BOS Vip’R Rear Shock Review

The first air shock from French suspension fanatic BOS is expensive and stiff over the small stuff, but a belter if you’re a big mountain rider. Developed with French DH legend Nico Voullioz, BOS’s Rare coil shock has been a cult item amongst gravity riders. 

The Vip’R is relatively heavy for an air shock but the low-speed compression lever makes a difference for climbing. Even at the minimum setting stiction means a chattery ride over smaller bumps, and it’s hard to detect the subtle position sensitive damping changes the rebound dial makes in the car park too, which makes initial tuning difficult. 

Start pushing hard on the trail and there’s amazing mid stroke support and control. It always looks to be at the same point in travel and seems to drive the bike forward on rolling or rocky sections. Control over larger, faster hits is phenomenal and it rarely bottoms out even at lower pressures. Its performance comes at a cost, but includes custom tuning for your bike and relevant hardware.

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Haro Flightline Comp Review

The long established Haro brand is probably better know for its BMX rigs. The UK distributor doesn’t bring in the complete mountain bike range but the 2011 hardtails look great. As with many of its price rivals, a Flightline Comp can be found for less than its RRP if you’re willing to shop around. That’s a good thing, as it’s up against better-equipped bikes at this price.

The Flightline Comp has a great frame and rides well but we expect to find a better fork than a RockShox Dart at this price. It’s hefty and under-equipped for its RRP, but worth considering if you find one for less.

Ride & handling: Overall trail feel is good

There are lighter bikes available around the £800 mark: its 30lb heft is noticeable in initial acceleration and on climbs. But overall trail feel is good, with only the mediocre fork performance reminding you that rough trails need extra body language when riding on a budget fork. The ride position is well stretched for efficient power transfer on long climbs, the steering is very nicely balanced on even the most technically demanding singletrack and the super-soft saddle and soft compound grips add to trail comfort. A 12in bottom bracket height boosts stability but takes a while to get used to, initially causing pedal/ ground strikes through bumpy corners.

Frame: Nicely designed

The frame has double-butted top, seat and down tubes. Swoopy hydroformed biaxially ovalised shaping to the top and down tubes creates great aesthetics and boosts tracking stiffness, while smooth-welded tube junctures make for a very clean look, flattered by the integral headset and full-outer-cable routing. Standover height is roomy and there are three sets of bottle cage bosses and rack mounts. 

Equipment: Fork and crankset are downgrades

The RockShox Dart 2 fork has decent factory set compression damping, a ‘lockout lever’ that still leaves a small amount of compression and a preload dial to increase the pressure it takes to compress the fork. That’s all fine, and the 100mm of travel is welcome, but skinny stanchions contribute to noticeable flex, especially when braking hard on bumpy terrain.

The drivetrain package starts well, with an XT rear gear matched to Deore up front and Deore shifters, but a steel ringed square taper-axled bottom bracket Truvativ crankset, while it works well enough, is a downgrade compared to a lot of other bikes we’ve seen around this price. While there’s nothing actually wrong with it - the bottom bracket will actually cost less to replace than some higher spec units - you’d save weight and get more drivetrain stiffness on better units.

Basic Shimano hydraulic disc brakes take a few rides to bed in but they have enough power to suit all but the most demanding riders. The WTB-rimmed wheels are tough enough and Kenda’s Kadre treads roll fast and grip well in the dry but clog in sticky mud. No complaints about Haro’s own brand Pivit finishing kit though. The 25in riser bars are a good happy medium between wide riser bars that are great for extra control off road and narrower straight bars that are probably better if lots of your miles are on the road. The Haro Race saddle is a good compromise too, slimline but supportive and comfy.

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Argon 18 Krypton review

The Krypton frame has been designed around Argon 18’s Horizontal Dual System (HDS) concept: imagine a diagonal line from the top of the head-tube to the rear dropouts – everything below this is designed with maximum rigidity and stiffness for power transfer and handling, while everything above should be more flexible (vertically) to improve comfort. 

It also has Argon 18’s 3D head-tube, which replaces standard headset spacers with threaded ones that match the head-tube diameter. rather than adding spacers above the headset’s top-bearing race, you screw them in below, effectively extending the head-tube. It should be better for headset bearing life and stress the fork less.

