[Closed] What DH Bike?

"not so heavy that I can't ride it to the local trails, and I can drag around a bit without killing me "

First up, DH bikes aint heavy. Not good ones anyhow (my socom's about 36lbs - I've had heavier XC bikes).

And anyhow, it's not the weight that stops you riding them to the trails etc - it's more the angles and geometry. I couldn't get a good sat down pedalling position on the socom if I tried.

So you probably don't actually want a DH bike. Something more freeride.

Also you say you're female - but how tall? If you're below about 5'6" then some bikes won't come small enough to be comfy/fit right, so that will become a deciding factor.

S/h will be loads cheaper, but you need to know what to look for in a bike, so you can spot a lemon. Building from parts would probably get you a better deal too.

Oh, and what sort of budget for the full bike? That and size will be the biggest concerns...

Well, I'm 5'9", and all my other bikes have been men's, so It's not an issue really, I just like the pretty ladies ones!
I'm with you on the freeride idea, that's what I'd begun to think. I'm looking to build something up, spending about £400 on a frame and maybe £700 - £800 overall. Not sure how realistic this is, but I can dream.

I have a couple of pal's who do the mega & avanche enduro each year - one rides a KOna stinky and the other a Yeti ASX, they both picked them up for good money on ebay - both bikes seem to be good all-rounders for DH antics and can be used for local trails etc 🙂

Discounted Kona of some kind?

Drop me a mail

smithy7886@yahoo dot com

🙂

nice pic up attempt Dylan, good luck 😉

Im a happily married man of 10 years!! 😉 LOL

was just going to offer to send you through pics of pal's stinky etc so you can get an idea of what theyre riding, as im hopeless at posting pics..

offers there if you want it.

That sort of money you'd be wanting a secondhand kona coiler or stinky. Cheap and cheerful, but you'll have fun riding them, and whilst they're a bit "agricultural" they're hard to kill. Many will have been ragged and not looked after tho by teenagers and the like. So give it a good check over for cracks etc.

Budget £40 for bearings, money for shock/fork services (if not recently done), £20 for a spring to suit your weight.

I'd also be looking for newer style (26" rear wheel) bighits for that sorta money, if you want something more DH.

I own a orange 7+ thats 43lbs, I also own a lapierre froggy thats 37lbs

I would say buy a nice freeride bike with 7 or so nches of travel, or 6.5 - something in that area and just get two sets of wheels - If your really skint just get two sets of tubes.....

reign X?

strong enough, light, enough travel, good geometry, cheapish.

Thanks chaps, I reckon conning a 14 year old out of his Kona is probably the way forward, I'm into industrial/agricultural chic anyways so a Kona's not an immediate turnoff.
I'm feeling inspired, student loan/saved wages here we come!

if you could push your budget to around 1k there's a good selection of stuff on here that'd do the trick.

Norco Shore would be awesome. Norco Six is a bit less burly but more pedalable, but it would handle DH as well as xc stuff.

Plenty of Kona's too!

edit: here - http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/category/643/Clearance_Full_Suspension_Bikes

Did you just describe a Kona as "chic"?

Maybe also budget for an eye test 😉

I still reckon you should get an old v10.

I have a Kona Stab Primo with Monster Ts up front, but at 57lbs it takes some cranking up to speed and even the thought of trying to pedal the bugger up an incline sends shudders down my spine. However, I can still make it fly and it does a fine job of flattening Fort Bill.

I've dragged my old Santa Cruz VP-Free round XC occasionally when I've broken my Nicolai - it's certainly not the end of the World to pedal. They have stopped making them now so maybe they will be out of vogue and a few might be available for reasonable money.

Sorry - I love mine too much to part with it.

Rachel

First up, DH bikes aint heavy. Not good ones anyhow (my socom's about 36lbs - I've had heavier XC bikes).

DH bikes are heavy! (min 10lb frame weight & 6lb fork can never be anything else) all the sub 40lb DH builds I ever see have at least one component not upto the job for a full grown man to reliably ride DH on. I did agree with everything else you said tho... until you ruined it in your next post by mentioned Kona's and Bighits 😕

Take a look at S/H Ironhorse 6/7points, Giant reigns or spesh pitch/enduro's all pretty light with suspension that should work well.. especially for a beginner

"all the sub 40lb DH builds I ever see have at least one component not upto the job for a full grown man to reliably ride DH on."

