[jebfour]

I apologize if something like this has been posted before…..I didn’t see anything. If there is a thread that addresses this, please post the link!

I currently ride a Giant AC1…and love this bike! Don’t get me wrong for one second, I really like this bike…..but, it is my personal opinion that it is a compromise however between a freeride bike and an “all-mountain” bike…. and it was a great transition from my XC into the “more extreme world” but I have been riding more and more DH (no big drops or jumps) and am thinking about building purpose built bikes: one for trail riding and one for trail riding.

I can take care of the trail riding bike…..but I have a question of you out in cyberland…..what DH bikes can be built up with MILD climbing abilities? I was thinking a dual chainring in the front might just do the trick on a DH bike. Which bike accommodates this? Keep in mind I don’t do “big” jumps or drops and I have always liked lightweight bikes. I was thinking about a DHR with dual rings up front (just because I have seen these built at the weight as my AC!!!)….

In any event, I appreciate your comments and suggestions….

THANKS!

Jeb4

 

[motomike]

I pedal my Demo 8 up hills fine. It also accomodates at front derailleur...

 

[Jm_]

I pedaled my 48lb cheeta (stratos S8 and other really heavy stuff) up some pretty big mountains.

Only the motor really matters, but if you're motor isn't strong enough (then what are you doing trying to ride a DH bike UP?), go for something with a full length seat tube.

They usually call these bikes "freeride".

 

[afromandookie]

I pedal my Demo 8 up hills fine. It also accomodates at front derailleur...

I'm with Motomike

 

[bballe336]

Giant Faith. It actually pedals very well. I use mine as a trail bike as well as a DH bike.

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

Yesterday I did a 3 hour epic XC ride with some roadies. I kept up with their sissy, leg-shaving, lycra-clad asses just fine on this:

All you need to ride XC on a porker bike is as follows:

1) Full seat extension: You aren't keeping up with the roadies if you can't sit and pedal up climbs

1a) fairly steep seat tube: If your seat tube is crazy raked, it will put the saddle way too far back. You need your weight forward to climb. And who cares where the seat is when you're descending.

2) granny ring and a 2-ring guide.

3) Switching to skinnier tires will help you keep up on an XC ride, but it's more hardcore to rock your 2.8 michies.

 

[dump]

as chomps said, the asx is a great all-around bike.

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

as chomps said, the asx is a great all-around bike.

booyeah. I never tire of pimping mine all over the internet. I consider it my calling.

PS: never run an asx in 7 inch mode.

 

[Summit]

I ride this uphill, sometimes... (and actually w/ the post raised and clipless pedals it's not really that bad - I can keep up w/ my buddies on trail bikes just fine)

 

[dump]

booyeah. I never tire of pimping mine all over the internet. I consider it my calling.

this is what the new bikes look like - pretty much the same:

 

[dump]

thinking back, my schwinn straight six (yeti dh-6) was an awesome trail bike... light too @ 34lb or so w/ a 6" boxxer. The dh-8 on the other hand was crap @ anything but down.

 

[Kntr]

I ride my Fly for everything. Check the sig.

 

[keen]

Sound advice : All you need to ride XC on a porker bike is as follows:

1) Full seat extension: You aren't keeping up with the roadies if you can't sit and pedal up climbs

1a) fairly steep seat tube: If your seat tube is crazy raked, it will put the saddle way too far back. You need your weight forward to climb. And who cares where the seat is when you're descending.

2) granny ring and a 2-ring guide.

3) Switching to skinnier tires will help you keep up on an XC ride, but it's more hardcore to rock your 2.8


I find a lot of guys complain about total weight - just make sure the wheels and tires are light and you are gonna go faster. Don't expect to race to the top on a 40lb. bike if you ride in a pack of 30lber's - Get full leg extension, put it in granny and spin.