Get the bike out on the road and the front end feels sharp, direct and quick to respond. The same can be said about the whole bike. Out-of-the-saddle efforts are instantly rewarded, with no movement or flex, backed up by Fulcrum’s excellent Racing 5 wheels. These might not be the lightest wheels around but for the price we’d recommend them. They’re hardwearing, smooth rolling and have stayed true. The build also features the excellent 3T Ergosum/ARX Pro bar stem combo and Continental’s dependable 24mm GP tyres, as well as the carbon Campagnolo Centaur groupset.

Where the bike’s impressive control really comes into play is on more technical descents. It revels in fast, tight bends and switchbacks, with a great point and shoot nature. It certainly doesn’t do all the work for you though; it took some time to adapt to the evenly balanced, rigid feel. Sticking the Krypton into a corner at bigger lean angles requires faith and courage but the more you throw it over, the keener it feels. 

On the flat it feels ruthlessly efficient, positive and powerful, so we were a little surprised it doesn’t feel quite so great on the climbs. It isn’t sluggish, it just feels neutral. But it does a great job of keeping any vibrations at bay, making for a smooth overall ride and coping with rough, scarred surfaces well. If you’re looking for a bike with great handling and truly efficient performance, this should be high on your list of potentials.

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Contour+ helmet camera – First ride review

The Full HD Contour+ has the best picture quality of any helmet cam we've tested but it's let down by poorly designed mounts and it's very expensive. It uses the same sleek brushed-alloy and plastic body as its predescessor, the ContourGPS, but this time with a smart raw finish and a wider angle lens (170 vs 135°). 

There's a large sliding 'record' button up top, which is easy to operate with gloved hands, along with a rotating lens so you can mount the camera at different angles. There's no screen but you can connect the Contour+ to your iPhone or Android mobile via Bluetooth and use your phone as a viewfinder, after downloading Contour's app. We tried this on both types of smartphone and found it works well. It's not as convenient as a built-in screen though, and we found it often takes a few tries to get the connection working. Another selling point of the Contour+ is the built-in GPS receiver, which tracks your filming location, speed and altitude, and can then display this information alongside your footage on your home computer using Contour's Storyteller software.

This too works well enough – see our review of the ContourGPS for more on this – but it isn't a feature that we found particularly useful. It can be turned off to save battery life but we'd rather Contour ditched it altogether and brought the price down a bit. The microphone jack is a good idea, though, and the HDMI output means you can watch your footage on your TV.

All of these ports are hidden under a flap at the back of the camera, along with the microSD card slot and Mini USB battery charge point. This doesn't seem particularly well sealed and, while we didn't have any problems during our three-week test period, we'd question how well it would stand up to prolonged rain. (A waterproof case is available separately for £42.99, and Contour are about to launch a new waterproof helmet cam.)

When it comes to filming quality, we've no complaints. The Contour offers a 60 frames per second 'Action HD' mode at 1,280 x 720 pixels, plus 'Tall HD' (1,280 x 960, 30fps), 'Original HD' (1,280 x 720, 30fps) and stills (5MP) modes. However, most of the time we left it on the 1,920 x 1,080 / 30fps 'Full HD' setting.

The resulting footage takes up quite a bit of memory so you'll need to swap the supplied 2GB card for something larger. Our replacement 8GB card was ideal, with space for around an hour of footage, by which time the battery was starting to run out anyway.

Image quality is excellent, with a crisp look that easily outdoes the Contour's peers. The Contour+ handles transitions from open fields to dark woodland well and offers faithful colour reproduction. Testing took in everything from dank British woodland to sun-drenched hillsides in the Alps, and the camera handled everything with aplomb, once we'd sorted out a decent mount.

And that's our main beef with the Contour+: the mounts. We tested Contour's Vented Helmet Mount (£16.99/$19.99) earlier this year with the ContourGPS and weren't impressed, finding that the tilt feature built into its base resulted in unacceptable levels of play unless we resorted to home-made bodges. This time, we thought we'd give the XL Handlebar Mount (available separately for £24.99/$29.99) and Rotating Flat Surface Mount (two are included with the camera) a go.

