Sorry, I was being a tad over the top there. I’ll try to be more reasonable this time…
The brakes are rubbish.
My headset was also rubbish. Kept coming loose and seizing up as well.
Gears were ok.
It goes like stink up hills. Good on technical uphills which is my favourite bit of riding.
However when crossing ruts at a very shallow angle (ie almost parallel to the ruts) or going over the edge of stones etc you can really feel the back end squirming to the side. More than I thought it should do.
It goes down easy hills fine but really doesn’t make me want to do anything bouldery or technical downhill. This may just be the long stem and narrow bars, or may just not be the target market for this bike.
eg the top bit of Cavedale was just horrible. Down Jacobs ladder wasn’t much fun. However up the easy side of Jacobs was nice and up from Hollins Cross up the stepped flagstones to Mam Tor was brilliant.
Up – Good
Along – ok
Down – not so good.