[Closed] What DH bike to buy SH down the line?

Carbon ones will start appearing, just watch out for cracks.

My theory is that quality kit is quality kit.

EG: A 2012 OEM Demo with Fork & Shock that's been cared for would be a perfect first DH bike.

The thought of how much any DH rig will cost gauging by the current year on year inflation scares me into thinking i'll never get one.

I bought a 4 month old barely ridden trek session 9.9 for nigh on half the new price. There are bargains to be had. ride.it is a good place to look as is pinkbike.com

sessions are good, as are demos, as are m9s. Commencal are also popular. Plenty of choice to be had.

Knowing how many cracks I've seen in aluminium frames over the years, I'd look carefully for cracks regardless of frame material...

I see a few 2011/2012 transition tr450's for about £900-950, and some boxxer teams (2011) for about £350.00 on the pink bike buy and sell. Bombproof 2nd hand kit for reasonable outlay, could build a reliable dh bike around that for about £1700-£1800 i reckon. That's where my money would be.

Spesh bighit or demo
Giant glory
Trek scratch
Mondraker
Scott gambler
Nuke proof
Orange 222/3/4

Tbh it depends on you. For 95% of the uk you will be better with a 170mm travel bike with single crowns. If you're planning on hitting ft bill every weekend etc then get a dh bike. If not, consider something slightly more versatile like a giant reign etc

It'd have to be a TR450 for me, they just look right to me.

I bought a 4 month old barely ridden trek session 9.9 for nigh on half the new price. There are bargains to be had. ride.it is a good place to look as is pinkbike.com

Sounds like the bike I sold a few months ago.
EDIT: just checked my pinkbike inbox. it was my bike. hope you're enjoying it!

You can't go wrong with an alloy V10 in my opinion. It's a modern classic and it works brilliantly. Prices have dropped a lot since the carbon one came out but they're still one of the lightest and fastest frames you can get. There's something about the way they just eat up the trail and carry speed.

If you want another proven design that isn't fragile and has amazing springy bits, check this;
[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1233693/ ]Makulu[/url]

I was tempted to make him an offer until I found it here for the [url= http://bikeactive.com/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=9604499 ]same price.[/url]

That's some forward planning! If you're looking a whole year ahead then take a look at what's around now new and when you have the cash use that as a basis for your search based on how much cash you have.

Unless you're a after something older or considered less desirable then I'd reckon at needing at least £1,500.

Good but less full DH race oriented it would be worth looking at Kona Operator or Specialized Status both of which come in a a fair price (new) and certainly a chunk below the price of a Transition or Santacruz etc.

For me it depends on whether you want a bike that will be good fun for DH riding, pulifts etc or you want a respected DH race bike for racing and wotnot.

[i]I will be buying a DH bike, at some point, next year. When I have savings and blah...[/i]

Next year? That is a long time away..., so you'll spend all of 2013 not riding DH?

Loving it mate. Raced it two days after putting It together. Awesome bike. It's changed a bit from the std spec but I just grabbed what I wanted off of the m9 and swapped the with the trek.

Nice one. Hell of a bike but bad timing for me. I'm still recovering from the injury that ruined it for me. Got a lot more riding planned for this year.

As said, if you have a bit of time and the cash, there are some bargains to be had. This autumn after years on a stinky, decided I wanted a proper downhill bike. I started looking in September, made a few low ball offers on some nice bikes, some of which almost came off (Blinged out, one summer old TLD Demo for £2200). Eventually I got pretty much exactly what I wanted (almost brand new supreme operator with ti888s and a Ti sprung rocco for £1500) Just keep looking on pink bike and ride io, be a bit cheeky and you will deffo get a bargain.

There is usually some cheapish demos and scalps being offered and from time to time a proper bargain on a less well known euro brand (some guy was asking £900 for a year old solid mission). Also look at the less trendy, brands like kona as the operator is a great bike.

What happened?

In all it's final glory

[img] [/img]

That looks mint.

[thread hijack]
Long story short;
Last year had a week in Morzine booked then in July was meant to stay with mates in Whistler for 6 weeks.
In April I dislocated my elbow which is the worst thing I have ever, ever done. Caused all kinds of muscular and nerve damage. Took about 4 months to get full movement back but it's still as weak as a noodle.

I went to Morzine 10 weeks after the crash since it was already paid for but I could only roll around. Anything steep or aggressive was just too painful. So Whistler was out of the window and I didn't want that bike going to waste in the garage for a year.

Fast forward to now. Just ordered a YT Tues and in June I'm setting off to Europe with a camper van for at least 2 months. I have to get my fill of proper downhill before I go mental.
[/thread hijack]

Cheers!

Sorry about the elbow, sounds nasty!?

Your summer trip sounds awesome tho!

I got a secondhand nuke proof scalp a few months ago, now that CRC are selling them with big discounts used prices have taken a hit 🙂
It's got modern geometry and superb cornering

Sharkattack - I have a Large 2011 Makulu frame that I'm about to put on the market, only stripped it down yesterday. Amazing condition, looking for £650-700. If you're interested let me know. Great bike, just a bit small for me (6' 6") so I've bought an XL Wilson.

Oops, just saw your post saying you'd ordered a YT. If anyone else is interested...

Makes more sense to shop for what's available at the time really, rather than setting out to find one thing in particular. Sundays and 224s are plentiful, good, and well priced, but gifted with a little more crack than most...

Condition's really important too, Pinkbike always has 50 shagged out frames for sale, being sold by people who've run them into the ground (or who bought them from someone else who'd run them into the ground!) But also as you go back a few years you can end up with ropier geometry, my Ellsworth was in great nick and well specced but it wasn't actually very good- I preferred doing dh on my trailbike as it was slacker!