Need Help Deciding a DH racing/Big mountain bike.

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Need Help Deciding a DH racing/Big mountain bike.
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flag notoutbiking
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 13:47 Quote
Help! I can't Decide which bike to get.
I'm looking for a bike that can do DH Racing/Big mountain I.E:
-light.
-but strong.
-8-inch + rear travel
-plush
-less then 66' head tube angle( 65'or 64' )
-priced less then $6300CAD
-good geometry
I'm mostly going to be racing, but some big gaps 25ft to 60ft, not many drops less then 20ft. and lots of resorts (whistler,silver star,) Mt. 7 stuff like that.
I'm 5'10 and 138lbs I'm riding a 06 giant faith 3 right now with no problems for durability:
frame 8" Travel
fork-Marzocchi Drop Off triple, 170mm travel, No problems I'm really light, but riding it sucks no compression-rebound.
shock-Manitou Metal RP not plush
brakes-Hayes-9
cranks-TruVativ Hussefelt
BB-TruVativ DH
rims-Alex Supra BH 36 hole (super strong rims)
hubs-Formula DH
tires-Kenda Blue Groove FrontNevagal they really suck.

I really don't want a bike like the norco team DH too weak.
Right now I'm looking at the:
09 Giant glory DH
09 Demo 8 II
09 Flatline pro
09 Session 88 DH
09 Wilson 3 or 4 don't know the price.
09 scott gambler don't know the price.
09 commencal (Suprême DH-Suprême DH Team-DH World Cup, Don't know the price on any of them)

I've Ridden a 08 Demo 8.1, I really liked it. It was-plush-good geometry-light/strong.
I haven't ridden any of the other ones tho.


Thanks Beer Salute
flag laurie1
Mod
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 14:02 Quote
The Glory DH offers the best bang for your buck and comes in at $1000 less than your budget. It is a little heavier than the other bikes you listed but $1000 is a $1000 which is a lot of money! Maestro is a great platform that rivals many of the more expensive bikes out on the market and their platform. The 2010 Glory DH frame is losing close to 4 pounds so it might make sense to wait until then for the redesigned Glory that is in research and development. The Glory is an excellent race machine.

The Demo is not a race bike. Just because Sam Hill rides it doesn't mean it is a race bike and his bike looks like a Demo 7 front triangle with a Demo 8 rear triangle. It is a custom frame that he is riding. The Flatline Pro is heavy. I believe Kakah did a review on his so look for that and see if it is what you are looking for. The Session 88 DH is VERY expensive for what you get. In fact, I'll say it right now. It's overpriced for what you get. Nearly all the components are Bontrager which is Trek's in-house brand and they produce those parts for peanuts and charge you the big bucks for them. Kakah also tested one of these so check out his review. The Wilson is probably one of the lightest bikes out of your picks but they are pricey. They are definitely pushing your budget. The Wilson 4 is over your budget. The Scott Gambler is available in two models and one is less than your budget and the other is more than your budget. As for the Commencal, there aren't any shops that stock them but if I remember correctly, they are pretty pricey and their weight is ok.
flag giantzack
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 14:17 Quote
glory there sweet and your have ridden giant so u know the quality
flag awais
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 14:21 Quote
Sunday wc custom built my build is costing me 3500 with frame and top of the line parts
flag laurie1
Mod
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 14:25 Quote
awais wrote:
Sunday wc custom built my build is costing me 3500 with frame and top of the line parts

Their parent company has gone bust but they have a potential buyer lined up to "rescue" them and DW left them. Not sure if IH is the best company to buy a bike from because of these negative externalities...
flag giantzack
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 14:34 Quote
laurie1 wrote:
awais wrote:
Sunday wc custom built my build is costing me 3500 with frame and top of the line parts

Their parent company has gone bust but they have a potential buyer lined up to "rescue" them and DW left them. Not sure if IH is the best company to buy a bike from because of these negative externalities...

agree. Evil defonatly got the better deal
flag ajlariviere
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 16:24 Quote
I would get the demo or the scott I have riddin both of them and I know they are both vey good bikes.
flag stryke
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 16:32 Quote
laurie1 wrote:
The Demo is not a race bike

there is nothing on the demo what makes it not a race bike

14.4" bb / 64 degree head angle, fsr suspension, what's wrong with that?
flag laurie1
Mod
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 16:44 Quote
stryke wrote:
laurie1 wrote:
The Demo is not a race bike

there is nothing on the demo what makes it not a race bike

14.4" bb / 64 degree head angle, fsr suspension, what's wrong with that?

