[Closed] Stepping up to FR/DH Bike from Trail Bike.

It would help to know what your trail bike is? Many can be fitted with a burlier fork for Alpine trips.

Can you borrow a DH bike to try?

I suppose that would help! Current bike is Santa Cruz Blur LTc with 160mm Fox 34s on the front and 140mm on the back. Now has CCDBair.

I was tempted to put some new 36s on the front. But for that money I'm not far off this £1k (ish) FR or DH bike. Hence the dilemma.

[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/14731640140_85e1425027_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/14731640140_85e1425027_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/orMvnw ]Drop[/url]

I've got one of these coming next week...

http://www.canyon.com/en/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=3671

I knew it was going to happen ever since I had to hire one when we went to pila with the white room (left my norco sight back at the chalet by accident!!). Expected to get a heap of s*it but they wheeled out a brand new transition tr500. It was unbelievable. I never got as much out as I thought due to my fitness and hand cramps, but the ability to go faster and hit bigger was obvious from the off. You just go off stuff and barely had to worry about the landing. Thoroughly recommend trying one!

I picked up a Commencal DH frame and an extra large DH bike for the parts. Made a cheap build. In the £1k budget you are looking for no (big) cracks and expect it's had some use.

I've had fr and dh bikes and have now gone back to a 180mm mini-dh style bike with single crown fork.

It will be my last 'big' bike and should be shot on for the Alps, UK uplifts and local push up fun.

Worth trying a few bikes if you can. Dh bike are definitely not for everyone, and you need to go really fast to get the most from them IME.

2nd hand Giant Glory. The older ones are absolutely bomb-proof and go for buttons these days - perfect intro to a DH bike

I bought a 2010 Cove shocker.
Absolute monster of a bike. One of my mates wont ride it as he thinks it encourages him to ride it too fast.

A proper DH bike on a proper dh trail is just awesome. Bit crap on more boring trails, but at high speed somewhere like antur black and double black they are just amazing things to ride.
Buy second hand and cheapish, that way you don't care if they take a kicking on the less good uplifts

From experience it's quite easy to do it wrong- I did, first time round. I had a really kick ass trailbike and bought a cheap dh bike, and though it was the more appropriate tool for the job it was just much less good. In the end, I gave up on it and built a better bike that didn't get left in the garage, after I decided to take my trailbike on an uplift day. I'm basically a spoiled brat 😕

At this price, there's good bikes but there's also shagged out disasters being dumped because they're not economic to fix, or old bikes with orrible geometry... So buy clever

I've stepped down my riding from a DH bike to a trail bike and it's very different - the DH bike is far more purposeful and lets you hit stuff much harder, get away with more and is more stable.

For uplift on proper DH tracks, Alps tracks and DH racing, the tool you want is a DH bike. Anything else is a bit of a compromise, which many people make and enjoy. For maximum speed though, DH bike all the way.

Saying that, I ride everything on my Mega/Pikes these days and just settle for being slower. I really should sell my DH bike (2007 Commencal Supreme DH, Boxxers, Chris King, Saint, pretty mint, email in profile if you want to chat!)

Depends how often you ride stuff that would be more suited to a DH bike. If you are at it every weekend, crack on. If you are riding uplifts 6 times a year I wouldn't bother.

Why not? It's good having a bike that you know is absolutely the right tool for those 6 times a year that you get to kick the arse right out of it

It's irrelevant what your trail bike is.

Get a DH bike, the difference you'll experience is amazing. And so what if you only use it 6 times a year - buying a used DH bike means you'll get back most of what you've paid. A day's hire of a dh bike could be £100. Ten days of use ans you can consider you've got some form of value from it.

I had a 2011 supreme DH and LOVED it but I got the small/medium and at 6ft found it too small.I've now got a 2008 Giant Glory, sent the shock and fork to TF tuned and it's running nice. I slackened the head angle by 1.5 degrees (using a 2 degree set).

To be honest though, I'm on the hunt for a large/XL supreme as it was simply a better bike I think. The glory weighs 48lbs which is a bit nuts, but it's stable and rides well.

Mates have had good deals on Yeti 303s, Supremes, Glorys, Demo 8's, the Canyon Torque's look great.

Generally, they'll have a bit of a bashing but it should be easy to spot any major issues (cracked frames, bent hangers). Get the shock and fork set up right and you're most of the way.

Go for it, you'll not regret it.

