Got the bike last summer when I saw a small Maverick up for sale on ebay. (Not many small Mavericks out there for us 5'6" guys) I have had a klein palomino, so I knew the Maverick version would only be an improvement. Plus, it had disc brakes, which I hadn't put on my Klein, and the downhills in CO were killin' me with v-brakes. I agree with all the reviews that claim this is the best all-around frame set. I was going to keep the Klein as a second/backup bike, but I didn't touch it for 3 months straight, so I sold it. With the Duc-32 fork I had doubled my front travel, the Maverick has 0% of the shifting issues my klein did, and between the disc brakes, beefy Crank Bros crankset, sram X-0 shifters and tubeless tires... I'll quit gushing. I couldn't be happier, and cudos to the guys at Maverick for putting out such an amazing product.

Similar Products Used:

Klein Palomino

Many have summed up the ML7 as sports car like but gentlemanly. A Bill-E-Goat climber and confidence inspiring descender. The most efficient FS ride I have ever thrown a legg over.

Creaking frame and seat post that requires lots of tender love and attention.

I have owned the OTTER since early 02 upgrading as newer parts became available. This is a ride that requires some grease time by the owner. Reminds me of my 66 Porsche Super90. At 43, I am faster over rocks roots and nasty terrain than most I ride with. The transmission is quite and efficient on the ups. Going downhill is a confidence inspired point-and-shoot experience. No fear bro's like skiing the Devils Castle at Alta ride, like hell!

Similar Products Used:

GT iDRIVE, Ellsworth Truth, SPEC EPIC and Intense Spider

Man, with the Maverick front shock it floats over everything. It is stable, comfortable, and VERY forgiving should you be having an off day. It is a waterbed, and loves to be thrashed!!
It climbs very nicely.

When the rear is compressed, and I am going over a big root, my chain ring has smacked the root. It can be exciting until you adjust for this.

This is an awesome X-country cruise mobile. It will allow you to ride ANY trail, all day long, and feel no pain from trail selection. It can do many small hucks, and it is a fun entertainment machine in my life!

Similar Products Used:

Ventane Marblepeak (1996)

light, good handling

bottom bracket a little low?

I saw this 2004 frame hanging on the wall at LBS, it had never been built up. The price was less than any 2007 full suspension frame. Bought it, built it with stuff I had around my garage. I have ridden it twice.
This is a really nice bike. I am not using a front derailleur, so I have no problem there. Single speed ring has long teeth and no ramps, chain stays on just fine. I ride single speed a lot, so 1X9 is fine by me.
Bike is fast uphill and downhill, handles really well. Bottom braket seems a little low over rocks and logs. I would consider purchasing another Maverick (ML8?) for full price if I was getting another bike.

Similar Products Used:

rented a Blur LT in Moab once

contructions quality and eficiency. With the new rear shocks its possible to mount the E type 2004 XTR front derailleurs.

None

Superb contruction quality.The bike is fantastic, the rear suspension works very well, the new 2004 rear shock is more faster, light and eficient than the older one. The ML7 rides like a dream,
is amazing!

Similar Products Used:

is my first full-suspension bike

I have 2006 ML7. Great XC bike, up and down this bike is fast! Customer Service is very friendly and fast.

Front deraileur is really fickle and I really can not keep in tune. I have put the deraileur maverick recomends and still have issue's.

I would buy this bike again if there were no deraileur isues

This bike does climb superbly well, and it also feels very plush coming back down. Although not as nimble on the tight and twisty stuff as my trusty Kona, it still does singletrack and fast rocky decents very well. The Maverick DUC forks swallow mostly anything.

A bit of the lower left fork stantion snapped off. This area has now been beefed up, no problems since.
Snapped the monolink, resulting in a knackered frame. Frame currently on way back to Maverick.

This bike does ride superbly well. Snapping the mono link caused a brief crisis of confidence, but apparently this issue has been addressed. Hoping to get an ML8 in the near future.
With the advent of the ML7/5 the ML7 would appear to be on the way out.

Similar Products Used:

Ridden quite a few full sussers'.

Only two pivots. Relaxed geometry is very stable but climbs very well. Manufacturer is very responsive. Minimal suspension movement under power, responds very well to the terrain.

My 2003 powder-coated frame with the ML7/2 air strut upgrade weighs 6.25 pounds. Limited shock options. Relaxed geometry is slow for riding fast through twisting singletrak.

The short answer is that this is the BEST full suspension bike I have ever ridden for general trail riding and 100-mile races. It is light, competent in all situations, and climbs better than any of the 150+ mountain bikes I have ridden.

In February 2006 I purchased this 2003 frame new from a dealer and built it up with the components listed above. I rode the original coil and air strut for about a month and decided that it didn't work well with my 190 lb. weight. It seemed to bottom out too much and there was very little rebound contol. The manufacturer told me that above 180 lbs. people seem to prefer the all-air strut. I purchased the all-air strut for $225 and have been using it for about 4 months in a variety of conditions. It works VERY well with plenty of rebound adjustment for all conditions.

Together with the Fox F100X fork this bike pedals extremely well under all conditions with very little movement in the rear suspension. If I watch the suspension I can see it moving a little but I can't feel the movement when I'm riding. The amount of movement doesn't change when I stand and pedal hard to climb over a short rise or to sprint.

The rear suspension follows the terrain so well when climbing that I seldom spinout unless I'm on very loose and sandy soil. I usually run out of power before the rear breaks loose. I can now climb sections of trail that were impossible before.

Similar Products Used:

I've owned the following full suspension bikes; Titus Racer-X, GT I-Drive, Aeon Isis, and K2 Proflex. I've ridden just about every full suspension bike made.

Ride Feel, the bike is very dialed in. Gives massive boost to your confidence "I can hit that"
No peddle induced bob.

Not sure

My dream came true when I saw this bike on e-Bay from Rchards Bicycles. I got a $5000 bike for $3500. The money left over is enough for a 3 week vacation in Costa Rica. I really feel no one in the country has the inventory they do. All the brands FOES, Ellsworth, SantaCruz

Plus no attitude, hey I live in Boulder, where shop employees are all convinced they have won a stage in the Tour. So this is welcome
Do yourself a favor goto www.Richarsbicycles.com

Similar Products Used:

Santa Cruz Superlight

Suspension design, build quality, finish. Everything I read turned out to be totally acurate! Crazy climbing in bigger gears and wicked fast on descents.

None so far...

I know... I'm posting a review during the "holy-s**t-my new-bike-is-the-F***ing-best" period so take that into consideration. After 6 years of watching my buddies break their Giants, Specialized, Tomacs etc.,I wanted a light 4-5" travel XC frame that would perform like the Mnt.Cycle. and utilized newer rear suspension technology. I have only 6 rides in on the new rig and it seems to be everything the other owners have said and more! I am 6' 175lbs and the large frame fits me perfectly. It climbs like a maniac in or out of the saddle and needs very little steering input or body english in very technical sections. Kenda Kinetics are suicide on anything even a bit moist and are being replaced. Looked at the Mountain Cycle, Niota, Turner Flux, Scalpel, Blur etc. They say "it's not about the bike"... They were wrong!

Similar Products Used:

Mountain Cycle San Andreas, Specialized Enduro and S-Works, Giant XTC