Finding the right DH trail bike

Downhill Trail Rider

Intro:
First off, I'm a beginner for the most part (it's been 8 years). I'm looking to get back into downhill trail riding and need help finding the right bike. I'm not entirely sure how I can narrow the search, but I will do my best.

Me:
5 foot 8 inches, 165 lbs, 31.5 inch legs (I think - I'm not really a professional leg measurer).

Activities:
Downhill trail riding with the occasional 4 foot drop.

Brands I like:
Santa Cruz, Pivot, and Yeti. *full suspension

budget:
$2000 (very willing to buy USED).

Please let me know your thoughts and what else I can add that would be beneficial to the search.

Thank you

cooldad

US$
HK$
NZ$
Aus$
US$
?
This is a UK forum mainly, so quite difficult to suggest bikes in different currencies.

rockmonkeysc

4 foot drops are a bit small to need a downhill bike, a short travel trail bike is more than up to the job.
Why choose those brands? Is it because you like the way they ride and how their suspension works or their after sales service?

The Rookie

Do you want to ride DH, or trails that happen to go downhill?

Dick Scruttock

I think we are witnessing the creation of a new mtb discipline, the DH Trail bike. Manufacturers need to start making bikes to fill this gaping void.

felix.london

Rick Draper wrote:

I think we are witnessing the creation of a new mtb discipline, the DH Trail bike. Manufacturers need to start making bikes to fill this gaping void.

I know what we'll call them...

Ferrals

RockmonkeySC wrote:

4 foot drops are a bit small to need a downhill bike, a short travel trail bike is more than up to the job.
Why choose those brands? Is it because you like the way they ride and how their suspension works or their after sales service?

4-ft drops are fine on a hard tail!

Its the 5 inch roots and rocks that become a problem!!

bartimaeus

Isn't a DH trail bike now an 'enduro' bike?

rockmonkeysc

Bartimaeus wrote:

Isn't a DH trail bike now a #enduro bike?

Corrected for you :-)

Downhill Trail Rider

cooldad wrote:

US$
HK$
NZ$
Aus$
US$
?
This is a UK forum mainly, so quite difficult to suggest bikes in different currencies.

Sorry I may have posted this to the wrong forum. My budget is about £1200.

Downhill Trail Rider

RockmonkeySC wrote:

4 foot drops are a bit small to need a downhill bike, a short travel trail bike is more than up to the job.
Why choose those brands? Is it because you like the way they ride and how their suspension works or their after sales service?

I guess I should have been more specific with the riding terrain. I will be on trails that have lots of roots, logs, small drops, awkward step, small jumps, rocks, etc. With which terrain is a full suspension needed?

Downhill Trail Rider

The Rookie wrote:

Do you want to ride DH, or trails that happen to go downhill?

I'm still a beginner and don't completely grasp all of the lingo yet. Is it not possible to ride DH on trails that go downhill?

bartimaeus

DH (Downhill with a capital D) is this sort of thing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OacKKCW2UdA

paul.skibum

DH tends to be a race format or at least aiming toward a race format - if your intention is to ride up to get down then that would be the trail or enduro style bike. Where do you live and ride? I am assuming by the $2000 to £1200 conversion you are US or Canadian - if you are western Canada, say in WHistler then the DH bike might work, or if you intend to shuttle with a pickup and some buds then again a triple crown style DH bike might work although you will be limited in this area to highly second hand bikes.

A trail bike, single crown 150mm to 160mm travel FS bike, will serve as a ride up and down bike, but again you will be looking second hand or low spec - the brands you mention are all pricey boutique brands so even more second hand on your budget.

Give us some more details about location and intended trails to help.

Downhill Trail Rider

I live in Santa Cruz (Northern) California, US. I will not be racing. I do however get dropped off at the top of a very long downhill trail. The terrain is representative of a redwood forest. There are many awkward root systems which create difficult steps and drops (of no more than 5 feet). There are also lots of logs and rocks that I will have to navigate over.
The reason I've chosen these brands is because I have found them second hand here for within my price range. It may have to do with the fact that I live in Santa Cruz, that I can get these bike for within £1200. But this does not mean that I am not open to looking at other bikes. I am a beginner and am open to your advice.

rockmonkeysc

Not all bikes with full suspension are downhill bikes. A downhill bike has around 8 inches of suspension front and rear, extremely long, low and slack geometry, dual crown forks and at your budget will weigh around 40+lb. Downhill bikes are excellent at going down the most extreme tracks at high speed but are a complete bitch if you want to ride up even a gentle incline.
In your budget you could get a Santa Cruz Bullit but they're old and suffer bad brake jack, you might find a ropey old Yeti DH303 but they're not particularly good anyway. You won't get a Pivot downhill bike under £2k unless it's either a wreck or stolen! You will get a much better bike if you go for Specialized, Giant or Scott.