The kit on my socom's been unchanged for a couple years now, the only unreliable bit's been the ISCG tabs on the mainframe (replaced by Extra). I could list all the components, but the main parts are totems/middleburns/gamut/ti spring/pro 2 ex721s, tubeless dual ply high rollers. Light frame, and the forks are very light - but they have been reliable (though I don't mind servicing my kit).

" I did agree with everything else you said tho... until you ruined it in your next post by mentioned Kona's and Bighits "

As I said, agricultural but they last, and they do work ok if you're not a snob! ;-P

There's nothing wrong with bbig hits. They offer a lot of performance for the money and to be honest the weight penalties are only going to be an issue in race scenarios and to be honest Womens' DH races have comprativley few competitors so the payoff is even less. I.E the top 10 are unlikely to be that close in terms of ability so having a lighter/ more effiecient bike isn't of paramount importance. However 50lbs plus is a bit silly.

It's a waste of time suggesting chaps- I've shown her at least 15 bikes now and she's written off all the best ones because they look "horrid".

Woman up, get a Commy Supreme or Norco 6 or Enduro or Reign X like you're told.

Sanity Assasin- I barely had the strength to turn your Kona at Storthes, it'd kill brucespruce!

My 06 big hit is lighter than my mates V10 both with similar builds. The trouble with a BigHit is that it's very hard for me to justify the best part of £2000 on a new frame when I get 90% of the performance from my £400 specialized frame!

big hits work well but have slightly ropey geometry and are too heavy for a girl to ride around on. Kona's are just pretty awful all round.

Sorry, I wouldn't really call a Socom a DH bike. and your middleburns would not last for me.
.

ah - the Middleburns will last no problem

Luke - shhh, I have the ultimate taste in bikes, it is not to be questioned. I want something cheap that doesn't look cheap, not like the vile argos rejects you've been showing me, Ha! No I suppose if they're good then I can't be too picky about how they look, mafiafish can vouch for that - oops.
😯

mafiafish - did you miss this bit...

I want something DHable, [b]but not so heavy that I can't ride it to the local trails, and I can drag around a bit without killing me[/b] (I'm a fairly feeble female who's adverse to lung busting hard work).

and 10 women in one category? do they even get that many women at Nationals? 😉

Ive got an 18" Kona Coiler Deluxxe frame with serviced shock and new bearings with forks, seat post, and other bits and pieces sitting in a garage gathering dust if you were interested in that. I rode it XC for a while with a view to looking forward to the downhill bits.

Buy this. £600.

[img] [/img]

Sounds like a 6-inch fs bike would suit.

Orange Patriot XCEL / 66 with adjustable geometry can be built up with air shock & fork and weigh in around 33lbs and certainly up to the job of riding the Mega and doing uplift days at CwmCarn or Fort Bill.

Others to consider - Cove G-Spot, Commencal Meta 6, Lapierre Spicey and the Giant Reign (? I think that's the 6-inch one).

All of these can be riden XC but not as 'easy' as a lighter short travel bike.

spokescycles,

if the OP doesn't can you mail me details as I have a friend who might.

if you can stretch to a grand......
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/19912/Kona_Minxy_Bike_2009

konas lady specific freeride bike
[img] [/img]

It's on Southern downhill- nothing to do with me, but his mail is "made in 1982 @ gmail.com", but without the spaces.

reign X?

strong enough, light, enough travel, good geometry, cheapish.

I read your opening post about wanting a DH bike, and my immediate thought was exactly the same as that above...

OK, I'm biased, but I used to own a proper DH bike, and ended up never riding it because I just couldn't ride it anywhere except for down DH tracks. Not cos of the weight (it was quite light for a DH bike, around 36-37lb iirc), but cos of the geometry. The seat angle as well as the head angle was way too slack, so it'd wheelie (despite the long swingarm) at the merest sight of an uphill!

I now own a Reign X... And to be honest, it's probably my most ridden bike! OK, if I'm going on a 30 mile XC ride I'll leave it at home, but for most other things it's my first choice. It's not much lighter than a full on DH bike (maybe 2lb in the frame, and 1lb in the forks) but it is much more agile, and has quite a steep seat angle so sitting down and pedalling uphill is actually more than acceptable on it. In fact, with the long swingarm, and the maestro suspension, it actually climbs very well given its weight and travel!

Here's an old pic of mine (since changed with Mavic rims running tubeless, Shimano Saint cranks, a KS i900 seatpost, wider lower Raceface Diabolus bars and a shorter stem, but you get the idea), mine's a medium which suits me fine at 5ft 11, at 5ft 9 you would probably be fine with a small which will be even more nimble, and there's plenty of used small Reign X's out there...