68/73mm bottom bracket and 135 rear-end.
flag stryke
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 16:49 Quote
the way they have the wheel dished makes it about as stiff as a 150mm rear end, which is a bitch for wheel changes but whatever, 68/73 means more crank choices. I actually read an interesting thing in dirt mag about the demo 8 and sam hill/brendan team, i quoted about his bike and what they've done

Specialized are certainly keen to give their new star riders whatever they need to get the job done. It's not just a case of 'here's the bike, now go bring back the medals'. With Scott Sharples as the middle man, the riders will be able to get more or less any bike they want. The demo is really just a starting point, but as it turns out, not a bad one at that. Brandon Sloan explains how things have evolved so far, "Sam rode a completely stock Demo 8 first, then he and Jacy sent a list of things they wanted. The top tube length happens to be our small size, the head angle is standard. The biggest change was the BB height. He likes it crazy low. He's all about the corners and carrying speed through them. The demo has a low and centralized centre of gravity which helps too. We made two different rear ends for him, a stock one at 16.5" and a long rear-end at 16.75", which is closer to the Iron Horse. He tried both and right now he prefers the shorter stock one, I wasn't expecting that. Another change is the shorter 1.5" headtube with integrated bearings for a really low handlebar height. The FSR linkage is the same, we'll see how that goes depending on the feedback we get."

To say it's not a race bike they sure didn't change much

edit: also, the changes what sam/brendan make to the demo 8 for them will be made on the production demo's for 2010, neat
edit2: i could probably scan the whole article because it's pretty interesting, 8 pages of the new team
flag laurie1
Mod
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 16:58 Quote
stryke wrote:
the way they have the wheel dished makes it about as stiff as a 150mm rear end, which is a bitch for wheel changes but whatever, 68/73 means more crank choices. I actually read an interesting thing in dirt mag about the demo 8 and sam hill/brendan team, i quoted about his bike and what they've done

Most of the cranks today that come in a 68/73mm bottom bracket width are available in an 83mm too. If they are not, you can adapt/modify a 68/73mm to work with an 83mm shell by retrofitting most bottom brackets. Therefore, the increased amount of crank choice isn't really a valid argument. Like said, dishless wheels are way easier to work on and swap if it needs to be done and you don't have a lot of time to spare. Although it might be just as strong as a traditional 150 rear wheel, it is a pain to deal with.

Hill's Demo also has cable guides down the frame similar to the Demo 7 that the Demo 8 frame does not have. Like you said, they are riding different frames than what the public does. Although the differences are minor, there are still subtle differences in what they are riding and what the public has...
flag stryke
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 17:02 Quote
laurie1 wrote:
stryke wrote:
the way they have the wheel dished makes it about as stiff as a 150mm rear end, which is a bitch for wheel changes but whatever, 68/73 means more crank choices. I actually read an interesting thing in dirt mag about the demo 8 and sam hill/brendan team, i quoted about his bike and what they've done

Most of the cranks today that come in a 68/73mm bottom bracket width are available in an 83mm too. If they are not, you can adapt/modify a 68/73mm to work with an 83mm shell by retrofitting most bottom brackets. Therefore, the increased amount of crank choice isn't really a valid argument. Like said, dishless wheels are way easier to work on and swap if it needs to be done and you don't have a lot of time to spare. Although it might be just as strong as a traditional 150 rear wheel, it is a pain to deal with.

Hill's Demo also has cable guides down the frame similar to the Demo 7 that the Demo 8 frame does not have. Like you said, they are riding different frames than what the public does. Although the differences are minor, there are still subtle differences in what they are riding and what the public has...

fitting 68/73mm cranks to 83mm bb's isn't really a great solution due to the non drive side crank not having full attachment to the spindle (at least from friends experience, xt's)

they are riding different frames then what you can buy for sure, but not that much different, not enough to make the stock one not a race bike and the one they're riding fully raceable (you can buy their frames in 2010 though haha), I think Team America rode standard demo frames last year on the WC circuit, the same again this year. The weight is ~40lbs stock. Maybe we just have different opinions/riding styles but personally I don't see any reason the Demo is not a race bike
flag xxburton4lifexx
O+
Posted: Mar 1, 2009 at 17:03 Quote
demos can be a super great race bike. they are 38 pounds out of the freaking box..... tell me thats not a race bike at all.... i think the demo is the best bang for your buck bike.
flag brentjj
Posted: Mar 2, 2009 at 16:06 Quote
I would not recomend running Hussefelts as cranks. Especially if you are going to be doing what you say you will be. They are pretty heavy and ive managed to break 3 Hussefelt arms. If you want strength and are actully on a $6300 buget like you say, you should look into Saint or RF Diabolus.
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