[Closed] Show me your budget DH Freeride bikes..

Hi

I am thinking of selling my 05' Kona Stinky (medium) if you are interested... £375

jedi's demo7 he was selling the other day 🙁

*shakes fist at jedi for being shorter than me*

thisisnotaspoon, i told you the medium fits you! only stem change

I've just built an Santacruz Driver 8, anodized orange, with Fox 40s, Saint groupset, Chris King Devo headset, Thompson post, Point One Direct mount stem, Hope V2s and Syncros rims on Pro IIs.

That was built very much on a budget, quite a big budget 😉

Wasnt really a WTD add wrongun, but feel free to mail me, my mail is in my profile, its a cheap bike... (was talking to a guy the other week about one off here, is your name Mitchel?)

There was 2 Raleigh DHO frames on here in the last few weeks, I kind of wondered if anyone still rode vintage iron like that?

[img] [/img]

unless you have a specific frame/spec in mind I wouldn't bother building anything - far too many bargain S/H complete bikes around and building something always costs more than you initially thought.

thisisnotaspoon - Member

*shakes fist at jedi for being shorter than me*

How tall are you? (I have something similar, but slightly bigger you might be interested in)

GW your right of course, but I have plenty of durable kit on my hardtail including some M4's and stuff so I was thinking of swapping the bits over when I needed too... That said you are still bang on, so:-

Wrongun, definately drop me a mail really interested in the Kona, and if I dont have it, another pal also going on the same Alps trip is interested.

I ride a medium Demo 8 and I'm over 5'11", I wouldn't want it any bigger.

even if you want to use your own parts, you'll still be cheaper buying a complete bike, switching parts and flogging the excess.

I've tried a 70mm stem on my hardtail, usualy run 90mm (575mm TT, same as the demo7) and it felt horrible and demo'd large DH/FR bikes which felt 'right' so 585-610mm top tubes is probably my range with short stems.

GW, what've you got?

a healthly mix of new and 2nd hand stuff...

it was definitely budget...can't remember the exact figure but "surprisingly cheap"

[img] [/img]

perks, nice...

Spoon - seems like you're missing the point big time! if your hardtail has a 90mm stem it's a completely different type of bike, I can't see anyone ever wanting a 90mm stem on a Demo 7 steering would be awful - DH bikes sizing is different to XC bikes.
How tall are you?

Got an Ironhorse SGS DH in medium (which is 19" with a 23" Top tube, too long for me these days - I'm 5'11") it's a DH race bike - similar design to an intense M1 but a lot stronger and stiffer with 8" travel (7" front).

Built this for around £1k last year, including new frame, brakes and crank.

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Probably works out cheaper to buy a whole s/h bike though, if on a lower budget.

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Around £800 with a mix of nice and less nice parts. Again, could have been cheaper complete S/H, but the chances are I would have had to change parts anyway

[IMG] [/IMG]

This is Ermintrude (she's big, fat and handles like a cow). Now, I honestly don't know if she's a Downhill bike, Freeride, Freeride-light or Cross-country Heavy, but I think of her as my 'big' bike and I love her.

She's a 2002/3 Orange Patriot frame with the original Manitou 4-way Swinger Air (still faultless), Marz Junior T fork, Sram X7 shifting and 1st gen Shimano Saint 203mm (dinner plate!) brakes. Value wise, she was built up for about a grand, and probably isn't worth more than a couple of hundred now, but hey, it's not about the money, it's the memories that count! 8)

I've got the full face helmet and the Raceface FR pads. The only thing lacking from the whole setup is my ability to let go of the brakes! 😆

B. 8)

Probably not what I'm looking for. I test rode a giant reign-x in large, one of the few bikes I've ever jumped on and ridden thinking "this fits perfectly". Never got to try the medium, and I was skeptical to say the leaast about the large, but after the first 'jump' (I imediately pointed it at the nearest tree stump and took off) and nailing some flat corners flat out, I was convinced.

I'm past the whole "short bikes are better" phase. I much prefer to ride a bike where my weight isn't being thrown arround over the front wheel, looking at the WC guys, few ride medium frames, and barely any at all on small ones, most 5'11"-6'guys are on large, peaty's bike is (or at least was before the new mk3 v10) a custom XXL, but then again he's huge!

