Downhill bike help

Leafman

Leafman

Active member
Its time to upgrade my 2005 POS Kona Stinky

I've had my POS for 4 years and the damn thing breaks every other time i go riding, its time to treat myself to a nice ass bike, I do a lot of technical downhill riding and some freeriding, i've narrowed my search down to any of the following that are 2007 and newer, giant glory, iron horse sunday, commencal supreme, and a demo 8 or 9, does anybody own one of these babies and if so please tell me how they ride, also please recomment other rides

thank you
 
Demo 9's, to my knowledge, are not made anymore. Sunday's and new Demo 8's both have quite low bottom bracket's, so depending on your style of riding, that could hinder you. I don't know much about the glory's or the commy supremes but I have yet to hear bad things.

If you want some real advice, since I'm sure most people on NS can't help you with this, check out[URL]http://bb.nsmb.com[/url]. It's a forum like NS, but dedicated to mountain biking. And I can guaruntee you that the bikes you have listed have been ridden by someone on the nsmb boards, so they can give you some pretty good first hand experience.
 
The demo is a sick bike deffinitly consider into it, ironhorse i heard they where out of buisness or got bought out? commencial is deffinitly sickest i love the commencial i think its super flowy bike. giant glory is dope aswell but seems super dh orientated. If you doing the huge shit ild go demo it can stand up on those huge drops super techy dh courses too. the commencial is also a super good fr/dh mix bike. All these choice seem sick nomater what way you go you would be pumped, and it will be worth it. i would also look at the devinchi wilson i got a wilson for dh and i love it so much. super good on the tech courses. this sentence makes no sence im aware im just tired. ahaah
 
banshee scream man. shits so dope. get good tires i got maxis mobsters super tack and shits so grippy they hold on all roots.
 
i dont go on nsmb much anymore, and pinkbike forums arn't that great, as for the bike part im looking for a fairly high bottom bracket
 
You have got to be kidding about iron horses being sportcheck brand. Do you know who Sam Hill is? He dominated the Downhill World Cup circuit last season on an Ironhorse Sunday. Untill Ironhorse lost the rights to use the D-link suspension (this season the Sunday's were no longer in production because of this) they were the benchmark for downhill bikes.
 
Lol Scream's are heavy as fuck and not very good. Have you seen the new Banshee line of bikes? Some of the best on the market right now.
 
I wouldn't go with the the Iron Horse, seeing as they won't be able to give you a warranty if you ran into any problems with it [They ran into problems and no longer exist as a company(This was a little while ago, it may have changed by now, but I haven't heard other wise)] All your other choices are very good and legit though, it would probably be best if you could get into your local shop/ find a friend who has one and test them out for yourself and choose the one you like best.
 
im gonna buy it used so i dont really care about warranty, warranty is a joke anyways in the bike industry, it costs you 2/3 of the full price to replace a frame
 
rocky mountain is garbage, Specialized makes garbage downhill bikes too. Sunday WC is a good bike.
 
the previously mentioned Sam Hill rides a Demo 8 now, i would say Specialized is far from garbage, especially for a kid who won't be riding in World Cup events.
 
Good choices, I'll give you my 2 cents, I'm a downhill racer so that is wheremy backround and knowledge come from.

The demo's are excellent bikes! They have a mid height bb, which I believe is also adjustable via rear shock mount. Good bike for everything all around, a bit long for really tight technical stuff.

Glory, again amazing bike, but they are heavy, I mean 13.5 pounds for frame and shock alone, they're very stable bikes, and the suspension is top notch, but they are cumbersome, not what you want in a technical course.

I would stay away from the ironhorse, they no longer produce the sunday, so if anything breaks or goes wrong, it will be extremely hard to replace, absolutely amazing bikes however. T

he Commencal is a great example of a bike to do it all, adjustable geometry out the ying yang, light, flickable everything you want, great pedallig to. If you were to get one i would suggest looking into the latest generation models (2008 +) as they have a bit more travel (bumped to 8 inches) and will be a bitmore forgiving.

Now I'm not sure if you're open to oher ideas, I personaly ride a Devinci Wilson, great bike, lots of adjustability, has that light feel but still gves confidence when you feel in need of a plow bike!

Other then that, maybe look into some of the vpp platforms, like the intense socom or the santa cruz driver 8.

Pm if you'd like to talk further.
 
out of what you listed, the sunday and commencal are great race bikes. a friend of mine who is very into racing (races expert) has the sunday world cup and liked it, but it wasn't perfect, the shock isn't custom tuned for the frame so he had to play around with it a lot.

the giant glory is a good bike too, one of the shop guys at my work (races elite DH and expert XC) had one and liked it, but he traded it in for a Trek Session 88 which he absolutely loves.

