kickn5k Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) I've seen a BMX thread so I searched for a mountain bike thread and nothing came up so I'll start one. Years ago I rode enduro dirt bikes, I was winging to a mate about the costs of this and he invited me to come ride a DH bike as it's mainly a setup cost. Well I did ended up hooked sold the old dirt bike and the rest is history. Raced a couple of state race rounds which is fun and the DH community is very welcoming. I mainly ride the local trails 15min from home and mt buller when they are open. So here are details of my current ride(pics later tonight when I get to the laptop). Frame : 2003 Kona stab deluxe(could have a newer one but I like the way it rides). Forks : Mazzocci "super t's" 7" travel triple clamp style. Rear shock : FOX Vanilla-R external res 8" travel Cranks : tru-vative Brakes : 8" disk with Hayes 9 series hydro single piston calipers. Gears : single speed front with SRAM X7 9 speed rear. Wheels : Revell double wall rims and HD hubs, with 20mm dia through axle up front. Tyres : Maxxis minion DH front, Maxxis high roller DH rear. Grips : Oury DH. Seat : Tioga DH. This thread isn't specifically DH MTB. I like all MTB pushies. XC, Hybrid, Dirt jump/street, Trials and Freeride/DH. So jump on it and show us what you've got!!! Stu. Edited April 4, 2012 by kickn5k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 I ride my Hardtail (Norco Wolverine) around Lysterfield and the DH rig mostly at the You-yangs. Haven't ridden any DH in ages though. Got a glory atm, but I'm looking to sell and go all-mountain, something like a giant trance for more versatility. This is the glory (as you can see, hasnt had much abuse :P) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irokin Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Any advice for someone looking to buy one? Brands to go for/avoid. Probably looking at spending $1-2k. Need to get some use out of the local state forest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) This thread isn't specifically DH MTB. I like all MTB pushies. XC, Hybrid, Dirt jump/street, Trials and Freeride/DH. So jump on it and show us what you've got!!! Stu. Cool, so the people who ride UP the hills as well instead of just down them are allowed in too. :P (That'll be my one & only downhiller joke, I swear!) I might just have to buy another set of wheels to mount dirt tyres on & come for a thrash one day! Awesome setups you've got there guys, full credit to the DH bikes, they take a helluva pounding & stop the rider from taking one too! :y: I'd give it a go, but I know I will do something stupid & serious injury will be the best possible outcome. :blush: There's some pics & info of bits & pieces I rebuilt my bike with on page 14 of my build thread, but here's a photo of it. 1996-ish Marin Nail FRS cross country frame with '98 Rock Shox Indy S front forks. Recently rebuilt/setup for tarmac use (living in the 'burbs...:glare:) Vuelta Zero Lite rims, some cheap smooth tyres (soon to be replaced with 'slicks') & lots of made-in-Thailand/China Shimano bits. I originally purchased it from a mate of dfunkt (recurring theme here? :hmm: ) who was getting into DH riding. It was setup as an off-road bike then, softer rear spring & some nice, chunky WTB Primal Raptor tyres. I grew up in Bacchus Marsh so there's not many places around there I didn't ride/crash on at some stage, or go driving on once I got my licence... :lol: Edited April 5, 2012 by carbonboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickn5k Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Any advice for someone looking to buy one? Brands to go for/avoid. Probably looking at spending $1-2k. Need to get some use out of the local state forest. So you want to be able to go up hills aswell? You probably wouldn't need to spend $2k. You'd be able to get onto something good for between $700-1200. With your budget your pricing yourself away from the cheap and nasty brands. Some good brands(that still aren't super expensive) to look at are Giant, Kona and Norco etc. You have three options with XC(cross country) bikes. Rigid(with squish forks), dual suspension(up to 5" travel but no more) or my new favorite the 29"er. 29" wheel bikes don't usually have any form of suspension as the wheel dia being bigger just rolls over pretty much everything. Going for a full suspension bike, I'd look at something with a bar mounted(or easily accessible) lock out switch for the rear fluid shock. You open it up and barrel down a hill then either go to "stable pedal platform" or "full lock off" to climb like a champ. Wouldn't bother with a carbon frame, unless you really want one and the current tech ally frames are pretty damn light. Group set and brake brands to look for are obviously Shimano, but SRAM are pretty good to. Hayes brakes are top value for money but so are Shimano. And YES I do consider myself as an MTB nerd.lol Hope that helps?? Stu. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickn5k Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Cool, so the people who ride UP the hills as well instead of just down them are allowed in too. :P (That'll be my one & only downhiller joke, I swear!) I might just have to buy another set of wheels to mount dirt tyres on & come for a thrash one day! Awesome setups you've got the DH bikes, they take a helluva pounding & stop the rider from taking one too! :y: I'd give it a go, but I know I will do something stupid & serious injury will be the best possible outcome. :blush: Haha Luke, I put that in so that we'd get a few more people feeling welcome. That and I new you had a hybrid!! I do semi stupid stuff pretty much every time I ride. I do wear full 661 body armour, just to make sure I can still go to work on a Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 ..... I'm no nerd, but everything Stu said! :y: Haha Luke, I put that in so that we'd get a few more people feeling welcome. That and I new you had a hybrid!! I do semi stupid stuff pretty much every time I ride. I do wear full 661 body armour, just to make sure I can still go to work on a Monday. We welcome all but photos of spandex! :D Hybrid thingy snapped the main swingarm bolt, need to make myself a new one sometime soon. :( A wise decision on the body armour! :y: A dirtbike rider mate of mine used to give flack to pushy riders about wearing armour, until I showed him a few YouTube clips of crashes. He now understands! :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irokin Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Cheers Stu :y: I was hoping to keep it around the $1k mark, but I don't mind paying a bit more to do it properly the first time. I won't bother with CF, I know the pros and cons there. Alloy will do just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.L.Z.BUB Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) Ben just wants the ladies... http://youtu.be/LIcm2-Ui5P4 Edited April 5, 2012 by B.L.Z.BUB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 I won't bother with CF, I know the pros and cons there. Alloy will do just fine. CF & off-road bikes = :no2: You'll spend more time getting it fixed than riding it. Good call. :y: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irokin Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 CF & off-road Just ask Felipe! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scGqN74GeJY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Another case where stiffer doesn't equal better. :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Interesting video on carbon v alloy. http://www.pinkbike.com/video/243228 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.L.Z.BUB Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 JimL has the best avatar, just sayin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Haha yeah i still have a bit of a chuckle every time i look at it :lolcry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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