Strengths: Light weight Comfy for a rigid, it steel Sturdy, throw it down anything Excellent Value. Annoy the 5/6in Full sus brigade when you go flying by, be it up or down the hill.
Weaknesses: Sliding dropouts don't seem to be that strong. Came with an On-One "Mary" that I just couldn't get on with. Come with Summer tyres
Overall: Bought the Inbred beacuse I seem to munch through the drive train of my main bike in the winter, the inbred has been almost maintenance free apart from washing and lubing the chain. Only thing I've had to buy for it are a new handle bar as I couldn't get on with the Mary bar. Might chnage the tyres as the WTB ones that came with it are a tad low pro for winter hacking. Certainly gets you fit quickly riding a singlespeed. Fully rigid hones your bike handling skills to. Because its so light you can just throw it into a rock garden and ride over the lot.
Strengths: Sealed cable run with oiling points. Look great. Shifting is almost effotless. Light weight. Flex well
Weaknesses: Cost, however you can see what you are paying for. Take ages to setup
Overall: These are the best gear cables I've ever used. Shifting is so much easier now. Easy to maintain with the oiling points, however they take a while to setup. Cost is high, but you get what you pay for.
Strengths: Grip in abundance, both when cornering and climbing. Lightish for a 2.2 Never puctured
Weaknesses: They wear out so quickly. Had one set last 1 week in the Alps, after that all the knobs had cut/ripped off and the outer compound was worn through to the black inner compound. Showed signs of bad wear after just one day. Got that set replaced with a new set and after just one ride over Leith Hill they are already showing signs of wear, ie corners of knobs ripping off.
Overall: Have found no other tyre that grips as well as this. Gives so much confidence when cornering even when they are worn. However don't last long.
Strengths: Great trails Great hosts and trail guides. Nice relaxed atmosphere. Really nice home cooked food and plenty of red wine.
Weaknesses: none
Overall: This was the first guided holiday I've been on and must say it turned out to be one of the best holidays I've ever been on. Guides where great, taught us quite a bit, if anyone had a problem with a section we'd stop and session it if we wanted. Location is excellent and fairly easy to get to. Evening meals were great, never tried so many different types of food in one week. Packed lunches were brilliant, plus always had 2 lunch stops so never went riding on to full a stomach. Quite a bit of climbing to do but it just made you appreciate the downs more, plus certainly feel fitter.
Strengths: Great shifting, the best I've ever had. Looks great
Weaknesses: Not that light compared to XT or XTR, gives away 35g to XT. Lasted all of 5months before the 2nd gear cog bent over.
Overall: Was very pleased with this cassestte til it gave up the ghost and folded one of the spockets. No probs up till that point. Now its completely shot though. Only lasted 5 months which is not to good on a top spec product £60 product. Back to XT for me.
Strengths: Very Stiff Light Geometry Perfect Great Value
Weaknesses: Graphics look tad cheap. Tad harsh at the rear. Paint chips bit to easily
Overall: Had this frame 2 years now and done everything on it from a week in Chamonix to various Enduro's (SITS etc). Excellent frame which is very stiff yet light and just powers up the climbs, although can be a tad harsh towards the end of an Enduro (which hard tail isn't?).
Strengths: Didn't rust. Power link makes taking off and cleaning easy. Very slick when mated up to PC990 cassette.
Weaknesses: Weak. Snapped twice, fixed first time with spare powerlink, then snapped at another point. Lasted all of 2 months.
Overall: Thought this was the new improved version of the good old PC-99 Hollow Pin which I've used for ages and is perfect. I couldn't of been more wrong.
Strengths: Fast. All those twists with no berms sort out the riders. Plus the loose nature of the surface certainly gives it an on edge feel.
Weaknesses: Signs are almost no existant (kids nicking the temp laminated signs), although they say they're putting out wooden ones. To short.
Overall: Good, fast XC type course. Not very challenging, but if you hook it up right, it will reward you. Not very long though and is easily done under the hour.
Strengths: Looks rather bling bling. Changes OK when not under to much power. Very lightweight.
Weaknesses: Price, KMC missing link connector snapped first time used it (halfway through 2nd lap of Enduro6). Shifting is just painful and noisy when pushing it. Jumps over cassette.
Overall: This is the worst thing I've ever bought for my MTB. Renewed the whole drivetrain (Middleburn slickshift rings, SRAM PG990 cassette, XTR front mech, chain) and this chain was the weakest link. Can feel it jumping in certain gears when really pushing it. Never had that problem with my old SRAM PC99 Hollow Pin.