It should also be pointed out that one bike being better than the other is [i]very[/i] subjective. I had a 2007 Glory then a 2011 Surpreme DH - the Glory was the better bike I think 🙂

How much difference does a beefier fork make? Also how much extra travel would you expect to get away with and what is the effect on the geometry?

The only thing i'd say is get a dh bike. A freeride one isn't different enough to be worth it. If you want to dh stuff get a dh bike.

Beefier forks makes a huge difference. Looking down at a dual ply 2.5 muddy mary underneath huge 40mm stanchions that go all the way up to your bars does wonders for your confidence.

Not sure what you mean in the second question? DH bikes are mostly 200-220mm. And will be slacker than your average trail bike which makes things more stable on steep stuff.

To me, a good' dh bike is one that makes the trail feel as smooth as possible while retaining control.

timidwheeler - Member
How much difference does a beefier fork make? Also how much extra travel would you expect to get away with and what is the effect on the geometry?

Why not? It's good having a bike that you know is absolutely the right tool for those 6 times a year that you get to kick the arse right out of it

IMO a downhill bike is something that needs to be ridden regularly and flat out to be worth having. My experience was that it would take half a day getting used to the bike and then i'd start enjoying it and then put it away.

I'd probably be faster on my trail bike for the first part of the day as that was what I was used to.

I'd have agreed with that if I'd only had my Herb, which felt exactly the same- always took a run or two to figure it out and start making it work. But my 224 Evo was much more intuitive and straightforward, I literally didn't ride it for 6 months, jumped on and went, it still took time to get back up to speed like any bike but it didn't have that steep re-learning curve.

Mind you it was also tons slower and just generally less good... I think the Herb took longer to learn, just because it was doing more stuff

it still took time to get back up to speed like any bike but it didn't have that steep re-learning curve.

That's the thing, I felt like it would take me most of the day to get up to the speed where it was fun and...... then I'd put it away again. Perhaps some DH bikes are easier to jump on than others, but the speed needed to get them working well remains the same.

If I lived near a decent uplift in wales or scotland i'd have one for sure.

You can't go wrong with a Trek Session, don't do anything weird, just feel right.
I've got an 88, my lad has an 8. Totally raised both of our riding to another level.

I did the whole having a trail bike and making it a DH bike, was always compromised, made normal riding ponderous and slow, when never really be burly to go all out on DH tracks.

Was my best decision in terms of bikes to have a dedicated trail bike and "big" bike, have more fun in both situations.

I tried out a DH bike, didnt gel with it though, felt too removed from what was going on, now on a slightly smaller bike a kona entourage and love it, no adjusting time either between bikes. I cant really say about adjustment time between DH bike and trail bike since i never got on with the DH bike.

From the sounds of it buying a DH bike will be a bit of a waste of time and money for you. But you'll never know how or why until you do, so you should probably buy one just to see what they are like.

In my experience if you are capable of riding a certain trail or trail feature then you'll be capable of doing it on any bike you are comfortable with, more or less. You just might need some time on a DH bike to give you the confidence to discover that you can actually do it.

If you aren't racing, or regularly riding DH tracks then a modern DH bike is a pretty pointless and uncompromising tool. And they take a fair bit of getting used to. If you are taking the plunge just be sure and get something good, which is meaningfully different from what you have. Trail/AM/Enduro bikes have come on so far in recent years that many have superseded Kona Stinkys and the like in terms of DH capability.

Get a secondhand nukeproof scalp, great bike.
should be a few on pinkbike

I built a Orange 224 bought the parts from ebay and some new from LBS
cost around £1200 , Fox DHX5 with Ti spring, Fox 40's , new set of Hope Hoops with FlowEx , 2.5 ST minions, Saint cranks, new chain ring cassette, chain , new Zee mech and new saint shifter, some amazing Hope Tech V2's with floating rotors, new Hope head set......
[img] https://www.flickr.com/photos/64184454@N07/15878975782/in/set-72157649407090376 [/img]

cant get the picture to work grrrr

jimjam - Member

From the sounds of it buying a DH bike will be a bit of a waste of time and money for you. 

Eh? He mentions uplift days, alps trips and even a dh race. How do you figure a used bike that'll hold most of its value will be a waste of time and money?

Do it. Although I'd probably find another few £££ and get a new YT or canyon.

I came from a cotic rocket, which I rode everything on and actually got quite good on, then I bought a YT tues and never looked back. It's been incredible.

glasgowdan

Eh? He mentions uplift days, alps trips and even a dh race. How do you figure a used bike that'll hold most of its value will be a waste of time and money?

