Dh Bike?

[ridea]

First of all this is my first post so hi!

So here's my problem... Im looking for a new bike for next season and seing as i just snapped my forks (good old boxers!) I thought itd be an ideal time to get a new bike.

I wanted to get somthing quite light and chuckable good through tech sections with enough suspension to get me through the rough but nothing thats ott and wallows.

Heres what ive been looking at...

Glory (just nothing special as far as i can see)

Session 10 (bit heavy looks quite high up front)

Turner DHR (not so sure about avliability over in the uk, when the does 07 one come out)

Sunday(had a little ride and felt super high up front also is it worth the 07 price)

Socom (is it released in the uk yet? untested?)

vp free 2006 (07 has a stupid high bb, I heard about busing/bearing problems?)

Commencal (is 7" enough?)

Sunn (dont know when its being released in the uk, un tested)

Thats all ive got for the moment havent realy riden many of them, im a bit stuck nothing realy jumps out at me appart from the socom and sunn but there the two un tested ones. so what would you guys reccomend?

[Zark]

How about the Intense Uzzi VPX?
same geometry as the M3, Socom. A tad less travel (7.75") and enough beef to last multiple seasons.

Scratch the session 10, sounds too heavy and too much travel for what you want to do.

[bdamschen]

that sunn radical looks hot. If I were in the market for a new bike, I'd probably try to get my hands on one of those.

[ridea]

yea, im just a little woried about getting a new un tested bike.

[dropmachine.com]

Commencal (is 7" enough?)



Having had my team on the COmmencals for 2 seasons now, I can say that unless you are riding seriously rough tracks, the 7 inches is enough, and if I may say, its a bit of a revelation too. Its amazing what a bike that nimble can do once you learn how to ride it. Besides, its quality of travel over quantity that matters really.

[bcd]

Having had my team on the COmmencals for 2 seasons now, I can say that unless you are riding seriously rough tracks, the 7 inches is enough, and if I may say, its a bit of a revelation too. Its amazing what a bike that nimble can do once you learn how to ride it. Besides, its quality of travel over quantity that matters really.

yeah, 7'' of quality is all most bikes need.

less travel makes the bike so much quicker.

[dropmachine.com]

Its definitely true, although i'd also say it has to do with a rider. I can't beleive how fast my boys have been rocking those things, they love them. I am less skilled though, so I am on a bike that makes up for my mistakes. That said, I've learned a bunch this season, and really want to get on one again. They are so bloody fast and fun to ride its crazy.

[FCLinder]

I will be running the Glory for 07. I rode one for the first time this summer. It rides and feels much like the Sunday. It's just on the heavier side stock. I plan on getting mine down to about 40lbs maybe lower if I can. I also think if you have a shop working with you, a great deal can be had on the Glory.

I rode Turners for 4 years and can say they are super nice too.

Good Luck:cheers:

[dhrace507]

I would have to say wait until February for the 07 Turner DHR, which will be a very light frame, and from what I've heard, as strong as the old ones (thanks to FEA). I've been on a modified 06 DHR that has the new geometry (shorter top tube, slightly lower bb height, lower standover, slightly slacker), and it's the best mix of the stock 06 geometry and the lowered, drilled swingarm geometry.

[ridea]

I would have to say wait until February for the 07 Turner DHR, which will be a very light frame, and from what I've heard, as strong as the old ones (thanks to FEA). I've been on a modified 06 DHR that has the new geometry (shorter top tube, slightly lower bb height, lower standover, slightly slacker), and it's the best mix of the stock 06 geometry and the lowered, drilled swingarm geometry.

It does sound good but its a long time to wait, itd mean getting a new pair of forks just to sel them on the bike or geting what id put on my next bike and using it on my current one which i realy dont want to do.

I am riding for a shop that deals with giant so i could get a realy good deal, i worked out withought going tubeless you could get it down to 38lbs thats working on taking the weight of lighter parts away from the stock frame weight although that was with boxxer airs and ive gone off boxers after my recent experience :rolleyes:
its just that the glorys ive rode seem pretty ordinary, maby thats a good thing but id quite like the bike to be a little different (i dont mean asthetically i mean ride feel) no bike is going to make you sam hill but some can help you get that little bit closer.

[Lars_moelby]

All i can say is that i love my Commencal, i´ve ridden High Octane and VP-free before, and the Commencal has much much better suspension than any of the two! It is soo stable, i have both ridden it in normal/light conditions, heavy rocky tracks in northern sweden (Åre - top part and DH track) and on a pretty heavy track (Vånga - Sweden) with much rain and 60+ riders ripping the track up, and it performed realy excelent! In the wet you can realy feel the benefit of the great suspension, it has realy good grip!

