I have only ever owned hardtails but have borrowed friends DH bikes but i am now in the position where i can afford to get a new bike. I can’t decide whether to get a downhill race bike or 6″ downhill oriented AM bike? It’s worth saying that i do have the opportunity to ride proper downhill tracks (and to race) and that i will be keeping my current hardtail to take care of xc and generally riding (i live in the lake district).
My concerns are that if i got a full on downhill bike it will be a bit limited and that a AM bike would be too much bike for most cross country rides and not enough for downhill racing?

Any advice for taking the step to riding big bikes?

buy mine? 🙂

Rachel

buy the dh bike if your gonna race and ride plenty of dh tracks.

Whatever you do, don’t buy a new DH bike. Get a 5 year old one for £750 and see how much you use it. If you get good at racing and can justify it, sell it on and get something better.

Mmmm….very open to much debate!

Vote here for an older Kona Coiler, can’t go too far wrong. It’ll handle most of the ‘softer’ downhill tracks you’re likely to encounter – doubt you’ll be on the World Circuit eh! It’s also light’ish enough to pedal back to the top.

Now wait for the shoot down from others….

i think i am probably not quite ready for the world cup circuit just yet! Are people competitive on “mini” downhill bikes? Downhill is just an area of mountain biking i have always wanted to get involved in and now i am at university there are so many opportunities to do so.

defo do it at uni while you can its a lot of fun and uni clubs often have a group on uplift days

180mm travel dh bike like tr250 or kona stinky may be what youre after

Mini dh bikes can be competitive with the right rider, 1 guy won a couple of expert cat regional level races on a Specialized stumpjumper 120 last year. However for most folks a proper dh bike is the way. If you plan to race then a real dh bike should be worth it. The idea of buying a second hand bike for around£1k to see how much you like it isn’t a bad one.

I’d vote for the AM. You can get one that CAN be pedalled up hills although slowly, but it should still cope with UK DH courses.

All the really good downhills don’t have uplifts.. 🙂

You need to be careful of used DH bikes, a lot of them are for sale because they’re completely shagged out.

I’ve been mulling over the same question, in the end I’ve decided against it because I don’t think I do enough DH to either justify it, or to really learn the bike… Say I can get in one uplift, race or one push-up day a month at best, that’s just not much seat time and I’d end up wasting loads of it mucking around with setup or finding faults or just plain getting used to the thing.

Whereas my Hemlock’s perfectly capable of DH stuff, we’ve gone racing (badly) and we’re off to the fort william endurance dh in july, but also it’ll pedal up and can be used for all sorts of riding so there’s never any need to familiarise myself or adapt to it when I do go and do downhill stuff.

But, ymmv.

a DH bike adds another level of confusion to the ”what tyres for this ride” debate. Get a kona or similar. Don’t spend loads

A nice AM bike would be spot-on for a lot of stuff in the Lakes surely?

You’d probably want something more gravity-orientated for DH racing though. Those Spesh Big Hits look pretty nice for the money.

i’ve had a 224 for 5 years now, and its superb fun. but have been looking at a am bike to replace it.
the only problem being that the 224 aint worth that much so probably going keep hold of it.
buy 2nd hand if you go for the dh bike.
where in the lakes are you?

if ur gonna do full on dh, buy the right tool for the job.
you already have a ht for xc duties, why compromise on the new toy?
i know its a cliche, but theres no point taking a knife to a gunfight.
just my 2p worth.

yes there is. Even during a gun fight you need a implement to spread Pâté.

ah, i forgot about that.
doh!

Buy a good secondhand pure dh rig. So many people buy a new one, go to Cwmcarn/Gawton/Fort Bill , shit themselves and sell it that you’d be either rich or foolish to buy brand new first time out. Depreciation on dh bikes is at least 50%.

I have been having similar thoughts recently. I ride a hardtail for all duties including my local dh tracks (Aston Hill)but fancied something that could handle the downhills better/easier. I have opted for a 6 incher as I have aspirations for the Mega next year and want to continue my runs down Aston too. It will come in handy for trips away as well. That’s how I’ve justified the spend anyway. I don’t think I could justify a full on downhill bike however much I’d like one!

Mate of mine is selling a great condition glory for about £1600 if your interested.

If you want a new dh bike look to buy last years bikes and you get a brand new bike at a great price.Much better than buying 2nd hand but depends on your budget.I rode an all mountain bike at Fort Bill and it was ok but then got a DH bike and it was so much better but then you want to go faster and then you(well me)crash!Great fun though.

I had been properly riding our local DH trails for about a year on my Heckler, got to the point where I felt I would break something on it and I could progress my riding further on a decent DH bike. After much looking at various classifieds, CRC, pinkbike & ebay I picked up a new Spesh Bighit at a knockdown price on recommendation from a trusted friend. Had it just over a year now and its really improved my riding, just started doing uplifts further afield. I guess it can be classed as mini DH (as freeride doesn’t exist any more) and I have upgraded everything apart from the wheels and have fullface, armour etc. Unless you are really good and intend racing at a pretty high level theres no real need for a full on DH bike, nowt wrong with em but a mini DH bike would be great fun and possibly better for learning Da Skillz.
As you have local DH stuff and feel a yearning to ride there ‘properly’ I would advise to keep the XC bike, if you want an AM bike fair enough, but it will be compromised on DH, where heavy tyres, low.wide cockpit and especially a good chain device with suitable gearing (road cassette etc) can make an OK bike into a Full on Gnarr Sled.
Plenty of good 2nd hand DH bikes about with very little use at half retail price, but you do need to do your homework about spares availability and sort the beaten up ones out from the good ones.

Post back up if you take the plunge.

kona operator. great prices if you hunt about a bit.

Plenty of good 2nd hand DH bikes about with very little use at half retail price

ahemm

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/astrix-havoc-r-race-spec-dh-bike-2010-cheep

less than 32lb in weight . . .

the next one up is more spondoolies, but less than 30lb!!

I got a 4 year old Stab for £700. It wasn’t perfect by any means – the 888 fork needed a refresh (£100) and the wheels were in poor shape after a week’s Alpine riding(another £100 to be rebuilt). It needed some brake pads, a derailleur, and a brake lever, but that was self-inflicted.

Other than that, it’s been great. It’s tatty, but everything works and I don’t feel my riding would be noticeably improved with a better bike. In time, maybe, but at this price I can get a good amount of gravity riding in and decide if I want to spend more on something better.

I got a 4 year old Stab for £700. It wasn’t perfect by any means

It’s a Kona.

’nuff said.

and whats actually so bad about a kona??????

other than bike snobbery

Flippin eck. Look at this for £1769!
http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=2090
Fox, SRAM, easton etc. brand new!
Very tempted myself.