He can do all that on his current bike. I thought my post would have been clear, maybe not. In my experience most people who buy DH bikes with the intention of racing them, ie doing a season, get the use of them. People who don't end up punting them on a few years later. And unlike gold and classic Ferrari's, they do continue depreciating.

When I was selling bikes that was my advice, people often came in just asking opinions on this old dh bike, or that old stinky etc for just what the op described and I generally told them what I've said above, generally adding what they really need was amodern 160mm bike. Virtually all of them came back and told me I was right and they should have listened to me.

People who don't end up punting them on a few years later. And unlike gold and classic Ferrari's, they do lose their value.

mikewsmith

A £1k DH bike doesn't have much value to loose,

Assuming he doesn't have to spend £500 on bushings, bearings, a fork service and a shock service when he gets it home and realises they are toast. Which a lot of these "bargains" are. Also it's debatable how much better the typical £1000 dh bike will be compared to his current bike.

Unless he gets a bargain or snipes a low bid on an auction that puts him firmly in the realm of old Stinkys, Big Hits etc. Pointless.

thrashing the tits off a nice trail bike at it's limits will drop you more value on that.

Or he could just ride it normally? The last DH bike I had was a Glory, and it took me weeks of practice to get comfortable enough on that bike to approach dh race speeds. When I finally started to scrape the surface of the bikes performance, where it actually felt engaging to ride, I realised the consequences of crashing at those speeds could be huge. The added focus and impetus of actually racing dh puts people into the right frame of mind to push these bikes and improve as riders. The occasional bit of dicking about does not.

I'm tempted by getting a Freeride or Downhill bike

The combination of geometry, suspension and brakes on a bike big means you can ride it like your trail bike and when you're ready to move on there's a huge safety net. Bricking it moments on a trail bike are simply arse-puckering on a proper big bike and the skills you learn transfer to your trail riding

And you don't have to rebuild the bike after every run

I have an Ltc and one of the main reasons for getting the cheap DH bike was that I could ride Dh stuff faster and looser than I would on the LTc and not care about it. It's blunt object rather than a precise tool. Fork servicing on most of the more basic DH forks is easy, a shock may need doing and bearings are something you factor in when you look at it.

I did the whole having a trail bike and making it a DH bike, was always compromised

Quite handy to have the DH rig in the garage ready to rock if the mood takes you, instead of having to faff with the trail bike and make it burlier for the odd weekend here and there.

he doesn't have to spend £500 on bushings, bearings, a fork service and a shock service when he gets it home

He really doesn't! I'm presuming not everyone has to employ a world cup mechanic to do a basic suspension service...

The added focus and impetus of actually racing dh puts people into the right frame of mind to push these bikes and improve as riders. The occasional bit of dicking about does not.

The actual experience of racing local DH could also make you want to confine the bike to the shed for life - would you rather have a whole day of dicking about, or a whole weekend waiting to do 4-5 runs?

He really doesn't! I'm presuming not everyone has to employ a world cup mechanic to do a basic suspension service

Ask your local bike shop to do you a quote for a bushing/bearing kit, plus fitting, plus hub bearings and fittings, plus fork and shock whch might need god knows what. I love to mention the 2nd hand Sunday that needed £1200 to make it safe. And that was bought in person. Over ebay/pinkbike it's a lottery.

oliverd1981

The actual experience of racing local DH could also make you want to confine the bike to the shed for life - would you rather have a whole day of dicking about, or a whole weekend waiting to do 4-5 runs?

Or it might be a great experience. If you only get 4 or 5 runs in a weekend then you need to have a word with the organisers.

Well, I'm going the other way. Since moving back to the UK and living in Oxford I find I never ride mine. So I'm selling it and thinking about a long travel trail bike.

That said, I did love riding it. On the right terrain they are a lot of fun.

Blatant plug: http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/intense-m3-downhill-bike-1

I bought a used DH bike a few months back (IH sunday) for the purpose of a holiday next year which will be 2 weeks in a bike park. Was told by nearly everyone that it will be more forgiving in the bike park for 2 weeks.

I will admit though that I haven't managed to get out on it enough so far, which is bad because it still feels very different to my trail bike so I need to be comfortable on it by next summer.

Because it didn't cost too much, Im not too bothered if it doesn't get used a lot though.

so, yes get one.

I've always wanted to own or at least ride one. Not enough room in the garage though!

If you've got the space and money, buy one. You obviously want one. Just don't expect it to get ridden a lot, and enjoy it when you do without feeling guilty about that only being 10 times a year plus a week on holiday.

