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Debating what type of bike as my bike park/play/downhill bike.
The type of rider I am is origins in bmx, am good at jumping/drops, ie have done windhill proline, full moto, 50to01, air voltage in chatel. My tech ability is decent and don't appear to be too slow in the scheme of things.
I've broken my options into 3 -
1. enduro bike - this kind of bike was my most recent, a capra mx, worked good on jumps, felt OK in tech, bit what I didn't like was it wasn't the smoothest in rough and it was tiring. It complimented jumps, but not tech/rough, and it didmt feel super solid. So this option would be a more capable enduro bike, like a devinci chainsaw for example.
2. DH bike - park style, think airdrop slacker, yt tues or commencal frs
3. Full dh - think trek session
I cant figure out whether to prioritise fun and the characteristics that fit more with my background or whether to prioritise what is more outside my background, ie speed and capability.
What other bikes, if any, do you already have?
If you've got a mid travel full suss, you might want this one to be more distinct so rule out the Enduro.
If its your only bike, a long travel enduro is the most flexible option.
I did a 43 mile xc ride this morning, but it's equally happy in big boys stuff too.
Already have a trail bike, so this additional bike will be dedicated to the above.
If this bike is for uplifts / push up only I would go for a mullet DH bike. As good as enduro bikes are, they’re still not as capable as a proper DH bike and if you have a trail bike already, it makes more sense for a DH bike. So many options but go for one on the more playful side, but mullet should help on this side.
Airdrop Slacker but you might have to wait for the second batch. Maybe a Commencal FRS. I'd have one if I could justify it.
Modern day racing DH bikes probably aren't as agile or as fun as they used to be. There's a recent Kade Edwards bike check where he says the high pivot Session is harder to jump and he's not exactly untalented when it comes to getting off the ground.
What trails do you ride? If you have to do a lot of pedaling or any serious climbing, a DH bike is going to suck. If you're doing uplifts with long, rough descents, a DH bike would be the obvious choice.
Airdrop Slacker looks custom made for what you want it for. 27.5” wheels I believe and aimed not to be the fastest for racing - but to be fun at the park and getting lairy
I did a 43 mile xc ride this morning,
Blimey, thats a big ride.
Airdrop had 1 Slacker left according to their IG post yesterday.
I’d get one of them as my park bike I reckon.
Geometron G1. Proper geo. Pedals really well and eats the gnar.
I’d get something with a dual crown fork because my experiences over the last few years have led me to conclude that single crown forks are not fit for purpose on longer travel bikes.
Geometron G1. Proper geo. Pedals really well and eats the gnar.
As a Geometron owner/lover/evangelist I wouldn't buy one as a dedicated park bike.
I'd go shorter, steeper and 27.5.
single crown forks are not fit for purpose on longer travel bikes.
There's some truth in this. I feel like the latest generation of 38mm, 170/180 travel super forks are probably past the limit of the platform.
I'm waiting to see what the industry does next. Another generation of thicker, fatter and heavier single crowns or lighter, stiffer, enduro specific dual crowns.
If you are just riding uplifted parks, aren’t looking to win races or ride up hill, get a park bike.
Reckon I might be in the same position in a year or two, I’m looking at Tora bikes.
“feel like the latest generation of 38mm, 170/180 travel super forks are probably past the limit of the platform.”
I’m not that big, fast or happy going large, but I’ve had my 160mm Lyrik start creaking twice in 4.5 years, both times just outside the 2 year warranty period. The first time I put it down to bad luck and paid for a new upper (they agreed to replace the blown damper for free but wouldn’t do so without the upper being replaced).
Now that new upper is creaking really badly so I’ll be getting it repaired by a competent aftermarket person as I don’t think the manufacturer’s approach of pressing the parts together with no adhesive to fix them in place, and hoping they’ll last two years like that, and to hell with the rest of the product’s life, is acceptable.
I’m wondering if I should start some consumer campaign about this, because it seems I’m far from alone?
I’m wondering if I should start some consumer campaign about this, because it seems I’m far from alone?
It's a YouTube documentary waiting to happen.
