"Not for downhill use"

Anonymous

So, the warning on my bike says "Not for downhill use". I take it this specifically means Downhill as in downhill racing?

nicklouse

it means not for use on "DH" tracks and DH racing.

Anonymous

What defines what's a DH track? I do tracks that are downhill of sorts with some obstacles including the odd rock and drop. I just think of them as technical bits of some singletrack that happen to go downhill, usually at the end. I don't consider it like doing DH racing.

nicklouse

and the bike is?

what do you class as DH of sorts?

nicklouse

and the bike is?

what do you class as DH of sorts?

supersonic

If it is your GT IDrive 5, that is not a DH bike.

Old Pedaller

It's meant to be as vague as possible in order to provide a defence if aggrieved punters take the manufacturer to court in the event of something going wrong.

sniper68

A mate had a similar sticker on his Carrera Banshee.His front fork brace snapped in half at Dalbeattie :roll:

Northwind

It must only be ridden on flats, or uphill.

FWIW I would personally happily ride my Idrive down fort bill or the local DH tracks, or on the easier ones at innerleithen (I wouldn't want to face the big drops on it though, not what it's for). I'd ride my Soul down them for that matter. But I'd do it very slowly

Anonymous

Yeah, it's the idrive. I don't know what I really consider DH. I mean trails can go down as well as up. I kind of imaged DH as in DH racing to be pretty severe stuff which at the speeds they go would likely break the bike (or the rider). But stuff I do is singletrack that heads in a downwards direction, often ending in a sharp descent over tree roots and the like. Never imagined you'd need a special bike for that! . Don't think they are specifically use for DH racing, but I don't know.

Obviously it's a disclaimer to protect them from being sued really (especially as it's an American company), but seems odd for a full sus to be intended to be used on a leisurely XC ride on the flat

llamafarmer

I'd imagine they mean proper downhilling, as in pyjamas and full face helmets and pushing your bike uphill

Your riding sounds like normal XC trail riding to me and I'm sure your idrive is more than adequate.

bails87

Search for Downhill championship on youtube and you'll see what they mean by "Downhill".

Squarepants

Mine handles all of Cwmcarn (apart from the DH route) no problem. Yes trails do naturally go downhill but like bails said search and ye shall find.

It's not stopping me wanting a Giant Reign 1 though

Valy

My £0.02...

It's a pretty safe assumption that they do mean DH downhill. Like double curb-sized stones sticking out, gradients so steep you can barely manage to stay on the bike without going over the bars and approaching the speed of sound simultaneously.

lappymatt

Northwind wrote:

It must only be ridden on flats, or uphill.

Surely if you go up you've got to come down at some point........

Anonymous

meta55matt wrote:

Surely if you go up you've got to come down at some point........

Guess you'd have to walk down

a900ss

You have to jump on the Van to get back down!!!

Northwind

You have to only ride it at places that have a downlift service, like innerleithen.

handon94

lol liking the comments guys

hucking_fell

I was surprised to find that my 2003 Marzocchi 66rc forks had a 'not suitable for Downhill' type sticker on them.

After 6 years of 'proper' downhill courses (Dunkeld, Fortwilliam and such) they're doing fine still.

:?

cavegiant

It is just an insurance get out clause.

The I-drive puts a lot of stress on the bottom linkage, under big drops it can snap.

As long as you don't do drops over a couple of feet at high speed I would not worry.

supersonic

This was only really a problem with the flex bone I drives - it has a different design now.

Shatner

I thought it was funny when I got my trail bike and a sticker on the top tube said "Do not ride at night". I was like ?!?

Anonymous

Well, I took it on Aston DH, so I've probably broken the warranty now . Actually it's out of warranty anyway.

And yeah, the flex bone on this model is bent rather than straight to fix the problem with snapping it.

I can't really see why it can't be used on a DH course, just so long as I'm aware it's a 5" travel bike. My DH ventures are not going to be anything more than just trying an odd DH course now and again, and won't be doing huge drops, but primarily it's XC. Though I don't like these pigeon holed definitions anyway. I just ride a general mix of stuff.

Valy

MAn, some nice pics you got on Flikr!

Anonymous

Thanks . They're not too bad on sunny days with fantastic scenery, but I lack skills on the action photos. Need more practice. Though looking at the way the pros do it I need proper lighting when it's in the dark of the trees.

broken weeble

The colour is odd on the GT, i keep looking at stuff for mine and keep thinking "hmmm, is my bike an off pink or goldy purple"

Valy

deadkenny wrote:

Thanks . They're not too bad on sunny days with fantastic scenery, but I lack skills on the action photos. Need more practice. Though looking at the way the pros do it I need proper lighting when it's in the dark of the trees.

Good luck with carrying all the strobes and prayers for no crashes. :P

popstar

Well, my Snappierre holds fine on DH yet. Doubt with all amount of steel on that GT you gonna have some problems. You seriously need to up your speed to brake that cow!

You deserve some filming soon :-S

Mynameisdann

lol i remember buying an 07 chucker from halfords with them stating it was a budget DJ bike, yet it had a sticker saying not for jumping use

Valy

popstar wrote:

Well, my Snappierre holds fine on DH yet. Doubt with all amount of steel on that GT you gonna have some problems. You seriously need to up your speed to brake that cow!

You deserve some filming soon :-S

Why Snapppierre?