DH bike vs. 6" bike for Whistler. What am I missing out on?

I'm a fairly recent transplant from Alberta, and have never (gasp) ridden a DH bike. I currently have a 2010 Specialized Enduro Expert that is my one-and-only do-it-all bike. It's a great bike, and allows me to ride everything from the Lost Lake trails with my wife to the Shore and Whistler Bike Park. But I know that it's really a jack of all trades, and a master of none. This summer I've really progressed in my riding at the bike park, and some of the valley trails to the point where I'm starting to wonder just what I'm missing by not having a DH bike on trails like Dirt Merchant, A Line, Ho Chi Min etc. I'm 49, and the drop on DM is about as big as I think I'm going to go, so hucking isn't what I'm looking for, but I have to say that after a full day of braking bumps my body feels it! I'm looking into getting a coil shock for the Enduro, a la the Evo model, but it seems it's easier said than done!

So, my curiousity is killing me, not to mention the curse of wanting a new bike! If I did go with a DH, I'd have to get an XC bike as well, because I still love to ride trails. I suppose I should just rent one from the Demo center at Whistler, but I'm afraid that might be the straw that breaks me!

Thanks in advance for all the advice!

What does a DH bike do for someone in the park?

IMO: Less fatigue, more confidence, faster lines through the rough stuff, going bigger…the list goes on.

A-Line and Dirt Merchant lend themselves to shorter travel bikes quite easily, it is the real DH trails (not just downhill pump tracks) like Canadian Open and Joyride type trails that a DH bike really shines.

Thanks. That's kind of what I thought…

I saw the Canadian Open track (my son raced it) and I don't think that is something I'll be riding in the near future!:D

It's like driving up to Whistler in a 1997 Honda Civic CX versus a 2011 Audi A4 3.2T. Both will get you where you want to go, but I'd take the speed, comfort, and confidence of the latter any day of the week.

Spend a day taking a few DH rigs from the demo center out. It may possibly confirm your feelings about not needing another bike, but more likely it'll prove your suspicion that a DH bike is the way to go and it'll give you a head-start in deciding what kind to get.

It's like driving up to Whistler in a 1997 Honda Civic CX versus a 2011 Audi A4 3.2T. Both will get you where you want to go, but I'd take the speed, comfort, and confidence of the latter any day of the week.

I have ridden WBP on both an Reign SX (6.5" coil bike) and a Glory. I muuuuuch prefer the Reign SX on the Freight Trail to Dirt Merchant/A-line laps, but it really shows its size on the bigger gnar like Joyride, In-Deep, CDN open, etc. Get a big bike and be done with it.

Rent a Demo 8 - one day and I was sold. Heart of darkness just becomes so much easier and faster. Anything a bit rough and fast just gets way better on a 8" rig.

Postings above are bang on. I have spent a few bike park seasons on little bikes and while it's good for skills, and you can blast off jumps, a DH bike is a good idea if you're planning on riding rougher tracks and/or riding fast.

The other thing that a big bike will do is compensate for mistakes that your Enduro won't. Having a bigger bike will allow you to ride more comfortably/confidently.

Your Enduro will thank you.

I find my DH bike makes up for a lot of my poor riding. I shudder to think what would happen if I weren't on such a long travel, low and long bike at whistler. I think I could survive with less travel in a DH bike but the long wheelbase, slack head angle and log bottom bracket height are what keep me from hurting myself. In the hands of a more capable rider, I'm sure it would yield faster speeds and more impressive jumps.

What does a DH bike do for someone in the park?

IMO: Less fatigue, more confidence, faster lines through the rough stuff, going bigger…the list goes on.

A-Line and Dirt Merchant lend themselves to shorter travel bikes quite easily, it is the real DH trails (not just downhill pump tracks) like Canadian Open and Joyride type trails that a DH bike really shines.

This

I've only ridden a 6x6 bike up at whistler once and while it was fun, come lunch time my body was really wanting my big bike.

Go full DH.

That being said, I love riding my Slayer in the park. Although it's set up a bit different from the stock offering…

I find my DH bike makes up for a lot of my poor riding. I shudder to think what would happen if I weren't on such a long travel, low and long bike at whistler. I think I could survive with less travel in a DH bike but the long wheelbase, slack head angle and log bottom bracket height are what keep me from hurting myself. In the hands of a more capable rider, I'm sure it would yield faster speeds and more impressive jumps.

Ya, I agree with you there…I would not classify myself as a "more capable rider", and I certainly don't heal as quickly as I used to, so any advantage I can get will only help!

I've ridden seasons on an 8" DH, 7" FR and my current bike, a 6" AM in the park. Hands down I have way more fun on the 6" than I ever used to on either the DH or FR bikes. Riding a 6" bike makes you concentrate on your lines much more, in turn making you a better rider. Sure a Roundhouse to Village non-stop run will hurt more than riding a couch but if you learn to pick your lines and braking spots better and just generally suck it up, you'll have just as much fun as someone on a DH…and you get bragging rights for keeping up to guys on big sleds

I ride way gnarlier stuff in Pemberton on my 6" bike than there is in the bike park so the little bikes aren't just for the jumpy trails too

I rode a 4" travel Banshee Rampant up there all last year (17 days on it, I'm pretty much a park whoore). Then I got a full on DH (Yeti 303R-DH). It took a while for me to get used to the big bike. For trails like crank it up, A-line and Dirt merchant I really wanted the smaller travel and lighter weight of a the Banshee, but I quickly realized how fun all the DH trails that make up the rest of Whistler really are.

I try to get up to Whistler twice a week, so I like to have the DH bike as it allows me to ride hard on all the trails all day for more than one day (though I'm a young gun so I could do more than one day on the Rampant and I still went pretty quick over the gnarly stuff). It is definitely comforting to have a bike that can plow over anything and suck up whatever you throw at it, plus the big bikes survive a lot better than the smaller travel bikes.

If you only go up to whistler a handful of times each year, you probably enjoy multiple laps down the flowey machine built trails, and like that you only need to spend money on one bike to keep it running smooth. If your not overly interested in going as fast as you can over the steep rocky rooty DH stuff Whistler can offer you, you might be better off with one do it all bike.

Test ride a Big bike, or see if your son will let you borrow his, to get your curiosity calmed down and then make the decision. It's not overly expensive to get a used DH bike to ride in the park, but I don't think it's worth it if you don't go up much. My big bike's fun on the local trails, but pushing up leaves me wanting a bigger travel do it all bike so I can pedal up and hammer down (sorta like what you have :P).

I've ridden pretty much every trail in the park on each of 3 bikes: a 6" FR bike with a Totem, a hardtail with Lyrik up front, and now a full on DH sled with a Boxxer. The DH bike is certainly faster, smoother and much less fatiguing. The 6" bike (which is much beefier than your Enduro) is superbly capable on everything, but the DH rig is just…more so. I tend to break more parts on it as well. There is something to be said about running a top to bottom lap of Original Sin/Goats Gully/In Deep/ Fatcrobat/Too TIght/Upper [HTML_REMOVED] Lower Joyride on a hardtail. It is wickedly fun. Completely different than the same run on a big bike. Just don't try it two days in a row. (OUCH!)