Ride Dh

Advantages: exelent value for money, very strong can take some abuse
Disadvantages: the overall bike is quite heavy, and has bad saddle

...I bought the 2005 model Fire Mountain in the beginning of last year. I rode it XC for a good 3 months after purchase. The bike performed well, has a good gear ratio (has capability to go extremely fast, and get up the steepest of hills). But the comfort was not great, especial on longer rides. I found myself having to stop not because I was tiered or out of breath, but because I was in so much pain I had no choice. In the summer I rode some slightly more aggressive terrain dropping of ledges, riding light DH freeride trails the bike seemed to handle it ok. The only part of my bike that didn't was my bars when I stacked it going to fast and bent them. I've gone back to Xcing now and all the components are still going strong. componaents: the fork make this a smooth ride for the price but the adjustability is not efective the disk brake... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Light, strong, perfect
Disadvantages: absolutely nought for my riding style

...Ok, first I should make it clear that although I'm writing an op for the Kona Manomano bike I only actually run the FRAME from the '98 Manomano bike which I picked up while working at my local mountain bike shop a couple of years ago now. The bike had been stripped down for various parts leaving the frame which I snapped up for a fair sum (£450). I now, and have been for the last 2/3 years, running it as a freeride/downhill rig and I have to say, its perfect. As I'm not one for hucking off cliffs and/or houses the 7005 ally structure is quite strong enough and the fox vanilla rear shock provides 3.5" of plush, lovely suspension even when I havent cleaned out the pivot bushings for ages and I've been riding it in British winter weather!? I run it with 5" Stratos FR4 dual-crown forks and various other dh gubbins such as MRP chain... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great all-round capabilities
Disadvantages: perhaps master of none?

...I’ve used the Tioga Factory DH's (26’ x 2.3’) for quiet some time now and I've been pretty pleased with the performance in most conditions. Admittedly, perhaps not king of anything but nevertheless a great 'all rounder' at least competent in all conditions as far as I have experienced and I've done a lot of riding in different places and weather conditions. The knobbles are nice and meaty to ensure plenty of traction both on straights and through the corners. The side knobbles also insure cornering stability and if you do push too hard they are nicely predictable as they slide. Relatively hard wearing so long as you get the good versions rather than the cheap grey market ones... Highly recommended for all round hardcore riding...... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Reasonable good grip
Disadvantages: Weight

...I used this on the rear of my mountain bike a few years ago. Not the greatest, grip is ok however as is puncture resistance. Very heavy tyre however, and the rolling resistance is high, giving a tyre that feels slow and heavy to get going - and slugish to climb. On singletrack it is limited by this too, though the performance does pick up when it is going downhill. Problem is that unless you have an uplift, you are so worn out by dragging the extra weight around the ride that you can't apprciate it on the downhill bits! To be honest, there are far better tyres out there, which are lighter AND grippier. Kendas & Contis would fit into this catagory.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: grippy, hardwearing, puncture resistant
Disadvantages: not so grippy on smooth roads

...I rode trials for almost two year on a single pair of Tioga 2.3 DH tyres and found them to be excellent in almost all conditions. I also rode dirt jumps and the occasional skate park over this period and the only trouble I had with these tyres was that when riding on the road, especially when wet, the wheels had a tendency to spin if the back wheel was unweighted at all. Also due to the huge amount of grip the tyres give they also generate a fair bit of resistance on smooth surfaces, this is not really a criticism as it is the sign of a tyre that will grip well when needed but it does sounds a bit like a swarm of bees chasing you at times. Over the time I rode this tyres I had very few punctures and absolutely no problem with gripping in off road conditions, especially when cornering. As these tyres are very large they also provide... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful