Downhill Bikes For Tall Riders

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Downhill Bikes For Tall Riders
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flag Jeepindirt
Posted: Mar 16, 2014 at 12:50 Quote
All good jeez only one option buy new. The money ahh it's insanity why why me. So now in April a trance advanced sx giant is on the way. $7100 my gals gonna kill me lol! Use in good health hit big work hard party hard! Thx previous posts helped. Was 6400 but ad ons needed. Don't want to break the thing right out of the box. It's tank like? not really dh but at almost 7' I'm s- outta luck with options unless custom but I got no idea about this sport except go fast hit big enjoy the breeze. Just do it pain later!
flag BurkeW
Posted: Mar 16, 2014 at 15:08 Quote
If I got something from 2014 I'd go with the GT Fury. It's reach is huge. Or if you can find a 2011 to 2013 Canfield Jedi XL. They are the same size. And if you live in the states they are waaaaay more common than up here. Tr500 is coming is XL but is the exact same as the XL v10. I haven't tried a Large v10c but there is an inch difference between then so at my height large is too small.
Minnar was running a special headset for South Africa I think it was. Made it longer for the straights. From what I saw. Typically he runs what he is sponsored by through the syndicate just like the enve and so on.
flag Jeepindirt
Posted: Mar 17, 2014 at 11:20 Quote
2014 giant glory is the largest bike even at large it's top tube is 24.9" the GT Fury is 25.75"
flag BurkeW
Posted: Mar 17, 2014 at 12:39 Quote
Jeepindirt wrote:
2014 giant glory is the largest bike even at large it's top tube is 24.9" the GT Fury is 25.75"
25 is bigger than 24 LOL TT only tells part of the story.
flag snojcb
O+
Posted: Mar 17, 2014 at 16:01 Quote
To really compare DH bikes, you must use the Reach value. Take the V10 as an example, it has a very slack seat tube, so the TT measurements look really long. However, they have pretty short Reach values.

I'm 6'5" and I've owned the following:

- 2007 Santa Cruz v10, Large (Reach was a little shy of 15.8")
- 2010 Canfield Brother's Jedi, XL (Reach was about 17.8")
- 2013 Intense 951 EVO, Large (Reach was about 16.8") [I'm pretty mad about that since it was supposed to be 18"!]
- 2014 Nicolai ION 20, XL (Reach is about 18.75")

I personally measured all four of those bikes, and I did it using the same equipment (self-leveling cross-hair laser level lined up with the center, top of the head tube and the center of the bottom bracket).

Through my purchases, I've concluded that, for me, I need a bike with a Reach that's >18.75". I don't have any trail time on the Nicolai (I just built it last week), but I rode the Intense and Nicolai back-to-back around the yard and there's a HUGE difference in how they feel.

J. C.
flag Jeepindirt
Posted: Mar 17, 2014 at 19:25 Quote
What about liteville bikes? Used for dh? 601 mk1 XXL?
flag snojcb
O+
Posted: Mar 18, 2014 at 6:17 Quote
Just because the size says XXL, doesn't mean it's a big bike. Looking at the Reach for that bike (440 in the 180mm travel setting), I'd say it would fit someone 5'9"-6'2".

As for the bike in general, I've ever seen it before. I had to look it up when I saw your post.

J. C.
flag Jeepindirt
Posted: Mar 18, 2014 at 9:01 Quote
Starting to climb back outta the rabbit hole..my brain is gonna pop!

Okay:

1. nicolia ion 20 Europe only brand probably another but I'm not bilingual.
2: gt fury 682mm top tube, reach is one thing but top tube shows where my knees will end up

That's it folks not much out there except a couple custom frame welders.
Dirtysixer bikes, they make frames for people over 6'6" but I'm not sure if there knowledge and craftsmanship can be trusted towards dh bikes. They mostly make cross country but reasonably priced $1500-3500

The other is Canfield brothers. If you can convince them you are a serious rider they'll prob weld for you between $5000-10,000 but if your some noob like me you'll get the F-off response.

This is from searching every blog over 367 bike company's, foreign reps, emails, mass production factory's includes Hong Kong phillapins Germany France Europe some in Bulgaria but hard! big time language barrier not easy over phone lol

Did I miss anything? Anymore bread crumbs to follow?
flag BurkeW
Posted: Mar 18, 2014 at 9:16 Quote
I guess im wrong then sorry bud. Just being 6ft9 and having test road the new GT at Crankworkx and I own a V10c I can easily say the GT was the bigger bike. When I fall out of love with my V10 im going straight to GT or the TR500 as its the same geo as the V10 but has way more adjustablility.

