[downhillbkr247]

i have a Giant 05' Canyon DS(it was a promo bike). Its the same frame as the Warp. it has 4in of suspensio in the front, and 5 in the rear. i also have mech disk brakes front and rear. I ride mostly freeride, and AM. This bike can take a beating. Since this would be my first time at Diablo, what trails do you suggest that i should ride for light freeride?
~thanks~

 

[oldskoolbiker]

Sorry I don't know all the trail names, but there are plenty of trails there which that bike can handle.

If you like smoother runs, you can go down the jump line, then down the trail that has the wall rides. That route is fast and smooth.

I would say just avoid the big drops like the Drop to Nowhere and Dom's Denial, and the drop at the bottom.

The bike could also handle some of the rocky stuff too if you don't do it too hard. However we had a guy with us last year who was riding some AM Haro and he broke his frame on the rocky trails. We had another guy on a Giant Reign who handled it fine.

 

[pinkshirtphotos]

i have a Giant 05' Canyon DS(it was a promo bike). Its the same frame as the Warp. it has 4in of suspensio in the front, and 5 in the rear. i also have mech disk brakes front and rear. I ride mostly freeride, and AM. This bike can take a beating. Since this would be my first time at Diablo, what trails do you suggest that i should ride for light freeride?
~thanks~

well that bike will have a decent ride. if you find a local they will show u around the mountian. Some of the smoothest trails on the mountain are, dominion, tripple drop, dirt mirchant, flatline, upper brakeout, lowe brakeout, alpine, sram berm, lower ripper, and crap chute. I was able to ride all these trails wiht no problems on my getto rigged hardtails. xc and dj frames. all xc parts.

 

[downhillbkr247]

thanks! i have a few home made freeride trails next to my house, with 2, 6ft wall/ ladder drops. do i need shin/ knee gards to ride on the more difficult freeride trails?

 

[S.K.C.]

That depends on your skill level.

No matter how good you are though, I would always wear kneepads of some sort. If you are a beginner I would definitely pad up.

With your bike and set-up I would stay away from Ripper, the Dominion Jump Line, BMW, and parts of Utah (it's those damn Mormons - always asking for a donation on the side of the fu@king trail):biggrin:

 

[MX489]

avoid BMW for sure, don't get anywhere near stigmata if you ever come across it, and like the old us open course or something, roughest trail i ever rode. And yes bring shinguards, you won't believe what kind of damage you can take throughout a day at diablo. I'd say you can do the Phantom (Porch Drop) no problem as the landing is so perfect even though its like a 10ft drop. Its all about the tranny. Have fun

 

[TreeSaw]

My first ride at Diablo was on my 5" travel bike (front and rear--K2 Disco Monkey) and that ended well (I didn't die or break my bike). Depends on the type of rider you are, but trust us...BMW and that "Road to nowhere" drop probably shouldn't be high on your "to-do" list. Crap-Chute is LOTS of fun as are Alpine, Waterboy, Triple Drop and plenty of others.

I would wear the leg guards/arm guards, but again it's personal preference. I always tend to pad-up because I crash plenty

 

[pinkshirtphotos]

eh u dont need more then a helmet. an xc helmet. i was fine with that from june to auguest riding my xc frame. once i got my dj frame i went to fast. crashed. f<cked up my knee. still messed up. now i have a real dh bike. i only wear a full face, and knee/shin.

 

[woof]

eh u dont need more then a helmet. an xc helmet. i was fine with that from june to auguest riding my xc frame. once i got my dj frame i went to fast. crashed. f<cked up my knee. still messed up. now i have a real dh bike. i only wear a full face, and knee/shin.

Maybe I missed something, but what you're saying is he should crash and get hurt before wearing the proper gear for dh. People amaze me

 

[jrfor0]

eh u dont need more then a helmet. an xc helmet. i was fine with that from june to auguest riding my xc frame. once i got my dj frame i went to fast. crashed. f<cked up my knee. still messed up. now i have a real dh bike. i only wear a full face, and knee/shin.

so, you were fine with no armor and an XC helmet . . . until you crashed and messed yourself up.






sorry, i couldn't resist

 

[downhillbkr247]

i already got a 05' Bravo Pro Carbon full face helmet. all i need is the knee pads. i Love doing drops, ive even done a 8ft drop to flat landing on my hardtail xc bike!

