After making the mistake of borrowing a mates DH bike a few times I realised how much I missed it so now have a new bike on it’s way after a couple year gap riding trail bikes only.

Looking at some of the old dh forums you could think DH is dead but I know some of the places I ride often still have a good number of riders on anti-fashion dh bikes so there must still be a decent number of people still riding. Anyone else ‘going back’ to dh?

Its the future, ive seen it

Was thinking about racing DH on my trial bike, does that count?

jam bo – that counts. I tried using dh tyres on my slash which is great for natural stuff aboard etc.. but on a dh track, I was loads faster/more fun on a borrowed dh bike and also didn’t end up with bent ‘enduro’ wheels at the end of the day…

I do have a hankering for a full on DH bike but just haven’t got the space, budget or time for it.

Shame as gawton is five minute drive away.

I’m looking forward to dusting off some substantial skills cobwebs and going back to Gawton and the like. I think a couple years off has made me faster at intermediate terrain than when I had a DH bike and but there are different skills to fine tune when riding a proper dh bike.

It must be 5 yrs since I last rode there. It’s a long drive!

Well it couldnt have made you any slower..

I can get inside top third at an Enduro race these days so I’m not too concerned I’ll be slow Jamie 😛

Ere, did I see you’d changed jobs, no longer with the big T?

Yeah I’m no longer at the big T. I’ve messaged you…

Much as trail bikes have come on recently there’s nothing quite like thundering into stuff on a proper big old DH rig. I do miss my old Balfa, sold it the minute I found out the missus was pregnant, knew the days of disappearing off to Wales for a weekend of Pearce uplifts and the FOD was over.

Maybe one day, when the nipper’s old enough to get into it I’ll have an excuse to get another big rig.

I’ll continue to race DH on my ‘enduro’ bike, as well as doing some enduroing on it.

Somewhat ironically, since I sold my DH bike I started getting better race results on the smaller bike anyway.

I won’t go and race where an uplift is involved, as I like to actually ride my bike for more than 30 minutes over a weekend, rather than stand in a queue/in a truck for 10 hours 😉

I have it in my head at the moment that I really want my first DH bike. I love going to uplift days and don’t want to trash my trail bike trying to ride as fast as possible DH. I would much rather have a bike that is permanently setup for DH.

I Ache I’m in exactly the same position. Wanting a first DH bike and keep the trail bike for trails instead of killing it on DH’s. Any thoughts on (minimum) budget or a good starter bike?

Zzz

For new I can’t look past a Specialized Status or YT Tuesday for £1800. The only problem with them is that the Status only has 170mm single crown forks and the YT will take months to be delivered.

I’m thinking about something secondhand and cheap.

Plenty of good cheap DH bikes on Pinkbike for around £1000, Sessions and Giant Glorys are a good start. I sold my DH bike two years ago and bought an ‘Enduro’ bike and don’t regret it at all however over the winter I treated myself to a new DH bike. Nothing beats the solid feeling of a proper downhill bike and they are the best fun however with uni I really can’t find the time to use it so I’ve decided to sell again. I seem to be in a never ending cycle of changing bikes..

Second hand or a frame off CRC in the sales, I think Scalp frames were going for 599 and Pulses for 799. Put a second hand pair of boxxers on, SLX cranks, superstar wheels, cheap handlebars, deore shifters, zee rear mech and Zee brakes from Germany and I recokon you could have a bike for between 1200-1500.

I Ache – check out the canyon torque dhx whipszone as well. I’ve just got mine and love it! Full zee, boxxers, and kage for £1868 delivered. Well impressed with mine and the lead times are so much shorter than the yt’s that I was originally looking at.

Loving that Scalp Tom, probably got most of that stuff lying about as spares. Mmmm tempting anyone any idea of sizing? I ride a small Yeti SB66 5’6 ½” on a good day! So I suppose 15 ½ is a small?

Compare seat tube lengths/standover. Go for as long a bike as you can get away with for DH and run a 20/30mm direct mount stem.

The 15.5 would be the small.

If you have the parts I’d rather have that than the Canyon as warranty is so much easier – plus it looks prettier than the Canyon.

Guys, i took a chance on buying my 1st DH bike. I love it. I still have my other bikes, but the correct tool for thejob is amazing.

I got a YT Tues and it took about 10days door to door…..

Also I might add, on the right track there is nothing more fun in the world of mtb than a big bouncy DH bike.

