Latest Reviews of Mountain Bikes & Parts

Avid X0 Trail Hydraulic Disc Brake Set

“Avid X0 Trail Brakeset Review”

The Good: Efficient braking; low lever input with high stopping power

The Bad: Not a deal breaker by any means, but set up time requires setting pads for desired lever throw.

Overall Review: With SRAM releasing a full line of “Trail” specific brakes it’s about time for some feedback on the X0 Trail brakes that were released last year. The X0 Trail brake is aimed at the Enduro, all-mountain market and utilizes a 4-piston dual-diameter caliper. What’s unique about their design is the piston sizing, with the leading pistons being smaller than the trailing pistons. This allows the smaller piston to engage the pad first creating a “toed” engagement, resulting in more modulation at the lever. Another update over the X0 Elixirs is a redesigned TaperBore master cylinder.I installed these brakes Read More »

Maxxis Ardent Tire

“Excellent All-Terrain Tire”

The Good: Fast, predictable and holds a line

The Bad: Packs in debris a bit, but wide enough spacing to shed most of it

Overall Review: For a full on knobby tire, the Ardents (2.25" size)are definitely fast and transition from edge to edge quickly. I've ridden these on everything from dry hardpack to saturated moist soil and everything in between and the Ardents keep on digging in and gathering traction. The center row is fast and effective and offers great grip when climbing. The side knobs offer a great amount of cornering grip and never leave you wanting more. The transition knobs are spaced wide enough to allow a firm bite into the terrain and don't allow the tire to pack in debris too much. If the transision knobs were closer together, they would pack in Read More »

Giro Rivet Glove '11

“Great minimalist gloves for hot summer rides.”

The Good: Very light weight
Minimalist
Breathable
Quality construction
Silicon finger tip print provides grip on brake levers on wet rides
No padding enables more control
Looks better than gloves with too much protection

The Bad: No padding can be bad for some
Silicon finger tip print does wear out Does not offer much protection against tree branches, etc

Overall Review: One would expect quality gloves from one the best helmet manufacturers in the world. Your expectations will be confirmed with these gloves. Although the Rivet pictured is the older 2011 version, the new version still shares a lot of the same features this has that make it so great.Firstly, these are one of the best gloves I wore for long, hot summer rides. Although not as tough as some other gloves out there, these are easier to live with. Lightweight, breathable construction with lots of vents keep your hands cool. Silicon finger tip print enhances grip on wet rides and a fixed, pull on cuff design makes for a slimmer Read More »

SR Suntour Epicon-X1 LO-RC 26 Fork

Vital Review

“Tested: SR Suntour Epicon-X1 LO-RC Fork”

Review by Evan Turpen // Photos by Brandon TurmanSR Suntour has been making a steady and consistent push into the high-performance suspension market. More recently they’ve introduced many products with a plethora of advanced adjustments and features similar to what can be found on the other leading suspension manufacturers.Our test fork, the Epicon-X1 LO-RC, came with external low-speed compression, rebound, lockout, and air pressure adjustments, as well as internal travel adjustments. These are all features that are nice to see, but also expected on an all-mountain/cross-country fork that retails for $599. Read More »

Shimano Zee RD-M640 Rear Derailleur

“Zee right derailleur?”

C138_2013_shimano_zee_shadow_plus_rear_derailleur01

The Good: Low cost, clutch, black, strong. Great warranty service.

The Bad: Clutch is finicky and fragile. Replacement parts? Good luck.

