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8" to much travel?

mserko1

mserko1

Monkey
Jul 26, 2004
320
0
Bellingham, WA
I'm lookin at getting a good freeride bike and I've narrowed it down to either an 06 big hit 1 with 888's or an 06 shore 3 with dropoffs. I'm leaning towards the big hit but I'm worried 8" of travel is to much for me. I like to fr and dh but ocasionally just ride single track and trails. Just lookin for some input, maybe someone has an 06 bighit and has some feedback on it?? Thanks
 
S

syc7090

Chimp
Jan 21, 2008
26
0
reminds me of my bike a few years back. i rode a 2006 bighit 1 with a few upgrades, including a marz 888 rc2x. it was mostly used for fr, with some single tracks and trails, just as you described. it wasn't a terrible bike to pedal but as you know, that's not what it was designed for. mine was a bit on the chubby side, too; i think it was around 44 lbs. with a single ring and a 888 up front, it wasn't a great pedaling bike.

i'm sure you're aware but amount of travel isn't the only determining factor in terms of a bike's pedaling ability. there are many variables to consider, like weight, suspension design, shock, your ability to pedal, etc. my buddy's vpfree is a great pedaling bike (similar weight with more travel). much more efficient at pedaling than my bighit.

oh yeah, btw, the bighit has a adjustable geo (i.e. you can reduce the amount of travel by about an inch).

take all this with a grain of salt. this is just my take on the bike based on MY experiences. it might turn out differently for you (if you decide to get the bike). i don't know if it's possible, but the best thing for you to do would be to test ride the bike.
 
BlackDiamond-1

BlackDiamond-1

Chimp
Aug 24, 2008
16
0
N/A
You'll be fine. I ride a IH Yakuza Kumicho (40#'s) with 7" fork travel and 8" rear travel on our local trail, but of course I also do sessions on all the freeride stuff when not flowing through it. It is not too bad looping the entire trail a few times. Tough on some of the steeper climbs, but thats why I dropped the chainring to a 34T, makes it much easier trail riding and climbing, even with my 2.5 DH tires, tubes, and heavy duty DH rims. Takes our 7' and 10' drops real smooth like. Hope this helps!
 
Pebble

Pebble

Monkey
Dec 6, 2006
137
0
Nannup
I got my first real DH bike recently (Orange 222), built it up with a single crown fork (Domains) and I'm actually feeling very comfortable with the geo and the bike (after getting used to riding a dually again, and a single pivot at that), it's pretty light as far as DH bikes go (something like 17kg I think - single ply tires). And I've ridden it to commute, it certainly didn't seem to require much more effort than the lighter Giant STP with the same gearing (1x9 and 32T up front).

Since your single track and trails is an occasional thing then I'd go for the bike that does best what you ride the most!

And like others have mentioned, I don't think it's the amount of travel, it's more other factors like weight, gearing and even geo which makes a bike better at some things than others. If you want your bike to "do it all" well then there has got to be some compromise or else you have a bike that can do everything but not all too well.
 
KavuRider

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
BlackDiamond-1 said:
That is a sweet looking rig! Bet you get some serious DH & FR in on that baby!
Click to expand...
For me, the best DH frame I've ridden.
I ride it everywhere, even commute on it sometimes.
Just great fun.

My all-round bike is a Giant Glory FR with 8" of travel and a Gravity Dropper. Soon to put a granny gear on it to make it a bit more versatile.
 
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