People go faster nowadays so I think a bigger, more stable bike is becoming a better choice.

even if you want to use your own parts, you'll still be cheaper buying a complete bike, switching parts and flogging the excess.

True in general, there are a lot of second hand DH bikes knocking about cheap. Check the Pinkbike, Southern Downhill and Descent World and Gravity Slaves forums.

It does depend on the bike though. I was after something cheap and cheerful to do the Mega on the other year and Bought a mate's old Big Hit off him. Then I basically ended up swapping everything apart from the right hand shifter. 🙂

Fair enough mate, so are you 5'11"ish too?
most 5'11-6' guys are not on a large.
most WC guys are going v.fast and that's where the extra stability from a longer slacker bike comes in.

I'm on a small, but just ride for fun these days (ie. don't race anymore!)

I'm 6' and I ride a large...mine's the turner 6pack, just scroll up..

short(ish) stem (50mm), non layback but set-back saddle, still feels very short compared with any of my xc/commute builds...

Or you could buy mine for £1295 with all the toys already on it. Cost me about £4.5k to build, used it for a year then went to play in Australia.

[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-orange-223-very-high-spec-dh-bike ]DH Bike For Sale[/url]

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harmitans thats lovely, its got bigger forks than my MX bike (mind you it is a 1978)

Leggyblonde how on earth did that come in sub 1k good effort.

Ermintrude... lol

chapking, yeah thats the sort of thing, but looks expensive when you see harmitans, I guess thats the thing with buying a whole bike as everyone has suggested.

Rekon the Stinky is my 1st port of call.

chapking, yeah thats the sort of thing, but looks expensive when you see harmitans, I guess thats the thing with buying a whole bike as everyone has suggested.

That's what I thought afterwards. And the new Big Hit wouldn't have cost that much more either.

Maybe I'm just that fast....................... :-p

Not saying im right and everyone on medium is wrong. I just like my hands to be a bit further away from me, I find it lets me move my weight arround between the wheels, whereas shorter bikes always feel like I'm over one or the other, my BMX is 21.75" although I'm tempted to get something a little shorter!

Besides, specialized's medium demo7 is the same size as a giant reign small, and a small specialized SX is the same size as a medium cannondale prophet, which is inbetween a medium and a large giant reign-x!

I know how that is, I built a bike for the wife last year using lots of nearly new stuff, was quite a looker (in my eyes) but didnt really save a load over getting a last years model off the shelf...

Nice building them up though isnt it. 🙂

Tinsy, it was a proper squirrel bike effort!

Frame, BB, S post, saddle, F mech £130
Wheels £100
Forks £220 (new)
Brakes and chainset £180
Bars and stem £15
R mech, cassette, chain, shifters and cables £125 (new)
Tyre £44 (new)
Free pedals and grips

I have just ordered a Van R longer stroke shock for more and smoother travel, but will seel the float for hopefully a similar price!

[img] [/img]

rapidly becoming my most posted picture.
i wanted a HT burly bike, for dicking about, local DHery, perhaps some miniDH racing (if i get around to it) and generaly being a bit of a hooligan

new 456 frame: 135 quid
3rd hand z150 fork: 40 quid
front wheel: 30 quid
brakes: 40 quid
drive chain pinched off trance, which got replaced with X9, so kind of 100 quid, but kind of not.
the rest is spares bin 🙂

150mm fork on the Summer season makes it uber slack, its fantastic going downhill, tolerable on the flat, and a bit of a chore climbing (except the fork can be pushed down to 85mm with the ETA)

I think this cost about 700 bucks:
[img] [/img]

The frame / shock / Ti spring were free, the fork was 200 bucks and was mint, the cranks were Race Face seconds with a slight anodizing imperfection and everything else was either lying around or super cheap from work.

This is my "big" bike:
[img] [/img]
I worked out that it cost about £800 to put together (including the original cost of bits I nicked off my other bikes).

It's probably as big as I'll ever need but the temptation to stick one of the 6" travel BETD links on the back and a burlier set of forks is strong.

6'2" on a medium Demo 7 here & I struggle to get enough weight over the front wheel, even with a super low bar & stem & the forks slammed as low as they'll go.

