2008 Giant Glory DH

from mbaction

$4700

46 pounds

8.8-inch rear wheel travel
Full test: June 2008
Highlights: The Glory DH is a competition-specific, big-hit build, separating itself from Giant's more park-style performance-oriented bikes. The Glory DH is intended for racing. With nearly nine inches of rear wheel travel, the Glory's Maestro suspension is designed to be fully active over a variety of impacts while operating independent of pedaling and braking forces. The same suspension concept is on the Giant Trance (tested February 2008) and Reign trail bikes, and we've been very impressed with those two.

Best quote:

"There's one feature that's critical to a downhill bike: solid descending. With 17.5-inch chainstays, 8.8 inches of rear wheel travel, and a wheelbase of over 45 inches, stability in rough terrain was a constant aboard the Glory DH."

Bottom line: With the Giant Glory DH you get a World Cup proven downhill bike that's fantastic on technical terrain, pedals efficiently and is one of the best-handling all-around downhill bikes we've tested.

Not only is its performance reason enough for you to throw a leg over one, you get a durable, race-ready, high-end component package at a killer price. Giant offers the Glory in sizes extra-small to large, so finding a perfect f����it shouldn't be a problem. And, at over a $1000 less than many of its competitors, you'll be able to afford your bike park season pass, too.

Specialized 2009

By James Huang
BigHit

The revised linkage arrangement provides improvements in standover clearance, seatpost adjustability and shock bushing wear as on the new SX. Travel on the four-bar rear end has been brought down a bit from 208mm (8.2”) to 191mm (7.5”) but the front end beefs up with a tapered-and-oversized head tube to accommodate the new crop of burly single-crown forks. As on the SX, the BigHit will also include DMD and ICSG mounts as well as fixed geometry.

SX Trail

The new SX receives a tapered-and-oversized 1 1/8”-to-1 1/2” front end and a clever shock mounting arrangement that eliminates wear at the rearmost DU shock bushing. Specialized fits the bottom bracket area with both a DMD front derailleur mount [mounts directly to the swingarm] and standard ISCG tabs to accommodate a wide variety of setups and, as usual, tosses in a healthy dose of cold forgings throughout for durability.

FSR XC

The all new M4 alloy frame and rear wheel travel to 120mm moving it more into the trail bike category than last year’s 100mm-travel model. The rocker link-style arrangement bears strong resemblance to the premium Stumpjumper frame and provides the same benefits: more standover clearance, greatly increased seatpost height adjustment range and a lower centre of gravity for better handling. Riders living in muddier climes should also note that the rear shock is now shielded from debris kicked off of the rear wheel by a double-bent full-length seat tube.

complete article click bikeradar

Maxxis Minion Kevlar DH F+R

Specification

Name:
Minion Kevlar DH F+R
Built by:
Maxxis
Price:
£24.00
Weight (g):
778.00 g

review from bikeradar

By Guy Kesteven

The Minion has been the downhiller’s favourite for years, and this lightweight version brings that ‘take all comers’ confidence to the trail. Quite simply, the Minion blew us away with its performance on every ride we took it on. Great stuff.

This is a tyre that instils confidence in all conditions. It has excellent grip and traction, even in winter conditions. It's tough and great value for money.

The mid-height, multi-shaped tread looks slow, but actually rolls surprisingly well, and this single-ply Kevlar-beaded version is pretty light for its category. For a bit more speed two Minion Fs are a great combo.

Traction levels are superb, with the varying tread shape leaving no obvious gaps in grip, whether you’re hard on the brakes or rolling right over onto the shoulders. This lets you push it hard on loose rock or roots with consistent confidence.

Tread sipes and decent spacing mean it clears quickly in filth, handling winter work as well as most winter-specific tyres.

While it’s not as bombproof as its double-ply downhill brothers, the Minion handled sizeable drops, random rock gardens and low-pressure use without complaint.

Iron Horse Sunday Elite-pimped hard

The Sunday Elite with long travel single crown fork according bike radar is "A fantastic performing frame, with a fork which just can’t quite keep up". From bike radar. Your thought of the golden bike??




By Ian Collins

For the first time this World Cup downhill-winning frame wears a set of long-travel single crown forks. Designed and proven as a race warrior, is this new configuration a chink in its armour?
Ride & handling: coil vs air

As you would expect from its heritage, this bike is no slouch when given some negative gradient. It tracks supremely, turns in perfectly at speed is perfect and its rider weighting and position is balanced and low.

We also found amazing control under hard braking and we just couldn’t bottom the thing out.

Such a compliant rear system with its immense traction is going to need a fork to match it, and the air sprung Totem just couldn’t keep up.

The fork having having 20mm less travel than the rear and the single crown weren’t the issue. A coil Totem would even things out, but an air spring never feels matched against a coil.

That said, this is still a great bike that inspires great confidence.
Frame: bottomless travel from DW link

Carrying the ‘Sunday’ moniker means the bike shares the same frame design as Sam Hill’s world dominating Sunday World Cup bike.

