[Sandwich]

I'm sure some of you pansies will disapprove of this thread, but:

What, in your opinion, is the best downhill bike ever created, and why?

Some suggestions:

Sunn Radical+: Perhaps the most winning bike ever built, 3 years under Nico and Anne-Caro plus hatching the careers of numerous others, including Cedric. Simple, strong, and with "top-secret" suspension by BOS.

Brooklyn Racelink: Maybe because it's lighter than it should be, maybe because it's the kind of bike that will last forever, maybe because it was originally handbuilt by a couple o' guys. Maybe the floater, prog link, and jackshaft?

Outland VPP: The bike that started it all, underfunded and poorly developed, the design later became one of the best sellers around.

Yeti Lawwill DH-6: Designed from the ground up to be a winner with no regards to cost or design limitations. Maybe the first bike with a floater, rear axle, and universal hydro disk brake. Definately the first with a pull shock. Massive following and still an awesome ride.

Intense M1: Perhaps the most ridden privateer bike, solid, efficient, and easy to win on.

Cannondale Fulcrum: Massively overengineered for 1998, had 3 chains, 4 chainrings, an onboard computer, a floating pivot, and one of the best teams around. Too bad about the fork though...and 46 lbs back then was still a tank.

Talk amongst yourselves...there's plenty more...Cdale gemini (original), trek Y bike, Rocky RM9, LTS Thermoplastic.....

 

[pinkshirtphotos]

the giant dh comp, a high end dh bike with some lesser componants then the team, yet was still a kick ass bike.

 

[HenryTheHammer]

 

[Whoops]

the giant dh comp, a high end dh bike with some lesser componants then the team, yet was still a kick ass bike.

No, that suffers instant disqualification because it was a complete copy of a handbuilt NZ bike made by KeeWee caled the D8.

 

[Sandro]

I have alwasy been fond of GT's LTS DH, maybe not the most revolutionary design, but it still has tons of wins under its belt.

 

[JRogers]

Well, I do think this thread is a bit ridiculous, but define "best"? Best for the time it was made? Pretty much any mass produced cookie cutter frame today will outperform something from 6+ years ago.

 

[FCLinder]

I have alwasy been fond of GT's LTS DH, maybe not the most revolutionary design, but it still has tons of wins under its belt.

I won my first DH race on a LTS. Too funny. It made all kinds on noise.....

 

[OGRipper]

You are all in a lot of e-trouble for not saying "Sunday."



There is no answer or definition, which makes it a fun but kinda pointless conversation. I'm biased toward SCB but I'd have to put the V10 somewhere on the list.

 

[Zark]

Intense M1
Turner DHR
Santa Cruz V10

 

[FCLinder]

How about the old Super8. Cracked a few of them, but had some good wins on them too. I remember the old SC guys were fast on it.

 

[Sandwich]

that's part of the fun, it's almost entirely opinion...but that doesn't make it any less true...or something.

The question was "what, IN YOUR OPINION..." I just want to hear what people think. There's no true or definate answer.

 

[offtheedge]

the one that didn't go on my credit card

 

[dan wask]

Does anyone have a picture of this cannondale fulcrum ? I wanna see it.

 

[chillindrdude]

throwing in the vote for the Intense M1, its legendary!

 

[HenryTheHammer]

Cannondale Fulcrum

 

[psychobiker]

missy said that fork blew out on every run... no wonder she had so many concussions there was always something about the way myles R floated on his giant...back in the day

 

[Sandwich]

yeah it wasn't known until later but that headshock blew, literally and figuratively.

the concept was actually pretty cool, the triple chain was actually used so they could alter the chainring size without affecting the torque on the rear wheel. Therefore, they could idealize the axle path without worrying about compensating for different chainring sizes....

 

[BRIANBUELL]

Rotec RL9

 

[ViciousDHer]

Intense M-1
Foes Mono
and of Course
Rotec RL9

 

[bballe336]

yeah it wasn't known until later but that headshock blew, literally and figuratively.

The fulcrum didn't have a headshock, at least not from what I can see.

I don't have a bike I consider the best though. I do like the Sinister R9 a lot and it suits me very well. But as with every bike there is someone out there who dislikes it.

 

[frznnomad]

this

because this happens

 

[TheMontashu]

The fulcrum didn't have a headshock, at least not from what I can see.

I don't have a bike I csonider the best though. I do like the Sinister R9 a lot and it suits me very well. But as with every bike there is someone out there who dislikes it.

It has a cannondale moto fork.

 

[MikeD]

 

[bballe336]

It has a cannondale moto fork.

That's the reason I said it doesn't have a headshock.

 

[TheMontashu]

http://www.doitdownhill.com/pictures/bike2/204_magnum--Tomac_lg.jpg

 

[Biscuit]

MikeD knows whats up.

I might be wrong, but I think that C-dale Fulcrom was the basis for the KHS Dominatrix.

.. oh.. and everybody knows the Sunday is the best dh bike ever.. do a search noob.

