Winch & plummet

.blitz

Afternoon all. Am looking for a DH bike that I can ride uphill.

I live about 9 miles across the Chase from Stile Cop and would like a DH-capable bike that I could actually ride there and back. I could fireroad it all the way if necessary avoiding the steeper climbs but I don't want to have to get off and push.

I'm guessing that a slack 40lb bike with a 36T chainring and an 11-32 cassette should be capable of going uphill or am I completely wrong - what's the biggest, heaviest, highest geared bike that you or your mates winch uphill ?

cat_with_no_tail

Biased response, but my money would go on a Bionicon Alva 180 coil with the reverb option.

or, if you still dont think 180mm offers enough DH-ability, you could opt for the Ironwood

Best thing about the Bionicons is the fact that when you change the travel the entire bike goes from proper DH geometry to XC geometry (and everything inbetween), and back again, all at the touch of a button.

Seriously can't recommend it enough. The ironwood is designed precisely for what you want to do too.

In fact, I'm so confident of that, if someone can find something more suitable, I'll give them £1,000*

*refers to interwebbo money and not real life cash

.blitz

Hmm interesting Cat - the Alva looks like a useful tool.

What are the proprietary forks & shock like compared to RS/Fox?

Cheers

supersonic

I used to winch a 45lb monster uphill - the limiting factor is yourself ;-)

But of course I see what you are saying. Are you wanting a full bore DH bike? Triple clamps and the works?

.blitz

More in terms of maybe a FR bike - something that is long and low and slack with the emphasis firmly on DH but not a DH race rig. I think I could ride something ~40lbs up non-techy climbs with a 36T chain ring and a 11-34 cassette.

I think :?

supersonic

Oh, forgot to ask, what budget? ;-)

.blitz

Erm budget..yes...I'm just enjoying a little gravity action and would have no probs buying used. Stile Cop attracts a wide range of machinery from full-on DH rigs to people on trail bikes like me. I was OK until another lad kindly let me have a run on his Stinky and even though it wasn't set up for me I was gobsmacked how it steamrollered downhill

I couldn't ride a Stinky across the Chase from where I live but I'm thinking there must be something like it but a bit more trailable. All it has to do is get me there I'm not interested in killing it on the way

I was more concerned about the feasability of actually riding something big and heavy across the Chase and back, and wondered if anyone else did this sort of thing.

supersonic

Couple of grand will bag you one of these:

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2577

37lbs is a good weight for this money, has adjustable geo, and some tough parts.

.blitz

Hmm yes I'd seen that it does look pretty tasty. Have you ridden one?

supersonic

Not personally, but Ben (Northern Monkey) has a Torque and loves it.

supersonic

And for a bit less is this beastie:

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/rose ... aid:436157

Think we have reviewed a Beefcake in the past. That is a lot of kit for the money, 180mm either end and astonishing weight.

1mancity2

The Torque that Ben has looks sweet have a look,
viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=12795517

Thinking of one of these myself, sell the reign and bingo!!

cat_with_no_tail

supersonic wrote:

Couple of grand will bag you one of these:

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2577

37lbs is a good weight for this money, has adjustable geo, and some tough parts.

Pffff, 37lbs is like a house compared to the Alva at 34-35lb, or even the Ironwood at sub 36lb.

As for the fork/shock combo, I have found mine to be outstandingly good. Far batter than anything I've ridden from Fox and as good as anything I've ridden from RS. Plus, they are the simplest forks I've EVER dealt with to maintain. You literally just undo the screw at the bottom of each leg, then slide the legs off the stanchions and clean. The new ones have a grease injection port for the "gravilube" system (another bionicon invention).

Although the shock is a fairly cheap brand (x-fusion), I have found the custom tuning on it to be superb. They are dead easy to set up too. You just hook up your pump to the shock, open the valve, inflate to the correct PSI for your weight (using the chart printed on the frame), close the valve and you're away. 65deg head angle to 71deg head angle at the push of a button (on the fly), whilst maintaining BB height and changing all the important stuff like seat angle, wheelbase etc.

Honestly is an absolutely ingenious machine. Plus, you can actually demo them in the UK (unlike Canyon for example), so at least you can see if it suits first.

Besides, not only do I have one, and AndyRM, but sheepsteeth has 2. Can't get a bigger endorsment than that.

Oh, and you will have PM shortly......

supersonic

And they are like a house compared to the Beefcake lol! Depends whatyou want, but look at the cost of the OnionCon too ;-)

Northwind

Someone's bound to suggest an SX Trail so before that happens, I'd just like to say don't do that, they're not that good unless you want to do a lot of jumping. Strong, but not really any more capable on the descents than a good trailbike, and worse on the ups.

cat_with_no_tail

supersonic wrote:

And they are like a house compared to the Beefcake lol! Depends whatyou want, but look at the cost of the OnionCon too ;-)

So? it's only £2k

*cough* for the frameset *cough*

In fairness though, the frameset does come with forks, shock, seatpost, stem and bars lol.

That beefcake thing is pretty darn good value mind. I rode one of the 2010 models at BRL last year and wasn't a fan at all. Although I think they may have set it up wrong. Had *unbearable* pedal bob.