Downieville!!! (first time)

Yeti DHer · Aug 23, 2004

Yeah, I love downieville. Definently an awesome ride.

Transcend · Aug 23, 2004

That place was so much fun the year i did it! Lovin it.

kidwoo · Aug 23, 2004

Let me know the next time you head up. I'll meet you there. You did do 3rd divide right?

Beyr · Aug 23, 2004

Theres some pretty good xc rides up there, I mean if your into that kinda stuff...

Zark · Aug 24, 2004

MMMmmm, Downieville :drool:

That place seriously rocks! Tasty singletrack in a perfect setting.

I rode it last year on my M1 and this year on my trailbike. The trailbike made the ride more enjoyable, especially at the end. A 5" bike is the right fit for that place IMO. Not that I didn't have a ton of fun roosting on the big dog....until the last couple miles that is!

Brian HCM#1 · Aug 24, 2004

Zark said:
MMMmmm, Downieville
That place seriously rocks! Tasty singletrack in a perfect setting.

I rode it last year on my M1 and this year on my trailbike. The trailbike made the ride more enjoyable, especially at the end. A 5" bike is the right fit for that place IMO. Not that I didn't have a ton of fun roosting on the big dog....until the last couple miles that is!

Yep a 5-6" trail bike is perfect there, however a DH bike on Butcher is still kinda fun.

frorider · Aug 24, 2004

Brian HCM#1 said:
Yep a 5-6" trail bike is perfect there, however a DH bike on Butcher is still kinda fun.

even better is a 7 inch travel 34 lb bike w/ 8 inch hayes that pedals well. rips that d-ville sh*t up. :thumb:

lonewolfe · Aug 24, 2004

Hey, what 7" 34# bike are you talking about? Just curious :dancing:

scofflaw23 · Aug 24, 2004

Dude, I rode Downieville for the first time last week, so sweet. Despite getting a bit lost (the guys I went with swore they knew where they were going) and climbing way too much, it was more than worth it. Butcher is awesome. Someone was telling me about a trail called Big Boulder just a bit further over from Butcher. Anyone know about this?

scofflaw23 · Aug 24, 2004

Oh, btw, this guy was telling me that he's ridden a bunch of stuff in the west, and that Big Boulder was his favorite trail, ever.

chicodude · Aug 24, 2004

Man, i gotta make it down there. I'm only like an hour away. since i just got my license i can go there now :thumb:

JLP · Aug 24, 2004

scofflaw23 said:
Dude, I rode Downieville for the first time last week, so sweet. Despite getting a bit lost (the guys I went with swore they knew where they were going) and climbing way too much, it was more than worth it. Butcher is awesome. Someone was telling me about a trail called Big Boulder just a bit further over from Butcher. Anyone know about this?

Big Boulder is a long ways from the start of butcher. you take that fire road which led you to butcher for about 3 more miles until you get the start of "baby heads" (look for a sign that says Gold Valley). Get to the end of baby head and cross the stream (polly creek) and less than 200 feet there is a turn of for Smith Lake (right turn. from here about a 2.5 mile climb to start of Big Boulder) take this until another split and go left. Keep going for a while until it turns to single track.

Big Boulder use to be very narrow and technical. But with the amount of traffic, it has become pretty tame. The name fools you, there are no big boulders. The trail is tight with many switch backs. Definitely worth all the climbing.

However, the real fun sh*t is the "The A Tree to Lavezolla" route. Look into this the next time you're there.

kidwoo · Aug 24, 2004

lonewolfe said:
Hey, what 7" 34# bike are you talking about? Just curious :dancing:

I've got a norco shore with an 02 super t and xc components that weighs 37. Does that count? That bike is perfect for Dville.

And there is no trail called big boulder, or A tree. Neither exist. The only trail there is butcher ranch.....nothing else........

JLP · Aug 24, 2004

kidwoo said:
And there is no trail called big boulder, or A tree. Neither exist. The only trail there is butcher ranch.....nothing else........

ahhh, spoken like a true dher........(ie. someone who wants the least amount of climbing as possible). True, butcher is fun, but you have to try the other stuff to really see what D'ville is all about.

PS. There is no trail called Chimney Rock so don't go there!!

kidwoo · Aug 24, 2004

JLP said:
ahhh, spoken like a true dher........(ie. someone who wants the least amount of climbing as possible). True, butcher is fun, but you have to try the other stuff to really see what D'ville is all about.

PS. There is no trail called Chimney Rock so don't go there!!

That wasn't exactly my point. When I'm not broken I put over 100 miles a week on my xc bike up AND down.

Think again about why I would have said that.

JLP · Aug 24, 2004

kidwoo said:
That wasn't exactly my point. When I'm not broken I put over 100 miles a week on my xc bike up AND down.

Think again about why I would have said that.

yeah, I guessed wrong. I thought it was one or the other and I just assumed that you were mainly a dher. I agree, lets keep the traffic off of the good stuff. I think I said too much.

kidwoo · Aug 24, 2004

JLP said:
yeah, I guessed wrong. I thought it was one or the other and I just assumed that you were mainly a dher. I agree, lets keep the traffic off of the good stuff. I think I said too much.

