Going on from another thread regarding bikes you would love to ride I got the chance on Sunday to ride a pro riders DH bike. I’ve always run a fairly firm set-up on my DH bike, certainly as I’ve improved in ability I’ve incrementally run both ends of the bike firmer and bouncier… At least I thought I did until I tried a real pro’s DH bike (Nukeproof Pulse dripping with kit that I’d need to remortgage for)

It was set-up for my weight more or less but I had to push almost full strength down on the bars to get some movement on the forks and likewise force down the rear shock. I was therefore expecting a very lively ride on my first descent with perhaps a little less grip than I am normally used to. The outcome was a surprise however. Rather than feeling lively or sprightly as I expected it essentially just felt like a loose cannon struggling for grip at the rear but still somehow managing to have tons of oversteer. The drops and gaps hurt as you would expect as i’m so used to the bike soaking them up effortlessly. My skill level obviously didn’t do the bike justice but it was still interesting how different it was. After 4 runs I felt completely battered and bruised but it’s still tempted me to tweak the settings on my DH bike more. I think by running a firmer set-up my skill level will certainly improve quicker.

Interesting, I wonder what would the differences be on a pro rider XC bike? Presumably lighter from expensive unobtanium bits but what about actual set up?

Sam Hills?

Interesting – just shows how athletic the Pro DH’ers are these days and the force they put through the bike. I had a similar experience when I had a go on Fabien Barels enduro bike last year, really firm suspension, particularly the forks which he obviously was loading up far more than us average punters.

[quoteSam Hills?[/quote]

I couldn’t possibly comment….. Yes. 😉

I will add that it was certainly on the light end of the scale relatively speaking and the front and rear brakes were an unbelievable mismatch. The back being seemingly set-up to just scrub speed even with near enough full pull on the lever whereas the front was akin to having a wall suddenly appear in front of you. Stopped you dead with a feather light touch. Scary more than useful I thought.

I know someone who many years ago rode and broke one of Steve Peat’s bikes. Whatever you do Jamie don’t go down down that bit Steve said. Jamie wasn’t really up for expert advice and decided he could ride down it. Steve was right, he couldn’t.