Which Downhill Frame?

Current options:

* IronHorse Sunday Factory (Warranty / parts issues?)
* Santa Cruz V10 (Expensive)
* Trek Session 88 (Easily Pinged)
* Commencal Supreme DH (Not read any reviews!)

Pro’s and Con’s of anyone whos ridden any of these would be great, got my eye on the Sunday, but unsure because of the parts / warranty issue.

Have Fox 40 RC2 for front end…

Thanks in advance

Jamie

Have ridden the Supreme and the sunday. Did the car park test on the V10 but should be ragging one soon. I really wouldn’t worry about break the session 88 if I was you.

how tall are you and what’s your riding style?

Not the first broken dh frame I’ve seen. Wonder what broke first, the forks or the frame. People go on about soccom’s being fragile, 88’s being frgile…..only a tiny handfull of riders will be abusive enough or unfortunate enough to break them. Not like they are xc frames.

I’m 5’8″, 75-77 kilos with race kit on.

I ride flat out and have been known to habitually break rear triangles through my own sheer stupidity (READ: lack of skill!), hence the Trek being low down the list!

I currently have a Scott Gambler frame, tough as boots but pretty heavy too, hence me wanting a change.

Ouch, poor frame…

Dont the sessions come with a 3 year crash warranty?

Kind of a short list there btw.

I’m guessing forks!!!

Kind of a short list there btw.

Thats because Ive narrowed it down to what I think would be best for me, i.e. tried and tested and with a good rep. However, feel free to recommend anything else…

BLAMO!

speedy_gonzales
Thats because Ive narrowed it down to what I think would be best for me, i.e. tried and tested and with a good rep. However, feel free to recommend anything else..

I dunno man, there are so many awesome dh bikes out there at the minute. I’m stumped!!

Ouch, thats a big stack…

Haha, the guys face in the bottom right corner (with the kid) of the second pic is brill..!!!

Dont the sessions come with a 3 year crash warranty?

Standard warranty only covers manufacturing defects, crash replacement for the frame will set you back £1300.

Any suggestions?

God, the demo, the glory, the soccom, the m6, the lapierre dh, rotec rl9, the new foes, moorwood makulu, cove shocker, ktm aphex…….but really the current crop of dh bikes is incredible.

Like MisterGnar says, pick which appeals most from the current crop of DH bikes and you won’t go far wrong.

great warranty on the demo, one mate is on his 4th (not cracked the newer version yet).

Glory is cheap.

a different mate cracked his Socom (much smoother rider too), but got a free replacement.

Isn’t the M6 super silly slack?

there is a lot of choice out there…Orange, Solid, Wilson, Reign X (depends how brutal you are), Empire, Rocky Mountain, new Evil, Santa Cruz Driver8 (not cheap though)

Any frame can crack…I’ve seen plenty of frames in a bad way out on the hill (from all brands)…I think it comes down to personal factors…me I want something tough that I can still carry to the top of a Munro….I’ve got an Intense 951 on order. I really rate the Session though…great to ride and I’ve seen folk abuse it plenty without problem….same with the Socom.

I’m in the same sort of position as you, although I am planning on getting the frame October time.

my list:

Evil Revolt
New Turner DHR
Tomac Primer 220
Santa Cruz Driver 8
Intense 951
Transition TR450

Might be worth considering a few of those.

I’ve got a Demo7 and love it. I love the looks of Intense but having spoke to too many people who have cracked them puts me off. They all say they were warranted with out problem but it did take a long time to get one though.

How about the Chumba F5? Well proven design, racing on this years World cup with US rider Duncan Riffle on board too.

Also have a few frames at REALLY good prices…

In the words of the indomitable Jeremy Clarkson, ‘if I had £2400, what I’d have…….is one of these’

‘if I had £2400, what I’d have…….is one of these’

What is it?

get whatever spesh does that fits the bill.
you’re short and they have loads of standover and when you trash the rear triangle you’ll get a replacement quickly and easily.

In response to GW:

I guess thats the bit I dont really get is geometry, only been riding DH for a year so still getting to grips with it all.

Im pretty quick on the Gambler, but as already said, its a heavy frame… Having had a roll around a carpark on the Sunday, I seemed to dominate it more that the Scott..

What do I need to be looking out for here?

Should I be test riding them all first?

Ta

P.S: I was looking at Demo 8 but arent they as heavy as my current frame?

