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DH frame options- aluminum, external routing, dropper compatible?

cjcrashesalot

cjcrashesalot

Monkey
May 15, 2005
345
13
WA
As the title says, does anyone have recommendations for a DH/park frame (or anything 180mm+) that meets this criteria? Not made in Asia is also a plus, but not mandatory. Don't really care either way about wheel size. This will be used exclusively for park/shuttle riding, but no racing, so it needs to be somewhat well rounded as not all of our lift accessed trails are quite DH bike worthy.

Here's all I can find so far:

Nicolai Ion G19- checks all the boxes, but fairly expensive and it's hard to find reviews. Too racey?
Canfield One.2- Internal cable routing, but otherwise pretty rad
Norco Shore- Internal routing, might not be very playful
Propain Spindrift- Internal routing, not sold as a frame only in the US

Any other ideas?
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
86,005
24,551
media blackout
Commencal supreme as well.

Both Specialized and trek have both gone back to alloy for their DH bikes.

oh wait, those are all more "race" oriented bikes.
 
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cjcrashesalot

cjcrashesalot

Monkey
May 15, 2005
345
13
WA
The clash does look sick, but I'm thinking 170mm in the rear is just a bit short for a dedicated park bike. My trail bike is 150, so too close I think. If the furious could fit a dropper I'd be all over that.

Pretty sure the supreme can't fit a dropper?

The new specialized/trek rigs are pretty rad, but I just can't bring myself to buy either brand these days. Have an odd preference for smaller brands
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,654
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
Any bike can have external routing if you really want to run it that way. I realize internal routing can be a slight pain once in a while, but you eliminate lots of good options by strictly requiring external routing. Why is that so important to you?

You looking for external routing for your dropper, too?
 
djjohnr

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,017
1,719
Northern California
Have a Shore now, had a Clash two seasons ago. On both I've used Jagwire stick-on c-clips for external routing of the rear brake line.

Shore
  • Hauls ass as a DH bike in natural terrain. I'm faster on it than I was on the Glory it replaced.
  • High pivot works as advertised ironing out square edge hits more, but perhaps since it's not as high as some of the HSPs out there I haven't felt an issue with chainstay lengthening when cornering.
  • It's very neutral when braking in the rough
  • At speed it changes directions easily
  • It's nice to be able to put up the seat to traverse resorts or climb fireroads I used to have to push/stand hammer up
  • It's not light
  • Cable rattle is loud, I have work to do here
  • Personally I found the geometry a bit too rear biased, so I'm running a -1deg angleset to increase front-center, feels mint now
Clash
  • This was my latest attempt at replacing my DH/park bike with a FR/super enduro bike. In general it worked well, but was more tiring. For example - on a five day trip to Whistler the first day was aces, the subsequent days I was getting envious of DH rigs. In the end I swapped it for a Glory. Experiment failed...again.
  • I had the dw/trek pivot version. Didn't seem to feel particularly neutral when braking, so I doubt the faux-bar version is much of a downgrade.
  • Rear felt fairly progressive, paired well with a coil shock in natural terrain
  • All the geo changes I wanted in that frame Commencal made in the current version
 
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jstuhlman

jstuhlman

bagpipe wanker
Dec 3, 2009
16,698
13,052
Cackalacka du Nord
i run my nomad 180/180 for everything. they do an alloy version. i've always wanted to throw a dual crown on it and see how it felt. i'm happy with it being my do it all bike (was on an uzzi for the same reasons prior to the nomad). if all i rode was dh i might want something different, but for 8-10 days per year, it's good for my needs.
 
cjcrashesalot

cjcrashesalot

Monkey
May 15, 2005
345
13
WA
OGRipper said:
Any bike can have external routing if you really want to run it that way. I realize internal routing can be a slight pain once in a while, but you eliminate lots of good options by strictly requiring external routing. Why is that so important to you?