They put a massive grin on your face when you realize you can plough into things at daft speeds and keep going without getting arm pump.

I_Ache I reckon you should get one of these and give us a review Rose The Unchained. I do love using a big DH rig (poorly).

Zedz – Don’t compare seat tube lengths or standover height when choosing a DH bike.
the only comparable (physical) measurements between your Yeti and a new DH frame are downtube and chainstay lengths. (TT length is often a poor reflection of size due to frame/suspension designs).
standover height will be poor at 5’6″ on most DH bikes. don’t let that phase you, once sagged it’s not so bad and if you ever need to stand with both feet on the floor during a run it’s gone way wrong already. 😉
Not everyone gets on with the longest frame they can manage either.
A DH bike being slacker with a longer fork and longer stays (most DH frames have longish stays) will be plenty stable enough for you without going to battleship proportions and forcing you to ride with no finesse. too short and it will handle like more of a play bike (not nec. all that bad a thing if you’re not planning on starting a racing career)
Try a few bikes if you can.

My DH is my favorite bike, proper riding!

Thanks mtbel,

I hired a Transition TR500 in Plia this summer for two days, they only had one size a medium and it was a revelation! Had me doing stuff I couldn’t look at on the Yeti!

I suppose that would be a good place to start for relative sizing but where do you get to try these things out?

I suppose that would be a good place to start for relative sizing but where do you get to try these things out?

Get booked on an uplift day and ask other riders if you can pop your leg over their’s 😉 most folk into DH are really friendly!

Zedz – I think I hired that same bike, I didn’t realise it was a medium though! It was The Transition that gave me the itch to buy my dh bike as well. Awesome bike, awesome place 😀

Hey ekul,

Was it bright orange? That’s some coincidence hey?

I seem to remember he said I would fit a medium, so I assumed the bike was. Not a lot of choice there though. I went with his recommendation. I would definitely buy one if I had the money. Looking for something a little easier on the pocket though.

That canyon looks quite nice actually, I have always thought canyons are pretty ugly bikes but it seems that they have done some work since I last looked at them.

Ah it must not have been the same bike then zedz, mine was a green one. I didn’t really get much choice, they just asked me if I wanted old or modern so I went with modern and he wheeled the tr500 out. Quite a happy accident as it happened, I was meant to be riding my norco sight but left it at the chalet by accident 😳

I Ache – yeah tbh when I started looking the canyon wasn’t even on my radar, I looked at the YT and the Rose and then second hand and just thought of the canyon last minute. They’d just announced the 2015 range when I went on the site and immediately knew I had to have it in the chrome red, with the black forks it looks really smart in the flesh and the spec was similar to the YT. Really pleased with it so far. But then I’ve only had one day on the transition to compare it to.

I was meant to be riding my norco sight but left it at the chalet by accident

Just realised who you are lol, great day in Pila that, the leaving the bike in another country was nearly as funny as the Ruskys making the poor decision to ride Les arcs in slop while we shredded dust in a sunny Italy.
That TR looked new and a proper bit of kit!

The Spec Status is a good bike, as is the Myst and Scalp/Pulse. Had a blast on a Kona Operator recently and they’re good for the money. The YT Tues is good and a bargain as well

Jeez Zero,

You’ve opened up just about every option there! I’m trying to cut them down.

Hard when you can get the YT and Canyon for such a good price 40% more than decent 2nd hand. So no surprises or at least it’s warranteed.

Any of you guys fancy swinging my leg over yours at Antur?

Zzzz

Cheap Myst
If your a short ass 😉 carbon rear end too!

Just for a sense of scale, I am 5’6″ and have a YT Tues and I think its a little too small for me (small sized frame). I’d have gone for a medium I think, if I had a chance to sit on a few.
Worth considering when looking at DH bikes, as I prefer big and stable, whereas some people prefer small and chuckable.

I’ve gone for a larger dh bike, an XL session despite being 6ft1 and could fit on a large too. I think the XL will be better and have the option to run a 30mm stem.

My last session was a large.

What about an old iron horse sunday?

Who didn’t want one of those ten years ago?

That’s a fantastic bike at a great price Godzilla, makes you wonder whether it is worth buying 2nd hand at all. Although it is about £500 more than I want to spend the saving in upgrading or replacing parts plus better resale value if you wish to either upgrade or opt out makes it worth the extra!

Cheers

Dave

I bumped into mophead recently and he mention the big T departure

He said you were working as a blue-coat now

Well, something like that anyway 😉