Remember that you won't be sitting down & pedalling on a bike like this.

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started like this....
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now looks like this
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No point looking at top tube lengths on most long travel bikes, its the down tube length if anything. Suspension designs mean interrupted seatposts and artificially steep/slack seatpost angles. Go with what suits you best. I'm 6ft3 and used to ride a medium Cannondale Gemini DH. Brilliant bike and it flew down the tracks, having said that I borrowed a mates large frame bike and was immediately quicker and smoother. I now run a large SC VP-Free, that has a 24" top tube, I love it. Not going back to medium bikes now.
Just to add, recently swung a leg over a medium Demo7, felt very long, but don't know had that'd compare to a large one.

I have a transition Dirtbag that I'm looking to get rid of.. 17.5'' email's in the profile..

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Oh and paid about £1800 for my VP, including a brand new frame, but everything was bought at a discount, lots of scanning the web (ebay particularly) for bargains. Frame was £720, inc shipping and taxes,etc, brand new from Canada, through ebay.

no pics but my budget build, mostly from classifieds here was/is:
aznic saber 6" with old fox van r shock £160.
05 Marzocchi 66 rc 170mm £150
old-ish truvativ gigapipe cranks off jump bike.
atomlab wheels about £80 as needed rebuild.
alivio/deore rear mech/cassette/shifter, well cheap.

from CRC/ebay:
new m800 saint brakes £100
new 38t chainring £15
new truvativ boxguide £30
new holzfeller stem £15
new dmr saddle £10
new pig dh pro headset £18

from lovely Dartmoor cycles:
supertacky wetscreams £40
... and a few other bits and bobs lying around.

Epicsteve, i have one of those betd links i could sell.

Epicsteve, i have one of those betd links i could sell.

Definitely interested - could you send me a mail and niblueATyahoo.com?

My Scott Octane. Cost me about £400 to build up

[img] [/img]

Since this photo was taken I've installed an MRP chain guide. Still working on the cockpit, but it rides quite nicely ATM.

Scotty (not the most imaginative name in the world) was an absolute steal, especially when you consider it's got Hope hubs and brakes

tinsy - Member
. . . am looking at building up a very budget DH bike

Me too! Leggy/CaptainBudget - cracking builds there for not much cash [img] [/img].

I'm very happy with my current bikes (Intense Tazer and BMX) but [i]need[/i] another long-term project and skill compensation is always useful (particularly now I've 'de-travelled' the Tazer). If anyone has an older 15" Stinky/Coiler/Bullit/Heckler or 14" Patriot frame (16"ers seem to be 2 a penny on ebay 🙁 ), the rougher/cheaper the better so long as it's structurally sound, you know who to call 😉

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Frame, shock and seatpost were 220 quid of ebay and all the other bits except the stem and bars came straight of the hardtail. The bars were a lone until I got some 31.8mm bars and the stem I swapped with someone for a load of spare ss bits.

Since then it's had an MRP long range patrol added, the tyres have changed and I've got some more normal bars.

Very nice! I'd love another Coiler or Stinky frame - I've had both - perfect for Cwmcarn d/h but found the weight a bit much for a do-it-all bike (I'd spec'd both with shorter travel forks to try to keep them pedal-friendly) . . . not bothered about weight this time though - bring it on - it'd be a cracking addition to the Tazer.

bought a new-old-stock Coiler from Pauls Cycles end of 2004 for £800. Have recently bought a (used) nomad as a summer bike and just swapped all the bits off the coiler onto a 456, but am keeping the coiler frame as it owes me nothing, is a hoot to ride and has too many good memories to sell for what it'd probably fetch.

[IMG] [/IMG]

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Is this any good ? - could make a nice cheap build

It did for me in Les Gets last year

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-kona-frame-forks-with-pics

Too big for me sadly 😐 , but a damn good buy for somebody.

