Do you downhill? If not why not?

weeksy59

Nah, don't have the balls or the abilty on standard Afan trails and semi-downhills etc.

Air time isn't my friend and out of control comes far too easily for me on the rocky descents at Afan.

Anonymous

Thing is though, Sonic, there are far more dangerous things in the wild, on unmarked trails than you will find on any trail centre, or DH track. Things like windswept cliff edges with hundreds of vertical drop to your death.
Riders judge their own ability when attacking these things, why should they not judge their own skills for a DH track?

Anonymous

i always thought the people who ride dh tracks would not appreciate blokes on regular bikes cutting about and taking chicken runs ales uber the gaff and slowing them down n their championship speed runs.

id just be in peoples way so i stick to regular trails and leave dh to dhers.

Anonymous

Thing is sheeps, there's always people who are faster than other riders, and always people who are slower than other riders.
It wouldn't make a difference to a DH rider (as long as he's not a Wagner) that he's passing you, or passing a slower DH-er. It's all the same.

anto164

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Thing is sheeps, there's always people who are faster than other riders, and always people who are slower than other riders.
It wouldn't make a difference to a DH rider (as long as he's not a Wagner) that he's passing you, or passing a slower DH-er. It's all the same.

I Very much agree with this.

I did an uplift day today, and call myself a 'weekend downhiller' (Spend more time on the roady minds). People there didn't mind people passing or getting passed, as long as it was done in a safe manner and the person that was getting passed was aware that there was a faster rider behind.

As for the mindset, it is very much mind over matter these days. Virtually all obsticles on all tracks are rollable (Obviously not things like the Ae stepdown), and all tracks are easy to get down, it's just the hard part is getting it fast and all together. 9 times out of 10, the rider has enough skills to get down a track, but if they don't think they can, then they won't.

Also, speed is a key, if you go a bit quicker than you think over some obsticles, you'll get through it easier.

Northwind

sheepsteeth wrote:

i always thought the people who ride dh tracks would not appreciate blokes on regular bikes cutting about and taking chicken runs ales uber the gaff and slowing them down n their championship speed runs.

True this. I reckon I'm on their turf so I won't spoil their fun so I get out of the way quicksmart when someone catches up. Just like normal riding to be fair. On the uplift I made sure anyone who looked quick left before me.

supersonic

Northwind wrote:

That's the title, if anyone managed to read the second paragraph all becomes clear...

Does it? I don't think it does! Especially as you say it again in the 4th paragraph ;-)

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on some of this.

rudedog

Good thread Northwind - I know exactly what you are coming from, its something my wee brother has been bangin on about for a while now - he regularly does the Innerleithen downhill runs on his hardtail. Unfortunately my current skill level isn't quite where I'd like it to be before I join him but I hope it won't be too long before I'm there

Thewaylander

I think the mixed take up on DH is down to the massive vartiation in terms of difficulty of the trails.

The DH at Cwm is ridable for most people with care, But i was at a DH course at the weekend and it was insane, To head down it you really did need to bring full armour, full face and preferable a DH machine. So it's always hard to judge.

Anonymous

I read somewhere that Cwm was designed with that in mind. It's DH but ride & rollable for most. Ridden within your own and your bike's abilities there's nothing there that will wreck your bike if you took an XC there. Okay the pavement drop is a bit more serious, but you can chicken run it, same with most of the black sections.

Aston on the other hand I found was challenging on some runs and wouldn't recommend it on a hard tail. My 5" bike was okay for the style of riding I did though and I couldn't see anything there that really would demand a DH bike either in terms of travel required or strength, but if you hit it hard and fast then a DH bike would be better.

More important is the protection though.

Thewaylander

Yup I would have said the same as you dead for all trails lie your the last comment(I.e. can be done on 5") until this weekend.

