Gary Fisher Roscoe III

5.5″ FS Trail/AM

After reading Francois’ review of this bike I was excited to try it. It seems to fit into that illusive category that I was trying to find with the Tracer. While I liked the Roscoe it’s no substitute for a good burly 6″ am bike when going gets really rough. It feels very light and XC/trail oriented in my meat-fisted hands. Not because it lacks in laterally rigidity but because it tends to bounce all over the chunk like the other light weight 5-6 inch bikes I tried. This weighed in around 28 lbs. I’ve come to believe that the category a bike fits into is governed more by the weight of the bike than its travel. In other words, giving a lighweight trail bike 5.5-6inches of travel does not make it an all-mountain bike. It works well in its sphere… but it ain’t no substitute for brute strength.

This is the only bike I rode on which I detected any pedal kick back… and I’m not even sure it was pedal feedback or suspension stall over square edged ledges and it was mild but noticeable. The ABS (Active Braking System) with the pivot concentric to the drop out seemed to work well otherwise on climbing and rolling over rocks while climbing but was a bit skippy coming down. I didn’t notice any brake jack on this or any of the bikes for that matter. The TALAS 32 QR TA had pretty good action but I could detect flex where there is none on a 36.

The suspension would work better on more forgiving terrain or with a better fork. The high volume rounded profile 2.4 Bontrager tires seemed too boingy and didn’t stick well in the dry, loose, pebbles over hardpack corners of Bootleg canyon. (Note to exhibitors: Stick to Nevagals at Bootleg. They just work)

I thought this was one of the best looking bikes of the show. One thing the big brands do well is make pretty bikes.

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