Play wasn't an issue with the former, but we found that no matter how hard we tightened it, the camera would tend to come lose during the course of each ride and end up tilting over. Mounted on a downhill bike, we found that vibrations through the bar also had a tendency to make the lens rotate, again resulting in a wonky picture. On top of this we had the same problem experienced with any bar-mounted camera: constant steering inputs by the rider result in a shaky picture. The Rotating Mount fared better. We attached it to a Fox V3R downhill lid with trepidation, expecting the glue to become unstuck at any moment and send the camera hurtling to the ground or, worse, into our face. But much to our relief, it remained affixed, even when wrenching on the camera to remove it for charging. In fact, it's still stuck solid now and we have no idea how to get it off.

While the connection between mount and helmet is solid, there's still a bit of play between the mount and the camera, even when it's locked in place; not enough to make the footage unwatchable but enough to cause unwanted shake. This would be easy enough to sort out with some creative use of foam but again, homemade bodges shouldn't be needed with a £500 camera.

It's a shame, because in every other respect the Contour+ is impressive. If Contour could sort out a decent mount, they'd be onto a winner. As it is, rival cameras with better mounts are available for a couple of hundred pounds less. The Contour+ is available in the UK through Ultra Sport Europe.

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Mongoose Fireball Review

Like GT, Mongoose are a brand with a deep BMX heritage, which shows in their hardcore MTBs. The Fireball might be low on their jump bike menu, but it still packs an excellent frame and highlighted componentry pack for a confident kick-ass ride on dirt, street or wherever else you take it.

Frame

You're certainly getting a great frame for your money here as it's the same frame as the top line Hardball. The big square headed main tubes get an embossed Mongoose logo for extra pimp appeal, and there's a neat shallow gusset underneath the thick wall head tube. The flat-topped top tube drops away steeply for maximum crotch clearance, with a seatpost quick release for easy height adjustment. The monster block profile seatstays run almost parallel down to the back wheel, while even deeper rectangular chainstays link to the bottom bracket with solid slab sections and welded pipe bridges. The real winning details on this frame are the massive open box horizontal dropouts. These come complete with neat screw-adjusted wheel carriers that also hold the rear mech plate.

The Fireball is perfect for use as a single gear set-up, and slotted brake mounts also mean easy alignment on either geared or singlespeed set-ups should you decide to upgrade to discs at a later date. Cable/hose mounts for discs are all present and correct, although the above top tube routing carries a small risk of catching your feet if you don't 'step through' high enough. The frame certainly has all-the-way upgrade potential as your riding progresses.

Ride

It's quickly obvious that the Fireball is slightly weightier than the other bikes here, but that translates into a fantastic feeling of total security in sketchy ground situations and reassuring stability in the air. It has no trouble getting every bit of drive you can supply through to the back wheel either, and it kicks hard off start lines or out of corners. The high bottom bracket also lets you get the power down even when you're right over in a turn.

This does show up the slight fork and wheel flex when you're powering hard with the front wheel on the floor, but otherwise it's a very accurate and sure-footed ride. The fork was also better than the GT's over rough singletrack, ungroomed trails and street sections, with the extra 20mm smoothing out step edges and roots alike, and there's no excess bounce or top-out/bottom-out clunk, which helps underline the confident and trustworthy feel of the bike.

Handling angles and weight distribution are excellent, with the compact top tube letting you really throw your weight around in the air or on the ground. Over-sized bars keep you fully informed of what's going on at ground level and the same is true of the massive rear stays; don't expect any cushy comfort from them if you decide to head out on a longer ride though.

The Mongoose Fireball is ideally equipped for shorter, more aggro adventures. The frame is premium quality and apart from the weather sensitive V-brakes and slightly baggy wheels on our test rig, there are no obvious weak links anywhere in the spec, despite the price tag.

Take it down the jump trails, grind and drop round town, huck the local Shore or DH spot, or just play around on whatever terrain you fancy, and the Fireball will feel grounded and fun. While it might be a little heavy out of the box, it's certainly worth upgrading all the way up to Eric Carter pro race spec with better forks and brakes.

Equipment

The good thing about this package is that there's nothing crying out for an immediate change. It's the only bike of the four with V-brakes, but unless your rims are rolling through muck constantly, they actually feel sharper than most cable discs.The wheels are ready to take discs anyway, though they did feel slightly baggy under real stress compared to the ultra-stiff frame, but the genuine Stick E compound Kenda tyres add masses of cornering confidence and all-round grip. Again, a bolted rear wheel gives security at the expense of convenience.

