Time for some Sessioning..

DodgeT

After catching the DH bug last year and getting my YT Tues, which just confirmed that I really like DH (even though i'm not very good at it due to lack of testicular size, but who cares as long as your having fun eh!? ) I then caught a severe case of upgraditus..
Started off doing some basic upgrades to the Tues, lighter seatpost, seat, bars, pedals, then we were onto wheels and more... Then i thought what the hell and spotted a nice Trek Session 88 2010 frame for sale!

So, here we have the lovechild of a 2012 YT Tues, a 2010 Trek Session and a lot of other bits in between. First ride is tomorrow at Stile Cop and I can't wait as i'm sure it's going to be good. Feels a real nice fit sizewise, geo should be good and it is light, very light.

Spec
Frame Session 88 2010 Large
Headset Cane creek
BB GXP
Shock Fox DHX RC4
Spring FOX
Fork RS Boxxer RC
Stem Straitline 28mm
Bars Easton havoc carbon
Grips ESI chunky
Shifter SRAM X7
Brakes Avid Elixir 3
Cranks Truv Descendant 38t
Pedals Nukeproof Electron
Chain guard MRP G2
Cassette SRAM red 1090
Chain SRAM 1050
Rear mech SRAM X9 10 spd
Discs F/R 200mm
Wheels Stans Flow EX on Hope Pro 2's
Tyres Kenda nevegal 2.5 stick-e
Tubes spesh
Seatpost SDG I beam
Seat SDG fly carbon
QR collar Trek

Would like a Ti spring for the shock, but need to see how she rides first, so I can get the right poundage spring.

Some piccies while she's still clean















and for comparison, this is my almost std 2011 spesh enduro expert



Roll on tomorrow

DCR00

Nice 8)

How come the Tues went ?

Levi_501

I bet that is a bu99er to pedal up hill!

Nice BTW

ilovedirt

Nice bike, but why did you get rid of the tues for it? Not really much of an upgrade (if at all) IMO.

ellsbells1973

very nice.....it is very addictive dh,i got the dh bug last year myself

DodgeT

DCR00 wrote:

Nice 8)

How come the Tues went ?

And she rides nice too! Need to put the normal stem back on though, bit too short at 28mm.
Still got the tues frame, but will be sold shortly.

Might sound daft, but I just wanted to try it. Always liked the sessions.

Levi_501 wrote:

I bet that is a bu99er to pedal up hill!

Nice BTW

Wont be doing too much pedalling uphill, although it does pedal very well.

ilovedirt wrote:

Nice bike, but why did you get rid of the tues for it? Not really much of an upgrade (if at all) IMO.

As stated above, always liked the sessions and wanted to give it a go. After riding the 2 almost back to back, complete different feel to the ride, but I like it. I'm happy with the upgrade

ellsbells1973 wrote:

very nice.....it is very addictive dh,i got the dh bug last year myself

Cheers, it is very addictive isnt it! What do you ride?



One big difference is how fast this bike accelerates, it picks up speed so well, and is really lively. Feels more like a bigger travel trail bike than a dh bike, I like it

ellsbells1973

DodgeT wrote:

DCR00 wrote:

Nice 8)

ellsbells1973 wrote:

very nice.....it is very addictive dh,i got the dh bug last year myself

Cheers, it is very addictive isnt it! What do you ride?

I got a giant glory, I started off with a norco a line, changed all the parts on it, then went and bought the glory frame, it's on my Signature at bottom

DodgeT

Oh yeah, duh.. building bikes is fun too isnt it!

bluechair84

Damn work filter! I have to say, the 88s are beautiful bikes, I'll have to assume yours is too. I'm not surprised to read that it pedals alright either - my Torque and it's replacement Socom both pedal remarkably well with weight being their limiting factor, not bob. I think people have a stigma about DH bikes being very specific, but I take the Socom around trail centres with the girlfriend who rides the Moment.
I'm still faster than her

rockmonkeysc

The Session looks nice, they do pedal well. I like them but I'm a bit too heavy to ride one without breaking it, I need extra strong (and heavy) DH bikes. 34lb is extremely light, my last AM bike was that heavy!

bluechair84 wrote:

I think people have a stigma about DH bikes being very specific, but I take the Socom around trail centres with the girlfriend who rides the Moment.
I'm still faster than her

You must be a bit odd. I wouldn't ever want to do that with my Scalp. I'm sure it would get up the hills but it would take all the fun out of the descents and I would have to pedal out of the saddle because it's too low. I have never ridden any DH bike & thought I really want to ride it up hill. I'm pretty sure you couldn't get up a hill with a Orange 224 or an old style Glory though.

