[Closed] Is DH dead ?

You obviously don't hang around in the right places. They are everywhere, at DH venues, obviously.

more DH uplifts in the UK than ever before I reckon

antur stiniog etc, of course it can be ridden on a trail bike but the blacks are proper fun on a big bike!

fort william world cup DH seemed a wee bit popular this year
[img] [/img]

DH is massif!

Ever increasing amounts of DH specific venues means they don't have to milk the descents in trail centres maybe?

I do see up lifts; but what about a race series for us ?

Lets face it, full on dh bikes are a pretty niche market so not exactly many shops will sell them.
But yeah loads of people still have them, as Kimbers say's loads of uplifts around and you see some awesome monster bikes on them.

Where are you? You can find DH races anywhere in the UK surely.

maybe people are riding on shorter travel bikes these day ?

Aston Hill is pretty chocca with them too, and no uplift there.

sell plenty of dh parts but dh bikes tend to be on off builds, not off the peg.

i'm sure that its riders riding shorter travel bikes more and getting away with it ! even bike park wales had more all mountain rigs to be honest !

I know stacks of people running 8"+ travel DH bikes down this way (Plymouth).

Plenty of big bikes on our hill, its not even that big of a hill (Stile Cop, Cannock Chase)

whats the point ?

DH seems alive and well in the Marches.

richieokeefe1 - Member
whats the point ?

What's your point?

first off I was just saying that not many DH bikes about anymore so thought it might of died off , and why do you need 8 inch of travel in plymouth ? just my opinion to be honest ....much love 🙂

maybe your not looking in the right places - dh tracks?
[url= https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events?search_type=upcomingevents&keywords=&resultsperpage=30&series_id=&fromdate=18%2F11%2F2013&todate=&series_only=0&online_entry_only=0&distance=&postcode=&zuv_bc_event_filter_item_id%5B%5D=10&zuv_bc_event_filter_item_id%5B%5D=11 ]BC DH Events[/url]
[url= https://www.rootsandrain.com/calendar/#!/2013/ ]Roots & Rain Events[/url]

why do you need 8 inch of travel in plymouth ?

You seen [url= http://www.gawtongravityhub.co.uk/supertavi.php ]Gawton[/url]? Some big stuff there, and there's other stuff around. DH isn't my style though.

Is DH dead ?

Red Bull don't seem to think so - great live coverage of the World Cups this year.

yes redbull was good but i'm talking about the average jo

Are you asking is dh dead or are dh bikes dead? Answer is no either way.

Just to throw this one in there - the DH scene in Scotland certainly isn't what it once was. Innerleithen uplifts rarely fill (they used to fill two buses every time, with reserves) and the SDA have been struggling to fill spaces too (and have been close to cancelling races).

Scottish Enderpo's on the other hand are doing very well

whats the point ?

Why didn't you just say that in the first place then instead of farting around with your initial query? What you wanted to ask was 'what's the point in big burly long travel DH bikes these days when 'all mountain' bikes will suffice?'.

DH isn't dead, big DH bikes aren't dead and people ride downhill on downhill bikes cause it's fun.

your twisting my words now ;0

Legend when was the last time you booked inners uplift? I know that the last couple haven't sold out but all summer and autumn if you didn't book early you missed out. DH in Scotland and I'm sure in the UK is big and busy and has a shitload of new and improving riders.

Bike shops still sell dh bikes. It has probably had as much media coverage as ever this year.

Sports like DH will never be 'dead' they just go through ups & downs, I think that the advancement in technology means that there's a lot of people ridding DH tracks on 'Do it all' bikes often as quick as on full DH rigs (jarad graves on his SB66c etc) but you see a good number of DH bikes if you rock up at popular spots.

It's not dead but, I reckon it's less separate than it was... Lots more people realise it's not some mad thing that Other People do on special bikes that they don't have, it's just mountain biking. So yeah, there's less pyjamas and boxxers and race signups seem to be down, but a lot of uplifts are rammed. The big barrier to entry was never money or kit, it was just understanding. Maybe it's a shame to lose that distinctive character but it's got to be good for riding in general.

Sadly I can't get out of this thread without saying it's Because Of Enduro. It's at least partly true.

Alive and kicking I'd say, still lots of activity on Facebook groups etc for DH tracks and races. DH will remain the glamour event which we want to watch the Pro's taking on. Something more mundane probably appeals to most of us in terms of potential participation.

glasgowdan - Member
Legend when was the last time you booked inners uplift? I know that the last couple haven't sold out but all summer and autumn if you didn't book early you missed out. DH in Scotland and I'm sure in the UK is big and busy and has a shitload of new and improving riders.

About 5 weeks ago, and there was space for single uplifts for each run. Since then there have been multiple posts from Tally on Facebook saying he was cancelling uplift days or was going to have to cancel if more people didn't book on soon.

