[Closed] Suggest a Downhill Mountain Bike for minimum cost

Sorry i forgot to mention am 5ft3 but growing, so will need a 16" frame

Have a look in the classifieds for something a few years old, values plummet with age. There's a small patriot frame for unde £200 in there for example.

Look 2nd hand rather than buying new. You can get some pretty good bargains with DH bikes, as it's quite a fashion led sport, so the cool kids all want the latest gear each year meaning that if you find a 3/4 year old bike in good condition, it could be yours for a fraction of the new price!

Where do you plan on riding normally? Depending where you ride, a full on DH bike may or may not be the most suitable thing. Don't let me stop you from buying one, more a word that if you're not riding proper DH trails all the time you might be better served by something lighter weight and with less suspension travel.

something like £400-700 S/H should do you fine. (a lot less if you go for a hardtail)

Look for something a bit older and 2nd hand, some great full sus or hardtails can be had for really cheap as people buy the latest bling 🙂 For instance I got a 2003 dh frame + fork (plus some extras) for £395 and its still going strong after being heavily abused!

You will probably learn better skills on a hardtail so you could go for a really agro hardtail or something. You probably have all the skills already though.

buy my giant dh frame...im open to offers!

Alpine Bikes in Innerleithen have an ex-demo Saracen Myst for £1300, looks in good nick and they have a good write-up.

[i]something like £400-700 S/H should do you fine. (a lot less if you go for a hardtail) [/i]

If you take a look on ebay, you'll see the prices are a fair bit higher than that.

Isnt the first DH bike du jour always a Kona Stinky? Cheap n cheerful

Although I am thinking downhill riding, there will be a decent amount of uphill, where I ride now is not anything exceptionally difficult, it is a woodland area with various trekking paths, but I use it for my bike.
My riding style I am working towards is similar to this vid:

But it wont be quite so smooth
thanks for the suggestions so far

How about this? Orange 222 15" £150 posted needs a spring but they are cheap enough second hand.

[IMG] [/IMG]

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/early-orange-222-frame-with-push-tuned-fox-shock-150-posted

with these Boxxer race Uturns and Hope direct mount stem for another £150
[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

BR - who mentioned Ebay?

I have a DH bike he could buy in the price range I suggested (you'd need to be a beast to ride it uphill tho)

ferit- it looks good but I have absolutely no previous experience in bike making/fixing or building so I would not be able to buy a frame and components etc

fair enough youngun. Bike building isnt rocket science and picking the bits is half the fun. It is a good learning curve building it up from scratch as you learn how to maintain it as well at the same time. But if you arent sure probably better getting something ready built.

Are you absolutely sure you want a downhill bike? They're quite job-specific, you mentioned riding up hills and well, they'll do that, some better than others but none very well. And the vid you posted, nobody's on a dh bike...

Northwind- thanks for that, that video is the kinda trails I want to ride except it may be slightly faster, rockier and steeper.
As I said I am use to a £250 bike so I need some expert advice, what bike should I look at similar to the video?

And again thanks everyone, I would have made a lot of mistakes if I did not come here.
So clearing up what kind of bike i am looking for what would you recommend.

Buy some sort of 4x bike/dirt jumpy style hardtail with a longish seatpost. It should be strong enough to ride downhill, light enough to ride uphill and cheap enough to buy.

Like Northwind said - no ones riding a DH bike in the vid.
If that's what you want to do look at something like a Scott Voltage fr30. Not light mind. DMR trailstar as a hardtail alternative

Trailstar, Surge or BFe would be a good hardtail for that sort of thing. If you want a full sus I'd look for something with about 160mm travel and "freeride" biased but with an uninterrupted seat tube so you can run a full length post.

you really don't need to spend much to get something very capable, I built up an 07 patriot at the end of last season to do a few races and uplifts and it really got me back into DH. I stuck it on ebay cos I really have no idea what its worth. Its very much built with bits, so not exactly pretty, but I suspect it'll be a bargain for someone.

If you're interest just search for Orange Patriot 888 on ebay and I'm sure it'll come up. This wasn't supposed to be an ad for it, more an ad for the fact you don't really need to spend £2000+ to race or even compete for podiums at most UK DH tracks.

I am finding it hard to comprehend using a Hardtail for rides like shown in the video.
And now I have myself a little confused on what bike to get.
So just a little update:
I am now looking for a full suspension mountain bike suitable for rough downhill riding, light and able to be rode uphill decently.
Sorry for being so difficult ha ha
The helps appreciated

You should give up riding and go fishing instead.

