So, recently i made quite a drastic size change on my trail bike, went from a reach of 15.4″ to 17.4″, the results are far more positive than i ever anticipated, sure the bike is bigger, but my body feels set in a far better position, i can tell the bike what to do in a way i prefer, it’s more agile and stable at the same time.

So, trying to work out whether to apply this new found preference to getting a DH bike.

It’ll be my first DH bike, so not sure really.

What does everyone reckon?

How tall are you?

most of the recent chatter on this leads to a longer is faster conclusion. ie go for the biggest size thats comfortable for you.

Buy the biggest that fits you.

TT on the the new Gt fury in a small,is longer than most companies large!!
At 6’2 I’ve found the large Lapierre,Glory and Myst way too short.

Longer might be faster but is that all you care about? I downgraded from a Last Herb to my 224 Evo, it’s measurably slower but it’s also much more fun.

(aside- I marshalled a tight corner on a dh race a while back, was quite funny watching some riders discover their 20 foot long bikes with their 900mm bars and limited dualcrown turning circles couldn’t physically do the turn.)

I’m 6ft and ride a small/med supreme and it feels spot on. At 6’2″ I’d go for med, large or long frames. Swing a leg over a few at uplift days and see what you fancy

“longer being faster thing”

Im finding longer more fun, not cos of speed, but greater control, therefore greater scope to make pretty shapes in the air, smash turns and generally look for any reason to leave the ground.

It’s counter-intuitive, but i found the same thing in BMX, something that fits and puts your body in a better position to control the bike, is going to make it more agile. This became most apparent on 360 hops, really short, twitchy bike was really easy to spin uncontrollably, easier to get a messy spin, on my longer more stable bike, harder to initially attain the spin, a lot easier to do it in a controlled, pleasant manner.

Maybe agility is the wrong word in this case, enhanced control?

I’m 5′ 11″ and have a large Scott Voltage that when I ride it, takes me 2 or 3,runs to get used to how short it is. Usually ride quite a stretched out position on other more normal bikes. Its taken me a while to get used to moving around the bike so much, and in particular when it gets steep and narrow, so I’ve come to appreciate how short it actually is. It’s a night nard to pedal, knees are practically hitting the bars.

I tried a Scott voltage and hated it. It was so short and felt quite tall. I got a lapierre froggy 318 2013. It’s a great bike really long and slack. It’s longer than my mates large demo 8 and med glory. If I was thinking about a new bike I would be more concerned about the length than the seat tube length.

I’m 6’2″ and I find most companies don’t make a DH bike big enough. I had a large session and immediately wish I’d bought an xl. A large demo 8 or an xl V10 was the only comfortably large bikes I could test ride before I bought a large YT. It’s very similar to a demo in terms of jommetry but clearly much better value.