bluechair84

OK, I can see the pictures now... NIce bike!! I can't believe the weight. Mine is 37lbs. with trail tyres and a ti spring. But I'll happily take it around Sherwood Pines (which is a very tame place). It does flatten everything, but the fact it might reduce the fun factor is beside the point - that you can pedal a modern DH bike around trails centres without succumbing to death is terrific.

ilovedirt

I'd hate to pedal my Sunday around a trail centre! It pedals relatively well for a downhill bike, but it still wallows and weighs a ton. Like rockmonkey said as well, it would take the fun out of it I think. My Ragley is silly fun on XC descents.

Thewaylander

I wee wee'd a bit in excitement :P

ellsbells1973

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I really want to ride it up hill. I'm pretty sure you couldn't get up a hill with a Orange 224 or an old style Glory though.

Ha Ha i don't like pedaling my glory on the flat never mind up hill

rockmonkeysc

They do weigh as much as a cow but you won't ever break it.

bluechair84

Probably wouldn't ever break my trail bike mind!

DodgeT

Cheers for the comments.
Put the std stem back on but didn't get chance to ride it today, too damn tired after this weeks travels/lack of sleep.
Might treat it to that ti spring after all, felt like the rear could do with maybe being a tad stiffer, so a 500lb spring (current is 450) should do the trick.

Regards to taking dh bikes round trail centres, not something i'd have the legs or lungs for, but seen a few do it. Lad I ride with sometimes at gisburn, he's got a stinky (heavy as hell) and he does the 8 on it, then does some of the best tabletops i've seen on the hope line.

DodgeT

Well, been splashing a bit more on her...

I was never really happy with the Avid brakes, so got a set of SLX M675 from Rose bikes. They are awesome in comparison, so much power for so little effort, true one finger braking. After 12 runs of Antur Stiniog, there was no difference from the first run and my hands/fingers felt fresh as daisies. Even considering dropping the rear disc down to a 180 as I think it may give a bit more feel to the rear brake as it is far too easy to lock it up with the 200mm on there. Either that or i'll just get more used to lighter braking.

The gears were never really spot on too, LBS couldn't make a better job than I could at setting them up, so while I was shopping at Rose, I added a nice Zee shadow plus rear mech and matching shifter to my basket. Such a nice set-up, so crisp. I spent about 5 minutes setting & checking high/low stops etc, set the cable in place and the shifting was spot on from the off.

The bike is soooooo much better than the YT it is unreal. It is so fast and so lively in comparison.
Just want to DH all the time now.

In action at Stiniog


Then all nice and clean


Don't think it's going to change much now*, apart from getting ridden more!



* yeah right.......

DCR00

is that the last section of the track ? where you take a right at the bridge ? love that bit

The new Shimano brakes are awesome. I opted for the Deore for the Stinky and they are just spot on.

DodgeT

Yeah, out of the 3 choices to drop down to the jumps, i've yet to take the middle route.... I spent quite a bit of time just pushing back up, doing the steep drop on the left and practising that section, it is great!
I'm not clearing those doubles, only just conquered my fear of not thinking i'm going to hit the second bit and burst into flames but am making progress now!

Oh and forgot to add that the chainring is now a slightly smaller 36t Renthal item, which if nothing else looks the part. The 38t truvativ was plain horrible on the eyes..

They are great and at the prices, can't really see why anyone would buy anything else.

bluechair84

I was there for the first time on Thursday - those doubles down the bottom end are awesome I only took took the 'left' entrance into the doubles and could never get enough speed to clear the first two. I figured the only way to get enough speed to clear them is through taking the drop off. The last two though are easy. Bike's lookin' good

DodgeT

We watched there for a bit too, also 3 of our group were nailing the doubles from the big drop. It certainly seems easier to clear the first two after you've taken the big drop in, but equally there were plenty of folk easily clearing them after doing any of the 3 routes down.
Danny Hart and Scott Mears didn't do the big drop whilst I was watching (saw them about 5 times each) and they easily cleared them from the right hand (as your coming down) route every time.

Was great to watch the 2 of them with completely different styles, Danny was timing himself (had proper timing poles etc) so was squashing them, keeping low and was going so so fast through it all. Then Scott would come down and just style the hell out of all of the jumps, his whips were incredible!

bluechair84

Damn, well, good to know that it should be easy to clear from the left run. I obviously wasn't trying hard enough! I think I could nail the drop and do them, but that's a challenge for next time.