Women's DH rigs

Author	Message

ammosally

Posted: Apr 14, 2009 at 12:34	Quote
I'm currently riding around on a slightly modified Sinister R9 for DH... LOVE it.. But I'm looking for a back up DH rig for a "just in case"... Any suggestion from fellow female riders? I want no less than 7 inches of supension and would like to stay under 3 grand...

laurie1

Mod

Posted: Apr 14, 2009 at 15:36

Quote

If you are only looking for a new bike for $3000, your best bet is proably a 2009 Norco Atomik. It is probably one of the cheapest entry level DH bikes there is and the components aren't too bad either. Norco uses the trickledown technology and at one time or another, the Current Atomik frame was that of the old Team DH bike. I don't think you will find too much better in terms of a "pure DH" bike for that price new. It has 8-9 inches in the rear, a Boxxer Race (8 inches), 150x12 rear wheel, and a decent spec for the money in my opinion.

If you are interested in a used bike for $3000, your options are pretty much endless. There is a ton that you can buy used for $3000 and these include some of the high-end DH race bikes.

elletabasco

O+

Posted: Apr 15, 2009 at 21:30

Quote

If you like the Sinister than you are comfortable with bikes with a long wheelbase. The Devinci Wilson might be a good pick, although I am not sure how common they would be in the US. I know several women with Santa Cruz V10's that love them but may not be available under 3G. Last suggestion would be the Giant Glory or Glory 8. I had one but found it to be a bit too much bike for me (5'2") but know other gals that race and really like them. Will be a shorter wheel base but a solid bike.

Norco's are definitely affordable, relatively durable, I have never ridden one so can't comment on ride but they are generally pretty noisy (clangs, clatters, nickname noiseco).

srh2

O+

Posted: Apr 16, 2009 at 15:10	Quote
I just got a Giant Glory DH and so far I love it! I had a Santa Cruz VP Free and a couple of Kona Stinkys before that. If you're not looking to spend more than $3000 and you want to purchase something new, the Kona would be the only one in that price range. Finding a nice used rig might be a better bet...

ammosally

Posted: Apr 16, 2009 at 18:37	Quote
I work/manage a bike shop, so what i'm thinking is to buy the frame and just build up throughout the spring... Yeah, I love the length of the Sinister and it's a really fast rig. I don't care much for the Kona. Never felt "right"... I'm strongly leaning toward a V-10... Damn i can't wait for this mud to dry up...

laurie1

Mod

Posted: Apr 16, 2009 at 18:50

Quote

I'm sort of turned off by SC and the V10 because of the whole fiasco surrounding that particular bike. Basically, in their FAQs question, the following question was posed: "It seems like everyone is using really long shocks these days- why doesn’t the V10 use a 9.5”x3” or a 10.5”x3.5” shock?"

The answer they provided:

[Quoten]When we were developing the new V10, we tried a couple of versions with longer shocks, as that is what the hypemeisters are hyping these days. After riding both versions, we came to some conclusions:
1) The 9.5” shock and required longer spring added over half a pound to our frame. Trying to develop a light weight race frame requires a lot of gram counting, and a half pound is huge.
2) It didn’t ride any differently. We did blind back-back testing on two prototypes (the only difference was shock stroke, we made a custom frame and link) with a bunch of people, and nobody could identify a difference.
3) The extra ¼” of shock stroke really isn’t that much. Instead of using a 500# spring, you would probably use a 450. Not a big difference for an extra half pound. A 3.5" stroke didn't work with the VPP linkage to get the shock rate curve that we wanted, isn't available from a variety of sources, AND weighs a ton.
4) Our pro race team has been racing V10s since 2001. The frame has always had 10 inches of travel with a 2.75" stroke shock. They don't have problems with shocks, nor could we find any evidence from our personal experience or warranty records to back up claims that lower leverage/longer stroke is better for the shock.

