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Who rides DH on a bike not meant for DH?

4K views 59 replies 53 participants last post by  slcrockymountainrider 
#1 ·
I'm riding an 07 Enduro Elite with a front and rear coil. I ride some pretty nasty stuff on it and it holds up beautifully. Just can't go as fast as i would like
 
#3 ·
When my X7 was down i took my haro shift to diablo and hit most of the trails and drops on it. Everything came out ok, the mz comp fork did just fine, you just have to try to be smooooooth. It's amazing what some 2.5 tires will make any bike capable of.

The feeling of "wtf am i doing on this trail with this bike!?" is great.
 
#6 ·
Enduro SL with a "DH/FR" build. Changed the wheels, tyres, brakes, run a DHX 5.0 coil in the rear, chainguide/bash, shorter stem, DH bar.....sure, it's still no FR rig, but for a bike that can still climb up, it does a great job once headed downwards. On smoother pedally courses, it probably has an edge over heavier dedicated DH rigs. Jumps great. Handles drops, but you want to stick with trannies and try to stay smooth.
 
#10 ·
Started out on my STP, went OTB quite a few times last time I rode a local trail when the bike had a Tora on it set at 120mm travel! The trail is beyond my ability anyway but at least I didn't fall off the next time when I took a proper DH bike!

DH is probably doable on anything, just might be slower and / or riskier.
 
#12 ·
I ride DH on the east coast so the majority of it is probably less than those out west have. But I will not ride a DH bike for this stuff. I've been on a bullit with a FR build, a FR/AM hardtail a giant reign X and now mongoose khyber. I am admittedly a very smooth rider for a 200lb guys and rarely have problems breaking parts.

IMO for the smoother A line type trails, which I really enjoy, a hardtail is ALMOST perfect. I would imagine something like a jamis parker or transition bottlerocket would be perfect for these type of trails. For the extremely rocky, rooty steeps we have here a true DH type bike is best. Unfortunately for me, I only can take one bike to the mt each time so I've found the type of bikes listed above just about perfect.

Next season I hope to be riding a new SX trail.
 
#13 ·
I've ridden my Enduro on a bit of DH as well. I took it to Keystone one day out of curiosity. Not as stiff or the same geometry as my DH bike, but it did much better than I expected.
 
#14 ·
I rode my bottlerocket for almost 2 seasons as my one and only dh/fr bike. It does pretty damn well in the rough stuff but it will really tire you out. You really have to work the bike to make it go fast, you can't just plow. Now that I have a real dh bike the BR doesn't see as much action, but it get the occasional dh run
 
#15 ·
I rode a coilair at diablo for 3.5 months before picking up a DH bike. The coilair held up fine framewise, most of the problems I had resulted in me smashing the bike into rocks, trees, etc. The coilair is a weird bike though. Mix of AM and DH parts, 6" of travel but with slacker angles than most 6" bikes.

Definitely noticed an increase in speed on a full blown DH rig. But I guess that's the whole point of a DH rig, haha.
 
#17 ·
For years I was using my 05 Reign as my do it all bike. I had separate wheels for XC and DH, just swap which one I wanted to use and go at it. I finally added a long travel hardtail and an 8" FR bike to the quiver this year so They see equal time on the DH runs, the Reign is probably going to go on the auction block come spring because it really splits the middle between these two and I'm not sure I need another shade of grey.
 
#18 ·
I took my '08 Heckler (DHX-5, 36 Float) to the PDS in the Alps last summer, it coped surprisingly well. Got a bit twitchy on the really steep fast stuff, but the slower rooty tech stuff was a blast. The only thing slowing me down was, um... me. And a sh!tty Mono Mini brakeset that cooked itself approximately every eleven yards.

That said, I'm on the lookout for an '08 Demo 7 or similar to build up as a park/resort sled.
 
#19 ·
Here in SoCal a lot of the trails I ride do not require a Demo or the likes...riding my Bullit takes more skill and precision, and seems like more fun to me. Although, if I could be riding a Demo down some of these gnarlier trails, I would be.
 
#20 ·
Rode a beefed up Jamis XLT (4.75" in the rear) with a 6" on a lot of FR and DH last year. I could generally hit anything in my way, but I had a lot of trouble riding into, out of, and between features carrying enough speed to clear things and staying in control. Eventually I ovaled the head:mad: So I "had" to get a new 7" FR bike:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
#21 ·
06 Enduro 36/5.0 air. Competed a bit last year. The brake bumps always proved to be too much and yes I think it makes you tired a bit faster. I was one of the only single crowns there which made me feel better about my 8th out of 12th finish :) Going to build a DH'er this year, but also looking to swap out the air for a 5.0 coil and I am hoping it is a seamless transition.
 
#23 ·
For 2009 the Utah DH race series that Go-ride.com sponsors and co-organizes will have a "Trail Bike" class.

The rules will be:
1. Max 160mm travel fork
2. Max 160mm travel bike (we'll let 170 slide)
3. Two cumulative runs of the DH course (For DH bikes it is best of 2 runs)
4. Any beginner route arounds will be manditory (we don't have many)

It's going to be fun!
 
#24 ·
My reign X0 does great at diablo, ride wise, its phenomenal. Durabilitywise, not quite so.

7 trips to diablo this season and i cracked a rocker arm (giant warrantied it) and annhiliated the damper side bushing of the 36 Float RC2.

as such, i'm building a real DH bike for this season to go along with the season pass.
 
#26 ·
The ops enduro has close to DH geo with low bb setting. 66.5 ha and 13.75 bb. Kinda like mini 6" DH bike with out the burl and added strength.

That enduro is quite capable but more prone to chainstay breakage over a SX trail.

Some courses you may be faster vs full on DH bike. (sea otter, cccx DH)

Scott@GO-RIDE.com said:
For 2009 the Utah DH race series that Go-ride.com sponsors and co-organizes will have a "Trail Bike" class.

The rules will be:
1. Max 160mm travel fork
2. Max 160mm travel bike (we'll let 170 slide)
3. Two cumulative runs of the DH course (For DH bikes it is best of 2 runs)
4. Any beginner route arounds will be manditory (we don't have many)

It's going to be fun!
Sounds like fun.
 
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