As with all of the Iron Horse Sunday complete bikes, the frame is made in Taiwan rather than the USA. This really has little – if any – detrimental effect on the frame quality, but it does carry a smidgen more weight.

DW links tune the travel path of the rear wheel and the actuation ratio of the shock to eliminate brake jack, pedal feedback and bob, and to give a ‘bottomless’ suspension stroke.

There are three stages of travel. The first stage sees most small bump sensitivity and resistance to pedal-induced bob, thanks to its slightly rearward axle path.

The second stage sees the rear suspension work in unison with fork action, and the final stage sees the leverage ratio ramp up for big hit absorption.

This is all dependant on having the correct sag set-up though, at 33-40 per cent at the shock.

The bike comes stock with Marzocchi’s ROCO World Cup shock.

Frame detail includes a special Max-E bearing with twice the amount of ball bearings for strength and a smooth action, 12mm through axle and a 1.5in head tube.
Equipment: pimped-out but confused

The Park Bike spec has a single crown Totem Solo Air fork, which adds manoeuvrability and versatility, but gives 20mm less travel than at the rear. This does separate it from other Sundays, but seems a little confused on such a race-oriented frame.

The 165mm Funn Hooka cranks, short cage SRAM X-9 mech and racer width 28in bars all point towards downhill racing, as you would expect on a Sunday.

The Horse is reigned in by Avid’s superbly performing Code brakes, running 203mm rotors at head and tail ends.

Then there’s the look of the thing, smothered in gold anodised Funn kit and matching Sun ADD wheels – even Westwood couldn’t pimp this ride any further.

SLX groupset from Shimano

a review by By Guy Kesteven
full review read www.bikeradar.com

There's a real split in current Shimano groups between the punchy feel and styling of XTR and Deore XT, and the more soft focus operation of Deore LX and Deore. No surprise then that the new SLX group brings a lot of Shimano's latest technologies to a mid-price group, while adding several new ideas to the mix too.




So to recap, new SLX is:

* About the same weight as current Deore LX, but with a tougher build, snappier all round performance and much meaner aesthetics.
* Shadow rear mech, sharp shifting two way Rapidfire, Servo Wave braking and 20mm front axle options drop down from Deore XT.
* SLX debuts new 36/22 double chainset and dedicated front mech designs, plus a revised brake lever shape.
* The Shadow rear mech, reinforced 'double strength' crank with polished face mean SLX has the potential to build up as a seriously tough grouptest without destroying your bank balance.
* It's also possibly a hint of things to come higher up the 'extreme groupset' hierarchy later in the year.

The 2008 Ellsworth Moment

from mbaction
$5300

33.3 pounds

6-inch rear wheel travel

Maxi test: February 2008




Highlights: The Moment's frame and its fine attention to detail and craftsmanship grabs your attention and imagination. You find yourself wondering how the prominent four-bar-linkage, all-new Fox DHX 5.0 air shock and Fox 36 Van RC2 will perform (while catching the eyes fellow riders) ripping up the most technical trails. Our Moment test bike is built up with the versatile Shimano XT component group, which is becoming a staple on high-end do-it-all bikes with between four and seven inches of travel.

Best quote: "With a few hundred feet of our very first descent aboard the Moment we knew we were experiencing something special. The combination of suspension stability and traction puts the pilot in complete control, while the all of the bike's moving parts disappear below, allowing the rider to purely focus on the terrain."

Bottom line: Without knowing what to expect from the new Moment, the overall performance was a wonderful surprise. It's unique component spec is perfect for a trail rider who doesn't shy away from any trail obstacle, and is pure enjoyment in the hands of an experienced downhiller. The trail capable Moment is a steady climber, but truly shines on the descents in the corners.

Kona Coilair Supreme

from bikeradar verdict
check also their website here
By Matt Skinner

Kona introduced the air-sprung Coilair a couple of years ago, and for 2007 they extended the line to include a second model, the Supreme. With 160mm (6in) of travel front and rear, the bike is targeted at the aggressive all-mountain rider.

Crucially, Kona have also used their DOPE floating calliper braking arm technology to combat the brake jack that can upset suspension performance under hard braking. But is the extra £205 (or £220 for the 12mm kit) for the DOPE arm worth it for the performance return?




The frame

The Coilair Supreme shares the same frame as the other Coilair and Coilers. Beefed up with a box-profile front end, it uses 7005 aluminium tubing that tapers ovally and curves subtly into the bottom bracket. The steeply sloping top tube gets a pipe brace, and the seat tube is bulge reinforced at the point where it supports the rocker pivot of the rocker-activated single-pivot configuration. The back end also features replaceable quick-release dropouts, although a 12mm bolt-through kit can be added to truly stiffen things up for £56 more (not including a new hub/wheel). A full, uninterrupted seat tube allows the saddle to change from down low for drops to up on high for climbing.

