[bad63lac]

Been reading all the non-sense posted in here by all the local crazies for a few months now and just wanted to drop a line and introduce myself...

Brian, 30yrs old (going on 20). I'm on my second mid-life crisis. Visited Diablo twice on the last two weekends of this season. First time "dh'ing".

Hooked... building up a bike and cant wait till spring.

 

[IH8Rice]

hola
so how far north in jersey are you?

 

[bad63lac]

I'm in Kearny. About 10 miles directly west of NYC. About an hour trip (or less) to Diablo...

 

[Hesh To Steel]

If you're 30 years old you're still about 15-20 years away from your first scheduled mid-life crisis. Unless of course, you're not planning on living past 60, haha.

Welcome though. As you've probably figured out, once this gets a hold of you it doesn't let go.

What are you building up?

 

[bad63lac]

Have all the parts minus the grips and pedals...

Mixture of new/used parts:

-Socom
-Fox 40
-Hope's laced to Mavic 823's w/ DT Comps
-Hone cranks's
-e13 LG1 / guide ring
-wellgo ti spindle mg-1's
-Dura Ace cassette
-Maxxis tires (HR rear, Min DHF front, also gonna try an Ardent up front)
-Hope Tech M4's
-Sunline v1 low rise
-Point1 stem
-XTR shifter
-Saint short derailluer
-I-fly seat
-Hope stepdown

(think that's everything...)


BTW, I'm a lightweight.... 5'9"/140-5 lbs.

 

[Flyingfish]

dood thats a sick 1st bike build.

 

[bad63lac]

Well, technically it's my second "DH" bike. I bought a used bike ('05 Demo 8) back in Feb.

We bought a house in May and of course that meant I now had a weekend job. Never got to go to Diablo until October.

Went up there twice and basically just stuck to Greenhorn/Alpine line. Was only there 2-3 hours each time.

That Demo was heavy as hell... 47.5lbs. Way too heavy for my skinny/weak/out of shape self. I was planning to trim it down but just decided to sell the thing and build something from scratch.

Basically sold the Demo for $1500 and got a used Socom frame. Got a steal on a great condition Fox 40 from Canada ($450). Then dumped about another $1000 into mainly new parts with a few used ones here in there (seat, post, cassette)


I've had some other "trail" bikes I used to ride at Ringwood and other places.



So I wouldnt mind a little overview/description of some of the trails at Diablo. What should I progress to off the Greenhorn line/Alpine line? No, I didnt try the wall rides (yet). I did spot the Progression Drops which I'm gonna give a go come spring.

From reading around here, seems like most people only stick to a small group of trails and ignore the others?

 

[jerseydirt]

welcome to hell!

 

[cecil]

just get off the lift go to the right take the first trail, then next time up take the next trail, and so on and so on.

study the trail map and just go from one side of the mountain to the other

 

[Hesh To Steel]

just get off the lift go to the right take the first trail, then next time up take the next trail, and so on and so on.

study the trail map and just go from one side of the mountain to the other

May not be a fantastic idea for him to start off with Deceit after he's been riding mostly greenhorn to alpine. :huh:

The trailmap is pretty accurate as far as the trail ratings go, and if you already opted to take Alpine over Domboo then you've figured out the biggest mislabeling on there.

If you get bored of Greenhorn, I think upper dominion is the next easiest trail off the top (as long as you're comfortable enough with jumps to at least land on top of the tables) followed by twist and then triple drop (as long as you're careful on the bridges). Dirt Merchant is probably easier than Triple Drop overall but that roller at the beginning freaks some people out. The Jack and Bushwack are probably around the same difficulty as each other. Those should keep you busy as you get acclimated to the park.

Once you get a little more comfortable, I think Deceit and Exodus are probably around a similar level of difficulty to each other even though they're two very differently styled trails. Deceit is a straight up east coast DH trail, almost entirely rocks, and Exodus is sort of more of a Freeride trail, with some wooden bridges, drops, and slow speed stuff. Both are fun.

I haven't ridden BMW yet.

That takes care off all the trails right off the top of the mountain. To avoid making this post too long I'll cut it off here, haha.

 

[bad63lac]

Cool... exactly the info I was looking for!

Yeah, looking at the map, I mainly rode Greenhorn/OTB off the top down to Alpine > Lower Alpine. I actually rode Domboo the first time since it was labeled Green but that "no skidding" bridge spooked me a bit the first time cause I almost ate it coming off. I keep staring at it now from the lift (snowboarding) and it doesnt look as steep as I remember. I also took Deviant which breaks off of Greenhorn line midway down. It's a blue and it has a few small tables.

