Downhill - Bikes anyone?
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nothing wrong with a Giant faith, even though you may be smaller I would say base your bike sizing on how you like to ride. Im only 174cm and ride a small specialized demo as i like the feel of a tight cockpit that I can easily man handle but other riders i know of equivalent height prefer medium frames as they like something more 'sizeable' when screaming down a hill. in the end in most cases we're talking the difference of a few centimetres in the toptube geometry.
When you say, 200mm im guessing you're asking whether single crown forks are ok for downhill (in a nutshell). the answer from my point of view is yes, but again it comes down to personal preference. I ride with single crown rockshox totems which are 180mm freeride forks. They give me the same angle as a 200mm boxxer fork. I prefer big travel single crown forks due to their manoeuvrability but if its of concern to you go swap your forks out for 200mm triples.
Hope this helps
When you say, 200mm im guessing you're asking whether single crown forks are ok for downhill (in a nutshell). the answer from my point of view is yes, but again it comes down to personal preference. I ride with single crown rockshox totems which are 180mm freeride forks. They give me the same angle as a 200mm boxxer fork. I prefer big travel single crown forks due to their manoeuvrability but if its of concern to you go swap your forks out for 200mm triples.
Hope this helps
No worries mate,
I love my totems, I have the rc2 air solos. There are a few complaints out there stating they can leak after a while but apparently easily fixed by putting springs in them if they go. And just for pure beefy good looking forks 40mm stanchions on the totems make other forks look like toys.
I love my totems, I have the rc2 air solos. There are a few complaints out there stating they can leak after a while but apparently easily fixed by putting springs in them if they go. And just for pure beefy good looking forks 40mm stanchions on the totems make other forks look like toys.
knob scortcher
Likes Dirt
i beleive they are stronger and feel more stiff and flex less.
sorry should have clarified, no 40mm vs 35 or 32mm stanchions dont determine the likely hood of a fork leaking, it is more that they are as scorcher says, stronger and stiffer. So for me I dont mind that they are not 200mm triples, I very highly doubt i could break these i have however broken boxxers before, so if anyone tries to tell you triples are stronger/better make sure to ask them why they think so, dont just take them on their word.
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totems more suited to freeride but if you watch a few videos on youtube from crankworks/roam/follow me, you see a few dudes running totems for pure downhill and a few others running fox 36's. That said if I were to race I may consider getting another boxxer fork, just comes down to are you going to race, how serious do you want to take it, what your budget is and lastly preference. All im saying is dont be discouraged if you buy a faith and it comes with single crown forks doesn't mean that its no good.
Splatternick
Cannon Fodder
DH Bike for DH
Hi,
when I was about to buy my first proper DH bike, I was very hesitant to get one bike just for DH, since I got along on my trail bike fine in the parks as well. Luckily I ended up buying a DH frame with a FOX40RC2, which was the best move I ever did. The increase in travel and different geometry are confidence-inspiring, and make life alot easier, especially at the start on big DH tracks.
What I want to say is nothing will replace a proper DH frame with a double crown fork if you want to start proper DH. If you just like trails that face downhill, yes a Giant Faith might be fine, but if we are talking proper DH with big hits, big jumps etc., you should get nothing less than 200mm travel front and back. Just my opinion.
Hi,
when I was about to buy my first proper DH bike, I was very hesitant to get one bike just for DH, since I got along on my trail bike fine in the parks as well. Luckily I ended up buying a DH frame with a FOX40RC2, which was the best move I ever did. The increase in travel and different geometry are confidence-inspiring, and make life alot easier, especially at the start on big DH tracks.
What I want to say is nothing will replace a proper DH frame with a double crown fork if you want to start proper DH. If you just like trails that face downhill, yes a Giant Faith might be fine, but if we are talking proper DH with big hits, big jumps etc., you should get nothing less than 200mm travel front and back. Just my opinion.
Silly Goose
Likes Bikes
I think Single crowns ( totems) are more than enough for australian terrain. Especially for a beginner you dont really need Dual crown unless you are going at race speed or ride really rough tracks.