The detail

The bike is decked out with top drawer parts, including a Fox 36 Float RC2 160mm (6in) fork, matched by a Fox DHX Air 5.0 shock. RaceFace supply an Atlas AM X-Type crankset with bashring and an Evolve AM oversize bar and stem combo. The brakes are Shimano hydraulic discs with 180mm (7in) rotors instead of the 203mm (8in) gravity norm. Burly riders might find the limits of the smaller brakes but, for the most part, they're solid.

The ride

A 65.7-degree head angle working with a 70.7-degree seat angle on our 17in test frame, combined with a low 13.7in bottom bracket height, gives the Supreme poise and precision on the trail, making it at home on the tighter, techy stuff as well as North Shore and flowing trails. But at higher speeds over gnarlier terrain it isn't quite so sure-footed. Instead it demands aggression to prevent it getting out of shape and is best suited to riders who come alive in the red mist. Rear end stiffness could be increased for gravity-orientated duties by buying the 12mm bolt through dropouts, because there's noticeable flex at the back when seriously cranking, but for all-mountain convenience, the QR does the job.

Although more at home when things point downwards, the bike is capable of climbing - helped by the shock's ProPedal which reduces pedal bob. And even though the bike (which weighs 16.45kg/36.26lbs) isn't exactly sprightly, it will slowly grind upwards. Which brings us to the DOPE system - it works. It smoothes out brake jack in the rough under heavy braking, but only the fastest riders will truly appreciate its value - and by then they'll be pushing the bike's capability - because at £205 it's not a cheap upgrade.

Trek Bikes Fuel X8 (08) | £1700

BikeRadar verdict
4 out of 5 stars
"Infectious enthusiasm and agility for all-round fun"

By Guy Kesteven
It has the same name and same 120mm of rear travel as the 2007 EX, but otherwise the '08 model is a totally new beast. It's smoother, tighter and adds greater substance to its already proven, playful persona.
Chassis: Angular looks, plenty of mud clearance
The angular egg-timer head tube and trapezoid cross-section tubes add a neat geometric edge to the look of the bike. Trek has given a real edge to the ride, too, with a stiffer 'Evo' rocker linkage removing the 'articulated' aspect of older EXs.

You may have seen the adverts about the new suspension setup. 'ABP' (Advanced Braking Pivot) puts the seat stay/chainstay pivot concentric with the rear axle to minimise brake movement as the suspension moves. 'Full Floater' sits the lower end of the shock on forward extensions of the chainstay, effectively moving it away from the top rocker as it tries to compress it.




It's got a British amount of mud space, too, and the whole bike is open and easy to work on. A new 18.5in size closes the awkward 17.5in to 19.5in gap.
Ride: Light and tight, but back end creaked by end of test
The new EX has shorter stems than its predecessor. This gives a light and eager steering feel that meshes perfectly with the bike's playful character. It's just one of those bikes that's great to hop, pop and skip all over the trail.
The new suspension has a much smoother and more capable mid-stroke feel, with no trace of harsh bottom-out off big stuff. This means you can squat it into corners and fire it out again, and it rolls through square-edged stoppers far better than it used to. There's a bit of 'sting' at the start of high-speed shock loads such as big flat landings, but the payback is a pert pedalling feel that makes the Pro pedal shock lever pretty much redundant.
Overall feel is definitely far tighter than before, with much better tracking precision on off-camber or cross-thread trail sections. There's still a slight tendency for the heavily asymmetric rear end to twang left under power, though, and the back end was starting to creak noticeably by the end of the test. Despite having an extra 10mm of fork travel when compared to some direct competitor bikes, it still felt more cross-country than all-mountain on more challenging descents, too.
Equipment: value plus function
Fox's new damping guts are a big factor in the massive control offered by this type of bike, and the Trek's rear setup showcases them well. The tubeless-ready Bontrager wheels and tyres make it easy to remove weight and add extra suppleness to the ride.
XT/LX kit represents impressive value and function, while the Bontrager Race gear is all good. The saddle was certainly one of the comfiest we've tested, and the seat post now seems to stay in place without titanic torque. The Avid brakes have more than ample power, too.

Summary
Everyone who rode the Trek absolutely loved it for its get-on-and-go enthusiasm and agility. The new suspension has impressive smoothness, the bike ticks all the practicality boxes, kit levels are excellent and there's real potential for a lightweight upgrade. If you're after addictive all-round fun, the EX has to be on your shortlist.


Kesimpulan
Setiap orang yang pakai Trek pasti menyukainya karena gaya antusias nya yang mengajak ayo-naik-dan-pergi dan agility nya. Suspensinya yang baru lembutnya impresif, praktis, level kitnya sangat baik dan berpotensi untuk di upgrade ke komponen yang lebih ringan. Jika kamu mencari barang yang terus-terusan menyenangkan dan bikin ketagihan, masukkan EX dalam daftar.