Well I have just been out for the first time on the new Strive and it is excellent. Light enough to get up the steepest slopes and enough suspension to eat up sizable rocks at high speed. I tried it out on the Walna Scar road in Cumbria (see map). This is a pretty challenging circuit, especially the ascent from Seathwaite. It has two excellent down-hills on the route, one into Seathwaite from the south and the other from the top of Walna Scar down into Torver. Give it a try if you’re feeling fit.
I found the Rockshox Reverb seat was brill, and the Fox CTD suspension excellent. I didn’t use the lock-down on the forks as climbing with 160mm was no problem
My Epic Journey 