If your looking for a bike check out the trading area of the forum their are some good bikes there and feel free to ask questions. If you plan on buying new make sure you buy I t from a store that you trust because costumer service goes a long way. I reckon the Faith is a good bike but look ahead to what you will be doing in a few years as I made that mistake buying a slope-style bike and ending up liking trail/all mountain better.
Hope this helps
Cheers Brendan
If your looking for a bike check out the trading area of the forum their are some good bikes there and feel free to ask questions. If you plan on buying new make sure you buy I t from a store that you trust because costumer service goes a long way. I reckon the Faith is a good bike but look ahead to what you will be doing in a few years as I made that mistake buying a slope-style bike and ending up liking trail/all mountain better.
Hope this helps
Cheers Brendan
Silly Goose
Likes Bikes
Agreed If you want to do pure down hill then buy a DH bike if you want to do slightly more casual DH Buy a Faith
nic1894
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Its not just about the single crowns, a faith was not built as a downhill bike, it was built as a slopestyle/freeride bike. A faith would be a fine bike if your just riding with mates and don't really care about speed, but if you wanted something that would be more comfortable and stable and don't plan on riding back up the hill get a glory or a downhill bike. Tracks are rough everywhere if you are going fast.
rider124
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hey mate, instead of going and blowing thousands of dollars on a brand new glory, get a second hand one.
I was gonna go get a Brand new glory. But instead i saved 2g and bought one off here (second hand).
It has now been going strong for over a year of my learning (fair bit of crashing)
I don't want to say your wrong because your not, but the information is a little miss guided. Having single crowns does not mean that you cant win or aren't serious about racing.
The totems are actually more of a DH fork than a freeride fork they are well known for being "the DH single crown".
You can race a totem and one of Australia's best jnr and now wc rider shaun o'connor used to use them for racing his V10 and obviously won many races.
The totems are a good single crown because of the 40mm Stanchions are a good choice as they don't flex as much and from reading they are great torsionally for stiffness too.
dual crowns tend to be stiffer due to the two points of attachment it does reduce flex however it is hard to judge a 35mm or 32mm stanchion double crown with a 40mm singles so while double crowns tend to be better it does need to be weighed up with the other measurements of the fork.
If you plan on riding dh purely or even majority of the time get a DH bike, i was in the situation where I wanted a downhill bike but i wanted something more versatile I ended up with a FR rig that was heavier than a dh bike and pedaled worse. The geo was off for dh it was purely a freeride machine and it was fun don't get me wrong but a dh bike is a much better machine. You also can use downhill bikes for freeride style stuff many guys do, Gee atherton thrashed redbull rampage on it hitting some insane lines. Set up is more important.
They're actually smoother the faster you go, when you ride slower you sink into every hole and hit things more square which holds you up and makes the ride harsh, then you hit the point where youa re getting fast and you are stuck in between so while you don't fall into every hole and hit ever square edge you still get caught in them and you are hitting them harder so it becomes harsh, then you reach the point where you are fast and all of a sudden you are skipping over everything and just opening the bike up and instead of a super rough ride you get a smooth skimming ride. In my experience anyway.
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Totally agreed, I think I may not have made myself clear. I ride downhill and actually have totems that I love on my specialized demo. I think that generalised stereotypes has ruined the reputation of single crown forks and most people I discuss this with assume dual crown forks are for business and single crown for play. As I posted earlier, i've snapped boxxers in the past, my totems however I honestly question if I could ever break them.
I get funny looks riding dh at my local trails from 15 year olds and i've often been asked why I run totems rather than a 'real' downhill fork. Like driftking says, totems are for downhill use and can take an absolute thrashing (which i can attest to). I dont think brendan was saying totems are for 'beginners' as if you have the money to buy totems new you can easily afford a pair of triples. For me it came down to my style of riding, I find them far more manoeuvrable and easy to handle, but thats me, had nothing to do with a beginner vs advanced skills.
nic1894
Likes Bikes and Dirt
That view is true to a point but i think if you were to compare the stress a world cup rider puts on their bike it would definitely out do the amount of stress a weekend warrior puts on theirs. Simply because of the larger and faster impacts even though the amount of impacts maybe less, either way you wont see Sam Hill using totems on a rough track.
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