You looking for external routing for your dropper, too?
Click to expand...
Lately I've been doing a lot of brake swapping, so internal routing would have been a nightmare. Also, my current magura brakes are much easier to bleed if you can remove the rear caliper and have room to move it up/down a bit. I just see no real benefit to internal routing, only headaches. Transition's solution of externally routing just the brake would be totally fine though.

Internal for the dropper though. Do they even make externally routed dropper posts anymore?

djjohnr said:
Have a Shore now, had a Clash two seasons ago. On both I've used Jagwire stick-on c-clips for external routing of the rear brake line.
.
.
.
Click to expand...
Good feedback! I haven't been able to hop on a shore and was skeptical of a high pivot being able to pump/jump adequately.
 
djjohnr

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,017
1,719
Northern California
cjcrashesalot said:
Lately I've been doing a lot of brake swapping, so internal routing would have been a nightmare. Also, my current magura brakes are much easier to bleed if you can remove the rear caliper and have room to move it up/down a bit. I just see no real benefit to internal routing, only headaches. Transition's solution of externally routing just the brake would be totally fine though.

Internal for the dropper though. Do they even make externally routed dropper posts anymore?



Good feedback! I haven't been able to hop on a shore and was skeptical of a high pivot being able to pump/jump adequately.
Click to expand...
It pumps and jumps well IF given speed. It needs to be going fast. Once you get it going it tends to carry it's speed really well.
 
Inclag

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,752
442
MA
Raw Madonna is external and DC rated. Also has a 35mm BB drop. Made in Taiwan however. I could see a scenario where you could add a dual crown and if you're resourceful you could piece together the reservoir and mount parts from a 210x65 metric shock onto the body of a 3" stroke imperial shock. Should get you in the 190mm or so range. Otherwise that's a really built bike and I could envision it being a hoot at just 160mm.

Gt Fury is external routing and aluminum. Easy enough to pop a hole to rout a dropper, but you ain't getting a long post in there.

Nicolai seems like an obvious choice.
 
HAB

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,006
Seattle
jonKranked said:
@HAB had a G16 and recently acquired a G1. probably the best source of knowledge. he actually ran a dual crown fork on his G16 as well.
Click to expand...
Said G16 frame is for sale. 155 and 175mm travel modes, and a variety of shocks available. Size "longer" (for people maybe 5'10'' to 6'3'' or so depending on preferences and whatnot).
 
bullcrew

bullcrew

3 Dude Approved
Dec 8, 2004
8,911
2,574
I'm dude playing dude pretending to b another dude
Canfield one v. 2 would be my go too for that...
I had the original One...pedalled and bombed DH on it....thing rode amazing...did sling a leg over a buddies recently and was impressed...I'm in a intense phase right now lol...love my current bikes but the one V. 2 is on my short list...
 
HardtailHack

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,756
5,658
NS Fuzz? Asian made and I'm not sure about a dropper but it has either cable option-
1633605873031.png


Zumbi has the F44 but I'm not sure I'd want a weird brand as a park bike.
 
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C

Cerberus75

Monkey
Feb 18, 2017
520
194
bullcrew said:
Canfield one v. 2 would be my go too for that...
I had the original One...pedalled and bombed DH on it....thing rode amazing...did sling a leg over a buddies recently and was impressed...I'm in a intense phase right now lol...love my current bikes but the one V. 2 is on my short list...
Click to expand...
This would be my suggestion. Can run what ever wheel size you want as well.
 
A

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
1,026
995
HAB said:
Said G16 frame is for sale. 155 and 175mm travel modes, and a variety of shocks available. Size "longer" (for people maybe 5'10'' to 6'3'' or so depending on preferences and whatnot).
Click to expand...
@bullcrew needs to buy this and stop riding bikes with the same reach as my medium!

