Anyone own a KHS full susser? Remember them from the early 90s where they were solid but not glamourous so seemed to die a death. You can get them direct from KHS now and look OK....
When I went to Chorzow (the place where Ingerland alway play Poland in qualifiers) I saw a bloke on a KHS hardtail. Lovingly neat steel bike. Iftheir FS is as neatly produced, go for it.
You know how some bikes look better in the flesh than the pictures.
Well I took a look at an event at Dalby not so long ago.
Erm, no.
I used to own a Montana Pro steel hardtail made from True temper OX2.
It was absolutely beautifully made and handled spot on. They always used to offer great value for money, so can't see why they still shouldn't.
My LBS has their commuting range in - they seem very well put together etc.
I considered one of their FS bikes previously, but in the end managed to up my budget, so got something else; they do offer good value, but reviews over on MTBR are a bit mixed; They seem to be a bit like RonSeal - "do what is says on the tin", but nothing 'more' unlike some other stuff.
Test ride?
I had a go on a Flagstaff a while back, pretty unimpressed really- it had about 60mm of rear travel which didn't really seem to bring much to the table but weight, which it had enough of already. Pretty ponderous to steer as well. Sure, it was a 29er but they don't have to ride like barges. It did carry speed like a crazy thing but I think that was mainly just the big wheels.