SDA entry numbers this year went 295, 171, 120, 170, 223, 233. That doesn't make good reading

And the SDA were scurrying about trying to get numbers up for races last year, indeed, at one point it looked as if there wasn't going to be an SDA series this year.

Northwind is right, and by speaking to mates of mine that work in bike shops, there's no getting away from the fact that the massive up in so called 'enduro' bike sales is having a direct effect in sales of DH bikes.

Yet the BDS and Pearce series both sold out in a matter of hours...

Look at the welsh DH/Trail centres - when I was back in Aug/sept I struggled to get on uplifts, Antur, Revs, bike park all booked up a month in advance and prob 70% DH bikes / 30% Enduro/Trail/All Mountain* bikes.

I guess the reduction in DH bikes you see is the sheer capability of the 160mm travel AM bike these days, I left my V10 in the UK when I cam back to oz this time as other than some of the real big gaps there is nothing I can't ride on a Nomad. I'll keep the V10 for going to steeper more rocky / 'gnarly tracks that need a bit more travel to hit at a reasonable pace.

(*delete as applicable for buzz description of the month)

I live an hour and a half from Whistler. A bunch of guys I know have sold there DH bikes and won't be replacing them. Modern AM bikes are so much fun to ride that it doesnt feel like your missing out not riding a pure DH bike. Plus people here want to race and DH racing is crap VFM compared to XC and Enduro.

I'm about to acquire a nice DH bike... definitely not dead for me.

No the race scene in the south has never looked so busy.
Loads of venues new and old, of the top of my head this year.

Tavi woods
Gawton
FoD
Gravity Project venue 1
Gravity Project venue 1
QECP
PORC
Bull track
Combe Syd
Tidworth
Rogate
Uk bike park
Aston hill

That's 13 venue with 40 plus races and that's just in the south. Southern Downhill is very much still alive!!

Rizla,
what you getting?

If you think its dead go to on of the many Pearce Shropshire venues, its rather popular.

Yes 160 bikes are better and could be used for mild DH / bikeparks now.

Maybe SDA is less popular as the BDS has gotten a bit better?

Speaking of Aston Hill, was there Sunday. Now I know where all the old skool bikes go to die...

dont seem to see the guys with 200mm full suss bikes around much these days ? and most bike shops dont stock them ! whats your thoughts

160/170 bikes like mega/alpine/soda/etc have stolen a load of 'big bike' customers... Me, for one - I could barely justify getting a big full sus bike TBH, only if it could also pedal OK and cope with some regular XC/trail centre ups as well as downs, which ruled out a full on DH rig, as much as I'd like one.

The uplift at Inners on Sunday was 70% to over subscribed (Despite Tally's initial concerns) think folk like the idea of single runs sometimes.

Whilst the SDA has been struggling (Enduro must have taken it's toll) we mostly have about 90 up and coming little rippers participating in our 'Mini' DH events (Held on proper courses) at Innerleithen Mountain Bike Racing. So the future's bright for technical riding whether it be DH or Enduro. 😀

Maybe SDA is less popular as the BDS has gotten a bit better?

So popular that for the last few years they have to open up the entries with anyone with a licence just to try and fill them? Numbers are falling, the bigger race series' (other than Pearce) have all struggled to fill up. There is virtually no racing in South Wales these days, other than Taff Buggy.

The little local races are good though, ~£20 a pop, only one day and they can get away with only 50-75 people showing up, whereas the big races needed 200+ at a minimum to work.

I rode with a big group of people who raced the BDS a few years ago, probably 10-15 of us, none have a DH bike any more and most race enduro instead now.

Me, I got sick of spending £65 on a race entry to get my bike wrecked on various sh*tty uplifts, to spend 30 minutes on it over a weekend if I was lucky.

I still race the local events, but that's my lot. The difference is, a lot more people use trail bikes at them.

anyway, why dont you all attend a build day? 😛

[url= http://www.chasetrails.co.uk/2013/11/big-build-day-on-stile-cop/ ]http://www.chasetrails.co.uk/2013/11/big-build-day-on-stile-cop/[/url]

the problem is that a DH bike needs an uplift, even though we have mountains, there really arent the uplifts and certainly not the chairlifts. In the Alps its a different matter!

legend - Member

About 5 weeks ago, and there was space for single uplifts for each run. Since then there have been multiple posts from Tally on Facebook saying he was cancelling uplift days or was going to have to cancel if more people didn't book on soon.

IIRC he was adding extra days at short notice as the scheduled ones were busy or full, then had to pull one or two of the extras.

There's usually space for single runs just because of the ebb and flow of riding, people miss runs, spanner themselves, etc. Even on a fully booked day you can usually get on most runs if you wave Elliot a fiver and your most seductive smile 😆

I wonder if the SDAs were a victim of their own success to some extent. A few years ago it was really difficult to get a place unless you were sitting waiting for entries to open. Maybe people stopped bothering to try after a while and moved on to other things like uplifts and enduros.