Specialized FSR or Pitch

dickydulux

Hi,
I'm looking for a "Jack of all trades" full susser. I've got a grand to spend, so I thought of the FSR xc Comp or the Pitch Comp.

The bikes got to be light enough for 5 hour trailquests but also cope with FTD at Cannock.
I also want to do abit of xc racing.
Is there much difference between the two bikes?

WMB gave the FSR a good write up apart from the forks, but there has been some negative views on it not standing up to UK conditions.

Anybody got any views on these two or should I check out another brand?

Cheers

Daz555

Pitch is all mountain - heavier and stonger. FSRxc is an all-round trail bike, lighter, but obviously not as strong as the Pitch.

As for the FSRxc - not sure what's wrong with the forks. Even the base model comes with Toras and they are excellent forks for the money. I'd be interested to hear what was said about it not being suitable for UK conditions do you have a link?

Either way, both bikes are superb and have received rave reviews from just about everyone. I went for an FSRxc Comp and I can whole-heartedly recommend it as a top top trail bike.

BoardinBob

The fork on my 09 FSR XC Comp is pretty bad. I've got the large frame which has a "Stiff" spring in the fork (smaller sizes have medium stiffness springs)

I'm getting 70mm out of a supposed 120mm travel and the rebound is problematic with the forks failing to rebound smoothly after they've been compressed and you need to coax them the last 10-20mm.

Someone over on STW has been experiencing the same problem and they've just had a medium spring fitted which seems to have cured the problem. I suspect it may be a bad batch of forks as not all users are reporting the same problems.

BoardinBob

With regards to the FSR vs the Pitch, they both use the same M4 alloy in the frames. I've had both bikes side by side and the rocker linkage appears to be the only visual difference between the frames. Unless the tube walls are thicker on the Pitch they may well use the exact same frame.

supersonic

Toras are generally fine, though a couple seem to be quite tight out of the box.

As for your main question, from what I gather, FTD is quite a smooth track, not nneding a bike like the Pitch. I would say the FSR XC suits your requirements better.

Daz555

BoardinBob wrote:

Someone over on STW has been experiencing the same problem and they've just had a medium spring fitted which seems to have cured the problem. I suspect it may be a bad batch of forks as not all users are reporting the same problems.

You could be right. The Tora on my FSRxc Comp (medium) is excellent.

Probably best to get yours swapped under warranty.

Steve_b77

FSR XC is the only choice if you're considering XC races.

Pitch is a touch on teh burly/heavy side

Colzer1

hard choice and one I have been pondering over myself.

for me though I would probably go for the FSR. it just depends on what type of terrain you ride

turbodog

I am not sure if you can consider Pitch Pro now. It is difficult to find them.

.blitz

dickydulux wrote:

The bikes got to be light enough for 5 hour trailquests but also cope with FTD at Cannock.
I also want to do abit of xc racing.

You are looking at very different types of riding. A Pitch would be completely OTT for FtD unless you're thinking of carving your own trail between the trees, it is way too burly for XC racing and they are difficult to get hold of at the moment. Having said that, they are a blast to ride and if your priority is to have fun on the trails, I say get one.

dickydulux

Hi
Thanks for the replys. Looks like the FSR xc comp is the one for me to opt for.

It's just the forks putting me off at the moment. Would of loved to have some Fox shocks on it, really gone off Rockshox.

On my Scott Scale 50 '08, have basic Rockshox, they have been in and out Leisurelakes' workshop - only getting 50mm of travel from 100mm forks. Yet they say there working fine. I've moaned about this before on the forum! :x

For Daz555 can't find the review I read last night, thought it was on the Bike radar site, I could be wrong, but out of four comments, two were negative.

If anyone is local to me and wants a ride out, give me a shout.

supersonic

Take a look at last years higher models too:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... gn=froogle

mfin

There are other bikes apart from Specialized out there!

Ive been looking for a friend at the £1000 mark for the last few weeks and we've sort of arrived at this boardman bike being pretty much as good as it would get, lighter than the FSR, bit more travel, specced a bit higher with gear too http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_team.html ...we're still just trying to decide whether the extra £200 would be worth spending to have the 'Pro' http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_pro.html but it will be one of these two (for trail riding). The next closest we got was a Cube Ams 100 at £1200 and below that (on budget) we were orginally considering hardtails, again Cubes and Boardmans standing up well.

BUT... I must say we were looking at this years models and basing it all on RRP cos it will be purchased all or most of on Cycle2Work or CycleScheme. If it wasn't for that I'd have looked for a 'last year's deal'.

Money's not spent yet by the way, any moment now so any more suggestions would be welcome.