Strengths: Does anything. From gruelling climbs to evil descents it handles them all. Excellent paint job and frame design. This bike looks gorgeous
Weaknesses: Headset but only I as am not a big fan of internal ones
Overall: Mine isn't quite a reign 1 as such. I brought the frame and build it myself using mavic wheels,XTR running gear, hope brakes and lower spec forks-Nixon supers but everything else is pretty much the same, Raceface crank, headset, stem etc and is on par with the regin 1. I have spent the last week in the peak district with the reign and it hasn't let me down on any of the terrian up there, it dealt with it all, in fact it was a little dangerous as the bike gave me such confidence that it incouraged me to do stuff that I don't have the skill for, mainly chunking myself downhill alot faster than I normally do.
Strengths: Rear suspension and frame are awsome. You get a lot for your money spec wise. A good around performer.
Weaknesses: Forks are naff but for £700 what do you expect. Pedals are awful but you can pick up a decent set for £30 so not a big issue, talk to your LBS nicely and they would most likely throw a good set in anyway. Tyres are fine for the summer but this is the UK and summer only lasts a few weeks. Brakes can be annoying on long downhills as being an open design you have to manually adjust them as they heat up.
Overall: You can't go wrong with this bike for the price. You got everything you need to start chucking it of mountains. I throw it up and down the North downs 3 or 4 times a week and have done most of the big trails in Wales and have riden down Mt Snowdon to boot and it hasn't failed me yet except for a buckled wheel and overheating brakes coming down Snowdon but its a XC bike not a downhill bike so I can't really complain. It has taken all the abuse I have thrown at it. Change the forks, pedals and tyres and you get a really good allround bike. I have changed my forks to pace RC36's, pedals to m540's and I am using firexc pro's for rubber.
