apete

Dartmoor Diffusion

Well I started on an 07 norco sasquatch hardtail, did a few dh ride days and after a year and a half decided to upgrade to a dual suspension. I went for a 2008 Transition bottlerocket, 5.5 inch travel as most would know. such a fun little bike to hit any trail on and I could take it out with my dirt jumper friends as well. But I started doing some DH races and was finding the rear end quite limiting (it did run a fox DHX5 air shock which I could never quite get set up right, always had too much pre load but blew through on hits). Now being able to only afford one bike i had to make the choice to either stick with the short travel bottlerocket or move up to something a bit longer. In the end i decided to buy a 2011 Scott Voltage FR10. Best thing about the voltage is the adjustability of travel, I can change it from 140/160mm to 180mm (5/6 to 7 inch) travel and change the head angle with the interchangeable rear dropouts. This makes for a versatile bike which i can hit up the 'casual' trails on, having as much fun as the other short travel people. then I can head out with my dirt jumper mates and do some hucking. and then put the full face on, put her in long travel slack dropouts and race DH events on it. Its not just scott that have picked up on this adjustable travel either, the first other bike similiar to this that comes to mind is a transition TR250, adjustable from 160mm to 180mm (6 to 7 inch) and i am sure there are many others labelled as 'freeride' bikes out there that have similiar properties. But to be honest these bikes are the answer to this question, they can be set up for all different riding styles and be enjoyable in each. I am definitely going to be sticking with this style of bike for the rest of my time riding.