Noob to downhill - need help with choosing a bike

[slowmick]

slowmick, that was my Demo 8 II you rolled around the carpark on. I did consider letting you do a run on it but since the suspension was set up for a 89kg person it really wasn't going to perform at it's best under you. That said the Aurums in the ATC hire fleet are not really set up for the heavier rider either. My Demo was a slightly used Ex Demo Fleet bike and it had been set up with a spring that was two increments lighter than what I needed. Once I installed a coil with a more appropriate spring rate the bike truly came to life. The coil would probably need to at least another 5 increments higher to get the spring rate in the ballpark required for your riding weight but I'm not sure the Ohlins range go that high. If your thinking about a Demo 8 visit a Specialized Dealer (one who has real experience in DH such as "The Ride" in Kew) and see if they can set you up properly on on a test ride which you can take away for a weekend.

Welcome to Rotorburn good sir. At 110 kg kitted up I wouldn't consider taking your demo for anything other than a spin around the car park. I had a look at The Ride webiste last night - they have another Demo II but it is only a medium. given spring availability for the Ohlins I should probably look at something more readily available. From reading the manuals for the Boxxers i think i will need to get an air cartridge as the springs don't seem to go above 90-99 kg (Black X-Firm). so it's either air or less pies.

Hope the rest of your Sunday went well. Cheers Mick

 

[Ezkaton]

It's kinda hard to introduce yourself - hi - i'm the rubber chicken from rotorburn. The Morewood kinda stands out on a shuttle day (as does Ideate's Darkside). Cheers for the offer though bloke. :thumb:

Diamonds in the rough against all the common bikes!

 

[Mrlinderman]

Get a Legend and be done with it :boink:

 

[Ideate]

Don't get a Jedi, they're rubbish.

 

[slowmick]

Update: Money Spent

So i bought a 2016 Giant Glory 1 on Saturday and took it to the You Yangs shuttle day yesterday and scared the crap out of myself on Turbulence...

 

[ForkinGreat]

what happened?

 

[Mrlinderman]

ahh crap all good mate? bad or good scare?

 

[ForkinGreat]

ahh crap all good mate? bad or good scare?

Downhill shorts - Always wear black or brown...

 

[slowmick]

did a slow sighting lap of the track to check it out. wound up walking back up the track a few time to hit some of the drops with enough speed to keep going. got to the bottom of the track in the large sandy berms and figured the track was over. gave the last "jump" a half hearted attempt as i was knackered and found myself diving nose first into a stepped rock garden. First thought was what will i tell the wife i was doing when i crashed. the forks bottomed out with a clang and the bike kept going with a whiter than white rider on board. Had a nervous wee and went straight back to cressy and did a few more runs leaving turbulence for another day. Spent lunchtime today casually surfing the internet stores for a pressure suit...

 

[Boom King]

did a slow sighting lap of the track to check it out. wound up walking back up the track a few time to hit some of the drops with enough speed to keep going. got to the bottom of the track in the large sandy berms and figured the track was over. gave the last "jump" a half hearted attempt as i was knackered and found myself diving nose first into a stepped rock garden. First thought was what will i tell the wife i was doing when i crashed. the forks bottomed out with a clang and the bike kept going with a whiter than white rider on board. Had a nervous wee and went straight back to cressy and did a few more runs leaving turbulence for another day. Spent lunchtime today casually surfing the internet stores for a pressure suit...

I did the exact same thing last year. OTB and knocked myself out when I hit the deck. Got up, couldn't breath due to being winded, couldn't remember the crash. Next memory is being in the carpark packing my stuff into the car.

I've seen a few lose it at that exact spot, it does catch you by surprise.

 

[Koper25]

Don't get a Jedi, they're rubbish.

Not sure if serious. What's next on the frame list lol?

 

[Ezkaton]

did a slow sighting lap of the track to check it out. wound up walking back up the track a few time to hit some of the drops with enough speed to keep going. got to the bottom of the track in the large sandy berms and figured the track was over. gave the last "jump" a half hearted attempt as i was knackered and found myself diving nose first into a stepped rock garden. First thought was what will i tell the wife i was doing when i crashed. the forks bottomed out with a clang and the bike kept going with a whiter than white rider on board. Had a nervous wee and went straight back to cressy and did a few more runs leaving turbulence for another day. Spent lunchtime today casually surfing the internet stores for a pressure suit...

Had a friend stack it down those rock steps on an XC bike with the seat up his ass (no dropper) a few weekends back.

Took a nice chunk out of his forearm, blood everywhere.

My first run down there on the DH bike I just barrelled down them, thought it was game over but the bike pulled through!
If you go slower there's angled rocks down the left side so you can half roll it. :baby:

If you go fast enough you can clear the whole thing.