Has OP ordered a bike yet?
The answer is in your op - "prioritise fun"
I think the slacker looks amazing so I’d say go for that just so you can post some photos of it.
Rode dirt farm on my bronson mx yesterday, in terms of capability at that location, I could not ask for more, to the point I think I would have less fun on a bigger bike.
It's having me worried about a dh bike, I feel it will only help out on seriously ropey hits, long runs or severe tech ie I think I would only make gains on a big rig on the more severe tracks at dyfi and banging out rough laps in the alps.
Also if I big rig, I think I'm going to have to accept it'll feel rubbish on any jump under 30ft.
“I think I would have less fun on a bigger bike”
I think the recent DH bike trend has made them more race-focused than ever, from bigger wheels, longer wheelbases and high pivots. The high pivot seems to be particularly compromised against pumping and jumping in favour of flat-out speed. In your situation I’d be looking at the handful of alloy (better for crashing) freeride/DH bikes out there, like the Commencal FRS.
“Rode dirt farm on my bronson mx yesterday“
Dirt Farm is super smooth though - if you nailed the jumps I bet you* could ride Full Moto on a hardtail (*you, not me! I couldn’t ride that line on anything!)
In a month or so we'll have a 2nd DH bike, if you wanna book somewhere we're heading to, feel free and test the GT for a run or 2 to give an idea.
We're likely booking either Antur or BPW on the 29th July if that helps.
Also, I'm borrowing a friend's slacked for a ride at tidworth.
One of the issues with using an enduro bike to ride uplifted bike parks is that sort of riding batters bikes.
For your use case, as you already have a trail bike, I’d go with one of the funner dual crown options for this reason.
Buy the bike for the riding you do, not the riding you think you’ll want to do. You might be under-bikes but your skills will improve faster. Or you’ll die 😉
A half price Carbon Nukeproof Giga from CRC. Holy crap that's a good deal.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/nukeproof-giga-297-comp-carbon-bike-deore
How about a Canyon Torque? Burly enough for Rampage, easy enough to do some pedalling on, and fun and playful too.
Haven’t ridden the Capra, but maybe the suspension settings just need adjusting for tech stuff? Quite a different setting needed between rough tech and bike park jumps.
If you've got a trail bike and want something for bike parks & jumping, rather than racing DH, why not pick up a cheap used 27.5 DH bike?
Will probably be a bit shorter than current trends anyway.
Revel Rail 27.5? Really enjoying mine, set up MX/Mullet but works well as a mini DH/park bike at 27.5. I'm switching between 35 and 50mm stems depending on what I'm riding.
If you’ve got a trail bike and want something for bike parks & jumping, rather than racing DH, why not pick up a cheap used 27.5 DH bike?
I've thought about this. Something like a YT Tues is a mint park bike and probably less than half the price of a new slacker.
In fact...I'm off to the Pinkbike classifieds!
"If you’ve got a trail bike and want something for bike parks & jumping, rather than racing DH, why not pick up a cheap used 27.5 DH bike?
Will probably be a bit shorter than current trends anyway."
This is the right answer!
have done windhill proline, full moto, 50to01, air voltage in chatel
Air voltage!
I wonder how many people on here ride that stuff?
I'd be getting something that wouldn't snap with a mega warranty.
Specialized demo?
Quite a few enduro bikes will do some pretty impressive stuff now and they can pedal, pop and be playful too. I have the Propain Tyee (smaller size wise than I might have got with another bike) which is a pretty sorted bike. Watching the insane stuff their affiliated pro riders use the Tyee for, there’s not much it won’t do. It’s interesting watching pro riders like Remy and when they choose to take a more DH orientated bike from the Propain range instead of the Tyee and it isn’t as often as you might think. Playful seems to have a place even on some quite big stuff. 🙂
So, did a weekend at dyfi on a airdrop slacker, obviously super capable at speed, rough and steep...jumping....not sure.
Maybe I needed to try a stiffer spring on the shock, didnt have the stability and support I'm comfortable with on jump take offs. Or it was just that I was somewhere new, on a bike that wasn't mine.