 

[Gary]

My 51lb 04 Ironhorse SGS DH is pedalable up hill now that I have a Titec scoper seatpost (allowing full leg extension).
I'm running a single ring & E13 so the lowest gear I have is 38/32 which is fine for most fireroads and mellow climbs but steeper stuff I have to get off and push, mind you, a lower gear than that would be just above walking pace anyway.

 

[Dhracer3]

Check out the Morewood Shova LT..... as strong as the DH bike and you can run a dual chain ring setup...
the DH bike pedals really well but doesn't accomadate a dual chain ring..

 

[xy9ine]

the orange 224 has a full-length seat tube at a decent angle, is super duper light, and is fd compatible (even has the cable stop on the seat tube).

 

[zmtber]

turner bikes pedal very well, and i know of a few who do pedal them up hill, but i wouldn't say it easy (however this years fox 5.0 with propedal might make it easier)

 

[kidwoo]

demo 8 (or 7 when it appears)
foes fly
iron horse 7 point
turner highline
norco shore
uzzi vpx
santa cruz vp free
trek session 77

I'd be looking at these

 

[sixsixtysix]

I rock my 44lb Dirtbag on XC rides.

I may be the last one to the top, but I get there. Put it in the granny and spin it up.

 

[jebfour]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions!

 

[Jm_]

the orange 224 has a full-length seat tube at a decent angle, is super duper light, and is fd compatible (even has the cable stop on the seat tube).

I'd say that would be one of the worst designs to ride up some with. If you put a smaller ring on the front, you're seriously increasing the distance from the chain to the pivot, which means you'll get lots of pedal-feedback through rough terrain (which already exists just with the normal chainline on that bike). This characteristic is sometimes not too bad on a DH bike, and it's kind of a feature when you have a wheelpath that arcs rearward more, but the place where I notice this effect the most is when trying to climb anything technical. The expanding chainline creates feedback which tries to fight your pedal strokes, and the end result is that the suspension "skips" and doesn't fully absorb the bumps, which creates a loss of traction, which makes you spin out too easily. Nothing is as frustrating as spinning out when going up because of the feedback. The bike may be light, but the suspension design is very counter productive to climbing. You'll also get a lot more bob if you were to put a smaller chainring on.

 

[blue]

I crush my SGS with the single ring to the tops of plenty of 1000 foot climbs all the time...not.

I need a DRS.

 

[Kntr]

demo 8 (or 7 when it appears)
foes fly
iron horse 7 point
turner highline
norco shore
uzzi vpx
santa cruz vp free
trek session 77

I'd be looking at these

My thoughts exactly

 

[SBDownhillRacer]

no sunday?

 

[joelsman]

I set up my transition dirtbag so I could pedal it up hill, 39.25lbs with tubeless wheels and dhx air and 66sl, the cranks are pretty heavy though. rides good, not and xc bike but climbs good.

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/760416/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/760415/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/760414/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/760413/

 

[E.C.]

Bullit. just happen to know someone who is selling a sweet one. I'll tell him to post it.

 

[downhillracer]

check out the intense vpx
www.intensecycles.com

 

[julian_dh]

he didnt ask about how you take you 47 pound bike on epic rides he asked about a pedalable dh bike.

in order IMO best pedaling

commencal supreme
orange 22x
trek sessions
kona stab

and ive had a good amount of time on all these bikes

 

[sharkdh]

All these DH bikes newschool and oldschool climb the same.
no real discernable differences.
nothing thats gonna make or break the trip to the summit.
maybe change the gearing and clip in if anything.
'just get some legs and you'll be fine'.
try spin classes or ride lots of XC (on an XC bike).
nothing comes easy in MTB.
I just wrenched 5 hours tonite just to get myself ready for the weekend. lot of hardwork goes into this sport.......

 

[Sandwich]

purpose built bikes: one for trail riding and one for trail riding.

THANKS!

