Hey Monkeys,
A good friend of mine is in the market for a first Mountain bike and he's serious about it. He wants to spend from 2000$ to 2500$ CDN. So he came to me to help him out to make the choice.
We narrowed our search to two bikes:
Specialized FSR XC 01 (Pro I think) 2600$
Rocky Mountain Element Race 01, 2300$
What I told him is that the suspension design of the FSR is superior, so it might be a better choice. Also, I own the 2000 model, I love it, and in 2001, Specialized changed all that was wrong with it (Longer top-tube, suspension pivots on bearings, more travel on the rear, etc). I would cut the price a bit by replacing the XTR by XT.
On the other hand, the Element Race is lighter and has much better components (Race-Face everywhere, Z2 Atom, Easton Ultralite tubing, ...), but it has bushing on pivots.
So it's a tough call. I'd like more opinions from my bike-educated monkey friends. Thanks!
What should he buy?
A good friend of mine is in the market for a first Mountain bike and he's serious about it. He wants to spend from 2000$ to 2500$ CDN. So he came to me to help him out to make the choice.
We narrowed our search to two bikes:
Specialized FSR XC 01 (Pro I think) 2600$
Rocky Mountain Element Race 01, 2300$
What I told him is that the suspension design of the FSR is superior, so it might be a better choice. Also, I own the 2000 model, I love it, and in 2001, Specialized changed all that was wrong with it (Longer top-tube, suspension pivots on bearings, more travel on the rear, etc). I would cut the price a bit by replacing the XTR by XT.
On the other hand, the Element Race is lighter and has much better components (Race-Face everywhere, Z2 Atom, Easton Ultralite tubing, ...), but it has bushing on pivots.
So it's a tough call. I'd like more opinions from my bike-educated monkey friends. Thanks!
What should he buy?