I remember my first day on a proper DH bike - an old Giant DH at innerleithen. Thought it was fun and that set the seeds for bigger and bigger bikes, culminating in a DH bike. I used to do the dragon uplifts and a few races, plus took it to canada etc. I don't want one now (kids, time, old), but I'm glad I had one. I bet modern DH bikes are absolutely insane fun.

If you want to progress what you are riding trail wise, and improve how you ride then put the Blur back to being a lighter trail bike and get a proper DH bike with triple crowns & good tyres.
I did the same with a Heckler, putting coil shock and long forks on it when getting into riding DH, mates had DH bikes so I eventually got a Spesh Bighit, loved it and started using it regularly, then bit the bullet and got a proper DH bike. A trail bike with longer forks is a world away from a DH bike, if you have time and get to locations to use a DH bike and put the effort in mentally you can greatly improve your skills and confidence. Everything is different but IME its mainly down to geometry, grip and solidity, my heckler feels like a bouncy wet noodle when I take it on trails I normally ride on my DH bike.
DH scene is really friendly, even the proper fast kids will take time to help you out giving you advice on tricky sections, a lot of the time you wont be able to replicate what they ride but you'll see lines and ways of riding sections you hadn't noticed before.

Get on Pinkbike, get one bought 😛

colp - Member
You can't go wrong with a Trek Session,

You really can - Trek chainstays tend not to e up to much.

jimjam sorry, your advice is poor. Or biased (do you now sell only trail bikes by any chance?).

I have had two sub £1k dh bikes, neither has required work. They have taken my riding to another level completely. I have taken a 150mm bike to the alps and it was scary/horrible. I'd never do it again; DH bike all the way.

The first DH bike cost me NOTHING, selling it for the £900 I paid (albeit stripped). I decided it was too small. My current bike cost £800 and it's amazing fun. If I sell it again I might lose £300 over the course of 2-3 years riding. Basically, much cheaper than you think.

Agree with comments above, it's a compromise trying to press a 160 bike into proper fast dh duties. Get the right tool for the job and it'll feel like a light has been switched on in your brain.

I guess it comes down to fun or fast?

The "best/fastest" bike for a job is not always the most fun..

I know a few guys who are excellent DH riders, and have had DH bikes for years, but now just own a long travel, do it all trail bike. The common issue being they actually want to ride back to the top of runs, and not push.

That said, if you've never had a DH bike before (like me), I can't see how 200+mm of travel, super slack forks and massive grippy tires could possibly fail to be fun. 🙂

glasgowdan
jimjam sorry, your advice is poor.

I have had two sub £1k dh bikes, neither has required work. They have taken my riding to another level
Get the right tool for the job and it'll feel like a light has been switched on in your brain.

Just to re-iterate. I'm saying he should buy one. If it's an itch he needs to scratch, then the only way to satisfy that craving is to buy one. But in my experience (which is considerable) it may end up getting very little use, and not being much faster than what he currently has. People have a perception more travel will instantly yield more speed - I think it's a placebo effect.

You say that an old DH bike has taken your riding to the next level and it's like a light has switched on in your brain. Do you think the op would be better served spening £1000 on an old dh bike, or £1000 on professional coaching? Serious question.

I have taken a 150mm bike to the alps and it was scary/horrible. I'd never do it again; DH bike all the way.

it's a compromise trying to press a 160 bike into proper fast dh duties

Just to address your other points/questions. Yes I did (no longer selling) mostly sell Enduro/AM bikes because they are more versatile, and their limits are somewhat more accessible making them almost as fast, but feel faster than a dh bike, but you also have the option of sticking some heavy rubber on them and going and winning a dh race on them.

I'd have to speculate that you've not ridden a well set up 150/160mm bike if you didn't like it in the alps or weren't confident on a dh track.

glasgowdan - Member

I have had two sub £1k dh bikes, neither has required work.

Which is great but you have to accept, there's a good chance they could have done (unless you got to test it in person but even then it's possible to miss an expensive issue). It doesn't necessarily imply a bad or dishonest seller either, I'm pretty sure the guy who sold me my boxxers honestly had no idea they weren't right.

DH bikes just by their nature get used hard, and often they get used infrequently too, and those both bring issues. And at the bargain end, things do sometimes see less TLC/servicing, because servicing a fork and shock can be such a chunk of the value of the bike. (and because, well, people who want to spend as little as possible on a bike also often want to spend as little as possible on servicing too).

That applies to any used bike Andrew.

