One Bike for Everything?

PB Forum :: Downhill
One Bike for Everything?
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Posted: Oct 4, 2015 at 14:54 Quote
I am kinda new to DH and bike parks and I own a 2015 SC Bronson aluminum 650b bike. I spent a week at Whistler recently and had the pleasure of riding a full on DH Giant Glory. While riding the Glory there, I was very comfortable and confident in my abilities, and that was my first ever time riding DH. I enjoyed it so much that once we got back home to the States I went to our "local" DH park, Beech Mountain in Banner Elk, NC. I didn't rent a bike at Beech, instead I rode my Bronson and had zero issues. Of course I am not skilled enough to ride the pro lines or black diamond lines yet, but I did great on all the Beginner/Intermediate lines. My bike is mainly stock, with the exception of Saint Cranks and Saint Brakes, Deity Cavity 35mm stem and converted to 1x with Wolftooth 30t ring. Everything else is just as it came from the factory. Is it dumb of me to think I would be ok with only this bike in my stable? I know most DH/FR bikes have coil suspension and at least one more inch of travel. But is it too crazy to think my Bronson will work for long term use at bike parks like this? Is there some sort of rule for using air suspension at places like this? I am not against buying a dedicated park bike, but if I can get away without it, then I'd rather not. If the consensus is that I shouldn't press my luck with my Bronson (which I also use for every day trail riding) I will be considering the Airborne Toxin complete. Just curious what the opinions are of the more experienced??? Speak freely, I'm a big boy and it won't hurt my feelings if you tell me I'm crazy...

Posted: Oct 4, 2015 at 16:30 Quote
Don't even think about it, ride and enjoy!

Posted: Oct 4, 2015 at 17:51 Quote
Once you get faster and bigger in parks you will want a DH bike.Sure your Bronson will be fine,

Posted: Oct 4, 2015 at 19:20 Quote
Sounds like you're fine doing what you're doing now. Agree with what's already been said - eventually get a dh when you're ready - you'll know.

Maybe like my deal. I already have a Reign and eventually bought a used Gambler - glad I did.

Editor O+ FL
Posted: Oct 5, 2015 at 10:12 Quote
As more and more riders are figuring out, taking advantage of lift served terrain aboard a shorter travel bike can be loads of fun, but there are a few points to keep in mind in order to ensure that you and your bike emerge unscathed. On the beginner / intermediate terrain your Bronson will be fine; it's when larger drops and gaps begin to enter the picture that you may want to consider stepping up to a dedicated park bike. Large, repeated impacts, especially if you're at the point in your riding career where casing jumps is a regular occurrence can shorten a bike's lifespan, especially a bike that's aimed at more at trail and all-mountain riding.

Whether or not you purchase a dedicated park bike should also depend on how often you're planning on riding the lifts. A few weekends a summer? Stick with the Bronson, and save the extra cash for another trip to Whistler. But if you find yourself heading for the lifts every weekend, purchasing another bike will help reduce the wear and tear on your daily driver, since bike parks tend to take a toll on items like wheels and tires. And as to your question about air sprung suspension, there's definitely no rule against using it. If you were riding in an area with massive vertical and sustained steep runs a coil sprung shock could be a good option, but Beech Mountain's on the smaller side of things, and your air suspension should be just fine

Posted: Oct 5, 2015 at 19:35 Quote
I have giant trance 27.5, great bike for bike park and trail/xc...maybe find a park bike at the end of the year when they sell the rentals, or just buy new. Giant reign is sweet, and my cousin has giant faith. He LOVES his faith!

O+
Posted: Oct 5, 2015 at 19:52 Quote
mikekazimer wrote:
As more and more riders are figuring out, taking advantage of lift served terrain aboard a shorter travel bike can be loads of fun, but there are a few points to keep in mind in order to ensure that you and your bike emerge unscathed. On the beginner / intermediate terrain your Bronson will be fine; it's when larger drops and gaps begin to enter the picture that you may want to consider stepping up to a dedicated park bike. Large, repeated impacts, especially if you're at the point in your riding career where casing jumps is a regular occurrence can shorten a bike's lifespan, especially a bike that's aimed at more at trail and all-mountain riding.

Whether or not you purchase a dedicated park bike should also depend on how often you're planning on riding the lifts. A few weekends a summer? Stick with the Bronson, and save the extra cash for another trip to Whistler. But if you find yourself heading for the lifts every weekend, purchasing another bike will help reduce the wear and tear on your daily driver, since bike parks tend to take a toll on items like wheels and tires. And as to your question about air sprung suspension, there's definitely no rule against using it. If you were riding in an area with massive vertical and sustained steep runs a coil sprung shock could be a good option, but Beech Mountain's on the smaller side of things, and your air suspension should be just fine

+1

Posted: Oct 7, 2015 at 5:24 Quote
mikekazimer wrote:
As more and more riders are figuring out, taking advantage of lift served terrain aboard a shorter travel bike can be loads of fun, but there are a few points to keep in mind in order to ensure that you and your bike emerge unscathed. On the beginner / intermediate terrain your Bronson will be fine; it's when larger drops and gaps begin to enter the picture that you may want to consider stepping up to a dedicated park bike. Large, repeated impacts, especially if you're at the point in your riding career where casing jumps is a regular occurrence can shorten a bike's lifespan, especially a bike that's aimed at more at trail and all-mountain riding.

Whether or not you purchase a dedicated park bike should also depend on how often you're planning on riding the lifts. A few weekends a summer? Stick with the Bronson, and save the extra cash for another trip to Whistler. But if you find yourself heading for the lifts every weekend, purchasing another bike will help reduce the wear and tear on your daily driver, since bike parks tend to take a toll on items like wheels and tires. And as to your question about air sprung suspension, there's definitely no rule against using it. If you were riding in an area with massive vertical and sustained steep runs a coil sprung shock could be a good option, but Beech Mountain's on the smaller side of things, and your air suspension should be just fine

+2 to this advice! The main reason I bought myself a big rig rather than a capable all-mountain 160mm travel bike was the level of abuse a downhill specific bike can take and you keep the god forbid road bike for tarmac commuting!

A comparable story would be that a 4x4 SUV would be more than capable for taking "off-road" once a month or so, but you wouldn't want to do it every weekend because the suspension would tire and at that point you think about buying a f150/land rover/toyota hilux because it is designed for that purpose.... but my god you don't want to drive it anywhere far on a regular basis because the tyres are costly and wear quickly, the fuel it uses is uneconomical (especially over in the UK with our prices) so you drive the SUV (or god forbid a prius - car version of the road bike) during the week!

PS most importantly remember N+1.... you can NEVER have too many bikes!

Posted: Oct 9, 2015 at 10:29 Quote
The 2015/2016 Giant Reigns are great for everything but it's best to have a park bike that can take a beating in the park as well as a trail bike.

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