Not seen something so steep rooty and muddy. with big drops and no real chicken runs. Definate poo in a can ;p

Anonymous

Oh wow, I do NOT speak Newport by the sounds of it :shock:

projectsome

I like my bike in one piece... tis not suitable for dh.

Anonymous

projectsome wrote:

I like my bike in one piece... tis not suitable for dh.

Of course it is. Stop using it as an excuse.

miss notax

weeksy59 wrote:

Nah, don't have the balls or the abilty on standard Afan trails and semi-downhills etc.

Air time isn't my friend and out of control comes far too easily for me on the rocky descents at Afan.

THIS!!

I like XC riding, and will happily ride most trail centres and enjoy natural riding everywhere, but I have no desire to hurtle down DH courses. I appreciate the skill etc etc, and if that's your cup of tea that's great, but not for me. Apart from everything else the risks are greater, which possibly gets more of an issue the older you get :oops:

Anonymous

miss notax wrote:

Apart from everything else the risks are greater, which possibly gets more of an issue the older you get :oops:

The way I see it, each year older I get is one year closer to death anwyay. So I've got less reason to keep myself safe

miss notax

yeehaamcgee wrote:

miss notax wrote:

Apart from everything else the risks are greater, which possibly gets more of an issue the older you get :oops:

The way I see it, each year older I get is one year closer to death anwyay. So I've got less reason to keep myself safe

Ha ha ha, LOVE that!!! Great

joshtp

No, Cant afford it

I have a DH race track withing 10 mins ride of my house... and loads of races are hapening in the area all the time.... and when i do have a go, just on my normal bike, i love it... But lack of money for bike and kit stops me from really going for it properly.

Northwind

supersonic wrote:

Does it? I don't think it does! Especially as you say it again in the 4th paragraph ;-)

Er, what I said was:

Northwind wrote:

So... Do you downhill? If not why not? Anyone else like me, treating them as more ultimate XC trails rather than "proper" downhilling?

Couldn't make it any clearer tbh. See also:

rudedog wrote:

I know exactly what you are coming from

cee

I love riding steep, tight, twisty, technical trails....

These are classed as DH tracks, but we just call them uplift days...

I'm with you Northwind....its just riding trails....steep, technical ones..... for fun.

every time I have been to inners on an uplift, there have been folks with 5" trail bikes....and hardtails.....and the grin on their faces at the bottom is just as big as everyone elses....bigger sometimes!

I don't race...just for fun....

First time, I was concerned that I would be holding everyone up.....but after a couple of days...once the feel for that style of trail sinks in....you will probably find that there are full on racing pajama guys not all that quick either....and you will not worry so much about letting them go first.

Supposed to be going again next sunday....can't wait.

downhillbike

i do for fun even got a new bike for it the giant glory

milfredo

Always done it and never on a dedicated downhill bike.

I started on the original opening of Aston Hill on my GT Zaska with V-breaks and 3" of elastomer suspension.

Went to Morzine on my Kona Kickapu Delux with Pikes for a week in 2005 to do only the downhill’s

Went back to Morzine the following year on a Coiler Primo with the same Pikes as above ]

And now would ride everything on my Santacruz Blur LTC with Revelations. In fact, I completed the black run at Cwncarn last weekend.

Always under-biked and not amazing on the bike (although I rarely dab) but have always been more than capable (just not as fast as the 'proper' bikes).

Just ride it, that why it’s there.

I do have a full face and some pads for the France DH though.

mrfmilo

Yes, ride and race DH. Only been riding DH for 2months or so though. Different people like different disciplines, i like going fast abd being scared shitless, others don't You can ride most DH on any bike, just slower/faster and might not be as fun. I race on a HT, it is possible, I dont generally follow bike "trends" on what you need for certain trails.

I recommend anyone to try out DH and racing, awesome fun No risk, no fun

doggegg

Yep, an AM bike on the local DH course without a full face or neck brace.

