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I started one of those annoying which frame threads.....I picked a tr450

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
and here are some pictures.

So far I love the bike. I ordered it with build kit 2, keep the boxxer, add a 40.

Couldn't swing the cheese for the saint build, plus I have a 40 on my old big hit as well as x9 drivetrain, avid brakes on all the other bikes in the garage so why not keep it consistent for serviceability, familiarity and parts collecting.

TR450, plows less than the specialized big hit I was riding, way more responsive, has a nice pop to it, rewards me for riding loose and letting the bike do its thing, WAY more comfortable off jumps and in the air then the big hit was, (i suck at the jumpingz), seems to let me recover from mistakes better, overall I really like the bike.

New:
Step one, destroy clean garage, make room for new bike, pretend its christmas morning.


Step two, admire



Step 3: Obligatory just finished it picture, with hand me down pedals.


Step 4:
Install sticker from your 6 year old son


Step 5:
Ride with friends


Step 6:
Enter race with fancy new colored pedals


Step 7
Clean bike with Fiance's daughter. Cleans bikes are Fast bikes.


Step 8
Order purple "stuff" to make fiance all excited about her hand me down DH bike


Step 9
Go riding again on new bike.
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
I love mine. More than my Morewood, more than my Yeti even, and I really thought the Yeti was as good as it could get.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
How does it ride compared to the Bighit? I rode a BH last year (liked It) but came across a good deal on a Demo8. Liked the 450 though.
I started on the bighit with the domain and 450lb spring, too soft, added a 500lb spring and it seemed more balanced, but the bike always felt "dead" part of that could have been shock tuning. The domain was still a bit soft for me and quite frankly just a ****ty feeling fork. This winter I upgraded it to a new fox 40 and upped to a 550lb rear spring. The bike still felt pretty dead, but it would plow through choppy stuff pretty good for me. I never felt like I could get good pop out of the bike for jumping and just didn't feel extremely comfortable getting it off the ground. It also used to bottom out in the rear pretty noticeably for me.

The tr450 feels lively, much lighter (but I think its actually the same weight or heavier), and it likes to "skip" or "double" bumps and feels good doing so. I am MUCH more comfortable jumping it, and the rear has only noticeably bottomed once (I bottomed hard enough to flat spot the rim and bend it pretty good). The big hit "seems" to take square edged hits a little better, but the tR450 excels in every other aspect for me. the TR450 seems to reward me for "letting it go" and pumping, skipping and doubling, where as my big hit felt too dead for that.

I may not be the best test case for you, as I'm a set it and forget it rider who probably sets his **** up all wrong....

On the flip side the GF is loving the bighit as her first real downhill bike and wants to start racing.
 

OffCamber

Monkey
May 27, 2005
405
6
Loxahatchee, Fl
^^^ Nice. I ran a 550# in the rear and a Float 180 up front but the Demo is more plush and lively if that make sense. I think the lower BB make the difference for me.
 

boylagz

Monkey
Jul 12, 2011
558
61
SF bay area
Hey kickstand, coming off a Bighit and having fsr, do you notice being tossed around more on the fast rough stuff on the TR vs. the Bighit? I came off a '10 SX Trail and now am on a V10, and for me even with just 6.7" of cush on the SXT, somehow it handled the FAST rough just a tad better than my current V10 in 8.5" mode.
From experience pedaling my sx on the rough sucked. The V10 pedals like a dream, just accelerates/gains momentum waaay better than my sxt did.

Edit/Add: Just curious if you have the same observation on fsr handling vs. other suspension platforms/designs.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
Hey kickstand, coming off a Bighit and having fsr, do you notice being tossed around more on the fast rough stuff on the TR vs. the Bighit? I came off a '10 SX Trail and now am on a V10, and for me even with just 6.7" of cush on the SXT, somehow it handled the FAST rough just a tad better than my current V10 in 8.5" mode.
From experience pedaling my sx on the rough sucked. The V10 pedals like a dream, just accelerates/gains momentum waaay better than my sxt did.

Edit/Add: Just curious if you have the same observation on fsr handling vs. other suspension platforms/designs.
my big hit seemed to suck pedaling in the rough too, I blamed it on rider inabilities lol.

I'm not sure entirely how to explain how the bikes feel different. the TR450 just feels smoother and I feel like it is forcing me to change the way I ride (for the better). The bighit could certainly plow a bit better, but it also reached the end of my comfort level a lot faster than the tr450 does. I feel like now in the rough instead of bouncing over everything at the will of the bike, I am hopping/skipping over things at my discretion.

I have no idea if any of that makes any sense at all
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
^^

Bad ass. Please update us with your findings, as that is comparison I'd like to make myself.
well, I don't think I found anything world breaking that we didn't already know.....I admittedly run my rebound a bit fast, we did slow it down a little before they rode the bike, my buddy tweaked his a hair on the santa cruz, but I can't recall if it was initially fast or initially slow.

I rode the V-10 and I could definitely feel something different going on, I can't recall if my buddies bike is a large or a medium, but here are some thoughts from 3 different riders.

v-10 carbon with Dorado, not sure on rear shock
tr450 with rc4 and fox 40
giant faith with boxxer (not sure which one) and not sure on rear shock.