Overall Review: I traded a warrantied XTR shadow+ derailleur, new in box, for the ZEE, because it was cheap. I chose the ZEE specifically because it has a steel backplate in place of the aluminum one which lives on the XTR. This aluminum backplate turned out have a significant weak spot, which I broke. I figured that due to this key difference, the ZEE would have a fighting chance.I mounted up the ZEE on my G-Spot, with a 11-36 cassette and an MRP Mini Guide. Things were great, the clutch was effective, the chain was silent. After four months, the clutch started weakening in strength, and effectiveness. I popped off the clutch Read More »

DMR Brendog Vault Pedals

Vital Review

“Tested: DMR Brendog Vault Pedals”

by Steve WentzYou must know someone like this... a twenty or thirty something woman who just loooooves her shoe collection? She’s got the red ones, the black platforms, the animal print whatevers that look like they belong in the red light district, and 20 others. I really don’t see the need for all those shoes. Logic would say you can only ever wear one pair at a time, and in my mind more than the basics would just be clutter and overindulgence. In the end, we’ve all got our vices. I happen to love flat pedals.My addiction to nice flat pedals got to be so bad that at one point a couple friends and I became the Read More »

Deity Decoy 2.5 Flat Pedal

“Hulk SMASH!”

The Good: Super strong! Long lasting. Grippier than all hell!

The Bad: They could be a tad wider for catching the bike on tricks, but that's if I'm gonna nit-pick.

Overall Review: Very durable, I've ridden these pedals for a few years now on my dirt jumper and some on my DH. They've lasted through some tough bails at the skate park, many days at the dirt jumps and out on the trail. Hell, they even survived being hit by a car (rear ended, smashed my e13 LG1r cranks up)! I rode a pair of these briefly on my DH bike and they took the constant beating of rocks and roots, only loosing two pins the whole season. The reason I took them off my DH rig was being a weight wienie I wanted the new HT flats. The red ano has lasted the test of time (2 years) and the spindles are strait and they still spin like Read More »

Shimano M640 Zee Hydraulic Disc Brakes

“Affordable and really, really good”

The Good: After using Avid´s for serveral years and switched to shimano zee and was a fan right after the first ride. Predictable, lot´s of power, good levers, easy to find the right dose of braking, good pricing on rotors and pads' ...bleeding is a piece of cake :-) Updated:
so far - no fading

The Bad: the mount for the handlebar is very "solid", but it works well and holds everyhting in place

Overall Review: get one, put in on your bike and never worry about braking againconsidering the price and what you get, I would definitly say it´s worth five starsUpdate:I gave the brakes a solid 4h hours in Leogang and went down the freeride, downhill and bingo bongo trail´s. The brakes worked very well. Braking-power is predictable and it is easy to find the right dose. In "scary" moments the brakes really help to get out of the situations without a crash.After some runs on the downhill there was no fading and on some parts the brakes had to do a lot of work as it was my first day on the donwhill in 2013. I haven´t changed my mind and would recommend the brakes.

Canfield Brothers Crampon Ultimate Pedal

“Great pedals for the price”

The Good: Lightweight / Thin
Price
Great grips

The Bad: Pins need Loctite
Will rip your shins up
Bearings / Bushings don't seem that great

Overall Review: These pedals are incredibly thin, reasonably light, and come in at a great price point. They hold on to your feet really well, but allow you to adjust easily when needed. I've found that I climb just as fast with these pedals as with clips because you can pull up so far into the pedal stroke.The badness: the bearings or bushings don't seem like they're sealed that well and have developed a small amount of play in a relatively short amount of time. They also don't spin as freely as I would have hoped. Be warned tho, you need to Loctite the pins in place. I probably lost half of the pins in the first two rides and didn't have any pedal strikes. Luckily Canfield supplies you with extra pins so it wasn't that big of a deal.Great pedals, love the color, still using them on several different bikes.

Straitline SC Platform Pedal

“Benchmark for durability”

The Good: Durable, super easy to service, bombproof

The Bad: Price, not super thin, weight

Overall Review: Some say they drag because they run on bushings rather then bearings, this is almost not noticeable. I have run them dh and enduro for three years and never been bothered with this. Maybe serviced them once a year or even less, no play and very little friction. Also I do not grease them as other reviewers have mentioned as the bushings are self lubricant. They are basically fit and forget.