But as said, i have never tried Sundays (only once), DHR, M3 og the like, i am sure they are also very very nice bikes, i can just say that i have never tried a bike that is so stable and with so much grip, with
"only" 7". + you have the adjustable headangle...

[bikerpunk98199]

i ride a glory and love it awsome bikes ride amazing

[ZHendo]

here are my recommendations in order of best to worst:
1. Yeti 303 if you can afford it
2. Turner
3. Sinister Poison
4. Cove Shocker DH
5. Commencal
6. Sunday
7. Sinister R9
8. Versus Cycles Trigger

I wouldn't get the Socom because it is so heavily lightened up that I'm not sure how well it would stand up to any abuse other than DH racing, and I doubt that it is meant to last many seasons. The Yeti 303 is an amazing bike, you have to ride it to believe it. The Sinister Poison is a new bike that FTW developed, the suspension is pure genius. It is said to be a freeride bike, but it might have the right angles to work as a DH bike, you'll have to wait and see when it is released. Turner makes some of the best bikes around, I'm amazed by their constant quality. That DHR is a fast mofo too. the Cove shocker can be built light and is a great frame too, for 07 Cove has addressed all the cracking issues that they had with the first production run. The Sinister R9 is amazing at handling technical sections, but is not very well suited to super tight terrain. It can be built light, but is a fairly robust frame. The Versus Trigger is marketed as a freeride bike but there is a Colorado based team that race the Trigger and they have had great luck with it. Plenty of travel and it is flickable and reasonably light. I hope this was helpful.

[Rye_Bread]

here are my recommendations in order of best to worst:
1. Yeti 303 if you can afford it
2. Turner
3. Sinister Poison
4. Cove Shocker DH
5. Commencal
6. Sunday
7. Sinister R9
8. Versus Cycles Trigger

I wouldn't get the Socom because it is so heavily lightened up that I'm not sure how well it would stand up to any abuse other than DH racing, and I doubt that it is meant to last many seasons. The Yeti 303 is an amazing bike, you have to ride it to believe it. The Sinister Poison is a new bike that FTW developed, the suspension is pure genius. It is said to be a freeride bike, but it might have the right angles to work as a DH bike, you'll have to wait and see when it is released. Turner makes some of the best bikes around, I'm amazed by their constant quality. That DHR is a fast mofo too. the Cove shocker can be built light and is a great frame too, for 07 Cove has addressed all the cracking issues that they had with the first production run. The Sinister R9 is amazing at handling technical sections, but is not very well suited to super tight terrain. It can be built light, but is a fairly robust frame. The Versus Trigger is marketed as a freeride bike but there is a Colorado based team that race the Trigger and they have had great luck with it. Plenty of travel and it is flickable and reasonably light. I hope this was helpful.

303s have so many bolts.....sinister?.....versuses suck nuts

[ZHendo]

oops i forgot to mention 5 other very sick bikes to look at:
-Appalache Real
-Orange 224
-Dark Cycles Scareb
-Canfield F1
-Morewood Izumu DH

Sure they're expensive, but damn are they nice. The Real can haul ass and has been built up to 35 lbs! Some guy used a standard frame and built it with the lightest parts he could, it was amazing. the front end is 6000 series aluminum and the rear is cromo. For the Orange 224, not much needs to be said, light, strong, efficient, and ridiculously fast. Although it is a single pivot, it puts bikes with linkage to shame. It shows what a well placed single pivot can do. The Dark Cycles Skareb hails from Canada and is a very well made boutique bike. It is expensive and made of full cromo, but it fairly light and very snappy. The only downside is the strange setup they have with the chain to alter the suspension performance and serve as a chainguide. The Canfield F1 is a classic, very fast and well made. I think that it is a little heavier, so it won't be as flickable as many of the others, but it is an old standby. Finally, the Morewood Izumu has been perfected by Patrick over in S. Africa. That thing started off a decent bike and has turned into a great one, with a very well placed pivot much like the Orange and a fantastic feel and weight. It is light but is a no nonsense racer that can get through anything. I'm personally considering a Morewood Ndiza HT as my next hardtail, and the company is very consumer friendly and is very helpful with customers. you can also go on their website and spec out a bike, they will tell you the price after you pick out all the parts.

[ridea]

izumu was on my list it just never stood out and after gbeing on a single piviot for a while id guite like to try somthing a little diffeent although i am still tempted by some, especially if they are an activated single piviot. I rode a 224 and hated it just felt long the suspension didnt seem to work particularly well and it just didnt seem to feel right to me, my current bike has quite a long swingarm but when you see me ride there allways seems to be alot of the bike out the back so id like to go for somthing with a shorter swingarm. as for the real iv sort of been there done that with the balfa, i quite liked it but i didnt like that the chainstay lengthens loads.