The stiff Mongoose-branded oversize cockpit also delivers plenty of clear pilot information, and the saddle and seatpost are equally fine. The Truvativ Ruktion double ring and bashguard cranks, with reinforced external bearing Howitzer bottom bracket, are ideal for this kind of hard usage bike. We weren't that fond of the forked lever SRAM shifters, but the short cage of the Suntour mech reduced chain rattle, a nice touch.

Suntour Duro forks give reliable, if basic, shock absorption, but the slight extra leg length of these 100mm travel units means a more flexy feel than the 80mm version on the GT. Again, the super stiff frame tends to emphasise that. You get a bottle cage mount for thirst quenching between runs too.

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Mongoose Salvo Sport review

Mongoose’s three bike entry-level Salvo suspension line starts with the Sport here, but the same frame and cockpit are used on the £999 Elite model. It’s these basics that make the Salvo one of the better riding bikes at this price point, despite a slow rear shock and our limited love for the front fork.

Ride & handling: Balanced handling for off-road fun

The size specific cockpit dimensions are pretty much spot on for cross-country/trail use. It's this combination of reasonable length (rather than over-long) stem and decent width bars, you notice straight away compared to the Salvo's peers. While the angles of the frame itself are relatively steep and the tyres slippery, there’s far more leverage and authority in your hands with which to control them. There’s decent communication of what traction there is through both ends too, so while softer compound  tyres are an obvious upgrade, you can at least make the most of the Kendas that are fitted until you’ve got some spare cash.

While cable stretch and cam flex means you can’t use immediate bites of brake to steady and steer the Salvo, there’s decent power after the initial pause. As usual on cheap full suspension bikes, the basic Suntour fork has a pogo stick-style rebound and harsh top-out clank when lifted or launched. The actual absorbing action is reasonably plush and smooth though, with a reasonable spring weight for less aggressive riders and a controlled bottom out bump.

The extra stroke of the 190mm long KS shock lets it suck up bumps and fair sized drops in a controlled manner too. Being able to drop the saddle right down also helps when you want to drop into steep trails or off of edges.  The non-adjustable rear shock rebound is very slow though so it soon packs down and gets overwhelmed on multiple hits and stepped descents.

With the bike’s hefty weight making pedalling a real chore whatever the shock setting, the 120 to 95mm switch is largely redundant and has the potential to become a real rattle-and-shake weak spot as the bike gets older. The overall ride is still much more controlled and capable than that of many other budget full suspension bikes. Despite limitations you could have a lot of fun on reasonably challenging trails if you’re patient on the climbs.

Frame: Well made, with floating shock mount

The Salvo chassis certainly scores well on ‘proper bike’ points. The head tube is oversized and ring reinforced to take a clean-looking ‘zero stack’ headset. The down tube and top tube both have a subtle curve – the down tube to allow for fork-top clearance, and the top tube to allow shorts-contents clearance – and they taper and change section type along their length too.

The rocker link pivots have pop-on rubber caps to cover the bearings and the whole back end is admirably stiff. That’s despite a slot in the rocker to let you slide the quick-release lever secured seatstays from a 95 to 120mm (3.7 to 4.7in) travel position without altering geometry. Forged seatstay and chainstay bridges give plenty of tyre space.

The asymmetric chainstay terminals continue forward past the main pivot to provide a ‘floating’ mount for the bottom of the long coil shock. The seat collar is quick-release for dropping it right down easily and there are mounts for a bottle. The plastic clips under the top tube for rear gear cable and brake hose are absolutely crap though, so ziptie them shut before you start riding.

Equipment: Well-specced for the price

Speccing a budget suspension bike is always going to be a case of carefully balanced compromise at best, but the Salvo Sport is reasonably – if not outstandingly – rigged for the price. The Suntour fork might have a clanging top out but it’s reasonably smooth in terms of bump response. The KS coil shock obviously benefits from more stroke to better suck up impacts than the units seen on the Salvo's peers. 