I find it hard to believe that you think 682mm is small for a TT. The average XL on the market has a 24.5 inch TT the GT Large is 26.8 inches. On my V10c I have never once hit my knees on the bars even when sitting there is clearance. So I find it hard to believe that adding 2! 2 more inches to the the TT would result in knees contacting.

Nicolia's are cool as hell but seem more of fashion statement and how many adjustments we can fit on a bike for the sake of it. Not to mention they dont really care about weight. That being said Ill buy their Fatbike with the internal gear up when it becomes available.

Do your research bud. Dont look at millimeteres cause its obviously confusing you.
flag Jeepindirt
Posted: Mar 18, 2014 at 9:25 Quote
No gt with 682mm rocks best choice readily available!
flag Jeepindirt
Posted: Mar 18, 2014 at 9:29 Quote
Gt is the bigger bike I'm hoping it'll be the one for me the 2014 gt fury team only available in June I'm hoping for a 2013 gt whatever model hope 2013s got a tt of 682
flag BurkeW
Posted: Mar 18, 2014 at 9:29 Quote
Jeepindirt wrote:
No gt with 682mm rocks best choice readily available!
Sorry totally sounded like you were saying your knees would hit haha. My bad.
Ya man Im telling ya! Try the new GT in a Large and you will be shocked. I hope to god other companies follow suit.
flag Jeepindirt
Posted: Mar 18, 2014 at 9:38 Quote
Seriously a good choice! I live in colorado and I'm about at 3,048 meters I look out my window and all I see is huge mining mounds coming out the hillside eye watering action! But i gotta wait still got 8' snow outside ahhhh winter never ends up here lol
flag snojcb
O+
Posted: Mar 18, 2014 at 12:46 Quote
Overall, I have to agree with your findings. If you want the longest bike made by a big-name brand, then the 2014 GT Fury is your best choice (not the 2013 Fury). With an 18.2" reach, it wins without question. Agreed.

However, if you want the biggest "stock" (non-custom) bike available, then the biggest I've found is the Nicolai ION 20. Nicolai will go even further and custom make the bike to fit you, whatever size you are, for an extra $730. So if you're 6'9", 6'10", 7'11", whatever... they will make the bike to suit you.

My one niggle about your comments, Jeepindirt, is the reference about how the TT relates to your knees hitting the handlebar. I totally agree 100% if we're talking about an XC or AM bike. On those bike, you pedal seated, and TT tells you the rough distance from your butt to your hands. No question, you are right. However, on a DH bike, you don't sit on the saddle. 99% of the time, when you pedal, you're standing, and the TT has exactly zero effect on how a bike feels when you stand and pedal.

In essence, Reach tells you the distance between your knees and your hands when standing, and TT tells you the distance from your butt to you hands when seated. Determine if you are going to spend more time sitting or standing when pedaling and then choose the correct measurement to judge your bike.

One last comment - In my earlier posts, I'm not trying to tell anyone else what Reach is best for you. I am merely sharing my findings for what I find comfortable for me. I'm 6'5". I ride a Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon XXL for AM/XC riding, and that bike has an 18 inch reach and it fits me very, very well. As for DH, I've tried bikes that have a Reach up to 18", and I find that too short for me for DH. I'm trying a 18.75" Reach this season. My very preliminary, parking lot tests tell me that 18.75" is better than 18" for me for DH. Maybe that's too big. Maybe it's still too small. I won't know until my first trip to a proper DH course in June.

The choices are very slim for tall riders. I hope sharing my experiences can help someone else out there.
flag BurkeW
Posted: Mar 18, 2014 at 13:01 Quote
I found the 2012 V10c XL that I have was feeling really off when I first got it. Its a biiiiig bike for sure when you see it, it is clearly larger than usual. The stem I was running was waaaay to low and short. When I switched back to my old school Chromag that had 55mm and at least a 10mm rise it changed my riding completely for the better it was amazing. Had no idea it would make that much of a difference. Im probably going to throw some spacers to raise it even more.

The GT was big when I tried it and certainly made me interested in getting one. So when my love affair ends with the V10 its probably the route id take. Hopefully by then other manufactures will follow GT's as PB gave it rave reviews and the reviewer loved the larger size.... One can hope.

Any of you running clipless? Im trying to find a DH shoe in size 15/16/17 US.

 


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