The socom looks pretty ideal, have there been any reviews on it yet?

Keep the suggestions comin!

[PoserNewbie]

I'm surprised that no one has suggested the V10. I think it is somewhat a forgotten bike (at least on this board). I had the 1st gen V10 back in 2003 and went through a bunch of different bikes after that. I just recently picked up an 06 V10 and I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised on how different it rides compared to the old one. It is relatively light (SC posted 10.8lbs last year but I think it is closer to 11lbs), great geometry, still quite nimble and not too long (my medium WB is still a hair under 45" with an 06 Boxxer Team).

[ridea]

Yep it is on my list its just that 10 inches with 4 inches of sag minimum seems a little much

[PoserNewbie]

That's what I thought at first but after checking SC set-up guide for the V10 (yeah, they're kinda generic) they actually recommend 35% sag which is on par with most DH bikes on the market.

[ridea]

That's what I thought at first but after checking SC set-up guide for the V10 (yeah, they're kinda generic) they actually recommend 35% sag which is on par with most DH bikes on the market.

Hmm...

somtimes i think itd be great good angles quite a good feel its just that most of my practice riding and all of my winter racing is done in the south west which as anyone knows england will know is very flat there is going to be a very steep track built near soonish though, anyway i would just be woried that the majority of the time i wouldnt get the best out of the bike

I think the main contenders are Giant(because of my shop deal) socom and maby turner, basically price wise i would prefer around 1800 or less but if the right bike comes allong.... i just want a bike that i can be happy with if you know what i mean not allways be thinking i wish i had that or i wish i had that, or i could hit this section beter if i had one of them.

[BMXman]

I say narrow it down to about 3 bikes and go from there...deciding between 8 different bikes is just time consuming. Decide specifically what you're looking for and start eliminating...D

[ridea]

Giant glory
Intense socom (dependant on release date)
Commencal

are the main contenders

any experience with the pdc solaris? i had been cosidering it but I havent herd much about them

[xy9ine]

any experience with the pdc solaris? i had been cosidering it but I havent herd much about them
was never produced, and it looks like pdc is now defunct.

[bcd]

I rode a 224 and hated it just felt long the suspension didnt seem to work particularly well and it just didnt seem to feel right to me, my current bike has quite a long swingarm but when you see me ride there allways seems to be alot of the bike out the back so id like to go for somthing with a shorter swingarm. as for the real iv sort of been there done that with the balfa, i quite liked it but i didnt like that the chainstay lengthens loads.

The socom looks pretty ideal, have there been any reviews on it yet?

Keep the suggestions comin!

if you get a single pivot make sure it has a roller. it will take the neg
pedal feedback you felt in the 224.

Appalache Real would be the bike i would buy.

[ridea]

was never produced, and it looks like pdc is now defunct.

urm i will find a picture but i have seen a couple in england. but if theyve gone bust, if thats what you mean, thats no good.

[xy9ine]

urm i will find a picture but i have seen a couple in england
really? all i've seen are the old dh-1's. though i suppose they could be the protos that were at i-bike.

i heard that kyle is getting into off-road (4x4) hardware; much more profitable than bikes, apparently.

[sirbikealot]

yeah, 7'' of quality is all most bikes need.

less travel makes the bike so much quicker.

it's actually 7.25 inches of travel:brow:

[ridea]

Im not so sure thats going to make a whole lot of difference but still every little helps, im also quite interested in the sunn it might just be what im looking for but its gona be hard to get a ride on one or even get a review and itll be a litle while befor they come into the country

[ridea]

Forgot somthing... Reliability is quite a big issue id quite like the bike to be farely reliable with no bushing/bearing eating problems, i herd that the glory wears the lower bushing quite quick is this true?? and if so how quick because im realy not a fan of replacing bushings every other ride after some bikes ive had.

[PoserNewbie]

I had an Uzzi for 1 season and the bearings were good. No play on the linkages although you do have to check all the linkage bolts from time to time. I assume the SOCOM would be just as good.

The riding condition up here is mostly wet so it is a good test for bearings reliability. Oh yeah, you do have to check you bearings periodically though. Even with no signs of play, the bearings were seized when I took them apart.

[ridea]

I had an Uzzi for 1 season and the bearings were good. No play on the linkages although you do have to check all the linkage bolts from time to time. I assume the SOCOM would be just as good.

The riding condition up here is mostly wet so it is a good test for bearings reliability. Oh yeah, you do have to check you bearings periodically though. Even with no signs of play, the bearings were seized when I took them apart.

yea i do like to take care of my bikes but i just dont whant anything with inherent problems that mean you have to replace them every couple of months or less in the case of some bikes