The D section Alex disc wheels are sturdy enough and the tyres are something close to a useful tread, although plasticky rubber compound still makes them very dicey on wet wood and rocks. Quick-release axles front and rear enable easy car loading and puncture repair though. As ever, the cable discs lack the immediacy and sharp control of hydraulic brakes, but deliver reasonable all-weather power eventually. SRAM and Shimano gears with ‘proper’ trigger shifters are a definite bonus in terms of precision and shift speed, although the Suntour chainset doesn’t have replaceable chainrings. The saddle is decent quality, too.

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Muddy Fox Reflex review

Muddy Fox were one of the first big MTB brands in Britain over 20 years ago, but now they concentrate on the value end of the market. The Reflex is a good-looking bike with more control than most of its peers and some decent gear for its current reduced selling price too.

Ride & handling: Suspension is limited and adds little control but is generally clank-free

The Reflex’s low weight, relative to other budget options, is obvious in the way it picks up speed as well as when you get to any stiles or gates on the trail. It’s simply a lot less effort to propel forward than other similarly priced bikes which leaves a smile on your face for longer. Add something close to tangible traction from the Maiden tyres and it actually lets you go on the offensive on short climbs rather than just stalling straight away. 

The relatively stiff rear spring means it’s not a pogo stick either. There’s a definite loping gait if your pedalling rhythm syncs with the spring motion, but there’s not enough movement to really upset things. Critically the rear shock bounces off the stops at either end without sounding and feeling like someone’s just hit the bike with a sledgehammer. Whether it ever adds any control or comfort is a moot point, but at least it doesn’t make it worse than a hardtail, which is a rare credit in budget bouncer tests. 

The same is true of the front end too. Again the 50mm travel from the front fork feels more like squashing cheap bread than recognisable damping but the grease smears show you’re getting 50mm of movement to show your mates. Bottom out isn’t too brutal and it only tops out with a clang if you pop a wheelie or launch it off a (small) drop. There is a massive amount of twist in the fork thanks to the skinny legs and simple hoop brace. That means you’d probably be very wise to follow the ‘No stunting or jumping’ advice printed on the yellow warning sticker on the frame. Keep it on the ground though, and it will go vaguely where you point it most of the time. There’s not exactly much leverage coming from the narrow (600mm) bars anyway, so steering is best treated as a suggestion rather than  a detailed demand.

Frame: Small frame sizing needs careful checking

The alloy frame certainly looks the real deal, with shaping of both ends of the top tube giving a contemporary hydroformed look. The down tube is curved at the top and changes shape to a flat rectangle at the bottom bracket for decent stiffness at the pedalling centre. The main pivot is built into the rear of the bottom bracket block too, with a wide stance giving a reasonably stiff back end once we’d done the slightly loose rear pivot bolts up. 

The fact it has rear pivots – and a swing link at the back of the shock – is a big step up for the £200 price category though, as most bikes under £500 are just simple swingarm designs of one sort or the other. It doesn’t make a massive difference in actual suspension terms, because the rear pivots are on the seat stays not the chainstays so they don’t alter the axle path, but it certainly makes the Reflex look pukka. The lazy wound coil of the rear shock also works in a constipated but clunk-free manner. 

The frame has the mounts and cable guides ready to take a rear disc brake and there’s adequate mud room if you fit bigger tyres too.  Make sure you check sizing before you buy though – our 18in frame was tiny, with a short seatpost, which meant that we couldn’t get near proper pedalling height.

Equipment: Shimano gears are reasonably smooth

Muddy Fox have managed to put some decent gears on the Reflex. Acera and Tourney might be right at the bottom of the Shimano range, but at least they’re Shimano, and rear shifts from the Revo shift twist shifters are surprisingly light and crisp. The front chainset isn’t so slick though and you’ll really have to back off the pressure to swap rings so plan ahead on climbs. 

The V-brakes are metal at the lever and the wheel end which means a positive bite and adequate control as long as the rims are dry. While Maiden isn’t a tyre brand we’ve used before, the tread pattern on them popped its cherry about 20 years ago as the Tioga Pyscho. Even in a cheap plasticky compound, it still grips better than the tyres typically fitted on similar bikes, although we still needed to take care when riding them over wet roots or rocks. 

The alloy bar, stem and seatpost with a proper clamp, holding a proper shaped saddle rather than a sofa on a stick are a big bonus too. Not just from a cosmetic and reduced-rattle comfort aspect, but also because they help to keep the Reflex's weight down.

