better than this fork. find a good secondhand shiver dc for the same money and it blows this fork away.
Strengths: anti-snake bite facility a wonder. run 35psi front and rear for street and offroad and will stick to anything but wet stone/wet roots. good cushioning for big hits. £30 a pair from wades cycles
Weaknesses: 1240grammes per tyre. wears fast if you skid. additional expensive of larger volume DH inner tubes
Overall: whilst a mobster/high roller combi is more suited to offroad in wet conditions as a front high roller loses grip earlier than the rear, this is an excellent budget tyre choice for those only wanting one set of tyres for everything. once i figured the psi to use front and rear i could take anything in my stride (ride up 5ft stairruns at high speed without damaging tube or rim!) the weight of the tyre means it's not suitable for racing, but it's undersizing means it will fit fine in an M arch with fair mud clearance
'dirt jump in a straight line only, turn and lose grip!!'
Strengths: anti-snake bite bead that works
Weaknesses: ride street and you need the rear pumped to 60psi or your flatspot your rim! doesn't like turning, even on the dirtjump tracks. terrible in the wet, not fat enough to give much comfort riding street. pull a skid with these on and you instantly lose knobbles, wear is too fast.
Overall: this is one heavy, dirt jump advertised tyre that i feel falls short of it's purpose. it's an undersize 2.35" much like maxxis tyres, but the durometer is so high that you aren't going to stick to much and changing your line at speed coming up for jumps i have had the best bmx dirtjumpers i know try riding my bikes with these tyres and they just jump off saying "no way, too dangerous"
seriously, a tyre that goes fine in a straight line on hardpack in the dry isn't all we want from a tyre, it should be able to turn too!
Strengths: good quality shock won't blow up your second ride cheap compared to a comparible shock from the main competition excellent customer service from hotlines
Weaknesses: issues with the rebound knob falling out in a small number of cases due to a redesign a couple of years ago, Hotlines customer service will handle this efficiently and quickly though if you are unlucky to suffer this.
length of spring that can fit on the shock somewhat limited due to the nice looking preload collar. this means an overweight rider on a multi pivot rising rate frame like the coyote dh3 will need to politely ask for a linear type spring (or go on a big diet!) at 220lbs fully suited up on my coyote dh3 i required a 850lb linear spring and the largest progressive one that will work on the shock is 600lbs. (BETD shock bushing spacers are a real good idea too!)
Overall: if this shock was fitted to OEM bikes it would get more in the public eye. Hotlines need to give this some thought if they haven't already. it was a gamble buying the shock aftermarket myself, however i had to stick to a budget and the gamble paid off.
to be honest i don't see any difference in operation and lastibility compared to the fox vanilla r's on my mates crdh8's
and since hotlines were kind enough to give my TR1 a shim job i am mucho happy riding off big stuff with this puppy fitted to the rear of my bike. it's a case of "what am i going to bend/break next!"
regarding the points scoring, i dropped the reliability down a point because i suffered from the mysterious rebound knob falling out situation, and it's a shame the value bar only goes upto 5 stars, as since it's so much cheaper than the vanilla r, it needed to have a higher score than one!!!
Strengths: cheap, black, have the fox symbol on them
Weaknesses: shin guard isn't anywhere near long enough. the two shin fastening straps are way too long (sew extra velcro strips in if you want on the elastic). the knee section flaps around like theres something missing to hold it in place (sew sections from velcro training bottom as "socks" to sort this place and also attach another piece of elastic after widening two ominous slits in the knee cup.)
no venting means you sweat and they become clammy and itchy real quick
Overall: waste of space product. bit like Axo sport knee/shin protectors
Strengths: an RC shock that i believe costs about £80-90 and comes with Coyote DH3 frames (shock dimensions for this frame are 200mm E2E, 650lb x 2.4")
Weaknesses: progressive springs to 650lb maximum, got to go linear spring if you weigh more than about 12 stone riding the DH3.
shock isn't as plush as a stratos TR1
this is the second shock in a year for this frame and both lasted 2 rides, it will not hold more than 150psi in the piggyback chamber anymore and i need 200psi!!!
Overall: alright for a very light rider, maybe! but if these shocks can't even last a year then DNM surely are going to be crippled by warranty costs?
'poor design, can be made to work with time and money'
Strengths: nice idea, shame about the implementation
Weaknesses: the 3 velcro straps have no matching contact area. you have to sew on patches of velcro or when you flex your hand the velcro halves just part company with the material. and then the 2 flaps that hold the plastic inserts in are tiny versions of the same bad design, the flaps open and the plastic starts to come out, digging into your flesh quite painfully! so out comes the needle, thread and velcro again!
Overall: when you have modified the wrist brace to actuaaly work, it does what it is designed to do. they are £15 each, left or right specific and in several sizes, the large actually fits my hands where i take XL gloves that the finger area is never long enough (although that doesn't concern us with this item)
if you are injured, or want to avoid injury then this is a good idea........if you can sew and are prepared to spend money on needle, thread and velcro to make it work.
Strengths: two lengths by assembling different, 60 or 65mm. 30 degree rise or drop that can be handy if you don't know yet where the best place for a handlebar is for you
Weaknesses: really heavy! got to assemble carefully or you could reduce it's structural strength. will not fit X-Lite DHR80 bars.
Overall: this stem is one that although really heavy, has been really useful to me. i intend to get a BETD jnrT stoke when they run a new batch off so will be sadly saying goodbye to this stem. mines in black and looks very nice on a DC fork! i'm knocking the performance score down due to it's heavy weight only
Strengths: does not bend even with a rider who is too heavy for the spring on his bike!
Weaknesses: the brass bushing in your shock eyelet get''s accelerated wear.
Overall: i had to get this for my coyote dh3 due to the one supplied with my spangly new Stratos TR1 lasting five minutes and one stair drop out my front door!
now i have the correct spring for my bike (only took 2 months!) and feel reassured that if i manage to bottom out my bike, this bushing WILL NOT bend :)
Weaknesses: they vibrate a lot, more than the old alloy wingbars. they weigh a lot (440 grammes) mine didn't have a spot on weld job where the welded brace met the bars at one side, but they failed elsewhere so i'll never know if that was a problem. used for street they were okay, but off road on natural terrain they weren't strong enough and one side twisted twoards me and down.
Overall: budget bars, but for £32 you can get big rise Renthal MX bars that are invulnerable and weigh about the same