I am not sure but does this bike look good for the job?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bmc/speedfox-sf02-2011-mountain-bike-ec025533

Hardtail would be fine for that kind of riding. It looks pretty smooth and generally ht's are easier to jump on.

mattamomo it looks like you're knowledge of bikes is pretty limited
from what you're telling us. There are a few different categories of bikes to choose from. There are pro's and con's to each. Which you should learn about before splashing all your money. You want to get the right tool from the job afterall.

so have a read of these sites.
[url= http://mountainbike.about.com/od/buyersguideandreviews/f/What_bike.htm ]

[url= http://chris-weiss.suite101.com/types-of-mountain-bikes-a69075 ]http://chris-weiss.suite101.com/types-of-mountain-bikes-a69075[/url]

[url= http://www.mountain-bike-buzz.com/types-of-mountain-bikes.html ]

There are many,many,many bikes out there to choose from so you really need to understand what your buying.

The riders in the video you posted well...are pretty good .it takes years of practise to get to that level,tho i do admire you're enthusiasm. Its not something you just buy a bike and do , but with practise there is no reason why you cant get to that level.They make it look easy but it really does take ballz to do jumps like that.

The bike you posted is a 120mm trail bike meaning its got 120mm suspension travel front and rear and would be adequate for some ruff stuff and climbing. The spec is decent but if you shop around you might find something with a better spec for the same or cheaper price.

Do you REALLY want to ride like in the vid you posted? If so, you need some kind of 4x / jump bike I guess. If you want to just ride some challenging trails with out all the fancy flipping about, then anything from a long travel hardtail (Ragley mmmBop or On-One 456) to a 140/150mm trail bike (say Specialized Pitch) should do the job nicely second hand and in good nick for £500-£700 depending on build. Less if you build it up from bits.

i think the speedfox would be fine though personally id probably go for something like this........
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s1p3506
(which is quite similar to the speedfox really
or maybe one of these
http://www.mcconveycycles.com/store/product/12658/specialized-stumpjumper-fsr-comp-medium-2011/

the only thing id say is that if you buy a bike with fox forks id clean the stanchions after each ride and squirt some teflon lube bounce them up and down a few times and wipe away any gunk that appers from the seals!

After giving it some thought it looks like I would be best of with a freeride.
would a free ride be ok for trails like this

And if so, should i look at getting a used free ride like many have said, is it worth the risk that it may be faulty?

That's the Swinley (the trail is in an area called the labrynth), you really don't need a DH or FR bike to ride there, infact I'd advise against it as they'd be utterly painfull riding up all the short steep hills.

Best bike for Swinley would be something like an On-One 456, anything bigger would become hard work. I've got a Specialized Pitch and only ride it there once in a blue moon as it's too big a bike and saps all the fun out of the trails and is actualy slower than my hardtails. You really don't need such a big bike, it's not the bike it's the rider that goes fast, buying a freeride bike wont get you over big jumps you need to build upto them. Infact I'd say a freeride bike makes jumping harder as it takes more effort to get it up off the ground (heavier, with energy sapping suspension), they're just easier to land 😛

Someone up there linked to a Specialized stumpjumper which would be ideal for those trails if you really are set on full suspension (although I still think a a hardtail would be faster).

P.s. if you're near Swiley give me a shout and I'll show you round.

p.p.s what's your budget? If it's £900 then I doub't there's anything anywhere near as good as this will be http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FBOO4561X5/on_one_456_evo_x5_sektor_bike for riding that trail in the video.

My budget is whatever it takes to get a good bike, as I would rather spend the big money once rather than keep buying new and better bikes.
I don't live near the bike park but as soon as I can drive I will likely take some time off to travel around. So should I go for the specialized stumpjumper? also shall i look for a new one or second hand

My budget is whatever it takes to get a good bike

I'd spend £900 on that On-one (you'll learn far more on a hardtail than on a FS bike). Then if you want to upgrade in a few years buy something then. Spend the change on the two most important things........

a) a skills course (Jedi on here has a good rep and will probably have you riding stuff like the video in a day rather than years of trial and error)
b) petrol to drive places to ride. I had a realisation the other day that it cost's me £35 (petrol, not including the post ride curry and the rear shock I blew up) to ride in the Peaks for a day, which is a far better use of £35 than some piece of anodised bling.

[edit] just re-read your OP, you have £2000-£3000 to spend, and I'm guessing your 16? I rode a £300 halfords hardtail from 16 to 20, nearly everything broke and had to be upgraded, but it was still an ace bike. The best bike you own (to borrow a phsase from photography) is the one you're currently riding.