Jimjam not sure most enduro bikes would genuinely fare well against dh bikes on most dh trails. Maybe you're a much better, race-winning, rider than me and the OP but there's no way a dh bike ISNT going to help an average rider ride dh trails more confidently, pick smoother faster lines, clear obstacles, hit bigger drops/jumps etc. Most of the guys I ride with have got dh bikes in the last year and they've all improved.

whether to spend a grand on a bike or coaching - that's another question and not really relevant. You could say the same about any bike spends... don't get new plusher forks, get coaching instead. Don't pay for uplift days, get coaching instead. Don't get new tyres or switch to 1x10; get coaching instead! 🙂

it sounds like we agree but have gone off on a tangent from the original question.

glasgowdan

it sounds like we agree but have gone off on a tangent from the original question.

I know myself I have a very circular, rhetorical way of conveying my opinion, so appologies. I'm at the other side of things, everyone I know who has, or had DH bikes have all gone away from them. Now riding the exact same trails on 160mm bikes and having more fun as they get unsettled just that little bit easier than a DH race bike, so the sensation of speed is very very similar, if not exaggerated. However, I am saying this with hindsight having owned a few dh bikes. Perhaps if I hadn't, I would have always wanted one. Which is why I say op - get one. Just be realistic in your expectations as to what it can do.

At a lot of Irish DH races guys are just turning up on enduro bikes, winning categories, getting podiums etc so the gap is getting narrower.

The common issue being they actually want to ride back to the top of runs

Do it meself can get a lot more runs in 🙂

Alot has to do with where you are riding. I've taken my Heckler to a FOD uplift in mid winter as I knew the DH bike would be a slog. I wouldnt even consider taking my Heckler to Revolution in Winter, its hard enough on a DH bike in the dry.

At a lot of Irish DH races guys are just turning up on enduro bikes, winning categories, getting podiums etc so the gap is getting narrower.

mikewsmith

does that mean you need some actual DH courses? It's been a while but I never saw anyone on a trail/enduro bike win a pearce round for example.

In some instances it's down to the track, certainly. There are one or two of questionable quality, but most are proper dh tracks. Plenty of uk elites and even wc racers show up at Irish dh races from time to time.

The reason people are showing up on Enduro bikes is because elite privateers who are choosing to race Enduro and DH can't afford or justify 2x bikes at £5,000 a piece unless they are very well supported so they end up with an Enduro bike since you can race dh on that, but you can't race enduro (competitively) on a dh bike.

there's no way a dh bike ISNT going to help an average rider ride dh trails more confidently, pick smoother faster lines, clear obstacles, hit bigger drops/jumps etc. Most of the guys I ride with have got dh bikes in the last year and they've all improved.

I agree with this, assuming the bike is ridden regularly. I've seen loads of people struggling to guide a DH bike down a track, as they are not used to the bike and the terrain.

Yes, downhill bikes can give you more confidence to hit drops, gaps and more difficult lines, but IMO in order to get a big bike working well (angles and suspension) it needs to be ridden at a certain speed.

I imagine it's a bit like having a race car and driving it on a public road. Probably great fun to put your foot down in a straight line for a few seconds, but really suited to going fast round a track. In order to really enjoy it you'd need an open course and be able to get the tires warmed up and be able to thrash it in the corners.

Both are specialist tools and need to be ridden/driven a certain way to get the best out of them. Most people would be better of with a 911 which is good on the road and on the track.

glasgowdan - Member

That applies to any used bike Andrew.

Oh yeah, absolutely- though I think more for downhill bikes especially at this price point. Normally I'd have said they go out of fashion faster too but I suppose the bike industry's managed to bring super-fast obsolescence to trailbikes now as well...

Re dh racing, IIRC there was an inners SDA round won or at least podiumed on an Orange Blood a couple of years back and IIRC Drew Carters won one on a Five 29er. Not usually the most intense of tracks, your SDA inners rounds but still. Mitch Gruffalo's had a couple of decent attempts at world level races on an enduro 29er, and not just pmb

You really can - Trek chainstays tend not to e up to much.

No problems with ours so far, and they take a regular hammering in Leogang.
Also, if you watched this year's Rampage every other bike was a Session.

colp

No problems with ours so far, and they take a regular hammering in Leogang.
Also, if you watched this year's Rampage every other [s]bike was a Session[/s] rider was sponsored by Trek.

I've quite enjoyed sitting back and reading through these opinions and advice. All much appreciated!

I've never started a thread which has provoked another thread before! I'm honoured jimjam. I will watch with interest. It's a bit off my original question, but still a valid point to raise.

