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Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,593
7,901
That one would be a BITCH getting a big bike to the top. That said... yeah - fun. :D
Electric DH bike. You heard it here first


/me is waiting at Smokehouse for our takeout order. Berthoud was a bit sloppy but people were just stupidly slow. Don’t they know I have Nokians?? respect mah authoritah
 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
24,164
14,915
where the trails are
Electric DH bike. You heard it here first


/me is waiting at Smokehouse for our takeout order. Berthoud was a bit sloppy but people were just stupidly slow. Don’t they know I have Nokians?? respect mah authoritah
Did you ski on the Jane side? What's open?
 

mtg

Green with Envy
Sep 21, 2009
1,862
1,604
Denver, CO
Funny enough, @Full Trucker took us down El duderino in Salida last weekend, and we were talking about those new school trails vs the old OMG stuff. Some of these newer trails are gnarlier than most of the old OMG stuff that we rode on DH bikes with turtle suits, and now we’re riding harder terrain on “trail” bikes with open face helmets.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,593
7,901
Did you ski on the Jane side? What's open?
Just drove up tonight. Our usual routine is to drive up Friday evening (picking kids up at school and joining traffic), back Sunday mid day.

So far my whole season has been skiing with Baby Aya anyway. Bunny hill is skiing fine!
 

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,720
7,419
Colorado
Funny enough, @Full Trucker took us down El duderino in Salida last weekend, and we were talking about those new school trails vs the old OMG stuff. Some of these newer trails are gnarlier than most of the old OMG stuff that we rode on DH bikes with turtle suits, and now we’re riding harder terrain on “trail” bikes with open face helmets.
You have to look at the bikes too though. My DH9 was exceptionally long and slack for 2001 and it has near identical geometry to my Mega 290, but still steeper and shorter. I ran both factory Dorado and Boxxer between 99-2003 and the 36 I have now is not only stiffer, it works better and is more adjustable than both - high and low speed compression and damping that actually works. The Fox RC2 vs. my current DPX2? 26" Azonic bars? Hayes Purple - fast because you couldn't slow down. I mean...

Realistically the only thing from that era that you could get me to carry across to a current generation bike would be my 636 pedals, CK headset, Minions, and a Thompson post. Everything else? How the hell did we not die with the shit we were riding on the trails we were riding? See Durango WC/Nationals for the local/semi-pro+ racers for example.

I was going through a SET of Atomlab wheels per weekend. Hussfelt cranks? That was comedy gold. Good luck making them last a month. Holzfeller maybe 2-3 months. I was bending 32's like it was going out of style. Sure I'm a bigger guy and smooth isn't what I was known for, but what we rode for parts, compared to now, we're total shit.

I have @Full Trucker's 4x and it still feels a bit weird compared to the DJ I sold because it's older geometry and that I have to run a 65mm stem, which feels almost twitchy. That bike was know for being slack and low, and it does not feel either compared to bikes now.

Honestly I would LOVE to ride/race some of our old courses on my current bike. Even as an Enduro, it would probably still be basically cheating comparatively. That being said, it's why I get into so much trouble on my bike now. It's really easy to ride our new, modern bikes fast and through harder stuff. The technology is such that it can effectively bail you out before you're even aware you're in trouble. Old school DH bikes needed a lot of work and willingness to take risk to push to threshold. The threshold for new bikes is just higher.
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
You have to look at the bikes too though. My DH9 was exceptionally long and slack for 2001 and it has near identical geometry to my Mega 290, but still steeper and shorter. I ran both factory Dorado and Boxxer between 99-2003 and the 36 I have now is not only stiffer, it works better and is more adjustable than both - high and low speed compression and damping that actually works. The Fox RC2 vs. my current DPX2? 26" Azonic bars? Hayes Purple - fast because you couldn't slow down. I mean...

Realistically the only thing from that era that you could get me to carry across to a current generation bike would be my 636 pedals, CK headset, Minions, and a Thompson post. Everything else? How the hell did we not die with the shit we were riding on the trails we were riding? See Durango WC/Nationals for the local/semi-pro+ racers for example.

I was going through a SET of Atomlab wheels per weekend. Hussfelt cranks? That was comedy gold. Good luck making them last a month. Holzfeller maybe 2-3 months. I was bending 32's like it was going out of style. Sure I'm a bigger guy and smooth isn't what I was known for, but what we rode for parts, compared to now, we're total shit.

I have @Full Trucker's 4x and it still feels a bit weird compared to the DJ I sold because it's older geometry and that I have to run a 65mm stem, which feels almost twitchy. That bike was know for being slack and low, and it does not feel either compared to bikes now.

Honestly I would LOVE to ride/race some of our old courses on my current bike. Even as an Enduro, it would probably still be basically cheating comparatively. That being said, it's why I get into so much trouble on my bike now. It's really easy to ride our new, modern bikes fast and through harder stuff. The technology is such that it can effectively bail you out before you're even aware you're in trouble. Old school DH bikes needed a lot of work and willingness to take risk to push to threshold. The threshold for new bikes is just higher.
I was just talking to a buddy about this the other day. It is the same scenario with moto and sleds, All of the things we used to do back int he day seemed so gnar and sketch even when we pulled them off. I literally went back over some of the same lines and terrain in the last couple years on modern gear and it felt like child's play. Meanwhile the new lines, drop and gaps are massive and done on smaller, lighter and faster rigs. I raced my Karpiel up until the square tube DHR and it felt like a huge improvement, My old CR hondas and RM's were the best of the best back then and now my KTM would eat any of them for breakfast, To have an RMK went they came out was nutty, now timberlseds and turbo sleds rule the mountain.
 
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