I currently ride XC but im wanting to get into something a bit more dangerous 😉 and a little more extreme 😆 . Being a bit of a Novice I was wondering what the main differences between the bikes and the ride was.

Thanks for the help
Matt

it's all mtbing. just using the same skills in a different context

Downhill Bike/Racing:

Freeride bike/Riding

XC Bike / Riding

That picture of the big jump makes me feel a bit dizzy.

atherton iirc

Nope, Sam Dale. Taken by a very good friend of mine. Great photo.

oh cool

It is one of the Atherton playgrounds though.

The bikes get heavier, stronger, with slacker angles to help you get your weight back. The more extreme DH bikes take all this to the limit, and are (IMHO) pretty much useless for anything else. Likewise I wouldn't want to take a World Cup XC bike down a DH course, the components are too light (and thus likely to break), your weight is much further forward (great for climbing, not so good for heading downhill), etc.

yeah i know

so are there any DH bikes that take climbs well?

i rode my demo9 round the black at gt.
every bike i know will go up and down a hill

so are there any DH bikes that take climbs well?

If you want to be able to climb look at a freeride bike – something like a Lapierre Froggy.

http://www.ae7.co.uk/userimages/SpecializedEnduroComp2010.jpg

Does for me

Every bike will be able to do everything, but it will be compramised in doing anything which it was not designed for.

OP – What you riding now? What you thinking you want to do?

You probably want to look for something with a slacker headangle, more travel and a bit burlier if you want to get into it. That's basically the difference between XC and DH bikes – I've always seen FR being inbetween the two but closer to DH – you could class it as dicking about on burly bikes if you like 😉

(All-mountain sits between FR and XC – if you want to get all crazy on marketing terms. )

However, as people are saying, most bikes are capable of doing anything some are just better designed for certain roles. having seen someone jump a double and pull a table on a Scott Scale (XC Race) I totally agree.

I feel a bit of a ****t bigging my own bike up, but I got an Orange Alpine last year. It does everything my xc bike did (albeit a bit slower), and I'm still hitting most the stuff I did on my old freeride bike. I'm real pleased with it.

just to confuse things, Dh race bikes and kit are increasingly lightweight, no point racing a 45lb bike that can survive years of crashing and hucking when you need a bike that only has to survive 4 mins of smooth-is-fast racing.

saint cranks? – maybe on my hardtail jump bike, but no need for that much weight / kgnarl on my Dh racer.

800gram rims? – as above.

confusing isn't it?

What are you riding at the moment? Maybe you could make a few mods. If it's a pure marathon racer then maybe you're a bit stuck, but a lot of bikes can take a bit more abuse than most people give them.