Strengths: Obviously very light, look the dogs danglies. Not as flexy as I thought they would be.
Weaknesses: Remote Poplock a pain in the ar$e to fit as you need to take off the grips and gear/brake levers. Instructions useless for showing how to fit the poplock, in fact they are actuall misleading. Paint chips off very very very easily.
Overall: Just fitted, so will post a full review in a couple of months.
I'll not include the 8 month wait from the original delivery date in the ratings, but be wary of believing Fisher on their dates.
Weaknesses: A fair few adverts inside from 'sponsors', no grid refs, maps not OS so can't programme GPS. I'm still undecided about the quality of the actual routes.
For me it seems a bit too downhill orientated, for others this may be an advantage. The route start points should be on the location plan at the front of the book. I know where the peaks is thank you, but numbered dots to show hwhich routes are in which area would have been handy.
Overall: I've only tried one route (the Hathersage loop) and wasn't impressed to be honest. The last section is a totally unridable ascent up a brideway that even in summer looks as though it will be no fun, and then you descend on a road. Some parts of the route were good, but there seemd to be a lot of climbing for limited descent, especially as much of this was rock garden.
Strengths: Nice and bright (in a to be seen sense), batteries last >10 hours so can be recharged on a weekend after a whole weeks commuting. Small and light
Weaknesses: The slide clip where the lamp meets the mount. Thin plastic that wasn't strong enough to cope with the vibrations from the road. May be OK on a suspension fork / low pressure tyres, but not on my rigid commute bike.
Overall: If the mount was stronger, it would be excellent, but the LBS said they had seen a few fail in the same way, which is a pity. My eternal quest for a decent front commuter light continues.
Strengths: Kevlar crotch so they won't wear out, loads of zipped air vents for when it get's hot
Weaknesses: Price - £100 for a pair of shorts is seriously OTT
Overall: Best pair of baggies you'll ever get and will last for ever. This years don't look as good (red stitching) but are in a lighter material and now have a small press studded waist to ease the shorts over your hips. Overall, they are easier to get on than last years, but not as good to look at.
Strengths: Quite compact, most tools are on there. The chain splitter is neatly designed, but see below.
Weaknesses: Err, exactly. It seems very weak. There is noticable twisting of the allen keys when you try to tighten anything 4mm or less. Also, the arms don't lock out, so they can slip when in use - especially the screwdrivers. I was also worried about snapping the combined tyre lever / spoke wrench when using the integrated alen key on the chain splitter.
Overall: Neatly designed, but flexes and so I have worries that things will snap. Having said that, to date nothing has snapped.
Strengths: Very simple to use - easier than the M52s Data logging - 22 hours at 5 seconds. Very confortable (wrist and chest strap) Coded transmitter works in gyms and prevents interference on the start line. The supplied software is easy to use and very clear to understand.
Weaknesses: Watch is quite large, and so may be a bit big to wear as a casual watch. Not that easy to share the watch with another user (only 1 user profile).
Overall: If you want a watch to monitor your performance over a season, then this is it. It doesn't have all of the altimeter / cadence / speed features of the 710 and 810, but you don't pay for them either, and unless you're Lance Armstrong you probably don't need them.
The reliabitlity relates the chest strap which can occasionally fail to pick up your heartbeat if it's dry, or you have a slow (<50) irregular resting pulse.
Summary - Not cheap (£180 including PC interface), but recommended if you are in the market for this type of watch.
'LIGHT, FAST AND THE LEFTY EVEN GETS SMILES FROM WALKERS'
Strengths: The fork is so smooth, and handlebar lockout encourages use. The bike climbs like boxer shorts under lycra. Mine came with the brakes upgraded to Hope Minis which are superb. Also, down to £1400 in an end of year sale.
Weaknesses: Had problems from new with the bolt holding the front wheel jamming. However, the LBS swapped forks and since then everythings been fine.
Overall: Excellent ride, stability and handling. A superb bike for a bargain price.
