Mountain Bikes > Specialized Mountain Bikes

Advantages: Top quality kit
Disadvantages: Nothing at all

...combine the brakes with the specialized tyres and you have some great control. OTHER BITS FRAME New for 07 M4 manipulated alloy frame, butted ORE DT, disc only, forged dropouts w/ replaceable 98954020 derailleur hanger FORK RockShox Recon 335 SL, 100mm, 32mm alloy stanchions, alloy steerer, disc only, Turn Key damper, lockout w/ rebound adjust, coil spring HEADSET 1 1/8" threadless STEM Specialized 3D forged alloy, four bolt, 31.8mm, 7 degree rise ...
...degree back/6deg upsweep GRIPS Specialized Enduro, dual density, Kraton FRONT BRAKE Avid Juicy 3, hydraulic disc, 6" G2 Clean Sweep rotor REAR BRAKE Avid Juicy 3, hydraulic disc, 6" G2 Clean Sweep rotor BRAKE LEVERS Avid Juicy 3 hydraulic FRONT DERAILLEUR Shimano Deore M-530 REAR DERAILLEUR Shimano XT SHIFT LEVERS Shimano Deore SL M511 CASSETTE Shimano HG-50, 9-speed, 11-34t CHAIN Shimano HG-73, 1/2" x 3/32" w/ missing link CRANKSET Shimano FCM-540, ... Read review

Advantages: Good mulit-tasking bike
Disadvantages: Only supplied with summer tyres and brake system is pain in the neck to service

...kit, of course being a specialized it will be and over the last thousand miles which have been a mix of off roading fun and simple on road commuting i can say this bike is a good mulit tasker. its lock-out suspension makes a world of difference for when you need to climb a hill on the road and when your off road with the lock-out off, provided you have the correct inflation in the suspension its a strong firm ride and you can feel whats happening ...
...surfaces you can feel, etc. now although i rate this bike to be very good, and worth the money like all cycles it has its bad points. the brake system prooves a pain in the neck to bleed, re-fill, etc when your using the hayes bleeding kit, i found that the filling bottle kept braking and this resulted in brake fluid going everywhere! Many people from my cycling club agree that the kit is very bad quality. my other bad point is that the bike only ... Read review

Advantages: Go fast up hill and even faster down
Disadvantages: Can feel abit clunky

Specialized Epic Comp 2007. This bike is owned by my husband, and I recently trialled it as I was upgrading from a Specialized FSR Comp 2006. From reading reviews about this bike it is marketed as a XC race bike, and could be a bit twitchy on the downhill’s. Also knowing the people that I know that ride them they are all very fast and technically competent riders, so when looking into buying this bike I assumed that it would be too difficult for ...
...to me. So on trialling both the stumpjumper and the epic and found that the epic suited me a lot better, I found that it climbed really well due to a more hardtail set up of the bike but I also found that it was really good on the downhill as well. So if you thinking about getting a new bike I definitely recommend considering an epic even if it is not the style of bike you are used to, you could be pleasantly surprised. ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent 2.1 inch knobbly tyres, fantastic brakes
Disadvantages: Slightly heavier than similar spec bikes

This is my first proper mountain bike. As such I was expecting to fall off it every two minutes but no, it has been a relatively gentle introduction in to the muddy and sometimes sideways world of mountainbiking. I have been riding it regularly for the past 4 or 5 months and it's been great. I only got a few tips from my biking friends when I was choosing a bike - make sure you get the right size, get front suspension and get disk brakes (if I could ...
...result got lots of features for not so much money (TOP TIP!) - if you can bear not to have the latest colour this is a great idea! As a beginners mountain bike this is superb - the tyres are fat and grippy, the suspension takes a lot of the trauma out of rough, rocky, rooty and downhill sections, the frame feel solid and the brakes stop you when YOU want them to, not when they choose to. I found out the hard way though - fat, knobbly tyres and a ... Read review

Advantages: Solid Sturdy Frame, great feel, great looks.
Disadvantages: Front Suspension isn't the greatest

...I decided upon the Specialized Hardrock Sport and I have no complaints. Visually the bike looks great, when you have a closer look you can see that it is very well made, the frame and the welding look pretty sturdy to say the least. I know some of the components on the bike aren't the best and I was pre-warned about the front suspension being a bit suspect. The RST Gilla's aren't anything special, however they do the job for me so far at my level ...
...down gravel tracks and I've been quite impressed with the suspension. I have ridden on other bikes with higher priced suspension though and I do agree that if you are into serious off-roading then you would need to upgrade the front fork. The tektro v-brakes are very reassuring, I've had no problems and I feel very confident with these brakes on the bike. For the same price I could have bought a bike with mechanical disk brakes but I've tried these ... Read review