This is not a spoon- I dont have the money, but I am getting a job that will earn me £300 a month, and I have saved quite a bit of money from previous jobs. As for now I am riding a £250 Halfords bike 🙁 It as I said has faired me well though. so shall i go for the £900 hardtail. Also who is this Jedi?

petrol to drive places to ride.

Quoted for truth. I have friends with bikes that cost a fortune who never ride them 'cos they're always skint and never have time.

Jedi - http://www.ukbikeskills.co.uk/

I keep meaning to book a day but I'm always either too broken, my bikes too broken or I'm just enjoying riding in the sunshine too much.

[edit]and yes I would go for a £900 hardtail, I find I progress much quicker just going to the park on the BMX or taking the rigid 29er out on an XC ride than days spent on the Pitch (which is all mountain/freeride), so a day spent learning new skills on a bike that requires them to make it go fast is much more productive than weeks spent repeating the same mistakes on the big bike.

£300 A MONTH! And you want to spend 3K on a bike, it'll take you 10 months to save up 3K, assuming you don't spend anything in that time.

Seriously, get on ebay and buy something for £5/600 rag it around until you brake it, then learn to fix it, then when you've done this a few times and you know how stuff works and what bike you actually want, spend the big money then.

I kind of disagree with a lot of people up the thread.
For just dicking about in the woods, I wouldn't recommend a stumpjumper or a trance.
Nor would I recommend a hardtail if your instinct says that a full sus is required. The last thing you want it to be wondering all the time what it would be like on a different bike once you've splurged the cash.

I would look at jumpy full sus bikes like the DMR Bolt, Saracen Ariel, Nukeproof Mega, Orange Blood, Transition, devinci, etc, etc.

But... For heaven's sake - go and test ride some bikes. I know finding small sizes will be tough. But it's £2000+!

buy cheap, learn, break, upgrade. then you'll get it more in your head where you need to spend the money, and what sort of riding you want to do. if you want to emulate the guys in the first video, then i would say you would want to be learning on a hardtail anyway.

I have £1300 saved up already, so it will only be 3-6 months depending on what bike I get. Also is this Jedi good? how do you decide what to do there or what course to take.

Jedi reviews seem to pop up weekly, heres 2 from google, other bike skills courses are available but he's on here fairly often.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/uk-bike-skills-a-lesson-with-jedi/
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-day-with-jedi-ukbikeskills

Buying a freeride bike can't make you Darren Bearcloth overnight, but something half decent won't break while you're learning, and plenty of people on here have 456's as a second bike for 'just messing about in the woods'. And a side note, bikes break, if you want to ride like those videos, expect them to break a lot. The difference between breaking a 456 and a £3000 bike is the 456 frame costs £200 to replace (the forks about the same, the wheels about the same), a £3k bike probably won't be any stronger (although bits might not wear out as quickly), but to keep it in the same condition will cost more (£1k frames, £800 forks and the like). And a £900 bike will have comprimises like cheep bearings, which will need replacing, but you can then upgrade bits as you go allong, and if you do decide to get a £3k bike, you can take your £900 hardtail, buy a frame for about £1k and transfer 90% of the parts accross, the advantage being you've been able to ride the bike for a year and upgrade bits while you save.

[edit] as if to prove my point, imagne buying the 456 now, then something like this frame in a years time once you've aquired the tools to maintiain the original bike and you'd have a very nice bike indeed, http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-2011-santa-cruz-butcher-frame-1

How old are you?

You mentioned you are only 5'3"

It really doesn't make sense spending that much money on a bike for you to only grow out of it in a year.

Ok the 456 it is, although its not available for another 2 months 🙁

I just turned 16 and that height is false, I measured myself again and I am 5ft4 borderline 5

In 6 months it will be winter again.

whatever you choose, do you want to miss out on summer? £1300 is a very good amount of money to spend a first, non halford, special. 2nd hand fs, or new hardtail. either way...enjoy.

Can't decide if this is a troll or not. Good effort though!

My advice : buy a book on bicycle maintenance, and build one up yourself over time. Then you will know how to fix it, should it go wrong.

I built my 222 up for around £500 (in it's current state), and it's very much a race bike...

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/7864331/

Hadn't spotted the due date, I still think it's a deal worth waiting for TBH, and in 2 months the weather might improve a bit, no point destroying a new drivetrain riding it in mud 😛

The other advantage of the 456 is it's a similar (quite long) length in all 3 sizes, so a 16" will last you untill you're ~6ft as long as the seatpost is long enough.