This was it in it's cheap build form

Built it as my 'baggage handlers bike'

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And this is it's replacement ebay for the frame and forks - the rest was swapped over - cost a little more but still cheaper than buying new

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And before anybody says - that fence panel is 'the goals' for the delightful kids next door. - I'm waiting for him to treat his side - then I'll put new ones up 👿

Wow!! 😯 I love it.

yup the pink bike is ovely, doesnt fit in with the bargain DH thread but nice to see anyhow... pretty much done the deal on the Kona I was offered, just need to sort out getting it home, will post some pics when I get it home..

The Stinky? Got my eye on a 15" Stinky Deluxe frame too . . . watch this space 😉

So are used Konas the ultimate budget DH/FR bikes then?

yup the Stinky... it looks just the ticket for me.

The other bikes I liked the look of on a budget was the Scott high Octane like the nice one on here or the Scott Nitrous.

Poppa, the thing with the likes of the Stinky there are shed loads of them so more choices, also worht looking at Big Hits, but they really are a DH only bike as far as I can make out.... Not that I will be entering any XC races on the Stinky!!!

[img] [/img]

Frame was freshly re spryayed and checked cost with shock £200

forks were £100

Other bits and bobs total £2-300

So reckon i built this from the ground up for £5-600

Here's my old one, built up pretty light (for a Stinky) with silly narrow bars . . . and silly narrow tyres. What was I thinking? 🙄

[img] http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=y4koqr&=1&nostamp=1&quality=70 [/img]

Nice 222 8) . . . bargain!

mama, you was probably thinking I am riding this local and would be nice if it actually coasted along when you stopped pedalling... as ever looks another nice bike from your fold.

yup the 222 is lovely.

you both make me smile, yes it's been me re-introduction to the joys of gravity fun.

Had an early patriot before the 222 about 9 years ago

Are the dropoff forks any good?

As long as you buy (locate) a marzocchi rebound adjuster rod they're more than good enough for a budget build, i'm 110kg and have no bottom or top out issues with the original oil in the legs, before i adjusted the rebound though i had pretty horrendous top out.

Also the 20mm axle is welcome, compared to the Qr on my previous Jnr t's

If you have access to a machine shop/lathe, then I have a 2003 Stinky frame that might be an option.

The original seat stay has a crack, but I have a replacement set from CRC. There are no spare 03 Stinky seat stays available any more, so this is from a different Kona, but the replacement is the same length. However the stay is wider at the top than the original.

So... if you are up to making 2 wider spacers for the main rocker pivots, and a wider set of mounting hardware for the top shock bolt then happy days! I had planned to get this done but have never got round to it.

If anyone is interested in taking this on, get in touch and I'll send some photos to show the work needed.

The shock is a Fox vanilla serviced and custom-tuned by TFT. It was the best suspension setup I've used in the alps. It was a great bike.

I paid £700 for this new from Halfords at an end of season sale. Sold a load of the original bits and hammered SDH to end up with it like [url= http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/394125/ ]THIS[/url].

It then got changed to this [IMG] [/IMG] but I got rid of it for a hardtail as I was having shulder problems then got rid of that to get back into xc

definately got a good price on this...
[IMG] [/IMG]
how does £700 sound? and yep thats it on my sofa
spesh demo 7 08 with a good few upgrades from the standard spec and hardly used either...
soooo who wants my old demo 9???

mamadirt. Deb's has to sell her Kona Stinky Primo. pics are [url= http://gallery32754.fotopic.net/c1644521.html ]HERE[/url]. £450 complete, or we could split it if we can find buyers for the bits.
edit. forgot to say it's an extra small 🙂

That looks perfect (same size and year as my old Stinky) - if I had the cash I'd take it. How much would you be looking for to sell the frame or frame/forks?

Worth dragging this thread back to the top I reckon. So much for the long-term project 🙄 - I never did have any patience. Finished building this up at the weekend (with some parts 'borrowed' from my Tazer) and just got back from a quick blast at Wentwood . . . it rocks! [img] [/img]

[img] http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=11q40j&noresize=1&nostamp=1&quality=70 [/img]

A few more, slightly cleaner pics, [url= http://mamadirt.fotopic.net/c1815119_1.html ]here[/url].

Massive thanks to Mr and Mrs Dropoff for the frame and Dan @ [url= http://www.oddsncogs.com/ ]oddsncogs.com[/url] for the forks . . . cheers both!

Tinsy, did you get your Stinky sorted after?