I’ve been musing over building a cheap DH bike to rebuild and modify to generally lark about on.

Now, there are numerous frames on eBay which I can start with but most, as you can imagine, have their limitations. The Iron Horse Sunday stands out as a good candidate and with an Angleset, offset bushing and a little TLC can get you a pretty decent DH machine for very little spend.

So, the question is, is there any other frames worth considering, obviously the cheaper the better?

Scott Voltage, I got mine with a nice fox dhx shock for £320 and they’re so fun. Probably not good if you’re really tall though.

Depends what’s in your parts bin doesn’t it?

Do you have DH width wheels and cranks kicking about or the standard sizing?

Do you have DH width wheels and cranks kicking about or the standard sizing?

I’ve got a few bits, nothing DH specific, so I’ll be sourcing them too so anything is game.

Scott Voltage

Is that the FR? I’ve seen a few of them kicking about too.

I still think the Sunday builds into a fantastic and totally relevant modern DH bike. Worth checking spares availability etc though.

224 got to be in with a shout I reckon as less to go wrong with 2nd hand purchase.

Scott voltage fr is great. We built up a fr20 (short) for my son to use in the Alps last year. Great frame, we used it set at 180 travel. Cheap to build up as it has 135 rear wheel spacing and a 73bb. Will also fit any steerer size with the right headset. Shock size is common too.

They are small though, short now outgrown by my son (managed to grow over 3 inches in 10 months). Not sure how tall you are, but I think they recommend the short up to 5’7″, not sure about the long.

Simone

Yeah it’s the FR. I ride the short and am about 5’9″ with a 29″ inside leg and it’s fine for me. I’ve even done a 28 mile long mynd xc loop on it once (around 900m climbing according to endomondo) and just about got round ok, it’s a bit short for that sort of thing though! I’ve got mine set up with 170mm Lyriks and 160mm rear setting and it flies.

Check any sundays for play at the rear of the lower link, don’t be fobbed off with “it just needs some new bearings” the design means that the link wear’s over time new bearings don’t fix it. It can be done but is normally about £150 of machining the link and custom spacers.

If you don’t mind single pivot orange is a good shout, nukeproof scalp would be on my list too, some very cheap ones around.

I’d go for a bombproof old Glory. Shove an angle set in like you would with the IH. Having owned a Glory, and currently contracted to maintain the wife’s IH, I can assure you that one is a lot less hassle than the other!

If it’s a parts bin build, what parts are in the bin? rear hub’ll have an impact.

Voltage is a great bike but I struggled to find one at a price I liked, everyone knows they’re good unfortunately.

This is a really weak recommendation, but… I really liked my 224. It wasn’t actually that good- measurably slower than my Herb DH, far less good suspension even with the ccdb, and I was always waiting for it to crack. But it was great fun, and there was basiclaly no learning curve/transition time coming off the little bikes, I could get on and go. It always took me time to adjust to the Herb and that got pretty irritating, on an 8 run uplift day not really getting into the bike til run 2 or 3.

So yeah. Basically not that great a bike, but it worked really well for the job. And I sold it for pretty much exactly what I paid for it.

I found my Last Herb a bit of a faff setup wise (from memory the rear suspension is very high leverage ratio to start with meaning it virtually flew into its travel, then ramped up dramatically in the last 3rd) though once sorted it was blisteringly quick – just too small for me. Northwind speaks sense – the 224 & last both had 135x12mm rear hubs and 73mm bottom brackets meaning you could build one up using standard parts (from a bin or otherwise).

There a lot of cheap full builds knocking around if you don’t mind older models; Kona Stinkys et al.

(older 224s had 150mm axles btw, the Evo I think was the first with the 135. But they’re down into bargain basement territory now too. TBH it’s more the general easy-to-rideness and fun-ness that made me recommend it than the hubs)

I picked up a 2006 Stinky a few weeks ago for £300 😀 Bargains are there if you wait for the right thing to crop up!

When I was looking a few weeks back Trek session frames were realitvely cheap and are meant to be a good DH bike, ended up buying a canyon torque that someone had used only a handful of times at a good price.

The narrow 224 thing is only good if that’s the last frame you’ll ever have. Otherwise at some point you’ll likely have to change to DH standards anyway

Kona Stinkys et al.

I’ve never worked out where the idea of a Stinky being a good idea for a DH bike came from. Short, high and steep is not a winner

I’ve never worked out where the idea of a Stinky being a good idea for a DH bike came from. Short, high and steep is not a winner

Strong, cheap, suitable – pick 2

posted 3 months ago but might still be up for grabs, I have a mk2 and love it to bits . Way better bike than I am a rider , could be worth a punt.

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/12031085/

kona FTW…

And I just happen to have a stab frame in the garage which needs a new home… 😉

I had a Sunday as a budget DH bike a couple of years ago. It was really nice to ride but not the most simple bike to work on.

I think I’d go for something more modern if it were me – a Session or Scalp maybe. But best thing might be to keep an eye on PB classifieds and your local FB sales groups for suitable bargains.

Liking these suggestions. Keep them coming.

Although Mrs Elliott might’ve a thing or two to say about it 😆

I keep looking at Voltage FRs too. Its the sizing that is confusing me the most. The Long looks like the one to go for as the short seems really really short. The thing is that I’m 5″6 so according to Scott I should be on a Short. I do have long arms and seem to get on better with longer bikes though.

Still if I can work it out I would not hesitate in getting one.

Morewood Makulu. Had mine two years, fantastic to ride and everyone that jumps on it wants to keep it. (Steve Jones of Dirt gave it a very good review). The confidence it gives and the traction is very good, much better than the Socom it replaced.

The original voltage fr is the first real Swiss army knife or shape shifter of bikes IMO.
I’m 6ft and I’ve had park specific builds down to fully pedallable 32lb builds with 500mm seatpost.
The long fit well for me but my current build is a ‘Scott 11 team’ frame with 27.5 float 40 and dhx rc4. It is shorter than the standard long and probably a little shorter than ideal for me.
The best thing is that it will take a variety of shock lengths, has 135mm axle width and you can fit 27.5 wheels with the longer dropouts, 68/73mm bb shell and fits tapered, 1.5 or 1.125 steerers. So no need for dh specific wheels or cranks.