If you have the money look into a trek session 88, I've heard nothing but great stuff about it from people who've ridden them, Trek put a lot of time and effort into that bike and it shows.

session88_angle_2.jpg
 
Sam Hill could ride almost anything and be fast. The new Demo 8 he was on last season is not even close to the same bike specialized made in 2007
 
im planning on racing next season and im 5 9 135 lbs if that helps, i dont really like trek for some reason
 
Be careful with the session 88 listed above, Unless you can buy a brand new one, don't get it. The first ones were made of aluminum cans, an many broke and snapped, supposedly they solved the problem forthsi years run of bikes but we've yet to find out.
 
ok but the OP said he wanted 2007 and newer. so he could get a newer demo 8 and then it would be pretty hard to hate on his bike.
 
ive snaped a fram already so i dont want any of that weak shit, and what was the best year for the demo series? im still leaning torwards the glory
 
loads of people on pinkbike who got an 88 have been complaining about dings and dents and snaps.
 
yes, because iron horse went out of business and was sold

and for consumer level racing, a iron horse sunday WC will outdo a Spec demo 8 or 7 ANYday, and the reason is because someone like sam hill can't be used as a measuring point

he has full SRAM blackbox everything, all top of the line custom tuned

and besides, your component spec matters just as much as your frame. i own a sunday wc 08 with a completely different spec than sam hills, but i can safely say its an amazing bike, but still, this isnt stock car racing. it doesnt matter if you all bitch and argue saying "THE CANE CREEK DB IS THE BEST EVER", or that "Demo's beat EVERYTHING", sam hill could still kick the shit out of half the bikers out there on a 04 atomik with cross country wheels and avid mech brakes. its about the rider, not the bike.

and half the people here don't know shit anyones, its really funny, like the kid who said ironhorse is sportchecks brand

and to op, my best advice is if you want a good bike for not 14582098340$, do NOT buy new, but someones used custom build

search buy sell on pinkbike, try to look for guys who are shop mechanics and what not and have some knowledge for what theyre doing

this way you can hopefully find the best all around bicycle, and not just a 3000 frame with 200$ brakes, etc.

hopefully this all helps, and if you need to, you can just post your bike possibilities in here
 
I absolutly love my Chumba F5. Definetely the smoothest, most supple bike I have ever had the pleasure of riding. It absolutly devours rocks. I just love the way it feels and handles. You should also look at the Devinci Wilson and Cove Shocker.
 
A few more bike tips.

If you're willing to fork out the cash, get an Evil Revolt frame. They are single pivot but bomb as fuck and everyone I know who rides one absolutely loves it. Also check out Orange 224's. Another really good single pivot downhill race bike.
 
commencal are really nice bikes. I have had one for a few years. I agree with the comment about 2008 and above, they also beefed up their head tubes ... as 2007 and bellow had some real issues. but a commencal wont happen in your price range.
 
Demo 8 or 9!!! I've been out of riding for a couple years now, but if/when I do get another bike it will be a Demo. I've never owned one, but rode a Demo 9 a few times in Whistler and loved the shit out of it. Best bike I've ever riden.
 
id say get a specialized, right now on pinkbike you can find a few demo 7's that are 2007+. and around 2500
 
Well, like I said I've been out of riding for a couple years. I sold my bike for cash one summer, and haven't gotten another one since. But I've had a Santa Cruz Bullit and a Specialized Big Hit Expert, they were both like 04 or 05 models.
 
go for a demo 8 over 7 imo

i just think 8 is the almighty number, after all, almost every great race bike is 8 inches (depending on the course i suppose)

but a demo 8, or a glory would be dope

revolts are sick too, but sooo expensive

 
Those frames dent like no other. I have been with a guy who was riding it and at the beginning of the day there were no dents and by the end of the day it was super dented.

and if u can get your hands on a sunday team go for it its a super legit bike.
 
I have next to no experience, my roomate is into it, he had a glory, had tons of problems with it and ended up selling it after 2 months and $700 ontop of it (got it used in decent shape) and bought a scott scrambler (i think thats what its called again i dont really know much about it) and always talks about how much he loves it. makes me really wanna get into dh
 
I'd go for the new Glory. Sessions are made out of recycled pop cans. I've never ridden a Commy. Sunday's are nice bikes but they have problems with play in the linkage, and a super low BB, which can either be a good or bad thing. I've heard nothing but good things from Glory owners, and I rode one a bit and it was sick.
 
anyone whos trashing on other bikes are just retards. dont listen to them. youll be fine with whatever you choose, but a demo is def. an ill choice. the sunday is too clumsy in the air but destroys dh. anything will be a good upgrade from a stinky.
 
Solid point. It's damn near impossible to buy a bad bike these days. You'll be happy with whatever you choose most likely.
 
The demo 8 is a fantastic bike, ive never ridden a bike that felt so good at whislter. So balanced in the air, and railed corners.
I can't speak much for other bikes, other than I would be wary of single pivot designs, as I don't think you get anything that performs very well for under $2500
 
I have a Giant Faith, and it's been nothing but good to me. Has taken a beating, and they stopped making them. Until this year, they are re-introducing them, I think I'm going to pick one up. I'm not telling you to get one, but just saying my opinion on giant, and theyre awesome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top