Strengths: Very plush in whatever travel setting you put it. Work well straight from the box and then improve even more as you change the set up to suit your riding. IT allows travel settings to change stunningly quickly.
Weaknesses: As with all Answer products the information that comes with the forks is extremely limited and web research is required to work out how to set up your fork. Still unsure of the value of the SPV.
Overall: A real quality fork. The plushness of the travel is equivalent to Fox and then you have the IT gizmo which is suprisingly useful especially as it is so easy and quick to change the amount of travel.
I think the SPV valve is of limited use however as the pressure has to be set at a low value so it doesnt affect performance over small bumps, but then offers limited protection against 'bobbing'.
I dont think this affects the overall performence of the fork however.
Strengths: Knowledgeable about the trails and riding in general , patient with clearly incompetent riders (ie me). Stunning singletrack being technical, flowing, scenic and DRY.
Weaknesses: The dog kept sniffing my knackers. Simon's a yorkshireman- Having said that he is not that tight.
Overall: DO NOT GO. otherwise he'll be too busy to have me back.
Strengths: When new warm, reasonably water resistant and good grip.
Weaknesses: The shoe is very fiddly to put on and take off requiring zips to tighten the top, and they get more fiddly the more muddy they get. The shoes are not durable and this fiddly zip tightener is the first thing to suffer when mud and grit gets on the shoe.
Overall: The shoe is more attractive than the Shimano equivalent but the zip method of tightening the top of the shoe to prevent water ingress is not as durable or effective as the Shimano boot.
Strengths: The outer casing is fairly good at resisting knocks, its not too heavy and the light does last well
Weaknesses: Try getting any spares and you notice how 'optomistically' priced they are. A replacement bulb for £25, A replacement charger for £50 etc. Replacemnt bulbs in particular need to be purchased regularly as they seem to burn out fairly often. The light from the bulb is also not the greatest when compared to other systems.
Overall: The value of the light which is initially good reduces significantly because of the price of spares. Although the brightness off the light is reasonable you notice how much better other lights are if you pay a little bit more.
'A BEAUTIFUL BIKE THAT HAS TRANSFORMED MY RIDING EXPERIENCE'
Strengths: A lot lighter than it looks. Takes a lot of punishmnet and keeps coming back for more. Fun to ride. Looks as though it can take the british winters. Swinger shock really limits 'bobbing'.
Weaknesses: WTB rims cant take a lot of punishment and the paintwork scratches easily
Overall: Although I reckon for 2k any bike is going to be fantastic I wouldnt swop the sub5 for anything in a similar price bracket. Try it.
