Hi,
I know a few of you will have had orange patriots over the years, so maybe you can help. At the moment ive got two bikes, an 06 enduro which is set up pretty good and a cotic bfe for larking around on. the bfe has 150mm z1freerides on it and some decent all-mountain kit on it, and recently my averagely sized 13 year-old has been riding it pretty hard and has gone racing on it this weekend. I know he cant be competitive on a hardtail (or keep up with me on more aggressive rides), so ive started thinking about what downhill-friendly frame i can swap the bfe for that will work with my forks/set-up and also be adjustable to make it bigger and slacker in the future and the patriot seems to tick all the boxes.
Am i right in thinking you can set the patriot up to run at about 150mm travel, and, if i wanted to do that, what dimensions of shock would i need and how would i set it up on the frame to make it work best for downhill duties? i could just buy a standard patriot at 180mm and swap my forks for 66`s or something similar, but the boy is quite light and i dont want the build getting too heavy. also, i want to be able to ride it myself, and i dont want it to be too heavy either!!
Any suggestions (or alternatives!) would be appreciated!
Cheers, Simon.

The other reason i quite fancy the patriot is because it is so simple and therefore (hopefully) cheap to run, so if youve got an alternative idea it has to be along similar lines.

Hebridean, if you see this post, please dont show the wee toerag or he`ll just do my nut in hahaha!

I’d say z1 Freerides and a small patriot frame with an appropriate air shock would be fine for now. By the time he needs more trave/stronger springes you may well find he’s gone up a frame size or two) Shock length and stroke will depend on which year’s patriot you choose but there is certainly some scope to lower and slacken the geometry

how about an alpine 160?
you’re more likely to find one now over an old patriot and an off-set bush or two would make it more dh orientated. You could probably even get one with a CCDB.
I had a ’08 patriot fr and turned it into a pretty decent mini dh bike but it brought out issues like the fragile swingarm, mine cracked at the shock mount among other things. They dont have iscg mounts either.

some valid points there goodgrief, thanks for that. to be honest i would just as soon have an alpine 160 (theyre lighter, arent they), but they hold their value far too well. more money than ive got to spend from what ive seen so far.

interesting to note that patriots dont have iscg mounts, thats noted. although i could run a bb mounted guide. im surprised to hear that you had frame fragility issues, although i have seen them offered on ebay before with welds all over the rear end, so that point is noted too. cheers.

i still like the sound of one though, the riding we do tends to be relatively muddy and steep rather than fort william/glencoe rocky, so a 16″ fully adjustable patriot (around 07 era, maybe) should work quite well. i`ll keep my brain engaged and my eyes open, thanks for your input folks!

One thing I will say is why didnt I get one sooner. Currently set up:

DSP Dueller ti shock
150mm Sektors.

I reckon it weighs THE SAME as my previous kashima-air shocked 2011 Commencal meta5.

150mm with Mazz’s higher a-c forks or 160 with other brand forks.

Fantastic frame the 08 and now a secondhand bargain at 280-400 max

the back end was always flexible (even with a maxle) but in the end the cracked shock mount put it to bed.

I did have a lot of fun on it though, I just regret not having enough money to put decent parts on it at the time.

Erm. Props firmly to you but if you even ocassional stuff like that ^ would eventually crack a frame 🙂

Erm. Props firmly to you but if you even ocassional stuff like that ^ would eventually crack a frame 🙂

I still ride a patriot 66 and it is a fine bike. Much lighter with a air shock. The 08 frame looks nice. Just do not buy one from good grief!

Get a Patriot 66 or a newer (2008) one. I had a 7+ and didnt really like it.

Here’s a potentially ideal alternative for not much money http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-cannondale-prophet-frame-small-1

i think itll be a while before me and my boy are taking on roadgap jumps like that, goodgrief. nice action shot!! davidtaylforth, thanks for the link to the prophet, that is a worthy alternative!

Here’s 3 Patriots, some are heavier than others though.

Stu by jimmyg352, on Flickr

haha, good one. the biking equivalent of those 3 patriots might be a rig, a sled and a gnarpoon!

Sorry but one of those Patriots is clearly a Nomad! 😀

Prophet is a great bike!

Check out the Saracen Ariel too.

Takes a 160mm fork and has great geometry.

Bit heavy for xc but very cheap secondhand.

Sorry but one of those Patriots is clearly a Nomad!

Excellent, well spotted! I hadn’t even noticed Stu’s hat!