Fibrax Hayes - Promax

Advantages: Shape and pressure retention
Disadvantages: Price

..... The feel, weight, flight and aesthetics consistently meet up to expectations and this Pro-max ball will easily meet the requirements of most amateur and semi-professional football clubs. For those of you with a little more cash to burn, then the Mitre Ultimax (careful not to mix with the cheaper Ultimatch) is available. However, I find it very hard to see what further advantage the extra £20 will give you over the already excellent Pro-max.... Read review

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Advantages: Nice to ride, Comfortale, affordable, easy to maintain and built like a tank.
Disadvantages: Rusts quickley and is Very Heavy.

...I have a 1989 Apollo Mayhem MKI which is the original, they made them up until 2002. If you want a hardcore off road bike the this is not for you, as it would shake it's self to pieces. However as a 21 speed road bike it is good. It has a smooth ride, a nice driving position, a nice set of gears (shimano 21 speed grip shifts) which seem to change with out a problem. The Promax V style brakes can stop a bus, They are very good brakes and they do stop you quickly and safely when you need them to. The bike I find very nippy and easy to manoeuvre at high and low speeds, this is a quality that is hard to find in full sized hard-tail mountain bike's. The problems the bike has are few and far between, but. Rust, It rusts very quickly my Mayhem is very rusty (round the handle bars, the bottom of the frame and the rear fork's have badly rusted... Read review

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Advantages: Good Price, Quality Groupset, Reliable
Disadvantages: Poor Fork

...I bought myself a brand spanking new Trek 4500 2004 edition as a foot into the door of mountain biking. Since purchasing the bike I been out on regular offroad expeditions (some of which have punished the bike quite hard, in the lakes & peaks) and my 4500 has stood up very nicely. The groupset is all good quality stuff, deore rear mech & shifters, Alivio front mech - all Mega 9 drivetrain (i.e. 27 gears). The brakes are competent, ok promax affairs however the real problem is the fork. The supplied ROCKSHOX Judy TT is a spring/elastomer fork and whilst its fine for tow path riding and light mountain-biking it really does lack on technical downhill sections. The pre-load adjuster does next to nothing and travel is sticky and unpredictable. However it is better than no fork at all and you can always upgrade! Pretty much all... Read review

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