[img] [/img]

The other bonus is that if you're riding the Mega, running a bike with 2 chainrings that is capable of being pedalled uphills is much more preferable than running a full DH bike that you'll have to push up the hills. The lead Mega riders are all on 6" bikes such as the Lapierre Spicy, or an Orange Alpine 160, with air shocks, single crown forks, and the ability to be pedalled uphill.

Oh, and the selling point... My Reign X, which was a £2800 bike brand new, cost me £850 for the full bike in mint condition at not even a year old! They're seen as less desirable when compared to Specialized SX Trails etc so don't command the same money...

have a look at marin's too. I got my marin quake frame (practically brand new) for £350 on this forum. Put on a good shock and cheap 1.5'' forks (i have lyrics but domains will be ok) and you're half way there.

Otherwise, Konas are the best. Look on pinkbike, i sell all my overpriced stuff on there. I should feel guilty, but it keeps me racing at BUCS 😀

Hmmm, pinkbike seems to be the place to overprice your stuff, that's my plan for the 'goose when I decide to go for it, sell it to a poor unsuspecting child who's been saving their pocket money - hah.
The little gits on there are terribly unreliable though and if you're not 14 and fluent in txt spk it's difficult to work.

Those Kona Minxy things are particularly appealing, I'm a sucker for black and gold graphics. And they're cheeeeeep. Anyone had any experience of them?

i have a mate whos selling a 07 coil-air (17.5")

barely ridden and definatley not abused. definatley in your budget. mail in profil if your interested.

have you looked at pauls cycles...
[url= http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b1s1p1441 ]this is probably too big, but, for the money, i think it's superb[/url]

[url= http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b7s1p1570 ]this is a small kona coilair deluxe and looks awesome for the mullah[/url]

[url= http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p2262 ]giant reign- less suited to DH but pedally and highly rated... and cheap[/url]

[url= http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s24p2384 ]women's specific Giant Cypher. Not so suited to DH, but looks pretty tidy all the same.[/url]

Hey, I have a mongoose ( could be Bruce 2 ?) khyber frame for sale. It's a good bike. 6.5 inches of travel via a fox dhx 5. I built it up light with air forks etc, but people run them with boxxers. Would be perfect for megavalanche... Of interest?

Santa Cruz Bullit? Old version or new one. Can pick those up plenty cheap enough and super reliable with good rear travel and OK for riding trails and ting.

Reign X or Orange Patriot/66/Alpine, or a old style Spesh Enuro/SX trail. Or a heckler.

DH bikes just don't work on anything that's not properly DH. The mega has some decent climbs in, so something that will take a granny is no bad idea.

If you're not especially heavy, or strong a lighter, more nimble bike is much easier to DH on too - I'm 5'10" & 10stone and ride an old 6" Turner, and don't lose much to guys on much bigger bikes unless its really, really rough. They jump easier too.

If you're happy with an air shock then a Coilair or Minxy should fit the bill. Oh and JE James Cycles have lovely white Stinky Air frames on offer at the mo' - [url] http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/kona-stinky-air-downhill-frameset-id55458.html [/url]. I love Konas but prefer a coil shock and I'm not too bothered by weight - I've owned a Coiler and couple of Stinkys and used them for all round riding - they're never going to win any uphill races but are perfectly manageable if you're not in a hurry 😉 . Briefly owned a Bullit last year - cracking bike for the downhills but I found it a bit of a handful on the climbs, possibly due to its shortish toptube.

There's a Patriot on the classifieds in medium. Nothing to do with me, but I know they're great handling bikes and might suit your needs quite well.

Don't get an (old) big hit, way too heavy and slack.

Reign X is a good bike. Friend has one, though small is too small for me and I'm only 5ft 8ish. Giant build quality is really good and the suspension design is really supple.

This is over your budget, but just in case...

[url= http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p2265&tbv=GIANT_REIGN_X2_Mountain_Bikes_Full_Suspension ]http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p2265&tbv=GIANT_REIGN_X2_Mountain_Bikes_Full_Suspension[/url]

I've ridden a few of the 6" bikes available at the moment and soem of them are just ridiculously capable!

The Laperier zesty/spicy just flies.

Giants are pretty good (budget for a fork swap on some models to slacken the angles a bit). The reignX is absolutely imense. I can't jump but after about 30 seconds I just pointed it down a hill, hit a lip, took off, landed, looked back and thought WTF!

I'm looking for a '04-'06 enduro at the moment, got my eye on getting an old elite on ebay and planning to stick Z1's and a coil shock on it.