*rolls up sleeves*. There are a few ST4 reviews on here if you search from them, and the one on BikeRadar is from Seb Rogers. I know Seb from the photo course and he definitely tells it like he sees it. He really liked the bike.
Having demo'd it on the W2 trail at Afan back in October, I bought one because
- It was a whole load of fun to ride
- Travel felt "right" for most of the riding I do. Doesn't feel like a short travel FS on the downs, but climbs well, not the lightest frame either.
- Not scary flexy. I'm not good enough to know really, it's certainly wigglier than my HT! and my Pace 405 but it somehow doesn't detract from the fun
- Awesome in the singletrack. Just point it and go. It probably the most "Neutral" bike I've ridden. I don't mean that in a bad way either. It just seems really simple to ride quickly.
- Reminded me of a HT with suspension which probably also sounds like nonsense but I can't think of a better way of describing it.
Downsides?
- Drive side clearance for cranks tight. Some discussion of terrible chainsuck (MBR review) not sure if that was with the older flexier stays. I could see how you'd get the chain stuck between cranks and stay if you did have problems. My Hummer was the same, ended up switching from RF to Shimano and it was fine.
- Expensive, I guess for what it is. Made in the UK tho, so that's got to be worth something.
It's a bike you need to ride to make it fun. I've been lucky enough to own/test a lot of bikes and this is the one that you seem to get the most back from.
Only think I'd say about the Chilterns is - having lived there - if you do get chainsuck, it'd be pretty nasty in all that mud!
