Demo 8 carbon or ally

tim64

After dipping into the world of downhill on my xc bike, i have decided to purchase a downhill bike. Managed to narrow it down to a demo 8. However The question is carbon or ally... if anyone has any experience between the two frames your words would be greatly received!

ilovedirt

The carbon one is stronger, lighter, sexier but more expensive.
The real question is - how deep are your pockets? Nothing more to it really.

rockmonkeysc

If your a serious racer then carbon, otherwise alloy.
Have you rode one? I found they feel heavy at the back end and not really worth the extra cash over some of the alternatives. It does look nice and is good if you get on with the geometry.
It's worth checking out the 2013 Giant Glory, it's seriously fast now that Giant have sorted the geometry. Nukeproof Pulse is also an extremely fast DH race bike if you like single pivot frames. Worth checking out the Moorwood Makalu and Davinci Wilson, Freeborn have the Wilson SL for about £2700 at the moment which is a bargain.

downhillbike

go for carbon demo

ilovedirt

RockmonkeySC wrote:

If your a serious racer then carbon, otherwise alloy.
Have you rode one? I found they feel heavy at the back end and not really worth the extra cash over some of the alternatives. It does look nice and is good if you get on with the geometry.
It's worth checking out the 2013 Giant Glory, it's seriously fast now that Giant have sorted the geometry. Nukeproof Pulse is also an extremely fast DH race bike if you like single pivot frames. Worth checking out the Moorwood Makalu and Davinci Wilson, Freeborn have the Wilson SL for about £2700 at the moment which is a bargain.

Pretty sure the Pulse isn't available to the public yet...

rockmonkeysc

I have rode one :-) To be honest it feels like a very slightly lighter Scalp but has more geometry adjustment.
They should be available very soon.

tim64

I have ridden a alloy demo, think it was a 2011 model. And the yeti 303. So have never tried a carbon downhill bike! Have heard good things about the Devinci's! How would people rate them? I looked at the pulse, but not sure.

ilovedirt

Also very good. Can't really go wrong with most of the modern crop of downhill bikes tbh.

rockmonkeysc

The Devinci is a great bike, rides really nicely.
If your wanting a race bike though I would go for a Glory, Demo, Gambler or Scalp/Pulse. They are all spot on if all you want is to get down a hill as fast as possible.

ilovedirt

How is the Wilson not a good race bike? It's just as aggressive as the rest and was sat on the top step of the last world cup race...

rockmonkeysc

It is a very good race bike, I didn't say it wasn't. It's one of the bikes I would consider as my next DH bike in a couple years. The DW link rear suspension is excellent.