DH bike suggestions

Hey Pete,

There is a good - a bit small DH scene in Nova Scotia - most places are either truck shuttles, or hike-a-bike up. That saying you could ride a smaller bike with a wide gear range up to the top.

On the trails I ride, every one of the regulars are on full on DH bikes this year. That means duel crown forks, 7+ inches rear travel, duel ply tires and tight gear ratios. The big bikes just work better for where we ride.

You can get away with a smaller bike but generally you'll be slower and get beat up more often + expect more flats. I tried the "all mountain" or free ride bike thing for DH and I'm done with it. A full on bike is just that much better.

Also...
There is a DH race in The Valley this weekend. The track is a ton of fun and not to intimidating for new riders. Good high speed section at the top, fun rocky action in the middle and the bottom is good flowy trail. Easy to ride slow, tricky at high speed. You should come out and do some runs! Will be a great opportunity for you to get to know a few of the riders in the local scene too!

Even if you don't want to race come out of for shuttles on Saturday and just have some fun. See how you feel on your bike and decide for your self if your going to want some thing with more beef,

(Do bring DH tires for sure if you have them, or expect to need lots of tubes!)

More info:
http://avmba.blogspot.com/2011/09/woodville-dh-race-sept-24-25th.html

I've got a TR250, it's Transition's mini DH bike so pretty slack but not as long as the TR450 and 'only' 6-7" travel. It's pretty adjustable too. I put a wide-range cassette and 34 tooth chain ring on it so I could ride it even when the trail is not going downhill. That seemed to work out pretty well (though a dropper seatpost would be killer) although while in BC I bought a 38 tooth ring as the 34 is really too small for steeps. It's a great bike so I can definitely recommend that as an option (even though I've only had it for a couple of months and didn't get a lot of NS riding on it this season).

Unfortunately I broke my arm while at Whistler 2 weeks ago so I won't be there Ryan. Very frustrating as that was after 2.5 days of riding out of a planned 10. So much for my epic BC trip before I leave Canada, the North Shore remains on my to-do list :-/

FWIW I bought both my bike and my wifes bike used from the US via pinkbike, you can get some smoking deals!

Put it this way I got my canfield lucky and my wifes intense ss (bought parts and frames) for what most people pay for an average new xc bike around here. :)

So would not hesitate to by used on pb, you do however need to do your due diligence and don't send some random dude money for something that sounds too good to be true.

Best thing you can have going for you is patience, you have all winter to get a bike sorted!

Sucks about the broken arm graeme, bad break (ahem, good story?? :P )? recon you'll good to hit keppoch before the snow flies?

Whats your budget?

If it were me I'd go for something a bit more high end, esp if you already ride its not really a question of if you will enjoy it, but how long will it take to outgrow a more basic bike. The operators look like a great bike, but I'd not look at stinkies as a dh only bike, they are more FR bikes, ie geo a bit more like an am bike.

Stinky six, just don't go there lol.

Basically if you keep it 150 rear 83mm bb you'll be on the right track :) (its not something you find on anything other than dh intended frames)

What size bike are you looking for? I know where you can get a great deal on a well specced out Foes Fly.

PM me for details :)

http://www.sugarloafpark.ca/bikepark/node/102

Not a bad price. Do they have other models that might be going up for sale?

If you're serious about riding dh, don't even consider the six...