[goodtobeIrie]

my second ride on my first DH bike was at Whistler...had a blast and hit a 5 ft. drop the second day there...in fact, I think A-line or Dirt Merchant was the first trail we hit...I had been riding xc for about 2 months...but most riding was actually on the road...

so you can never be too sure about what one can accomplish right away...

 

[sunny]

Interesting.

My husband tried to get me to go mtn biking with him in 1999 when he got his mtn bike. I wasn't interested and got a road bike instead with the idea in mind that I would try triathlon (which I did).

Later he suggested again that we go mtn biking. He described it like hiking on two wheels. Sounded kinda boring. I never went.

Then in 2003 (when we lived in NJ), I got to know a mechanic who races expert DH, who suggested I should try mtn biking. I'd seen the videos, and what he described was not casual "hiking on two wheels". This sounded interesting. So I started riding with a couple guys from the shop who raced dh. We'd come to an obstacle and they'd go right over it. I'd ask what I had to do to clear it, they'd coach me and I'd either make it or crash and re-try it. I went over the bars at least once on every ride, and always came back bruised and often bloody. But I loved the extreme challenge of it. My husband would never have thought that I would find the difficulty and brutality (?) of mtn biking so appealing, because it doesn't especially appeal to him.

(Now he does triathlon and I do the mtn biking.)

So if someone were to have introduced me to fireroads... meh, boring. But instead I was introduced to the technical singletrack. :love:

Every person is different. But to be fair, I have been told that I'm a total freak in this regard.

Either way, I agree... RC's advice is crap.

 

[dante]

wow, that advice is pretty abismal even for MBA. can't imagine what would've happened if I'd done that, but I am positive my gf wouldn't ride now.

I went the opposite route, bought her a frame and various parts, then used leftover things that I had to complete the bike (think in total it cost less than $400, and she ended up with a nice LX/XT/XTR mix and marz z.4 fork). Took her to Stewart here in NY for her first ride, which starts off on pavement, then transitions to easy single-track. She had a blast, even with her "war wound" (she fell scraping up her leg, so bought knee pads the following day).

Since then we've gone to several DH mtns, Killington (ok, didn't hate it), Mt Snow (hated it), Plattekill (hated it, even the "xc"), Diablo (hated it). I'd even built her up a small little DH bike for Mt Snow and Diablo, and she still absolutely HATED downhilling.

Way to go MBA...

 

[altagirl]

If you are lucky to live somewhere you can rent/demo a bike. Around here, the pickings are very slim and resmeble rail-trail bikes.

I'm thinking if you have access to lift served riding, most of those places tend to have decent demo bikes. Or maybe we're just lucky around here!

 

[geargrrl]

I'm thinking if you have access to lift served riding, most of those places tend to have decent demo bikes. Or maybe we're just lucky around here!

you're right in that lift serve areas usuall rent bikes. My reply was for somewhere in this thread, it was suggested to rent a bike and see if someone likes it. I was thinking trail riding - I know in some areas you can rent a nice HT or full squish bike for trails, not lifts. But not around here.

gg

 

[starrbabes]

I have a specialized Fsr Xc Disk. It is a full suspension. I originally started with a Kona hardtail and was ending all my rides with a painful butt. When I got the full suspension, it made such a difference I was amazed! I was instantly more confident on the trails as I learned I could go over the obstacles. If you can't afford the full suspension or don't want to invest in that right away for the GF, atleast get a suspension fork.
As for the women's specific, they make not difference. I was originally going to buy specialized women's specific, but the one I bought was the exact same physique, with the same parts, but cheaper. Although, I do suggest a women's specific sattle. That DOES make a difference.