I have a stock 2014 27.5 Trance SX. I mostly ride local up/down root/rocky ST. I finally took it to Highland Park last week and plan to go more often. I am very new to DH (been twice) and had a freakin BLAST!! I rode all the beginner and intermediate trails for 2 days. I also took a private 3 hour lesson. My coach, Chris, helped my dial in my bike suspension and taught me the basics of berms and jumps. Funny, with all the beastly DH bikes available my coach chooses to ride a Trek Slash which seems built similar to my SX!?
Even tho I'm stoked on my SX, while at Highland a few things about my bike/me stood out:
1. my brakes felt underpowered
2. my hands hurt like a mutha
3. rock gardens were much more difficult than the 8" travel DH specific bike I rented last year.
I know many people think the SX and similar bikes fall into the "do nothing well" category. Eventually, I will get a DH dedicated bike. I also know there is a thread on "SX setups" but as a newb it's difficult to understand the terminology and few give reasons for their upgrades.
So, I am curious what upgrades would help make my SX more DH friendly without sacrificing too much on my short local climbs and ST???
Even tho I'm stoked on my SX, while at Highland a few things about my bike/me stood out:
1. my brakes felt underpowered
2. my hands hurt like a mutha
3. rock gardens were much more difficult than the 8" travel DH specific bike I rented last year.
I know many people think the SX and similar bikes fall into the "do nothing well" category. Eventually, I will get a DH dedicated bike. I also know there is a thread on "SX setups" but as a newb it's difficult to understand the terminology and few give reasons for their upgrades.
So, I am curious what upgrades would help make my SX more DH friendly without sacrificing too much on my short local climbs and ST???