How much quicker is a downhill rig?

For the last day of an alps holiday last summer, I hired a specialized Status, but it felt heavy, slow and clumsy in comparison to my Mojo HD that I’d been riding for the previous 5 days.

Maybe it was because it was my first ever time on a downhill bike, maybe its because I’m not capable enough to exploit the potential of a downhill bike, maybe its because the trails just suited the mojo better than the status. In reality its probably a combination of all three for me.

No doubt though that a DH bike is faster in the right hands on the right trail.

If the OP is thinking of chasing podiums and licence points for national ranking, taking DH racing a bit serious, then get a DH bike.

Depending on variables of track-V-bike-V-rider then some gifted riders will do well on most bikes.

In theory a DH bike will be built to take some serious abuse, and really need ragging hard.
An Enduro bike, some are very capable at DH, and offer a very lively ride, and can feel more exciting as you are on and beyond it’s limits more than a DH race bike.
An Enduro bike will deal with so much, but it will show the wear and tear faster as well.
Saying that….. not uncommon to see snapped DH bikes, mostly of the very lightweight frame design.

If just doing the odd DH race now and then, then if you only have an Enduro bike, few tweeks and race that 🙂