How'd you find the DH bike on Cressy? I reckon they're too heavy and sluggish overall... I have much more fun on the Spitfire.

You should hit up Thredbo, best place I've ridden since Warby. Even the flow track was awesome fun on the DH bike.
Makes Buller look like it was built and designed by amateurs.

 

[pink poodle]

did a slow sighting lap of the track to check it out. wound up walking back up the track a few time to hit some of the drops with enough speed to keep going. got to the bottom of the track in the large sandy berms and figured the track was over. gave the last "jump" a half hearted attempt as i was knackered and found myself diving nose first into a stepped rock garden. First thought was what will i tell the wife i was doing when i crashed. the forks bottomed out with a clang and the bike kept going with a whiter than white rider on board. Had a nervous wee and went straight back to cressy and did a few more runs leaving turbulence for another day. Spent lunchtime today casually surfing the internet stores for a pressure suit...

Well done for holding it together! Did the loud clunk signal fucking of the fork? I've blew a rebound cartridge by bottoming out a huck really hard a long time ago. There was a clunk so loud I thought a rock had smashed my frame. Can anyone post a pic of these steps please?

 

[jarrod839]

did a slow sighting lap of the track to check it out. wound up walking back up the track a few time to hit some of the drops with enough speed to keep going. got to the bottom of the track in the large sandy berms and figured the track was over. gave the last "jump" a half hearted attempt as i was knackered and found myself diving nose first into a stepped rock garden. First thought was what will i tell the wife i was doing when i crashed. the forks bottomed out with a clang and the bike kept going with a whiter than white rider on board. Had a nervous wee and went straight back to cressy and did a few more runs leaving turbulence for another day. Spent lunchtime today casually surfing the internet stores for a pressure suit...

that last jump/step section is a killer especially if its your first time down as i dont think its signed. Seen so many people bin it there.even trying to jump it as its a blind landing. And that big boulder rock garden thats a another one that claims many. Good to hear you found a bike and got back on and kept going.

 

[Boom King]

Can anyone post a pic of these steps please?

They are pretty innocuous looking from the back side and blind when you approach.

 

[DigitalRumble]

So i bought a 2016 Giant Glory 1 on Saturday and took it to the You Yangs shuttle day yesterday and scared the crap out of myself on Turbulence...

Nice rig there Mick. Should have no troubles getting the suspension dialled to meet your needs with that setup. Are you still considering the Solo Air Spring upgrade for the Boxxer? I've recently had my Boxxer Team upgraded and have no absolutely regrets at all - I can now accurately set the sag without having to compromise between spring rates and I can play around with the ramp characteristics with the addition/removal of Tokens. I had the kit fitted by NSDynamics a few weeks back whilst it was in for a service. The inside of the left hand stanchion was thankfully in good condition thus it didn't require replacement.

Are you headed up to Mt Buller again this season? I'm definitely headed up on the last weekend of the season but I'm also thinking of getting up there this weekend as well.

 

[slowmick]

Thanks for letting me know i'm not the only one who made a mess of that section.

I did the exact same thing last year. OTB and knocked myself out when I hit the deck. Got up, couldn't breath due to being winded, couldn't remember the crash. Next memory is being in the carpark packing my stuff into the car.

I've seen a few lose it at that exact spot, it does catch you by surprise.

jesus Boom - that is one hell of a crash.

Had a friend stack it down those rock steps on an XC bike with the seat up his ass (no dropper) a few weekends back.

Took a nice chunk out of his forearm, blood everywhere.

My first run down there on the DH bike I just barrelled down them, thought it was game over but the bike pulled through!
If you go slower there's angled rocks down the left side so you can half roll it. :baby:

If you go fast enough you can clear the whole thing.

How'd you find the DH bike on Cressy? I reckon they're too heavy and sluggish overall... I have much more fun on the Spitfire.

You should hit up Thredbo, best place I've ridden since Warby. Even the flow track was awesome fun on the DH bike.
Makes Buller look like it was built and designed by amateurs.

Glad you had fun at Thredbo bloke. how long do you think you need up there to get a good run at it? it a couple of days enough?

I started on Cressy as I know the trail well enough. took me a few laps to figure out how to get the bike off the ground. It felt heavy and glued to the trail. managed to finish the day clearing all but the two doubles up the top of the track.

Taking it down Travs was a work out. i don't think i'll try that again. my shoulders are tired today after trying to muscle the bike around.

i'll have another look at the drop before i try and clear it. I'm not comfortable in the air yet.