Works just fine. That's just riding it and not racing though.

t0pc4t

at the moment I don't think I have the skill, experience or balls to do downhill, not sure my anthem would come away unscathed either but that's really not what's stopping me

Mental Mickey

Honest answer = Too much for me.

In my opinion, I've took this MTB lark up too late in life, I enjoy the small jumps typically found on XC trails but I think a lip of about 3 feet high is as big as I ever want to go, it's a strange sensation flying through the air and even after practicing a fair bit, I still struggle to judge the flight path right, it's often all over so quick I find it hard to assess 'what went on', I guess videoing myself or a skills course is the only way out of that scenario.

DH is for the mad hatters or so it seems and I'm just not as mental as I should be, I was recently down in Dorset visiting my brother and got the opportunity to ride lot's of new places including Portland which has some fantastic natural riding, some old quarry's and a great rocky coastal route with the best scenery you could ever wish for.

One day this guy is coming downhill toward me on what looked like a Big Hit FSR, no helmet or pads on and a complete nutter, he was getting air of the banked sides, bearing in mind one side has a cliff edge drop of I think 250 feet, I was scared to ride at times on some of these trails as one mistake and your'e dead, this guy was a loon, flew down it and quite obviously a local, he did a really cool tail whip jump and landed about 6 meters or so from lift off as he passed me, anyway, point is it made me realize I'll more than likely never be able to ride like that.

paul.skibum

The only DH specific tracks I have ridden have been the Alps every year for the past 7 years - this year I was out there with my 2001 Heckler - 125mm forks, all QR, XC wheels etc me and a mate spent the day on the Pleney in Morzine riding the Avalanche and the other tracks on that side - I really enjoyed it, tried building my speed each time, get some of the easier airs and found I was tracking some of the guys on bigger bikes and generally having a good laugh.

I'd love to do it more but from Berkshire the yearly alps trips are as good as it gets.

Thewaylander

milfredo wrote:

Always done it and never on a dedicated downhill bike.

I started on the original opening of Aston Hill on my GT Zaska with V-breaks and 3" of elastomer suspension.

Went to Morzine on my Kona Kickapu Delux with Pikes for a week in 2005 to do only the downhill’s

Went back to Morzine the following year on a Coiler Primo with the same Pikes as above ]

And now would ride everything on my Santacruz Blur LTC with Revelations. In fact, I completed the black run at Cwncarn last weekend.

Always under-biked and not amazing on the bike (although I rarely dab) but have always been more than capable (just not as fast as the 'proper' bikes).

Just ride it, that why it’s there.

I do have a full face and some pads for the France DH though.

Yeh but Cwm really isn't that bad of a DH to be fair. it's pretty straight fwd compared to alot.

CycloRos

Interesting thread with some good points. I'm with the OP on this and will just turn up and ride on whatever trail and whatever rig I have. Thinking about it this probably comes from my early days as a kid messing around on any kind of terrain not thinking twice about whether I should.

The majority of trail bikes these days can take a fair amount of abuse, so providing you've weighed up the risks, padded up and your bikes in good working order then why not just have a go?

Obviously if you're going to be doing this regularly then maintenance costs are gonna start to pile up and they'll come a point where you probably need to invest in a DH specific rig, but until then there's no harm in doing it just for sh*ts and giggles.

Understandably this sort of riding isn't for everyone but folks shouldn't be put off from having a go just because they don't have what's perceived as the "right" bike.

Thewaylander

i Don't actually agree in complete.

There are as with trails varying levels of DH for instance Cwm has been used as an example here, but it's widely know that Cwm DH track is actually very easy in comparison to some others. i

The one at Rheola for instance is really steep and rooty and rutted it makes cwm look super smooth and flat and i would ride Cwm but I didn't feel at all comfortable on Rheola with out a nice solid lump of Body armour and Full face for instance.

As with riding a trail, you have to make a judgment, is this trail safe with your level of gear and skill? alot of tracks will be yes, but there will be a goodly amount that are a possible no.