I think a DH/FR/AM bike is overkill unless you're local woods are somewhere like Warncliffe or Innerleithen. Where are you?

i'm going for troll benefit of the doubt. the sun's just come out.

Can't decide if this is a troll or not. Good effort though!

+1

If your income and time is limited (and it will be at 16) don't tie yourself up with an expensive £3K, blingy, thief magnet when what you need is a day in day out trail machine that you can throw a leg over and ride without worrying about creaking pivots or Shocks needing a service every ten minutes...

Riding in general and especially DH is a constant learning excercise (we're all still learning no matter how sage we might think we seem) and it's not so much about the bike or what suspension you do or don't have fitted, its much more about learning to handle a bike, read and react appropriately to the terrain...
Buying an FS bike won't help in that respect if anything it may just compensate for poor line choices and technique until you get to something where both you and the bike are out of your depth and you have a bigger stack...

Don't waste £2-3K on a bike, if you have to have an FS (Against most of the advice on this thread) head back to Halfords and spend no more than £1K on a boardman FS it will do what you seem to be after has a reasonable spec' and saves you rolling up your sleeves and getting into the murkey world of [I]"Giant Vs Specialized Vs Trek Vs another brand" [/I] and the never ending comparisons between specs and weights.

If you do choose to heed the advice on this thread I'd give serious consideration to the 456 Evo TINAS linked, the £100 saving over a boardman can be invested in Fuel, Riding tuition, clothing/helmet/gloves etc or simply saved in order to fix the first part you will enevitably break...

Good luck with your decision...

And head over to SouthernDownhill.com for all things DH related... including a classifieds section 😉

It was a good read until the Troll thing came to light!

I'm looking for a bargain DH bike - like a £300 bargain downhill bike.

My Enduro is too nice to wreck at Fort William - felt sorry for the poor little thing last year 🙁

Whats this troll thing?
This is not a spoon- I live in devon, i just went out to the woods and tried a pretty technical trial and it has made me realise a hard tail is fine for now so i will go with that bike in 2 months 😀
I think i am being accused of being a troll? if im not mistaken, i guess all i can say is that im not, if you dont believe me fine, but i dont see what has made you think i am

Troll with a very dry sense of humour perhaps?

Thanks Thisisnotaspoon for the great help. What is the most you think i can put the 456 through before it gets to much

ok your actually peeving me of with this troll thing, if you think im a troll fine, but can you tell me why? what am i doing wrong.

456 is built for abuse far beyond most poeple's skills, you'll brake/break before it does. don't worry about the trolling thing, if you're genuine, then you're doing nothing wrong, rise above it. it's just people are wary of wasting time on wind-up merchants, of which there are plenty.

Sorry if i did do something to annoy people, my bad, im just new to the whole biking scene and i have little knowledge bikes etc
im liking the look of the 456 now, i may even pre order it tonight 😀
Thanks again for all the help

mattamomo, i went to innerleithan to ride the dh stuff on sunday.
i was riding a 456. i am way bigger and way heavier than you.
you should be fine on a 456 with a nice set of 160mm forks.
and a added bonus will be, once you can ride dh stuff on a hardtail, it will be a doddle on a full sus bike.

I had a (secondhand) 456 (and seriously tempted to get another one), spent 2 happy years riding it up/down/allong everything from an XC race to downhill tracks via a summer trying to dirtjump on it. Then sold it for what I paid for it, they take a lot of abuse!

I've got sektor forks (a model up in terms of damping, but the same chassis) on my Pitch and blew a seal my fox rear shock* at the weekend, so they're pretty relaible too.

*yet another reason not to get into full suspension!

There's some good riding in Devon, Gawton has DH tracks and a trail, Exmoor/Dartmoor aren't far away, and South Wales is close enough for a daytrip. Find a local cycling club (or ask on here if anyones local), I managed plenty of trips away bribing people with money for petrol to let me tagg along.

once you can ride dh stuff on a hardtail, it will be a doddle on a full sus bike.

This.

It's very tempting to go and buy the biggest bounciest bike possible, but it won't do you any favours in years to come. Buy a hardtail, with 140/150/160mm travel forks. Ride that for a few years, and then possibly upgrade to a full bouncer.

Yh it looks good, i think 456 is the bike im going to get (im just disappointed about the big wait but oh well)
To keep everything in one thread i have another question
where in the south west of England (i live in devon) is the best mountain bike parks that i can get good use out of the 456.

once you can ride dh stuff on a hardtail, it will be a doddle on a full sus bike.