 

[MikeD]

http://www.doitdownhill.com/pictures/bike2/204_magnum--Tomac_lg.jpg

If I could only photoshop some drop bars onto there...

 

[Sandwich]

bballe- it was called the headshock moto, that's why i referred to it as such.

it had roller bearings instead of bushings and a hydraulic cartridge inside. the stantions were square.


i didn't think of the foes mono, that's up there but never really set itself apart from everything else.

 

[Sandwich]

biscuit- you are right, the KHS was a deliberate knockoff, afaik. it came out immediately after the cannondale, but was a sh.tty replacement.

again- this is just to incite some creative discussion. I know that everybike i mentioned has a downfall, some of them very serious (yeti has a RS shock, Sunn parts have no service, vpp had bad bushings), but in the day they were the shiznit and that's the topic of discussion here.

 

[Thrillkil]

I didnt know those actually existed

 

[bikenweed]

Honda! RN01 or whatever it is. It's obviously the best. Why? Because no one besides team members get to have one. Unobtanium is always the best.

Seriously, there is no one single greatest bike ever. There have been a lot of good designs, and among the good ones, there has never been a frame that stood head and shoulders above the rest. I can't think of a single frame that doesn't have some sort of an issue, either in regards to weight, strength, geometry, availability, etc. Nothing is perfect, and therefore, nothing will ever be the best. Besides, don't we have more important things to think about than what bike is the 'best'?

 

[no skid marks]

Lahar hands down.
Notible mentions in no particular order.
The sunn
Brooklyn RaceLink
Lobo
Lawhill anything(shwinn,Yeti,Rotec,Tomac)
RTS
BB7
Early Chumba wumba
M1 with Horst(horse)links
Foes(for stepping out of the square on many occasions)
MC sanan
ATX 1 DH and that weird thing that they never made after it.
Keewee D8
Most of these listed are for merrit in certain fields but where not sorted as a complete design.What a shame pull-shocks havn't made a return yet,far superior concept.

 

[Zoso]

My vote goes to the B1 team DH. Huge rear end and wide bb for solid feel and stompin landings. Pivot was high but not forward, directly above bb for super active travel. Geometry is sick, slack and low. Frame is beautiful, such unique lines. Pretty rare too, which adds to their appeal. Plus it was raced by a lot of hard-chargin' rippers like de Bever, Gerwin Peters, and most notably Pascal. The ultimate race frame in my eyes.

 

[jet]

I think you have to go with Sunn, hands down. How many World championships do they have, 8 or 9. One more with LaPierre, a rebadged Sunn.
Intense, however good, is just a Specialized with a lot more travel. Lawill Yeti's, how many wins did they get? Gt Lobo? Quite a few if I remeber right. Iron Horse got the team right with the M1 knock offfs. They got a sh!~tload of wins. Still an Itense/Spec rig.
Outland Vpp, outstanding bike. Balfa too. Really ahead of thier time, just not enough development money.
You have to get Orange in there too. The Global team cleaned up on those for two years. Pus the World Championships under Peat

If I had the money to spend right now, I'd get a Commencal. Proven winning design. Single pivot with a low shock ratio.

However; I think Foes is ready to make a killing with the new 2:1` bikes if he can get the right riders.

 

[no skid marks]

can get the right riders.

You mentioned all of those wins etc,but you're right in your last statement,it strongly depends on the riders and for that reason brands like Balfa,Brooklyn,Lahar etc will never get to many results as they don't have either the budget or desire to sponsor top riders.

Oh yeah I also forgot to mention the Iron Horses in my origonal post,props to them too.

 

[ChelanDHer]

I was gonna vote Rotec RL9 or Foes Mono, maybe some of the older Orange or Karpiel DH frames. I'm even going to say the early Super 8's were pretty badass for their time (minus the swingarm cracking).

 

[Kntr]

Mountain Bike Action said Foes Mono.


and they are alway right.

 

[PatBranch]

It's obviously the Bullit!

Downhill version

Freeride version

 

[FactoryCostcoDH]

Holy mother of batman that GSR Mach 9 is crazy! Pull shock design with up to 14" of travel... absolutely nuts.... You could bring a small tool kit with you, set the travel at 11" for DH and then set it at 14" when you feel like kucking. Did GSR go out of business or something?

 

[tmx]

...Racelink: Maybe because it's lighter than it should be, maybe because it's the kind of bike that will last forever, maybe because it was originally handbuilt by a couple o' guys. Maybe the floater, prog link, and jackshaft?

When it was welded up in-house that bike was made by just one guy, from start to finish except for some out-sourced machined bits. And a little help with tube cutting and a few final bike builds by one of their old interns. Same guy that built the frame was the same guy that designed it and rode one himself every weekend for several years. And he also won a few NORBA nationals on it, ableit as an amateur.

And on that note, my vote goes to his replacement DH frame, the Bastard. Looks similar to the 5 year old RL. But with this one, Doc created a highly refined front triangle made of True Temper tubing (finally!), substantially updated geometry and it's 5 lbs lighter.