Is this the sort of riding you're going to be doing?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jrY6EoOari4

cooldad

RockmonkeySC wrote:

In your budget you could get a Santa Cruz Bullit but they're old and suffer bad brake jack, you might find a ropey old Yeti DH303 but they're not particularly good anyway. You won't get a Pivot downhill bike under £2k unless it's either a wreck or stolen! You will get a much better bike if you go for Specialized, Giant or Scott.

Is this the sort of riding you're going to be doing?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jrY6EoOari4

But you can't really say because you know squat about the second hand US market. Bike that are expensive here are local and much cheaper there. New they are pretty close to 1$ to £1.

rockmonkeysc

You're still not going to get a Pivot for that price or a good (not aluminium) Santa Cruz V10 and the Yeti DH303 is rubbish at any price.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Is this the sort of riding you're going to be doing?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jrY6EoOari4

Fab!

felix.london

you've got $2K to buy a used DH or long travel trail / enduro bike - if I were you I'd hit up some local classifieds, see what's available and then get back on here with some options for some advice.

I bought my 1yr old (2011 bike bought in 2012) Trek Session 8 for €2K (EUROS) which I guarantee will put a smile on anyones face when it's pointing down a steep hill.

Downhill Trail Rider

Bartimaeus wrote:

DH (Downhill with a capital D) is this sort of thing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OacKKCW2UdA

Yes, this is the type of riding that I will be doing, but at maybe less than a 10th of that speed (as I'm a beginner).

Downhill Trail Rider

felix.london wrote:

you've got $2K to buy a used DH or long travel trail / enduro bike - if I were you I'd hit up some local classifieds, see what's available and then get back on here with some options for some advice.

I bought my 1yr old (2011 bike bought in 2012) Trek Session 8 for €2K (EUROS) which I guarantee will put a smile on anyones face when it's pointing down a steep hill.

Here's what I found:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bik/4499138438.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/4484078227.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/4494800082.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/bik/4493244840.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/4491812653.html

felix.london

out of those and for the riding you describe you'd have to say the Yeti or possibly the Heckler would be most suited I would think

Downhill Trail Rider

felix.london wrote:

out of those and for the riding you describe you'd have to say the Yeti or possibly the Heckler would be most suited I would think

Thank you.
I've also found a few amazing deals on bikes on ebay, but I don't know if it's safe to buy bikes on there.
Examples:
1) http://bit.ly/1n7oId8
2) http://bit.ly/1n7pdng
It seems to be worth it with parts alone.

Angus Young

Downhill Trail Rider wrote:

Bartimaeus wrote:

DH (Downhill with a capital D) is this sort of thing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OacKKCW2UdA

Yes, this is the type of riding that I will be doing, but at maybe less than a 10th of that speed (as I'm a beginner).

I'd be delighted if I could manage a 10th of that speed!

paul.skibum

Get yourself on pinkbike.com and check out the buy and sell pages there - a quick glance reveals these:

Trek Session 2010 - http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1550291/

Spesh Demo 8 2011 http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1471046/

Expand the search area a bit and you might find a whole host more - I would prefer to buy from pink bike than craigs or ebay.

rockmonkeysc

Sessions ride well but the frames are really fragile. Down tubes dent so easily and seat stays snap.
Demo's are pretty good, just don't buy one with a Cane Creek shock, the shocks snap in demos for some reason.

Downhill Trail Rider

paul.skibum wrote:

Get yourself on pinkbike.com and check out the buy and sell pages there - a quick glance reveals these:

Trek Session 2010 - http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1550291/

Spesh Demo 8 2011 http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1471046/

Expand the search area a bit and you might find a whole host more - I would prefer to buy from pink bike than craigs or ebay.

Thank you. I've not heard of pinkbike. I'll check it out.

Angus Young

Anyone else think the OP is looking for the wrong kind of bike...

rockmonkeysc

Angus Young wrote:

Anyone else think the OP is looking for the wrong kind of bike...

Yep. I would use my trail bike for what he describes, my downhill bike would just be complete overkill.

Downhill Trail Rider

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Angus Young wrote:

Anyone else think the OP is looking for the wrong kind of bike...

Yep. I would use my trail bike for what he describes, my downhill bike would just be complete overkill.

What are some options for trail bikes that would suit this purpose?

I am partial to Santa Cruz, Pivot, Yeti, and Cannondale, but I'm just a beginner and can admit I know very little about this.