You can tell the pople at a trail center a mile off who've started on FS bikes, the pople who started off riding hardtails are much much smoother and generaly faster.

thisisnotaspoon, you answered my question before i even asked lol

I've been riding....well, since I was a nipper.... but only got my first full sus aged 21. Not to blow my own trumpet, but I think I'm a pretty smooth & consistent rider...

[url=

this[/url], Now tell me you need full sus, really? Unless you are racing DH a good AM bike will do.

However if I were you I would get a tough HT, yeah a 456 is good, with an air fork at 140mm. 160mm is overkill on a HT imo.

If you are unsure on what you want - you need to ride more. A bombproof HT will do a lot of different riding well. The money that you have saved spend on tools, because when you learn and rag stuff, having to wait 7 days for the LBS to fix stuff sucks.

When I started MTB I new very little, I bought a 120mm HT, there was stuff I didn't like/stuff broke I decided to fix it all myself - I learn't a ton, My confidence in my bike grew as I began to understand how exactly everything worked, and that if took things too far and broke anything, all it needed was a bit of allen key treatment in the evening to get it fixed (usually).

Nah, not a troll... But it's clearly the school holidays 😆

My 2p worth...

If you're new to it i'd saying buying 2nd hand is a bad option, far too much that could be wrong with a 2nd hand bike, far too easy to end up with a duff one.

Get down a decent shop, get a hardtail with 5" or so travel forks on it (whatever fits your budget), they can do a bit of everything.

456 is good, but mail order only, might be better to find a decent LBS and buy from there. They'll help to get everything setup, make sure brake levers/shifters are all in the right place and things like that.

When stuff breaks, buy the tools and learn how to fix it.

Ignore the stuffy old men praising hardtails, a 16 year old should get something like this-

[url] http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=75042 [/url]

Anyone i know who has stayed for a good amount of time on a hardtail riding DH have turned into amazing riders.

At first you'll be slower than your full sus buddies, don't worry about it, you'll then get to about the same speed as them over time, then marginally faster.

Give it atleast a year or so, then get a full sus, you'll then be destroying your buddies.

As said above, a hardtail means you learn properly from the outset, start on a full sus, you will pick up more bad habits that will refuse to go away.

That kona bass would be a good option too, not so much suspension "cheat", but a little to save yourself if things go really wrong.

Now I am doubting myself again, shall i definitely get the 456 or a full suspension, because i am keen on the 456 now.
I have looked up the gawton park, it looks nice, would you recommend it for learning new skills and advancing from a begginer level?

My advice? Don't worry so much about what bike you buy now. You don't really know what you want it do do yet, or what you want it to be like - just buy a bike and ride it. The 456 is a great bike, it'll do pretty much anything you ask it to (a couple of mates run them, I have a Ragley which isn't completely different) and like people have said, you'll learn to ride MUCH better on a hardtail than a full sus.

But as someone else said earlier, the best bike in the world is the one you are riding RIGHT NOW. So get something (anything! Even your Halfords bike!) and go ride 🙂

£1300 you say?
What about the old blue pig?
[url= http://www.muddybumbikes.com/m1b20s2p579/RAGLEY-Blue-Pig-X7-Complete-2012/RS_GB/2457 ]£1250 complete bike[/url]
Speaking as someone who has a 5 inch travel FS bike and a 140mm hardtail, I'd get rid of the FS before I got rid of the hardtail, the HT is just much more fun for this type of riding. I only take the FS out if its going to be a long day out, as being old enough to be the OP's dad, I feel beaten up more quickly on the HT, not something that a 16 yr old need worry about...

456 or the Ragley linked above sounds like a safe bet to me. If you desperately want a full sus down the line just swap the frame out, if you hang around here/BR/Pinkbike etc you'll spot some crazy bargains.

Selling a 456 frame second hand you'd get back about 75% of what you put in, so no huge risk.

I bet the riders in the vid, on the track they're riding, could make your Halfords bike look awesome fun though to be honest 🙂

Thanks, I have no doubts about the 456 now, except I will look into the ragley but im very sure I will pick up a 456.
And i want to put a particular thanks out to the community here, i have looked on many other sites for help and here i have learnt far more.

You'll soon be asking "what tyres?" and riding a Five..

Oh i am very aware of how many questions im gonna have 😉

Get back under your bridge troll!! We can do without this nonsense!

Rupertpostlethwaite- whats your problem? seriously its going to far and your spoiling the great help i have been given here

I think the 456 have a really long wheelbase/chainstay which is fine for xc and downhill stability but not as good for having fun and doing jumps on.

fwiw I got my Trailstar LT frame for £100 posted. Bargain.