Mountain Biking - My Bike Pics

Hello guys,

Would you think this bike worth upgrading? I want to get a better brakes and better suspension (front & back).

I use this for trails and possibly DH.

Hello guys,

Would you think this bike worth upgrading? I want to get a better brakes and better suspension (front & back).

I use this for trails and possibly DH.

That's about as proper for DH as my DJ bike being for xc races...

Yeha, not very DHey there, but sweet rig!

- XC junkie.

If you are gonna DH you need a good full face and some body armour. Its a good XC bike, that is my kinda bike. DHers, need lots more beef.

Guys,

I am confused about those names if you dont mind to explain to a noob. What's rig? A bike that can carry a lot of stuff/bags?

XC = cross country? What are the difference between a XC bike and a full mountain bike? I've always thought I have a full montain bike that I can use for free style (jumps & stunts) and I didn't know there are many types of bike outthere except the road bike and mountain bike (I consider DHer is a type of mountain bike). Please educate a noob.

Well really you can ride any bike on anything if youre bad ass enough lol. But now a days people seem to be all about the sub categories and having a specific bike for different types of riding. Rig just refers to a bike.

Basically you have:

DH-Downhill : 8 and up inches of suspension travel, dual crown fork, very slack geometry (slack refers the angle of the headtube in reference to the axle path? The more slack the more rake the fork has.

FR-Freeride : Similar to a downhill bike but some times with less travel and can have a single crown fork ?

AM-All Mountain : This is probably the most popular style of bike currently, usually 5-7 inches of travel, single crown fork, head tube angles can vary with some being adjustable usually erring on the side of slack. Essentially a bike for bombing hills that you can still pedal to the top. A do all bike if you will.

XC-Cross Country : Built to be light and pedalable. 3-5 inches of travel. Not going to be the best for bombing down hill. Less slack geometry which helps when going up. Etc

And theres always sub categories like an "aggressive trail bike" which i guess is somewhere in between an XC and an AM bike. And then you got 29ers and hardtails which can fall into all the aboce categories as well and on and on. Best bet, IMO if you are looking for a good do all bike and are on a budget get a decent hardtail with slacker geometry. If you really want to do DH, I would probably look into getting a new bike. But thats not to say that you couldnt use your current bike. Just not really what its designed for and you would probably just be happier on something else. Just my two bits

Well really you can ride any bike on anything if youre bad ass enough lol. But now a days people seem to be all about the sub categories and having a specific bike for different types of riding. Rig just refers to a bike.

Basically you have:

DH-Downhill : 8 and up inches of suspension travel, dual crown fork, very slack geometry (slack refers the angle of the headtube in reference to the axle path? The more slack the more rake the fork has.

FR-Freeride : Similar to a downhill bike but some times with less travel and can have a single crown fork ?

AM-All Mountain : This is probably the most popular style of bike currently, usually 5-7 inches of travel, single crown fork, head tube angles can vary with some being adjustable usually erring on the side of slack. Essentially a bike for bombing hills that you can still pedal to the top. A do all bike if you will.

XC-Cross Country : Built to be light and pedalable. 3-5 inches of travel. Not going to be the best for bombing down hill. Less slack geometry which helps when going up. Etc

And theres always sub categories like an "aggressive trail bike" which i guess is somewhere in between an XC and an AM bike. And then you got 29ers and hardtails which can fall into all the aboce categories as well and on and on. Best bet, IMO if you are looking for a good do all bike and are on a budget get a decent hardtail with slacker geometry. If you really want to do DH, I would probably look into getting a new bike. But thats not to say that you couldnt use your current bike. Just not really what its designed for and you would probably just be happier on something else. Just my two bits

Thanks so much for the write and the information is great. I really appreciate it. I guess mine is AM bike then. What would be the issues if I use my bike for DH? It probably wouldn't be very stable since the frame is not slack enough? It doesn't have 8"+ suspension travel in the front.

Is DHer supposed to be heavy as opposed to all other types of mountain bike? Are they a little more expensive than others as well?

Can I get a decent DHer for $1200? The DHers look like motorcycle particularly the chopper.

I found some DH YouTube clips and love them. Those people have mad skills.

You could probably find a used DH bike thats a few years old for around 1200. Obviously not gonna be the latest and greatest but itll work. DH bikes do tend to be on the heavier side due to a beefier build and the added travel. Not to mention you usually arnt pedaling them uphill so weight is not that big of an issue. Though some of the newer carbon DH bikes are in the 30lb range.

If it were me and I had 1200 to spend, I would invest in an AM bike. You really dont need 8 inches of travel unless youre riding the uber gnar. Up until a few years ago 6 inches of travel was considered a DH bike. If you check out websites like Giantnerd.com etc you can usually find left over bikes for a pretty decent price. Plus if you do encounter a situation where you need to pedal you wont be hating life. You would be surprised at what a 6" travel bike can do and handle. Personally building up a 7" travel bike for my do all and I will def be using it for some DH at resorts and what not.

Something like this would be a good jumping off point IMO for around the 1200 mark.
http://www.giantnerd.com/gt-force-3-0-mountain-bike-all-mountain.html

The Diamondback Mission series would also be another one to take a look at. My first legit MTB was a DB Mission 2 and that thing kicked some major arse.

You could also throw together a pretty sweet hardtail for that price too.

And on a side note, check out pinkbike.com for some awesome vids from DH to DJ and everything in between.

Thanks for the link and love pinkbike. I am not necessarily getting a DH bike as I live in NYC (no mountains here, maybe some steep hills in the park, that's about it). But DH just looks so cool, like a motorcycle.

So the AM bike has more slack than my bike?

You don't live far from Mountain creek and live a reasonable distance from Plattekill.