[lonewolfe]

I'd like your opinion on which bike you would prefer to ride.

First off, I am 6' 210lbs aggressive rider. I am a hardcore trail and freerider. Not really into 15' drops though.

If you only had one bike would you prefer a 2002 Kona Stinky Dee Lux or a 2003 Santa Cruz Bullit? I do ride to the top as well as shuttle upon occasion.

What do you think? Thanks in advance for your feedback!!!

 

[cbcbike]

Bullit!!!!
I have been riding a 02 Bullit all year and I love it. I'm about the same size as you and it sounds like our riding styles are similar. I use the Bullit for everything from DH to freeriding to urban to an occasional XC ride. It's a great all around bike.

 

[lonewolfe]

Hey!!

Thanks for the feedback. I guess my concern about the Bullit is durability. The frame is quite a bit lighter than the Stinky. I know the Stinkies are really overbuilt but the are durable.

So, you feel pretty confident with the Bullit being able to hold up to some abuse? Do you have the 5th Element on your bike?

 

[bohica]

You don't have to worry about the durability of a bullit. I've been riding mine, 02 bullit, aggressively all year and it has never faultered. I do all kinds of riding from reg xc stuff to 15' drops to a tranny and the bike just laughs and begs for more. Mind you my bullit weighs in at 48 lbs and I run 3" tires front and rear. The 5th element shock makes it climb like a goat with little to no pedal induced bobbing. I hope the pic of my bike comes through ok. but buy the bullit and enjoy L8R. I guess I'll have to work on hte pic.

 

[Skookum]

You'll get more bang for your buck with the Bullit. Santa Cruz is a bigger company and has build kits set up so you can decide what you want to start off with, Kona does not. The four bar linkage is what you need to worry about, the Bullit has only one pivot point, if your worried about integrity that's where you'll need to look most of the time. Speaking of which i would say if the Dee Lux doesnt suffer from brake jack there is one plus over the Bullit. BUT i'm not sure if Kona's four bar design works the same as Specialized and GT's old four bar design where dh cornering is concerned. Brake Jack's no big deal to me on the fifth element considering there's 7 inches of travel it's not bad. For the money the Bullit is a better deal, but if you really love the Stinky well go for it, both are great bikes.

My Bullit i bought with Freeride/Disc kit with a Boxxer World Cup. It weighs in at 37 but i could drop a lb with a ti spring, i have ridden up 3.5 miles 1250 heavy breathing miles up forest road, then fly down chunky rooty downhill slope and the bike begs to be ridden fast and hard, it really does.

 

[Glennder!!]

Bullit all the way. The frames take plenty of abuse and it is actually a pretty good pedeler for a 7in bike. CBC has been and animal on his all year.

 

[El Jefe]

Have you thought about a 2003 Stinky Dee Lux? Check them out. Yummy.

 

[p2+]

I'm 6'1'' weighing 190 lbs and rode the 02 stinky d all last year. The bike is a great all around bike that will take the abuse an then some. The frame and geometry is more kinda XC but handles well on sm ledges, fast descents, and big hucks. I would have a 650 lbs spring on back, run 10 weight oil up front at 70mm from top completely depressed w/o springs in. make sure the front springs are the red ones (H.D.)

I recentley received the 2003 stinky d with 7"x7" with the new rear linkage leverage ratio. SWEET, best damn bike i've ridden.... I had to run the shock oil 10 weight w/ 70mm from top (like the 02 bike). Marzocchi has the stiffer springs in stock now also for the jr. T. I've hucked 8ft drops, trails are funner than my XC. I would go for the 03 kona stinky d-lux. WORTH EVERY PENNY, and then some.

That's me on the new 03'

 

[RunIsland Rider]

It's too dark !!

 

[p2+]

I work all day and ride all night!

 

[RunIsland Rider]

You do't have some pics of the bike ??Not action but juste the bike ??!!

 

[p2+]

how's this?

 

[p2+]

how about this one?

 

[RunIsland Rider]

In reality,it's better !

 

[p2+]

the stinky d does look better in real time, and it sticks to walls like this one!