What do you think?
Been looking at one on the sales....
Have an original 2008 140mm Rize 4 of which only the frame & cranks remain.
Everyone thinks their own bike is the dog's and I'm no different but trying to be impartial the Rize/RZ is a definitive trail bike. There is nothing weird about it it just gets on with the job and a lot of people would find it easy and flattering to ride at a good pace on a wide variety of terrain.
But if you are a redline-relax-redline-relax kind of rider, the Rize is not the bike for you. It encourages you to stay seated and constantly pedal while the bike soaks up the terrain, and ridden like this it eats up mile after mile of trail. It's not a bike for ragging around on, out-of-the-saddle aggro or big hitting but it is an excellent heavy-duty marathon bike for doing some serious mileage on.
The carbon seatstays can be a bit twangy when pressing on and under no cicumstances would I attempt to try and change it into a lightweight XC kind of bike but if you're looking for a solid trail bike that makes mincemeat of modern trail centres then the Rize/RZ is the bike for you.
Having had the opportunity to ride a 120 back-to-back with my bike I have to say the longer travel suits the frame and feel of the bike. It is not a short travel bike IMO
I had a wee ride on one in the summer and would echo above comments - ace, nippy handling I thought, and a ride that encouraged sitting and pedalling, while not boring or feeling over biked. It did feel like my ST4 though - the faster you go, the more it 'came alive' and made sense. If I needed a new bike tomorrow, it would be top if the list.
I had one of the first Rize 140 and in the end had the forks reduced to 120mm. Certainly sharpen up the steering somewhat. Other than that, did transwales on it and loads of other marathon type stuff. I ran the rear shock a bit firmer than they suggested as I thought it was a little soggy and generally rode it in pro-pedal mode. Only had to replace the rear bearing once in 12months. Great bike until it got nicked.
I have a 2011 RZ 120 2. The only weakness in the reviews was the heavy tyres - which I agree 100%! It has the basic Black Sharks - which are the best part of 900g each!!! The rest of the bike works really well - Fox front and back works a dream.
With the current reduction to @£1599 this bike is a steal.
Very underrated bike IMO, I've been a big fan since trying a mates almost 2 years ago. Would have got one if I didn't get my nicolai helius cc which rides very similarly but betterer. 🙂
And having just seen the spec of the 2012 bike, I prefer last years too!!!