its funny because the magura forks have been turning on on chainlove lately for less than half of MSRP
any experience on the dt swiss forks?
About "reviews"
- Thread starter ROTFLMAO
- Start date
any experience on the dt swiss forks?
The one Dirt tested was probably spot on. They get sent a fork, they test. It may have even been massaged, like most of the product that magazines test. I've heard that almost all cars that magazines get ahold of to test have been massaged.
Anyway, I had a chance to ride the 2010 Boxxer WC that Dirt received for test. It felt absolutely incredible. Made me buy the fork, but my fork has never felt as good as Dirt's copy. (Still like my WC though.)
Great thread. The subjectiveness of a review is always a factor to me. There are so many variables at work. What's the riders background? Where's he ride? How's his set-up?
A perfect example would be my boss at the shop I part time in. The guy can, and has blown away many people with his skill. Whenever he races, he's top 5 in any expert class, DH or XC. His background was on moto as a kid, then riding XC through the mid 90's. These days, he just doesn't dig what we would call modern mountain bike design. He still prefers really steep geometry, narrow bars, and argues his point home. Can I beat him? Not a chance in the pits of hell...
But, I can see why stuff works for him the way it does. He probably doesn't have the most open mind sometimes, but who cares when he can destroy and plain out-ride anyone who comes in the store or reads an online review.
Sean recently asked me to write about a new bike project I'm starting up. If I do an article about it, I'm going to be very honest about my skill level since I think it's important. If I can swing it, I'm hoping to have some video of me riding said project, so the reader can maybe see it's performance first hand under a sport level rider...
A perfect example would be my boss at the shop I part time in. The guy can, and has blown away many people with his skill. Whenever he races, he's top 5 in any expert class, DH or XC. His background was on moto as a kid, then riding XC through the mid 90's. These days, he just doesn't dig what we would call modern mountain bike design. He still prefers really steep geometry, narrow bars, and argues his point home. Can I beat him? Not a chance in the pits of hell...
But, I can see why stuff works for him the way it does. He probably doesn't have the most open mind sometimes, but who cares when he can destroy and plain out-ride anyone who comes in the store or reads an online review.
Sean recently asked me to write about a new bike project I'm starting up. If I do an article about it, I'm going to be very honest about my skill level since I think it's important. If I can swing it, I'm hoping to have some video of me riding said project, so the reader can maybe see it's performance first hand under a sport level rider...
I like a mix of reviews, as I know they are all biased in some way. A magazine or website might be influenced by pressure, while my fellow riders are influenced by the principle of commitment.
Beleive me, nobody knows this better than me. Thats why I make sure to speak to a number of resources, and every review that gets written for Dropmachine is from multiple sources, if possible. You can speak to stores about how they see the product, see how support is, talk to other riders, etc...That way you get a far more complete picture, and aren't basing your review on a super tuned product that the average consumer won't get.
I write some of the articles for mtbgeartech so I will try to be as honest as possible. I do agree that it is hard to write completely honest things since these companies are giving us a deal but i do try to mention the negatives as well. Its a good idea to put positives and negatives at the bottom. I will start doing that now.
As for the long term reviews: its becoming harder and harder to write those. I have had a few review bikes that the company gave me a deal on and by the time the season was over they had announced a newer model. In one case I hadn't fully built my bike up yet when they released info that it changed. No on really cares about a review on a bike or part that isn't even available to buy anymore.
From now on i'll try to add more pictures, get weights of the parts before the build (hard part cause i get to excited to build it), and even try to get some video if i can ever afford that GoPro.
I need to voice my opinion from the first post though. I don't know what Sean was smoking when he tried Scwhalbe muddy mary's but those tires are awesome ha ha. (i am in no way being forced to say that. I have zero hook up from them)
As for the long term reviews: its becoming harder and harder to write those. I have had a few review bikes that the company gave me a deal on and by the time the season was over they had announced a newer model. In one case I hadn't fully built my bike up yet when they released info that it changed. No on really cares about a review on a bike or part that isn't even available to buy anymore.
From now on i'll try to add more pictures, get weights of the parts before the build (hard part cause i get to excited to build it), and even try to get some video if i can ever afford that GoPro.
I need to voice my opinion from the first post though. I don't know what Sean was smoking when he tried Scwhalbe muddy mary's but those tires are awesome ha ha. (i am in no way being forced to say that. I have zero hook up from them)
Funny you mention the Marys. I saw them sitting in my basement and I thought, hell I throw them on tubeless (NoTubes kit on MTX33s) and give them another go. Filled them up to 38psi to seat the bead, deflated down to 30psi each and went upstairs. About 5 minutes later I thought someone had shot a gun off in my house. Went downstairs to find the back tire blown off with sealant everywhere. While I was checking out the back tire the front tire blew off the rim, splattered sealant all over my face and made me deaf for about 30 seconds.
The gooey gluey compound on the MM and BB was pretty nice but those tires were toast after four days at Snowshoe.
The gooey gluey compound on the MM and BB was pretty nice but those tires were toast after four days at Snowshoe.
I don't ever believe reviews, but this was posted today on vital and is how ALL reviews should be written. Wentz stated who he is, how he rides, his skill level, his affiliations etc. On top of being a thorough review, he mentions the good and bad of the products and defines a winner at the end. Awesome write up. The industry really needs more of this.
http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/feature/Real-Life-Comparison-Vivid-Air-and-Vivid-Coil,32
-KT
http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/feature/Real-Life-Comparison-Vivid-Air-and-Vivid-Coil,32
-KT
That was a great write up. More of a comparison than a review but yes, more of that would be great. Aren't suspension feel and shock adjustments highly rider and bike specific though?
When I read reviews I generally concentrate on the quantitative information that the author provides and try to find small details on the experience that they had while riding with that product. Like Levy said, "what, how and why." Just reading a bunch of "it turns so rad and eats rox" gets old. "It absorbs bumps very well because it has a rearward axle path and the rate of the suspension linkage is blah blah blah. Unfortunately it is also harder to manual and lift the front end compared to some other frames because of the axle path blah blah" is more informative and gives the reader a better idea on the handling characteristics.
If the review tells me that chics will dig me more if I own the product it's over...SOLD!
Yeah that was a very lengthy review on the vivids. I enjoyed them but will admit that i skimmed the coil sections to read about the air. I have owned 2 vivid coils and had both crap out on me within a few rides. I got one warrantied and sold the brand new one they sent me and it crapped out on the first ride. Needless to say, never again...
The vivid air is getting mad hype right now. All the pros running them in DH races and such. It makes me want to try one out. Maybe after i get a good feel for my ccdb i will give one a try.
As for the MM's. I will be running them on 823's tubeless. Have a few friends running them on their bikes right now and they all love them. Mine are the GGC ones so im guessing they will wear out quick. good thing i will have 3 and they will just be on the front
The vivid air is getting mad hype right now. All the pros running them in DH races and such. It makes me want to try one out. Maybe after i get a good feel for my ccdb i will give one a try.
As for the MM's. I will be running them on 823's tubeless. Have a few friends running them on their bikes right now and they all love them. Mine are the GGC ones so im guessing they will wear out quick. good thing i will have 3 and they will just be on the front