I've had this bike for about a week, and so far, it's awesome! The frame is extremely stiff, which means that whatever energy you put into the bike comes out instead of flexing the frame... Sidehops, pedal-kick gaps, lunges... everything feels explosive on this bike! The stiffness is mainly the result of internal reinforcing in both the seat-stays and chain-stays, which looks like this:

The bike is very comfortable on the rear wheel, giving me the confidence to try some pretty nutty things in practice. The wide 29" bars make balancing on narrow things an easier task, as well as making the front end really easy to pull around to the sides... You have so much leverage with such wide bars (riders with narrower shoulders may need to cut down the bars an inch or so). The fork has no rake to it at all, but still gives the bike a normal wheelbase. Because the fork has no rake, it flexes very little, making hook moves easier (moves where you hook your front wheel and splay the frame and fork to launch the bike forward and up). You can find out more about the design of this bike at the Brisa website.

Now for some comments about parts I have chosen myself (Brisa's don't currently come this way)... I chose Avid Single Digit 7 brakes and SRAM 9.0 SL levers was good... The brakes (6.5 oz/each) and levers (5.7 oz/pair) are very light, and respectively stiff for being so light-weight. I've heard that at the point at which Shimano XTR levers bend and break, SRAM 9.0 SL levers just begin to bend! (I think they're just talking about the lever blade itself, not the whole lever, which actually moves upon hard braking... A better choice for levers might be the Avid Magnesium or regular Avid Single Digit levers) I'm using Avid Flak Jacket housing and cabling, which is supposed to compress less (the housing, that is), making for a less mushy feel... I can't tell how much of a difference it makes, as I set up the brakes with this housing in the first place, so I have nothing to compare it to... It feels less mushy than the same brakes and levers on my stock bike, but there are a lot of other factors working into mushiness, so I can't say if it's really worth the money or not... (Some people I've talked to swear by them, though) I'm for ceratin keeping the v-brake in the front. I was thinking about going to Magura HS-33 in the back, but now (2/15/01) I'm pretty convinced by my new setup - Plazmatic v-brake pads on a worn grind! I'll be reviewing the Plazmatic pads separately...

The Chris King BMX hub I'm using is superb... 72 engagement points, solid engagement... You pedal, you go... I absolutely love it... If you have the money, get one and toss your cheesy freewheel...