Demo 8s are nowhere near as heavy as folk think (around 11lb inc shock with steel spring).
You’ve already said you wreck frames so why look for weaker ones? if you are light, I’d lighten up the components rather than the frame.

11lb is 4989g
for comparisson have a look here..
http://www.sicklines.com/weights/fullsuspensionframes/

a DHX with steel spring will be around 900-1100g depending on spring weight so remember to subtract/add that when comparing.

Geometry is entirely down to personal choice but in general a longer slacker frame will be more stable than a shorter steeper one, a lower BB will turn better and be more stable but at the expense of pedal clearance. and a shorter frame will take less effort to in tighter stuff.
you need to find a compromise that suits your size and style between all of the above. * there’s more to it than the above, but it’s a start to get your head round it 😉

Speedy – It’s a Nicolai Ion ST, their DH race bike and it’s lurrrrverly. Not cheap, not the lightest, but not the heaviest. Frame weight is 4.1kg without shock. Dirt currently has one that they are in the process of reviewing.

Thanks GW, gradually putting the pieces of the jigsaw together!

Ive already spent a few bob tyring to lighten my current rig:

40’s
EX721
Saint
Easton
Mag pedals etc

Easily transferrable to new setup though..

ps. riding each bike first would be best, but even small changes in set-up will sway your view – I’m riding today with a mate who has exactly the same frame and forks as me in the same size and his set-up is so different to mine I physically can’t ride his bike. 😕 (I’m a good bit taller/heavier but get on well with shorter DH bikes than almost anyone my height)

Ideally you would need to find a rider of a very similar size/weight to you with a very similar riding style and suspension settings to see if their bike suits you (not v.likely is it? 😕 )

Agreed GW,

Ive been playing with my current setup and its very hit and miss, I changed my forks to the 40’s recently and the massive change from 888 took some getting used to but was definately worth it in the long run.

I would normally check out (i.e. test) before I buy, or buy based on rep, problem is its hard to get test runs on DH bikes as they are so specific..

Will try a couple of friends bikes but may stick with what I have till the winter and then get a new frame so I will be ready for racing on it nxt year..

I got the chance of getting a spanking new sunday factory frame for 1100, but im not sure about parts given what has hapenned to the company!

Thx for your help 🙂

Giant Horse GloryDay?

Another session 88 gone bad!

On the one hand, the new session 88 is in its first year of production and you might reasonably expect that there would be some quality issues while they build experience with the manufacturing process. On the other hand, the 88 is desperately light and some might say it’s too light.

I havent ridden many downhill bikes but Id probably err on the side of strength over weight if I were you, since it sounds like you break fames easily.

Giant Glory’s are pretty strong I think, never heard of a broken one but they are quite heavy. However, there cheap and can build into a sub 40lb bike.

Also, Ive never really heard of many broken V10’s either, however they could be overkill for your riding. My mate had a VPfree and that rode nicely.

Or you could go down the specialized route, who offer a good warrenty and dont seem to faff about replacing broken bits.

I probably wouldnt go for one of the new raceligght frames like a socom or 88 since theres a good chance you’ll end up damaging them. The 88’s are meant to dent very easily and I think the socoms have/had issues with cracking, but they are pretty light and my mates rode nicely

BearBack, that is utter filth. It should have NSFW tagged by it.

Tell you what… I rode a SOCOM the other day and it was freaking unbelievable. I mean, massively better than any bike I have ridden (I’ve been riding decades and had loads of expensive bikes… yadda yadda)

Saying that… I am buying a 224 (or just bought a 223.. another story) ’cause I don’t have the extra £3K

All bikes on your list are top notch. If i was pushed though, i think it would be the V10.

Orange would be for me.

Ive just bought my 2nd Sunday after a 2 year break on a 224 and a Socom, Socom was a very quick bike especially when fitted with a ccdb, but it simply just wasnt as confidence inspiring as the Sunday or even my old DHR and it wasnt great under braking.

Warranty/Parts obviously worries some people but Jim Walker still have enough spares to last a good while and will also honour any warranty claims. With the sheer numbers of these bikes that are going to be in use over the next few years if spare bolt kits ever run short then im sure someone like betd will start producing something.

That new Glory just looks wrong, might be the photo but just looks to short and too high 🙁

old glorys will be cheap as when the new model comes out. they are ace, but weigh a gnats more that a neutron star