Please feel free to read my recent rant

I have many bikes and I ride them in many ways.

kidwoo · Aug 24, 2004

punkassean said:
I think it was butcher to 3rd divide to first divide or something like that, but I really don't know for sure. We took the paved road to the fire road to butcher, then after the bridge we stayed to the right and then through the suuuuper duuuper fast flowy section and then right again by the creek (rolling) up to the fire road and then left to the singletrack that goes right by the river (sweet place to cool off!) and into town.

I hope to head up again in a few weeks or a month before it gets too cold, I'll post and maybe some of us Gnar*Cal 's can get together...

I am way into XC riding, if I get the time to go there for more than a couple of days I'll bring my XC rig as well and check out the surrounding "lesser known" trails.

Yeah the route you did is the must do if you had a big bike.

Yeah man, let me know when you head up. Some the stuff north of packer saddle is pretty spectacular. I've done some all day rides in that area that that are some of the best memories I have on a bike. And all of them ended with a BIG descent.

kidwoo · Aug 24, 2004

punkassean said:
I should clarify, when I say "I'm way into XC riding" I mean I am way down to do it but not the fastest by any means, my "XC" rig is about 30lb...

I think I'll put some double casing tires on (at least in the rear) and bring that bike next time, I think it would be better all-around.

No sweat man. I ride. I don't race. There's so much georgeous ridge riding up there it's nice to check out the scenery. Your bear de-lux is perfect.

Maybe I can drag you to northstar too that weekend haha... :dancing:

Damn I'm itching to ride.

kidwoo · Aug 24, 2004

punkassean said:
okay, okay, I'll go to northstar! the rocks at Downiville reminded me of how fun that type of riding can be. But I still hate the damn dust.

My buddy Rob (who I went up with this past weekend) and I are trying to set it up to go back. Problem is he works to damn much and usually is gone to the moto races every weekend...

Oh yeah, We got to ride a little with Randy Spangler up there...one word, FAST!

well two words I guess, FAST & SMOOTH!

OH MY GAWD!! SPANGLER on a trail????!!!! In the woods!!!??? I didn't think it was possible!! He must have taken a wrong turn on his way to the bmx track in grass valley.

Pedaling around all day the northern sierras beats northstar any day of the week. I'd still make that the first priority.

I just figured I hassle you since you'd be so close. I'm still not sure when I'll be able to ride there anyway. Depends on the x-rays. But yeah, I'll be looking foward to meeting up with you guys whenever it happens.

frorider · Aug 24, 2004

lonewolfe said:
Hey, what 7" 34# bike are you talking about? Just curious :dancing:

yep the quest for the ultimate downieville bike is similar to the quest for the ultimate tahoe bike. i.e. something that you can pedal up 3 or 4,000 vert feet but still rocks the downhills reasonably well.

you have to look at every component from a strength/weight/performance point of view and go from there.

think of the delta from a standard XC 25 lb bike and go from there.

frame: there are some long travel single pivot frames e.g. c-dale Gemini that are plenty stiff and strong but only weigh around 3 lbs more than that wimpy XC frame. Delta can be less if you go w/ ti spring. and there are other options esp. if you go down to 6 inch travel.

fork: as one example, manitou sherman is around 1.5 - 2 lbs delta vs. 'standard' 4 lb approx. trail fork. the new marz. forks have reasonably light claimed weights.

wheelset: obviously this is crucial. chris king hubs help offset the added weight of a decent rim. it's too bad the mavic 823 hasn't quite earned a good reputation, or it would be ideal for this application. delta...depends on all the above, and whether you go tubeless. 0.5 to 1 lb.

tires: major factor. i've been experimenting. in a perfect world, i'd have the performance of my intense 909 DH tires but about 400 g lighter. :love: currently i'm liking the kenda blue groove up front, 2.35 or 2.5 inch. delta of say 150 - 250 g vs. 2.1 inch XC tire. net delta around a pound, but many factors here.

seatpost/bars/stem/saddle--gotta be judicious. i like a burly, stiff stem. have a light Thomson post. net delta here is prolly 200 - 300 grams?

brakes: 8 inch up front, 6 or 7 inch rear. a little heavier obviously.

cranks and BB: key factor. some swear that the newest XT is burly enough for this kind of riding. there are some hefty cranks/chain guides out there for DH, so you gotta figure out what compromise works for you. my setup is highly evolved and a state secret. heh. anyway, figure a net delta of zero g (if you go XT) or mebbe .7 lbs. (depending).

so you're looking at a net delta of around....lessee...about 7-8 lbs., which puts you right around 33 lbs. for a 7 inch travel bike that still has some go-fast capability. however it's easy to blow the weight budget. VP-Free frameset--bam, you just got heavier by over a pound. rocking the 888's? bam, you just got heavier by over 2 pounds. the weight has a way of creeping up toward 40 lbs. :heh:

personally i haven't been too excited by the 5 inch trailbikes out there. for just a little more weight, you can build a 7 inch freeride/trailbike that will leave those 5 inch bikes in the dust on the dh, and will climb about as well.

Downieville!!! (first time)

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