[davec113]

I'm looking for a new dh bike. Top 3 choices are Session 88, 07-08 DHR and 09 Commencal Supreme DH. Low prices on Stabs are catching my eye though...

I own a Trek Remedy if I need to pedal, this bike is only for dh. I have plenty of time to wait for 2010s too, it'll be 2 months before I'm healed up enough to ride dh.

The main things I'm looking for are a stiff bike that rails corners and holds a line through rock gardens and rough stuff. The bike should have good pop out of corners and off the lips of jumps, and pedal well. Plowing with complete disregard for line choice isn't a priority. A bike that picks it's own line (like my Uzzi VPX w/ Boxxer) isn't going to cut it either.

Can anyone tell me if they think a Stab is along the lines of what I want? I'm looking for a ~24" ETT, 8" travel, 65 HA, 14" BB. Stab is either 65 HA/13.7 BB or 64HA/13.2 BB. The 64 HA setting seems almost unuseable due to the super low BB, or is this a bad assumption? The nice thing about the Stab is its cheap, and being sold w/o shock so I can get a nice custom shock for it.

 

[norbar]

I'd go stab over commencal and session. Session is a delicate frame and if you crash the frame is likely to fail. Commencal on the other hand is massively overbuilt and the build quality is a bit random (people get ones that look pretty nice and some people get ones with loose suspension and looking like they were made by khs).

I'd simply look at classfields here and on mtbr.

There is a nice Canfield jedi Large on classfields but I'm not sure about the pop with all that rearward travel.

 

[AlCapone]

I'd go for the Stab. Also take a look at Demo's. They look like they fit your requirements.

 

[Mike Buell]

I'm riding a Stab this year, bike is sweet, almost always in the 65 HA 13.7 BB setting, never feels to low, the lower slacker setting is sweet, but has to be on the right course, or with a short crank setup, makes it hard to pedal with 170mm cranks, but on the right course the option is nice to have.
The Stab corners great, jumps great, plows great, strong and stiff. All around great bike.

 

[davec113]

Cool, thanks for the answers. I'm looking at $900 for a '09 Deluxe frame WITHOUT shock... shop says they are an authorized dealer, frame will have a lifetime warranty.

I might go for it, but Kona's 2010 bikes will be announced in 5 days. I will wait to see whats up for '10. I doubt the Stab will change much, but the '10 Deluxe complete bike or frame might be worth looking at if it comes with an RC4.

Mike, can you tell me what size shock the Stab uses? Can't seem to find this on the website.