Jeb4

erm, what?

you may want to clarify slightly. I assume you mean a bike for trail riding and one for DH. How serious are you? In each aspect you need to determine for yourself what degree you want to get into. There's no reason you can't have a good time on a six inch bike on DH. You won't be competitive if you race, and it may not give you the speed or confidence you could have from a bigger bike, but it will get you where you want to go. I'd suggest the RFX or azonic copy if this is the case. Build it smart with a slider or light boxxer and good size disks.

If you're thinking 4-5" bike purely for back country riding, and then a more serious DH bike, and can afford it, I think that's a good way to go. I would encourage you to buy a more serious DH rig, as bikes designed to do two things rarely do either very well (think climb, descend). Plus a big bike will give you more confidence to go bigger and faster, and bigger brakes will allow you stop better and ride safer.

that being said, I like the Yeti DH-9 series and most bikes with a horst-style linkage (Intense, etc.) or some of the VPP/floating pivot bikes (maestro, vpfree, karpiel). For pure pedaling efficiency I would avoid single pivots unless they are at or above the chainring and include a roller near the pivot (bb7, brooklyn). I think the worst pedaling bikes are the low single pivots, like konas.

this is my opinion, but also my experience, and my big concerns are efficiency and weight, similar to yours.


ps, you may find that a single ring up front with a big ratio in the back will give you the room you need to ride reasonable inclines. I used to ride an 11-34 with a 34 or 36 front and it was pretty comfortable on my 46lb straight 8. I used to have 27 speeds before that, and the change wasn't too bad. You'll be seriously limiting your bike selection by requiring two rings as well.

 

[Bearmntpicnic]

I have a friend who can set up his vp free and get it down to 32 pounds minute in the frong new rear wheel air shock clips and a diffrent front drive train setup no full chain guide ect. its pretty rad i just rode with im on my twenty something pount hardtail inbred and he was kepping up fine......... but ofcourse he was slower if you are looking for something fast on trails get a trail bike you cant have it all with one bike.

 

[dump]

ps, you may find that a single ring up front with a big ratio in the back will give you the room you need to ride reasonable inclines. I used to ride an 11-34 with a 34 or 36 front and it was pretty comfortable on my 46lb straight 8. I used to have 27 speeds before that, and the change wasn't too bad

I had this same setup & would never recommend it for anything but purely dh.

there are far better bikes out there for the job.

 

[vicious]

I rock my 44lb Dirtbag on XC rides.

I may be the last one to the top, but I get there. Put it in the granny and spin it up.

Sick bike bro! Are those bmw pedals?

 

[Sandwich]

are you talking about the drivetrain or the bike? cause i'd recommend the drivetrain to anybody, the bike is another story, but it pedalled well.

 

[dump]

The drivetrain was just ok... in DH mode (chain tensioner) it was rough riding xc. the bike was just ok too. I had an older straight 6 that I loved riding xc.

 

[sixsixtysix]

I set up my transition dirtbag so I could pedal it up hill, 39.25lbs with tubeless wheels and dhx air and 66sl, the cranks are pretty heavy though. rides good, not and xc bike but climbs good.

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/760416/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/760415/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/760414/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/760413/

Thats a nice build on the Dirtbag I am suprised there is only 4lbs difference between my setup and yours though. I just went and did a double check on mine and it came in at 44.1lbs. For big travel bikes they do pedal very well.

 

[oly]

My thoughts exactly

I also Side with the WOO and Kanter with a little lean to the Highline since thats the bike I currently rock. I was worried I would miss the DHR... but that worry went away after the first few rides....

 

[dw]

I pedal my 7POINT everywhere.

Dave

 

[in the trees]

I pedal my 7POINT everywhere.

Dave

I'm also thrilled with my 7point. Set-up with an 888, SRS, DH tires, etc it should work great on the DH trails and still allow me to do some pedaling in the woods. Look into one.

toby

 

[habitatxskate]

rocky mountain switch rides pretty smooth..i rode my friends...its pretty good.