Sears branded "cross"(training) bike with MTB style and road wheels in '93, rode that thing all over Seattle when I first moved here.īlue Shogun MTB, bought from Play It Again Sports in Northgate in '94, my first messenger bike and it came with those silly Scott MTB aero bar things (which later got cut off to about 20" wide for serious high speed whitelining) Kmart-special hot pink and neon green MTB in about '90-'92 Holy moly that's a lot of bikes! Do you own a bike shop or just have A.D.D.? They are kinda in the order i had them in … and i think i forgot a couple Japanese friend gave it to me in whistler )Ģ004 Norco 125 ( purple one looked like a bmx )Ģ005 Haro DSR dual slalom HT ( conner now has it )Ģ005 Turner Rail ( then traded it for chumba f4 )Ģ005 Chumba Wumba f4 ( best dh Bike i owned to date )Ģ005 Brodie cyclone ( 3 rides then gone ) Our Maverick’s test sample proved supple enough to patter willingly over small trail detritus, but – surprise, surprise – had the usual budget fork bugbear of a harsh top-out clunk.1st rear bike 1992 mtn works ( sports store house brand? ) syncros stem and postġ997 schwinn straight 6 ( bass boat blue )ġ999 schwinn straight ( bass boat black and gold)Ģ000 Giant atx dh one 6 inch ( broke it in 02 and got the new one )Ģ004 Hot Chilli DHR 6 ( like brodie devo. Suntour’s XCT fork is a budget coil spring model, offering just 80mm (3.14in) of travel with preload adjustment but no other bells or whistles. And there’s nothing wrong with that, it does the job just fine. Chainstays are square section – almost everything else is plain ol’ round. The Maverick doesn’t boast as many fancy tube profiles as some of the competition, and there’s almost no shape-shifting going on.
There are just as many differences between the two bikes though. Coincidence? There’s no way of knowing, but we do know that Giant makes bikes for many other manufacturers. The Maverick’s unusual retro graphics are so different, though, that they’re hard to ignore.īeneath the skin, the Maverick shares a couple of key design features with the aforementioned Giant Yukon – the hydroformed down tube gusset up front and the rigid wishbone seatstay rear end. Chassis: simple & effective, but the fork…Īlthough bike manufacturers go to considerable lengths to get colours and decal design right for their intended market, the final effect is so much in the eye of the beholder that we usually don’t comment.
To be fair, the top-out problem is no worse than other similarly priced bikes, and Iron Horse tell us they’re aware of it, but it’s still disappointing. All the confidence-inspiring handling in the world is for nothing if the one component that’s supposed to help smooth things out when the going gets rough does exactly the opposite. And when it comes to screaming down the other side, quick steering responses inspire confidence. No bike at this weight is going to defy gravity all on its own, but the Maverick plods skyward willingly enough.
The Maverick behaves predictably in a wide range of trail conditions, from lung-busting granny ring uphill grinders to flat-out big ring sprints. Trail manners are impeccable in handling terms. Raw newbies might find the riding position a bit low at the front, an area Giant has covered with the adjustable stem on their similarly priced Yukon. It’s instantly likeable, positioning the rider’s weight midway between front and rear tyre contact points and delivering a steering feel that offers an excellent blend between liveliness and stability. But proof that you can’t judge a bike by its vital statistics comes the minute you sling a leg over it. There are some unusual numbers lurking in the Maverick’s geometry specs, among them a fairly short top tube and surprisingly slack head angle.