We tried to like it, because we've been asked about this, uh, frequently. But in the end we decided that measurable performance was better than theoretical advantages, and went with the lighter configuration. [/Quoten]

Now, all of a sudden, there is a change of heart. This is because Steve Peat and Greg Minnaar are debuting their prototype Santa Cruz V10 frames for 2009 that feature a 9.5 x 3.0-inch stroke Vivid shock. This was from a press release. Something smells fishy...

ammosally

Posted: Apr 17, 2009 at 4:12	Quote
What would be nice is if one of these companies would smarten up and design a women's specific DH bike....

waxyfeet

Posted: Apr 17, 2009 at 4:18

Quote

ammosally wrote:

What would be nice is if one of these companies would smarten up and design a women's specific DH bike....

Hardly a big lucrative market for female specific DH rigs.
DH market as a whole is already quite niche

ammosally

Posted: Apr 17, 2009 at 5:15

Quote

sup3rc0w wrote:

ammosally wrote:

What would be nice is if one of these companies would smarten up and design a women's specific DH bike....

Hardly a big lucrative market for female specific DH rigs.
DH market as a whole is already quite niche

Yeah... A girl can dream right??

waxyfeet

Posted: Apr 17, 2009 at 5:47

Quote

ammosally wrote:

sup3rc0w wrote:

ammosally wrote:

What would be nice is if one of these companies would smarten up and design a women's specific DH bike....

Hardly a big lucrative market for female specific DH rigs.
DH market as a whole is already quite niche

Yeah... A girl can dream right??

That she can - my wife is still praying for the day id rather go out with her shopping than going biking

Droppingin

Posted: Apr 17, 2009 at 6:15

Quote

My wife has been struggling with a getting a DH bike that works for her. She started with a Cannondale Gemini, which was light, but the head angle was too steep, for downhill, OK freeriding, but not very confidence inspiring. Next she tryed a Norco Team DH, this was much better, but still a bit big and heavy, the bike went on a diet, with lighter wheels, tires, lower gearing, but still pretty hard to feel confident on. As she was not using all the travel on the Team, she tryed a Norco Six, which she did feel more comfortable on, but it still felt to stretched out, even with the shortest stem on it.
This season she will be on a Norco Vixa, it is similar to the Six, but with a more womans specific shorter top tube and is built a little burlier than the Six she tryed, so far on the few test rides, the bike seems a winner, but the real test will be when the bike parks open and she can point it downhill.
So far it looks very as this will be a great year for her as she already has tons of confidence in the bike, which will really help her skills....

ammosally

Posted: Apr 17, 2009 at 8:40	Quote
Shopping? I would rather stab myself in the eye with a fork...

neon-freerider

Posted: Apr 17, 2009 at 8:57	Quote
Im definitly not a girl, but the only thing close that I know of that are truley woman specific would be the kona mixy and the Norco Vixa.. neither of which are really a DH bike though, and neither could really handle DH unless you upgarded like crazy.

fraktiv

Posted: Apr 18, 2009 at 6:46

Quote

I'm not a girl either, but have you thought about a Transition Syren?

2991306

My fiancée picked up a frameset in Kelowna, BC last year, and she absolutely loves it! Before this, she was riding an Ellsworth Moment with a DHX Air and a pretty lightweight but freeride-ready build, and she just moved the parts across. She's only really in to gravity assisted riding, so the Syren, being a bit more burly and women specific, was perfect. Only only small downside to the Syren is it can't really take a triple-clamp fork, but otherwise it's spot on. Not to knock the Ellsworth at all, it's a great frame and I know a couple of BIG guys back here in the UK who love them and use them for freeride and light-DH, so they can def take the abuse, but they're quite long on the top-tube, so not that suitable unless you're tall. The Ellsworth's for sale back home here in the UK...if you're interested

ammosally

Posted: Apr 18, 2009 at 6:53

Quote

fraktiv wrote:

I'm not a girl either, but have you thought about a Transition Syren?

2991306

THAT is a sweet ass ride! I'm almost 5'9 and i love a long a longer top-tupe set up!

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