[xanderx918]

The bike i have is a Diamondback coil ex. its maybe a decent bike at the most but nothing near a legitament DH bike. I wanted to know if i can just build off of this bike for instance i was thinking about upgrading the front fork to a set of 36 van fox shocks and maybe upgrading the rear suspension. also changing the shifters and the whole gear system cause it too isnt that great and replacing the machanical disc brakes with a set of more advanced hydrolic brakes. i wanted to know if this all was possible with keeping the diamondback coil ex frame and tires and replacing the stuff listed above and anything else that might improve the bike for DH. any ideas and directions would be very helpful.

thanks
alex.

 

[bullcrew]

Fox or lyric (go cheap), shock anything is better than the stock if memory serves so a dhx 3/4/5 will work. As far as brakes hayes are on sale at Jenson for a good price and great stopping power for the price. Dont be too harsh on mechanical avid BB brakes ROCK (mechanical).
Drivetrain x7 is decent and worth what you pay for it unless you have XT then go X9 (sram trigger is great). Cassette XT is good go to ebay and you can find older stuff for a good price 1-2 years older.,

Id keep it within reason till you upgrade the bike.

 

[Bicyclist]

You're going to spend twice what you could on a lightly used DH bike if you buy a 36, shock, drivetrain, labor costs of shop to help build it, etc.

 

[bullcrew]

You're going to spend twice what you could on a lightly used DH bike if you buy a 36, shock, drivetrain, labor costs of shop to help build it, etc.

What he said!

By the time its all done Bicyclist is right you could just have gotten a good deal on a decent used frame built and ready to rock.

 

[xanderx918]

so basically wat u guys are sayin is im better off buying a decent frame and going from there? wat about forks and all the other stuff?

 

[Bicyclist]

A build from the ground up is going to cost MUCH more than buying a used (or even new) complete bike, especially when you factor in labor costs, and the time it takes to put a new bike together when you're not 100% sure about the compatibility and specs of everything you're dealing with.

I would probably recommend just riding your bike as-is until you've tried a few DH bikes and get one you like. The 26" wheel Specialized Big Hits are a good deal, as are Giant Faiths. There are lots of other similar bikes out there too that can be had pretty cheap.

 

[$BMFB$]

so basically wat u guys are sayin is im better off buying a decent frame and going from there? wat about forks and all the other stuff?

I think your best bet would be to try and find a decent, affordable complete DH rig. Then upgrade as you break/wear out the existing parts.

Building bikes from the frame up gets expensive quick.

 

[gemini2k]

so basically wat u guys are sayin is im better off buying a decent frame and going from there? wat about forks and all the other stuff?

Nope, what they're saying (and they're right) is just buy a complete used bike off pinkbike or something. You can get acceptable used DH/FR bikes for under a grand these days. Unless you REALLY know what youre doing and know how to score deals, it's pointless to build a bike piece by piece.

 

[spocomptonrider]

Nope, what they're saying (and they're right) is just buy a complete used bike off pinkbike or something. You can get acceptable used DH/FR bikes for under a grand these days. Unless you REALLY know what youre doing and know how to score deals, it's pointless to build a bike piece by piece.

This is great advice. The best thing for you to do is keep riding your bike as is and save up some cash then either sell the bike complete and put that money towards a dh bike or keep it as a trail bike and buy a complete dh bike. After you have the complete ride it for a while and decide what you like/dislike about it and upgrade from there, you will be much better off than you would trying to make your bike into something its not and spending way too much doing it. There are so many good deals out there on used DH bikes that its almost not worth it to buy new anymore.