Perhaps just to clarify what I'm after...

Last year in the alps I did the Chatel River Gap on my Blur, next year I would like to have a look at the Road Gap there and some of the other larger features. I'm sure a skilled rider could hit these no problem on a trial bike, but I'd rather be on something a bit burlier and with more travel as a slight safety net at this stage in my progression.

I did one DH race at PORC last year. I quite fancy doing a whole race series next year. For the size of most of the jumps and drops etc my Blur was fine, but over the rough stuff at (my mediocre) race speed I was getting shaken around more than I was comfortable with.

There are quite a few local DH runs not too far from me such that I'd likely do a push up day at least every over weekend.

I was edging towards a FR bike, something of the genre of a Kona Entourage (since someone mentioned one already) I am looking for something more fun than fast. But most of the advice seems to be towards a full on DH bike.

I did one DH race at PORC last year. I quite fancy doing a whole race series next year. For the size of most of the jumps and drops etc my Blur was fine, but over the rough stuff at (my mediocre) race speed I was getting shaken around more than I was comfortable with.

There are quite a few local DH runs not too far from me such that I'd likely do a push up day at least every over weekend.

In that case yes for sure, get one. As I said in my first post you'll get the most out of a dh bike if you do a race series. I would urge you to spend a bit more money though as there are some real heaps out there. The uplift/power hose method of maintenance seems pretty popular with some riders.

I was edging towards a FR bike, something of the genre of a Kona Entourage (since someone mentioned one already) I am looking for something more fun than fast. But most of the advice seems to be towards a full on DH bike.

Best avoided. They are very heavy bikes, about 40+lbs if I recall, so I doubt they'd be the lively gazelle people imagine . If you're lugging that kind of weight around it might as well be a dh bike.

For what you describe yep. Just don't get a crap one 🙂

I was edging towards a FR bike

Best avoided. They are very heavy bikes, about 40+lbs if I recall, so I doubt they'd be the lively gazelle people imagine

[s]I picked up my friend's specialised sx trail[/s]
I [b]tried[/b] to pick up my friends specialised sx trail once. It was a heavy beast. I thought a FR bike such as this might be more fun to ride and easier for someone like me to adapt to.

smatkins1

I thought a FR bike such as this might be more fun to ride and easier for someone like me to adapt to.

I think the difference in adjustment would be negligible/debatable. I would speculate that if you were doing a race series on one you'd quickly start looking at the bike again and asking where could it be improved, especially if everyone in your category or your close competitors are on race bikes. I ordered a few for customers, none of whom bought one when they rode it.

I did a few races on an SX trail with Totems and I would have been glad of some dual crowns to help with the rock gardens and harsher sections. I don't believe the bike really held me back that much, but I had it in my head that it was.

I don't believe the bike really held me back that much, but I had it in my head that it was.

A DH bike will probably never be slower on a DH track, that's not to say someone else won't be faster on a BMX, but your* limit on the BMX would probably be carrying it and sliding down on your arse.

I turned my Pitch into a 32lb 'mini-dh' bike, it was great apart from the shock blew 3 times (twice for me and again for the new owner imediatley after I sold it). But that just meant it got used a infrequently as a DH bike, but wasn't as good as one. A few times I'd find its/my limits, but then youd see a youtube of someone else on one and be blown away. A DH bike would be ace, £800-£1000 and be sensible on pinkbike.

*like a royal we, that's not aimed at anyone in particular.

I went from a Santa cruz Bullit (fr frame) as a DH and Alps bike to a 224 and I do not regret that one bit. If you want to ride down stuff (and not have to ride up much) a DH bike will be great fun for what you describe. I could use my Bullit for trail triding if I was feeling fit but the 224 out descended it everytime, and that is the important thing. For downhill riding (with lift assistance!) I would go for a DH frame everytime!

Saying that I have a friend selling a Scott Voltage for 600 and if it wasn't large I would have been buying it right now!

Get a DH bike - fantastic fun. A based in SE if you want to try mine (:

Cheap Plug!
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/fs-kona-operator-2013-dh-bike-1499?replies=1#post-6498493

I just find myself at the bottom of DH runs on the big bike thinking "holy sh*t I got away with that", along with big grins. I can't get the trail bike up to those kinds of speeds without being bucked way beyond control.

I've had a hankering for a pukka DH bike for a while, but i realise, deep down, that i am in no way capable of riding it hard enough to do it justice............

Hardly anybody is - just get one and try it