I’m psyching myself up to buy a new downhill bike at the moment. The problem is that where I live there aren’t that many demo days going on so the chances of riding a bike in anger before buying are pretty slim. Even with demo days you could never compare every bike you’re considering.

So, what I’m doing at the moment is looking at the frame geometry of various bikes and comparing it to bikes that I own right now and trying to figure out what headtube angle / seat tube angle / BB height, etc I want. Also, I’m reading reviews wherever I can but can you really trust the reviews from some of the American magazines (or UK mags for that matter)?

So. any tips for choosing a bike on paper?

If I were buying a new bike I’d just make sure it had ‘Maverick’ written on it.

Choose a brand and model you like then research reviews. Move on until you find the one with the least negatives. Find owners on here or similar to quiz on sizing. Buy, build, ride, repeat process infinitely. Done. Easy.

If I were buying a new bike I’d just make sure it didn’t have ‘Maverick’ written on it.

Colour. And a cool name.

Nice frame design, finishing and decals.
Price.

Go to uplift day, get friendly with a few riders, borrow a bike for a run.

That’s what i do!

Pressing the ‘buy’ button.

Yeah you can be sensible about it, or you will suddenly see something cool and be in love with it. Game over. TR450 ftw.

Go to a race and speak to owners. Might be able to sit on some to check sizing. What anyone says is cheeky but well worth it.

Get the one with the biggest tits

Over the years I’ve had a few different bikes, none bought with a test ride, 99% built myself. For me a big part of the fun is buying a frame then sourcing all the bits ver time and building the bike in one go. The first few rides and tweaks and then a thing of beauty. If it doesn’t workout, break it down, sell and start again.

Also, I’m reading reviews wherever I can but can you really trust the reviews from some of the American magazines (or UK mags for that matter)?

If you can understand the reviews in Dirt then I’m sure they’re honest enough, it’s just that Steve Jones has a very odd writing style.

If I were buying a DH bike now I’d be looking at the cheap Kona Operator, seems like a right bargain and very upgradeable.

Yeah you can be sensible about it, or you will suddenly see something cool and be in love with it. Game over. TR450 ftw.

I saw one outside the pub in Peaslake on Good Friday, my god it’s a good looking bike! You bought one toys?

tbh, i was super lucky last weekend. I had snapped my giant Reign X, so that was in the shop on warranty, and my mate had to work last weekend, so i managed to borrow his 2010 giant glory (Fully pimped, imcluding every bolt had been replaced with Ti). Rode that all day and it was suuuuch a sweet ride.

I highly recommend you borrow a bike or get a demo before purchasing.

BTW, what’s your riding style? If it’s more of a ‘plough’ style, then get something with a linkage, i.e. giant glory, demo, v10 etc. If it’s more of a smooth riding style, then start to think about single pivots, i.e. 224, commencal supreme, TR450, nukeproof scalp etc.

Here’s my tuppence:

Go for long term keepers, race winners and frames which are well backed up by the company’s warranty. I always ask what people on here think as it throws up things I didn’t consider. A bit of future proofing (well as much as can realistically be built in) is always good.

Oh and make sure it fits your purpose/terrain as bikes are often more specific than they appear to be.

Buy the one you want. Secretly inside there is the one you want, you can look at specs, colours, even try different ones. But then buy the one you want, because it’s the one you want.

Here’s my tuppence:

Go for long term keepers, race winners and frames which are well backed up by the company’s warranty. I always ask what people on here think as it throws up things I didn’t consider. A bit of future proofing (well as much as can realistically be built in) is always good.

Oh and make sure it fits your purpose/terrain as bikes are often more specific than they appear to be.

Stick with the big makes then. trek give lifetime warranty, giant 5 year, specialized 5 year etc.

I’d visit a demo day. Worth it if you’re spending lots of money.

My last few bikes have all been bought untested, mostly off the Internet, and all apart from one have been budget frames, secondhand, or last years bikes on sale. Mid range bikes are soooooo good these days it’s really not worth splashing out on a trendy-look-at-me name. I have done that too. Lesson learned: it was the only one I never really gelled with.

My choices are wildly random and based largely on what I like the look of.

I just buy what I like the look of TBH – never had a dud one

No need to over-analyse the process, choose something you like do a quick Google to make sure it hasn’t got any fundamental flaws, buy it

From idea to purchase – easily sorted in half an hour on the internet

Buy sometihng mid range from a large brand (e.g. specialised/Trek). It’s unlikely to be a bad bike these days so pick one that you think gives you best value and colour optoins at your price point.

*Better pick a large brand basaed on the DH market though.

I don’t know many folk who dh demo days though and trying to test a dh bike without some vaguely proper trails is hard. Pearce cycles in ludlow have a few different test bikes i think (available for a fee refunded on purchase as i understand), but as they run uplifts as well it’s potentially an ideal option if they have/can get what you want.

My dh bikes have been bought second hand based on brief rides, reviews, other riders thoughts and geometry. My latest an intense 951 felt great until i snapped the rear triangle and extra are taking forever to get me a new one. I don’t ming things failing but 9 weeks and still no real news is poor and annoying. Especially as the only other bike i snapped was also an intense that went on the rear triangle.

*points*

I want that one.

I’d visit a demo day. Worth it if you’re spending lots of money.

He wants a DH bike.

I saw a really good deal on a Mongoose Boot’R yesterday. New 2011 model for about £1,800. I was tempted just because of the discount to be honest but I tried to do some research first. I could only find one review online and that was linked directly from the Mongoose website (funnily enough that review was pretty favourable.

What the review did seem to say was that it was a bit more freeride orientated rather than full on DH. That and the fact it looks a bit funny put me off. I doubt I’ll be able to find too many people who have ridden it either.

Ah well, I’ll just keep looking.

I saw a really good deal on a Mongoose Boot’R

Think that got a kicking in MBUK, have found review for you…

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-mongoose-bootr-10-39640/

Oh no!

I thought all this was sorted with Intense? I’ve been scouring the forums and, of late, hadn’t seen too much of this, besides a few comments about the FRO frames and the adjuster drop-outs.

Which is a shame because….
…and a team green 951 has “want” writ large, all over.

Anyone know more about the 951’s?

Personnally I just get more & more obsessed about it and eventually buy one… only had one ‘duffer’ (and it ain’t that bad) out of 3 bikes bought like this.