Considering buying a downhill rig for the summer as I have around 5 or 6 uplift days planned. Given I don't really fancy using my Trance for the job and its around 80 quid a day to hire I'm considering the old advice on here, buy a bike, use it for the season then sell it on for what you paid.
Now I have no idea what a down hill bike costs, frames range from anywhere between 300-600 for an alloy 26er with around 4 years use, and forks from around 200-700. Likewise bikes are starting around a grand, which seems pricey given you can pick up a decent enduro or trail bike for significantly less.
I'm looking for something with resasonably up to date geo (ie sub 65 degree ha) and cosmetic condition isn't really a concern. Something like a giant glory from circa 2011 would be idea. Would I be looking at similar costs to a similar vintage reign/anthem/trance, or are downhill bikes way more expensive?
I found that they were quite cheap.
I've just bought an older Demo 8 and paid £300 for the frame, 888's and a few other bits. I expected it to be a dog but was plesently surprised by the condition.
There were quite a few Sunday's knocking about too but I went with the Demo because I liked my old one.
There won't be quite the bargains there are in the Enduro / trail market because they've not been so affected by the wheel size change. I know pretty much all new DH bikes are now 650b but there doesn't seem to be the clamour to offload 26 inch frames and forks.
Pinkbike FTW when it comes to cheap dh bikes imo. E.g.
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1684915/
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1921156/
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1924253/
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1829135/
Find yourself an old Sunday and you'll corner like a boss! I sold one for £600 last year and there was a few about on Pinkbike
Yeah, they can be cheap but they can also be a disaster- quite a few used DH bikes have been run into the ground.
That Scalp got my attention there.
Or an ever popular option is a 224/224 evo- I loved mine, I can't say it was a great bike tbh but it was great fun to ride, and it had absolutely no learning curve- I could do a day on my hardtail then jump on the evo and just go. My Herb was way faster, like 20 seconds a run at fort william, but it always took me time to relearn it every time I rode it so say 8 runs at innerleithen, the first 2 I'd be riding like a dobber. And tbh it just wasn't as much [i]fun[/i]. The geometry on the 224 evo is still pretty decent because of all the adjustability, everyone just instantly smashes it all to the long/low setting which makes it IIRC about 63 degrees- it's shorter than a modern bike would be though. People go on about "bombproofness", it's absolute pish, they're a little bit delicate- so if you do go this way, do check for cracks or repairs. Though, don't even necessarily be put off, there most be a hundred 224s out there with random repair welds still doing hte business.
And, they are cheap and the evo can use 135mm wheels and 73mm BBs.
Yeah the Scalp and the Kona would certainly be the most modern of that bunch, both fairly sturdy too. That was just a 2min look though to show what's out there, probably even better deals to be had
I've been selling buying recently and I'd advise doing your research and having a bit of a haggle with sellers to get to a fair price.
Personally if you're torn between an enduro or DH bike I'd consider a freeride/mini-DH bike. They're even cheaper than either and I think suit UK uplift or riding in the Alps really well.
Have a look at 2012+ Orange Patriots, Kona Entourage, Scott Voltage etc.