I am about 15lbs lighter then my buddy, so his bike felt a little stiff for me, but he also felt my bike felt stiff for him, so maybe we just didn't spend enough time on the others bikes.

Myself: (Oldest 32, worst jumper, worst berm rider, as fast as the v-10 owner in the fast and loose stuff, almost as fast in the rocks)
-tr450 seems to pedal "better"
-the V-10 felt like it had a much more rearward travel to it, I only made 1 run on it.
-the v-10 did feel a little more stable in the rocks, but was harder to pop over stuff when I wanted to. I don't know which bike made me faster, but I was fine with the way both of them worked.
-I don't think I would be unhappy with either bike once tuned for me.

Him: (Fastest of the 3 of us, rails berms, jumps well, plows/skips through rocks with little fear 20 yrs old)
-tr450 pedals much better, feels lighter/poppier
-He also agreed he would be just as stoked on the 450 as the v-10 once he had the time to tune it to how he wanted it.

Other buddy (rides a giant faith with a boxxer, dirt jumper background, best jumper of the group, slightly slower in the fast and loose and rock sections, 2nd fastest overall)
-tr450 felt light and poppy compared to v-10
-v-10 felt more stable and long in the rocks
-both bikes felt better int he rocks than the faith, both bikes jumped well for him.

We all 3 range in height from 5-11 to 6-1 and 180-195 ish. I am the lightest of the group.

Not sure how helpful that is.

I also did a run on a transition blindside which felt very short and tall compared to my bike. I did hop on my old bighit and play around on it and it's currently sprung for my 125lb fiance and it still had that dead feel to it, but she is enjoying it. She actually slowed her rebound down on both the fork and the shock after her first few runs of the weekend. She said it felt much better after. Not sure on her actual settings.

boylagz my bike is starting to feel very planted in the fast and loose, almost more planted now then the bighit felt, I feel pretty comfortable skipping over some of the rock gardens at seven springs, for those familiar frankensteing to tank to lower ec1 is my favorite run and i felt pretty good on it. Also doing ec1 top to bottom there are a few fast and loose spots and the bike felt really good. I don't feel like it tosses me around at all, it feels very comfrotable.

I still need to learn to corner better and trust my tires.
 
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jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,596
5,894
in a single wide, cooking meth...
^^

Well that is in no way what I was wanting to read. Look, if you're telling me that basically all modern DH bikes are really good and the average rider will not realize any measurable benefit from a properly set up brand X bike versus a properly set up brand Y bike, then you sir are a jerk. Please either delete the above post or offer an extensive rewrite with a clear and decisive winner. Thank you... :thumb:

Srsly, thanks for the update, and thats basically what I would've guessed. Now I just need to find a bike for someone who sucks at berms, jumps, rox (east coast or otherwise), pedaling, and wet/dry conditions. So far the only thing that has helped has been low grade bourbon.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
Yeah I hear ya.

For reference. My buddy took 4th or 5th at Massenutten on a 951. If i had not crashed and lost my chain I probably would have shaved about 30 seconds or so off my time and finished around the 4:00 mark. He was in the 3:20 range I think. I am definitely a cat 2/cat 3 mid pack guy if it all falls right for me I may podium some day...but not today lol. He's a cat 1 rider with a chance to podium.

I was on the big hit at the time and he was on his 951. In fact this weekend was his first ride on the v-10 outside of michigan.

We both Agree that the tr450 and the v-10 are both better bikes than the 951 (and i liked his 951 a lot more than my big hit), and previous to the 951 he also had a big hit of the exact same era as mine (2009).

Having sucked at berms and jumps I can tell you that the tr450 was a dramatic improvement for me over the big hit. I have gained a ton of confidence. I used to struggle to clear stuff because I felt uncomfortable with my "take off" with the tr450 I am much more comfortable, and didn't ride the v-10 enough to get a feel, but carried my confidence over.

As for rocks I have always liked them since I rode a lot of rocks in college. but the v-10 probably has the advantage.

And yes, I think for the most part all new DH bikes are going to pretty much make us all better....it sure is cool as hell to have all the choices though!
 
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kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
there's a good review about the TR450 in the newest issue of decline mag .
paper copies only? Or have you a link to the article?

My buddy just took 3rd iin his class (cat 1 18-29 I believe) at snowshoe in the GES Race this weekend. He said his V-10 felt hella fast at snowshoe. I wasn't there to compare both bikes again. So, you'll just have to go buy your own :D
 
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kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
^ I got ya. Thanks. I myself am real curious on how a TR rides. Again, congrats on the new ride.
Well, last december my fiance and a few friends and I were out riding some local shuttle spots, she asked to try my too big for her TR450 and let me ride my old big hit for a few runs, The difference was night and day. The bighit felt like a dead sponge soaked in 10 gallons of water. Over the winter she bought a TR450 in a size small to fit her. Even though my bike was way too stiff for her, and a medium, she felt like it handled turns better, jumped better, and pedaled better than the bighit. I couldn't wait to have my 450 back after doing some rides on the bighit. For reference both bikes had a fox 40, obviously the big hit was pretty soft for me, but I only weigh about 40 lbs more than her and we werent on a super rough course that used a lot of suspension travel. I'm sure by now you've figured out what you wanted to buy/ride, but as I was surfing back through old threads this morning I thought I'd give you an update.