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Specialized Tarmac Pro SL3 Review

Specialized’s super light Tarmac S-Works has dominated the climbing stages of the Tour de France since it appeared. The SL3 uses the same shape in a slightly downgraded material, but proves it’s got morale-boosting moral fibre when the roads get mountainous.

Specialized’s second-tier Tarmac isn’t as light or power responsive as true top-end, sub 7kg superbikes, with flexy wheels and bars undermining flat-out race focus on technical roads. Where it shines is by combining a racy ride position with a smooth and energy-conserving ride that will make a lot of comfort-oriented ‘sportive’ bikes very jealous, and a lot of longer distance cyclists very happy.

Ride & handling: Smooth and energy-conserving

The first impression was a very friendly welcome. All the contact points were where more competitive riders would expect them to be, reach was just right and while not everyone was a fan of the Specialized bar shape, we all felt at home on the Tarmac. Press on the carbon-armed FACT Pro cranks smoothly and it squeezes forwards with minimum effort and a springy sense of buoyancy. There’s a thoroughbred glide between pedal strokes or into and out of corners that helps you purr along feeling properly luxurious. The positive plush effect of the Body Geometry Romin saddle and Zertz seatpost is also clear in the firmer ride out of the saddle. Even after a headline hilly hundred-miler dales session, our Tarmac rider was fresher and less road weary than those on other bikes. 

The handling is well measured thanks to the ride position, which places body weight through tyres without being overly belligerent. The softer ride seems to squeeze more traction out of the tyres through corners and on super-steep climbs with less wheel slip, despite rubber that’s average rather than outstanding. This cosseting comfort does come at a price. In pin-sharp feedback and strong-arm steering response, the Tarmac is far softer than we'd like, with twist and flex from Specialized's own-brand bars and Roval wheels when you start pushing hard.

Most of the time it’s just a case of choosing a broader, more approximate line or trusting rather than feeling the tyres, but a couple of times it did twang out of shape and threaten to high-side us coming through twisty descents. The higher wheel weight makes it feel sluggish, and while power delivery and drive stiffness is OK, it’s not up to the rock solid standard of other superbikes.

Frame & forks: Get down to serious race business

With the Roubaix family taking care of sit-up-and-beg comfort bike duties the Tarmac can get down to serious race business. A relatively short stack height on the tapered 1.125-1.5in headset naturally encourages an attacking position, and there’s plenty of stretch in the curved, rectangular top tube. The down tube swells subtly towards the deep full-width bottom bracket section, which swallows oversized press fit crank bearings ahead of deep but tapering chainstays.

While the SL3 uses a different carbon-fibre grade to the top dollar S-Works, you still get the same internally ribbed head tube and bottom bracket, plus hollow dropouts and headset cups as the team bikes. The seat tube tapers from a wide base up to a skinny 27.2mm seatpost complete with a ‘Zertz’ shock damping jelly insert and the seatstays are skinny pencil-style tubes with a slight curve adding to their intentional spring effect on the ride. Still, the frame is over the kilo weight mark, and the fork isn’t that light either.

It’s hard to fault Specialized in terms of their selling experience though and the specially trained Body Geometry Fit advisors working in most Specialized dealers can properly fine-tune your ergonomics.

Equipment: Specialized’s own brand kit

Another bit of unique Specialized syncing is the colour coordinated carbon-armed FACT Pro crank – an impressively light piece of kit that also feels pretty stiff underfoot, even when the gradient overwhelms your gears. Full-size chainrings mean you are going to man up on some of the UK’s steeper Tarmac slopes though, even with a big 28-tooth bottom cog at the back. Gears and shifters are top-end Shimano Dura-Ace, although there’s a downgrade to Ultegra on the brakes, chain and cassette to sneak it under £4,000. 

The wheels are Specialized’s Roval own brand and despite low flange, carbon centre front hubs, they’re relatively heavy in terms of this test. Specialized bars are very flexy and the ‘classic’ rounded shape didn’t agree with everyone. The rest of the Specialized kit is nicely shaped, with an angle adjustable shim inside the stem, making fine tuning without shifting spacers easy. The minimalist flat-topped Romin saddle got a lot of positive comfort comments from our test team too, particularly on longer rides where the skinny shock-damped Zertz post also comes into play. 

Source: www.bikeradar.com

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