Yes, it's a bit of a crazy idea...
The past week, I've spent my time DH'ing a hardtail, and have fallen in love with the sheer masochism of it. My current ride, a Kona Scab, with SuperT fork, is suffering a few niggles, and I've considered upgrading and keeping along the same lines as my current ride. The only thing that really erks me about the Scab is I run singlespeed, and a chain tensioner isn't my preferred way of going about things. Apart from that, the Scab is superslack with the 170mm fork and 24" rear wheel, and I've adapted to that pretty well, and quite enjoy the ride now.
So keeping the above two points in mind, geometry and dropouts, I've had a look at a few tough DJ-orientated hardtails that'd take a dual crown fork for DH use, and have horizontal dropouts (sliding discmount preferred) the Banshee Scratch being my favourite pick, and the .243 Racing deserves consideration too.
What sways me towards the Scratch is the sliding dropouts, and its grindplates under the stays, which would also lend the bike to being a dual purpose rig, a few component changes could make it a wicked BMX-ish street bike too.
Now I must ask for opinions... I've done a quick search and read a few threads where monkies have reccomended a Scratch for various purposes, and I've also come accross this picture which gives me inspiration for what I want to acheive (and where else would you go for pics of DC forks on HT's). So have any of you monkies had any experience with a Scratch used for DH riding/racing? To give you an idea of the setup, it'd be 24" rear wheel, 26" front, singlespeed with BMX driveline, and probably a Stance Kingpin fork. I know it's a quirky setup, but hopefully a few members have ridden/seen something like this and would be able to give a bit of feedback.
Am I crazy, or is the idea feasible? And since we're at it, any other ideas to suggest? It must have horizontal dropouts, preferably with sliding disc mount. I am keen on steel for durability and grind-friendliness. Angles, well, longish stays would be nice, with a steep seat angle, and since the headangle will be molested with the big fork, whatever stock angle it runs I can deal with.
The past week, I've spent my time DH'ing a hardtail, and have fallen in love with the sheer masochism of it. My current ride, a Kona Scab, with SuperT fork, is suffering a few niggles, and I've considered upgrading and keeping along the same lines as my current ride. The only thing that really erks me about the Scab is I run singlespeed, and a chain tensioner isn't my preferred way of going about things. Apart from that, the Scab is superslack with the 170mm fork and 24" rear wheel, and I've adapted to that pretty well, and quite enjoy the ride now.
So keeping the above two points in mind, geometry and dropouts, I've had a look at a few tough DJ-orientated hardtails that'd take a dual crown fork for DH use, and have horizontal dropouts (sliding discmount preferred) the Banshee Scratch being my favourite pick, and the .243 Racing deserves consideration too.
What sways me towards the Scratch is the sliding dropouts, and its grindplates under the stays, which would also lend the bike to being a dual purpose rig, a few component changes could make it a wicked BMX-ish street bike too.
Now I must ask for opinions... I've done a quick search and read a few threads where monkies have reccomended a Scratch for various purposes, and I've also come accross this picture which gives me inspiration for what I want to acheive (and where else would you go for pics of DC forks on HT's). So have any of you monkies had any experience with a Scratch used for DH riding/racing? To give you an idea of the setup, it'd be 24" rear wheel, 26" front, singlespeed with BMX driveline, and probably a Stance Kingpin fork. I know it's a quirky setup, but hopefully a few members have ridden/seen something like this and would be able to give a bit of feedback.
Am I crazy, or is the idea feasible? And since we're at it, any other ideas to suggest? It must have horizontal dropouts, preferably with sliding disc mount. I am keen on steel for durability and grind-friendliness. Angles, well, longish stays would be nice, with a steep seat angle, and since the headangle will be molested with the big fork, whatever stock angle it runs I can deal with.