Well done for holding it together! Did the loud clunk signal fucking of the fork? I've blew a rebound cartridge by bottoming out a huck really hard a long time ago. There was a clunk so loud I thought a rock had smashed my frame. Can anyone post a pic of these steps please?

i think the forks will live to fight another day. i did a few more runs after this one and the bike still felt good. managed to burst the a damper on my psylos on my first trip to buller many years ago. Pretty much all the oil ran down the back of the lowers and then there was rattling sound of a lot of loose bits in the fork.

that last jump/step section is a killer especially if its your first time down as i dont think its signed. Seen so many people bin it there.even trying to jump it as its a blind landing. And that big boulder rock garden thats a another one that claims many. Good to hear you found a bike and got back on and kept going.

There's quite a few things to catch you out on the track that are not signed - pretty much everything is a drop and very few are rollable. i got surprised by the log in the rock garden with the large boulder - it wasn't there when i did a skills course out there (ok so that was almost 2 years ago). At least it taught me to treat DH track with more respect.

Off to Buller this weekend - i've got some unfinished business to take care of. :thumb:

 

[pink poodle]

They are pretty innocuous looking from the back side and blind when you approach.

I "see". Those ones are always annoying when it comes to story time.

 

[jarrod839]

Thanks for letting me know i'm not the only one who made a mess of that section.



jesus Boom - that is one hell of a crash.




Glad you had fun at Thredbo bloke. how long do you think you need up there to get a good run at it? it a couple of days enough?

I started on Cressy as I know the trail well enough. took me a few laps to figure out how to get the bike off the ground. It felt heavy and glued to the trail. managed to finish the day clearing all but the two doubles up the top of the track.

Taking it down Travs was a work out. i don't think i'll try that again. my shoulders are tired today after trying to muscle the bike around.

i'll have another look at the drop before i try and clear it. I'm not comfortable in the air yet.



i think the forks will live to fight another day. i did a few more runs after this one and the bike still felt good. managed to burst the a damper on my psylos on my first trip to buller many years ago. Pretty much all the oil ran down the back of the lowers and then there was rattling sound of a lot of loose bits in the fork.



There's quite a few things to catch you out on the track that are not signed - pretty much everything is a drop and very few are rollable. i got surprised by the log in the rock garden with the large boulder - it wasn't there when i did a skills course out there (ok so that was almost 2 years ago). At least it taught me to treat DH track with more respect.

Off to Buller this weekend - i've got some unfinished business to take care of. :thumb:

they do some amazing work at the you yangs but at the same time they do some dumb shit there like place logs and large rocks in line paths which make you hit some features at dangerous angles.i personally have stopped riding there just recently after now cressy is fucked and turbulence has been slowly getting destroyed with dumb modifications.

 

[Ezkaton]

Glad you had fun at Thredbo bloke. how long do you think you need up there to get a good run at it? it a couple of days enough?

I started on Cressy as I know the trail well enough. took me a few laps to figure out how to get the bike off the ground. It felt heavy and glued to the trail. managed to finish the day clearing all but the two doubles up the top of the track.

Taking it down Travs was a work out. i don't think i'll try that again. my shoulders are tired today after trying to muscle the bike around.

i'll have another look at the drop before i try and clear it. I'm not comfortable in the air yet.

We drove up on the Friday, rode Sat and Sun, and headed home on Monday... hands were super sore and stiff after all day Saturday but Sunday was still awesome.
I reckon the two days is just about perfect.

I'd have loved to go a third if my body and time allowed though.

Here's a vid I chucked up last night, starting on the DH track and moving onto the Flow trail. It's just fast and fun, no real thought required... just point and ride.
Ideate on the left, following me on the right, following the other dude we were with at Buller.

[video=youtube;ov0LTrDChOM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov0LTrDChOM[/video]

I understand what you mean about getting the bike off the ground. Especially on Cressy because there's not much vertical and you're required to throw some pedals into most of the jumps.
On proper DH tracks though with more thought put into the trail design and jump placement, once you start pumping into the jumps they just kind of bounce you up so nicely. I love how squish the DH bikes feel on landings too!

I've also taken the DH bike down Trav's for something different... not much fun overall, way too much work!
As for the rock steps, yeah you really need to ping it and clear all the jumps before it if you want to be able to clear the drop as well. I can't be fucked so I just slow it down and roll down the left.

they do some amazing work at the you yangs but at the same time they do some dumb shit there like place logs and large rocks in line paths which make you hit some features at dangerous angles.i personally have stopped riding there just recently after now cressy is fucked and turbulence has been slowly getting destroyed with dumb modifications.

Sometimes it seems like they try a bit too hard to make it technical and it comes off feeling way too artificial.
Great for convenience though if you live on the western or northern sides of the city.

I still dig Cressy, though I think the first rock garden extension sucks.