It'll take it from there... didnt have too many hours of riding time and getting used to riding a 48lb bike was a fun experience.

 

[jerseydirt]

well with a sweet bike like his he has to at least start out pinning upper exudous to the lower exudous go around trail, to stalker to lower ripper.

 

[Hesh To Steel]

When you see videos of that bridge it's barely recognizable because it looks so much steeper when you're standing at the top of it. I guess that's probably true of most steep terrain though, haha.

The Deviant jumps are fairly fun, but you'll probably progress past them pretty quickly. The first couple are built sort of funny and don't launch you quite right but the last one is perfect. In my opinion, out of the three jumplines at the park, (Upper dominion, lower dominion, deviant) Lower Dominion is the best constructed. They're the biggest tables there, but they're not too tricky. Plus lower dominion is the easiest way to get to Upper Breakout which is a very fun trail and perfect for beginners.

To put things in perspective, my friend and I started riding at Diablo at the beginning of the 2008 season. We started off the same way you did, mostly riding greenhorn and alpine, but by the end of the season we'd hit just about every single diamond and a couple of the double diamonds. Just wanted to add that in there so you wouldn't think we were some ace riders telling you that everything's easy, haha.

 

[bad63lac]

Cool... just 4 more months of waiting...

BTW, if anyone has a Purple Ti spring for a Fox 40 please let me know.

My 40 came with a Green and Yellow Ti and Purple, Blue, Green steel. Will trade any of these for a Purple Ti or maybe even a Blue Ti, though I think for 140-5lbs I need a Purple...

I supposed I should drop in the Purple steel and check the sag vs Blue steel...

 

[Instigatr]

Finally a topic that the locals/kids (idiots) haven't bashed.

Like everyone else said, once you catch the bug, your stuck with it!

 

[jerseydirt]

Even better that you have a great bike because it makes all the difference.

I am getting a fox 40 next season, I think maybe you can ask on the dh forum, can you order the springs that you want with the fork or do you have to get that separately, maybe if they don't work for you, you can send the fork out to a company called push and they will tune it for you, but it voids the fox warrantee.

 

[jcaramia]

Even better that you have a great bike because it makes all the difference.

I am getting a fox 40 next season, I think maybe you can ask on the dh forum, can you order the springs that you want with the fork or do you have to get that separately, maybe if they don't work for you, you can send the fork out to a company called push and they will tune it for you, but it voids the fox warrantee.

Push doesn't tune 40's.

Edit: Joey what are you riding next season? Staying on the horse?

 

[jerseydirt]

Push doesn't tune 40's.

Edit: Joey what are you riding next season? Staying on the horse?

The frame will be a surprise being as it wont be the new turner because it wont be out. But I will be switching fork brands. I will not say what company. though. You will just have to wait for pics. As I build the bike and have parts.

 

[jcaramia]

The frame will be a surprise being as it wont be the new turner because it wont be out. But I will be switching fork brands. I will not say what company. though. You will just have to wait for pics. As I build the bike and have parts.

Nice nice.

I think we should have a bike build off. Then we'll have RM judge whos bike wins. lol

 

[jerseydirt]

Nice nice.

I think we should have a bike build off. Then we'll have RM judge whos bike wins. lol

O wow you have no idea what you are up against. In-fact, it would be considered sandbagging if I were to compete in such competition, but... I accept your challenge joe caramia.

 

[Electric_City]

And here's the start of thread derailment.... To no surprise jcaramia and jerseydirt.

PM sent to original poster

 

[bad63lac]

thanks... I'll take you up on the tour of Diablo

 

[bad andy]

This was my first time there this summer too, and I ended up going almost 10 times. Great stuff, I was really happy conquering some demons and expanding some skills. I did a lot of Dominion>Alpine and Exodus>Tempest. All fun stuff and I look forward to exploring some more.

 

[kyle_nelson]

i would advise that you go up to any random local kid (or adult) and ask to tag along. there aren't many people who would say no. and they can be helpful in both finding the trails you should try and showing you any tricks to the trails.

 

[FOXROX]

i would advise that you go up to any random local kid (or adult) and ask to tag along. there aren't many people who would say no. and they can be helpful in both finding the trails you should try and showing you any tricks to the trails.

goint to have to agree with simon. pretty much any will help you out.