 

[Rob Munro]

sean's first post is good advice. those are some seriously fun trails regardless of your skill level. you'll love the wall rides.

of course, his second post is nonsense. wear knee/shin guards, full face helmet and elbow guards at least. two types of people skip the body armor. 1. so good they don't fall (ala Sam Hill), 2. so bad they never push themselves. (and ironically those guys always end up hurt)

edit; I'd also suggest you just go explore. Exodus isn't all that bad, and leads out to some great stuff. But do avoid BMW, Utah. Those are rough.

 

[pinkshirtphotos]

what i was trying to say was. if you go there and dont really push your limits, you should be fine. with just a helmet.

if you take exidus bare left the first time. its called bushwack i think. it is more tame then exodus. water boy is a fun trail when its not ruined by a race.

 

[Neko]

Try the DJs. the jumps are fun and the rocks on break out are a good warm up.

 

[ChrisKring]

I don't know the name of the trail, but the best "rocky" trail for a trail bike is all the way to the left looking up the hill. Basically, get off the lift and go straight (slightly left). Then keep hanging rights. When you get to the road to nowhere drop, go right. Lots of fun trails out there. I swapped bikes last year with a buddy that bought my old Giant AC bike. He was on my V10. It was tought to keep up but on those trails it isn't too bad.

Of course, Dominion and Alpine are lots of fun. You will see Alpine under the lift. Just get off the lift and bear right. Follow the guys on hardtails to the jumps. Don't get hurt.

 

[nervous_john]

I would just recommend trying to hook up with a few people who know their way around. Look for people who are relaxed and seem to be having a good time, tell them you're just starting and ask them if they can take you down some non life threatening trails or point the way to a few to start out on.

Diablo is one of the better marked mountains but it still leaves a bit to be desired. Knowing the trail names won't be as much help as having someone point and say "try that one". Plus with a bit of prodding whoever you talk to should be able to give you a heads up on what to expect on the trail.

Please- and I can't stress this enough- wear all the padding you can get your hands on. Don't even consider riding without a full face, knee and elbow protection. It's not a matter of if you crash, it's when. Everyone goes down no matter how good you are. You'll have a much better time riding if you can get up from a stack, dust yourself off and finish the day with a few bruises rather than wasting the rest of the evening- and your money- sitting in some emergency room. Plus you'll focus on riding and not on staying in one piece.

 

[dirttastesgood]

i would like to say, sean is a moron, don't ever take his advice, unless its about getting your dick stuck in a bottle, he has experiance

 

[demo 9]

i would like to say, sean is a moron, don't ever take his advice, unless its about getting your dick stuck in a bottle, he has experiance

this guy is totally right. dont dought him.

 

[jcook90]

hahahahahaha. sean called dirttastesgood and I stoners once while we were riding up the lift at diablo infront of a bunch of people. it was insulting. then he threw stones at us from down on the ground, almost got us too, except diablo's super fast gondola got us out of his range pretty quickly. horray cabriolet (sp?)

o and nervous_john is absolutely right. wear all the pads you can, you'll use them, and riding with locals would help. my first time at diablo, again w/ dirttastesgood, we ended up on some pretty hard trails that made us stick to dominion, breakout, and alpine for the rest of the day (i think it was either ripper or slayer).

 

[dirttastesgood]

yo sean went out with a man

 

[dirttastesgood]

hahahahahaha. sean called dirttastesgood and I stoners once while we were riding up the lift at diablo infront of a bunch of people. it was insulting. then he threw stones at us from down on the ground, almost got us too, except diablo's super fast gondola got us out of his range pretty quickly. horray cabriolet (sp?)

o and nervous_john is absolutely right. wear all the pads you can, you'll use them, and riding with locals would help. my first time at diablo, again w/ dirttastesgood, we ended up on some pretty hard trails that made us stick to dominion, breakout, and alpine for the rest of the day (i think it was either ripper or slayer).

it was test of metal, and i had no clue what was going on

 

[jcook90]

http://www.diablofreeridepark.com/images/pdf/diablo.map.web.pdf
no test of metal is the cool one next to alpine that joins with alpine at the spot where you went over the berm and over the trail (test of metal) the first time we were there. remember? that wasnt the hard one where you happened to hit yourself on the stem