Tangentially related, but the guy from Vital's "Let's Go Racing" video series kind of did what the OP wants to do for this season. He's sponsored by Pivot but liked their DH bike more than the Firebird, so he put an AXS dropper on it, a long travel Zeb, and Eagle drivetrain and raced some EWS this year.
 
cjcrashesalot

cjcrashesalot

Monkey
May 15, 2005
345
13
WA
Inclag said:
Raw Madonna is external and DC rated. Also has a 35mm BB drop. Made in Taiwan however. I could see a scenario where you could add a dual crown and if you're resourceful you could piece together the reservoir and mount parts from a 210x65 metric shock onto the body of a 3" stroke imperial shock. Should get you in the 190mm or so range. Otherwise that's a really built bike and I could envision it being a hoot at just 160mm.
Click to expand...
The Madonna looks amazing, I love the aesthetic and design ethos. Think it would acutally work to long stroke it? No idea what clearance is like at bottom out on those. But if Raw made a 180mm+ bike I would buy it right now.

bullcrew said:
Canfield one v. 2 would be my go too for that...
I had the original One...pedalled and bombed DH on it....thing rode amazing...did sling a leg over a buddies recently and was impressed...I'm in a intense phase right now lol...love my current bikes but the one V. 2 is on my short list...
Click to expand...
My buddy has the One.2 and loves it. His is too big for me, but I took a lap on it and still had a great time. Felt way more nimble and poppy than you'd expect, even being a size too large. That's realistically the top choice right now, I just wanted to see what else might work.

canadmos said:
Banshee Darkside is 180mm too, but appears to have been removed from their website. May e an updated version is coming?
Click to expand...
I'm actually on a darkside (with a dropper and dual crown) right now. It's a fun bike, but is definitely showing its age in the geometry department. Even the size large feels too short in reach, and the chainstays are also a bit short for my tastes. Just feels a bit unstable and cramped. I'm also not a huge fan of the U shape in the leverage curve towards the end of the travel, it seems to use those last 15mm really easily and as a result feels more like 160mm than 180mm.
 
Gary

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,668
5,587
UK
Can't think of any DH frames with internal dropper routing
 
HardtailHack

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,756
5,658
Gary said:
Yes. BrandX ascend.. They're pretty decent too and routing is neat as the cable attaches just below the seal head.
My daughters bike has one.
Click to expand...
I think Vecnum still have one, Moveloc, maybe.......?
 
Happymtb.fr

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,919
1,271
SWE
Dh bikes I have seen with dropper posts are the latest Scott Gambler and the Moondraker Summun from a few years back.
 
Happymtb.fr

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,919
1,271
SWE
Me again...
Is the spesch Enduro rate for double crown?
If yes, you can now have it with 200mm of rear travel
Screenshot_20211008-133814_Chrome.jpg
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,000
9,662
AK
So I haven't had the luck with those stick-on cable guides. In cases where the guide is keeping the cable in a location, like when it bends, the bend tends to apply pressure to force the guide to eventually pop off. Short of going to some super epoxy, I don't find they work very well.

Internal is hit and miss. Some manufacturers do it well so it's not a headache to run, some haven't gotten the memo yet. The Foes was a mixed bag, it runs external for everything but the dropper...but the dropper routing absolutely horrible. No accommodation really made in the frame. In most frames, you can run the cable down, see it in the bottom of the DT to send a coat-hanger down or you can push it up through the BB when the BB is removed, or there's a trap-door on the bottom you can open and do the same with. In this case there was some strange restriction, then the massive main pivot, which is at the bottom of the ST, meaning you can't see the cable and it has a tiny little space to route through and there's no way to get the cable to that tiny space. The lengths I had to go to were absolutely insane, harder than my Chinese hardtail that doesn't have internal dropper routing that I decided to run internal dropper anyway. Everything else about that build was fine, but that part was not fun.

A good number of bikes will go external or some kind of combination, with a little port at the bottom of the ST for you to route your internal dropper. These are probably the easiest "internal" routing setups.
 
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