[Sir_Crackien]

as the title says. what do you think?

this bike will mainly be a race bike for me but i will also use it for fun.

also my riding style is smooth and flowy, but i'm a big boy at 6'5" and 250 lbs (hopefully the weight will go down soon)

 

[A.P]

this bike will mainly be a race bike for me but i will also use it for fun.

as if the two were mutually exclusive?

 

[Sir_Crackien]

what i ment by that is that i have aother bikes that i can use for the fr style of stuff and the main intension of this bike would be for racing not just dicking around on

 

[willpowa]

I ran mine as a race bike this season, and it performed quite well. Although it's heavier than my Dirtbag, it's also more balanced, and pedals a little better (thanks in no small part to the DHX shock). What do you want out of a race specific bike? I set mine up with lo rise, narrow bars and ran smaller tires.

 

[downhillracer]

"I set mine up with lo rise, narrow bars"

its all about the wide bars, just ask sam hill.

 

[TRANSITION-MJR]

i had my Gran Mal set up as a race bike this season, i had no issues with it and liked it alot, it loves to go fast and feels even beter when you do so. pedals well, corners good, stiff and responsive i like that in a bike. nice burly feel which helps with confidence. it is a little on the heavy side but i dont really care about that. i had a swinger 6-way on it and worked well bu ti think i would rather have the DHX 5. you wont be disapointed with it.

 

[dhkid]

just set it on the lowest/slackest 7in setting and its golden. the geo w shorter shox looks really nice too.

 

[willpowa]

its all about the wide bars, just ask sam hill.

To each his own- ask Gee Atherton about his narrow bars!

 

[SDH]

Where do you intend to race?

Snowshoe/WISP/Bear Creek/Whitetail?

Gran Mal may be a little much for the smaller mountains around here.......but if the answer is Diablo and Snowshoe then I say set it low and you are golden.

 

[Zankou]

Ironhorse Sunday

 

[Sir_Crackien]

Zankou i was not asking for suggestion of bike for racing but the opinion on this particular bike. there are other implications tied in to this frame that you might not be aware of.

so back on subject.

 

[mobius]

Set it with 7" of travel, low and slack and you are set. I don't dig the geometry to much in the higher travel settings.

 

[MinorThreat]

Glad to read the opinions of the Gran Mal too. I'm probably going to retire my ASX after 2 1/2 seasons and make the switch. It will be pretty much a race rig plus as much trail riding as I care to grind around with only one ring.

 

[JiveFoolSucka]

Ian Mackaye is on ridemonkey.