Formula Oro 220mm Rotor International Standard Rear Fitting Kit

Advantages: Robust, Shifts cleanly
Disadvantages: Might be a little tricky for novice mechanics to install

...For all the non-cyclists reading this, I bet your first question is going to be "What's a rear mech?" A rear mech is the doobery-wottsit that hangs down at the rear of the bike and moves the chain between different gears, also known as a rear derailleur, although this term isn't used much because nobody ever seems to be able to spell derraileur correctly two times in a row! This one in particular comes from Shimano, who are pretty much the Microsoft of the bicycling (and fishing) world, with most bikes out there having at least one bit of Shimano kit on them these days. Deore LX is what Shimano class as their MTB Enthusiast range, which seems to fit somewhere in the middle of all their kit. I didn't actually buy myself this mech, it came with a bike I bought in 2000. Although this is now two years old, Shimano don't update... Read review

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Advantages: Top quality kit
Disadvantages: Nothing at all

...itself is all well finished to. The welds are pretty big but that's Aluminium for you. Its apparently made from M4 aluminium which is one of Specialized's innovations. This makes it lighter and stronger than previous years models. You also get a replacable rear gear hanger. If you have ever bent one of these then you will know that this is well worth having. FORKS I don't claim to know much about suspension forks, I normally buy them and see how I go. The Rockhopper comes with RockShox Recon 335 SL. I think these are new for this year. I have to say that they ride very well. The action when you hit a tree root is very smooth and a lot better than the forks they fit to the lesser models. They quote 100mm of travel on these forks, again I have to say that I would reckon you could get close to that. Most forks never get close to the full... Read review

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Advantages: QuickQuickQuick
Disadvantages: Frame Colour could be better

...Giant Anthem 2 Price £1400 Frame ALUXX aluminium, Fluid formed, Maestro suspension system 3.5/90mm travel. Fork Rockshock Recon 327 80mm travel. Brakes Avid Juicy 3 hydralic disc, 160mm rotors. Wheels WTB Laser Disc XC rims with Formula hubs. Drivetrain Shimano Deore 27 speed shifters, XT rear mech. Sizes 14.5”, 16”, 18”, 20”, 22”. Color Metallic Team Blue/Aluminium. There are also 4 other bikes in the range. Anthem 1 £1800 Anthem w (Women specific) £1800 Anthem zero £ 2999 Anthem Advanced £4699 There are also two frames Anthem £899 Anthem Advanced £2260 I recently decided to trade up from my specialized FSR Comp, I was looking to buy an specialized stumpjumper or an epic. Both these bikes were available for a trial at my local bike shop so I booked to have a go on them both. While I was there I picked a Giant catalogue up. I... Read review

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