How much better is the Demo 8 to the Big Hit?

not enough to justify a :damn: IMO

$4700 IS a lot of coin, but its worth every penny - count up the number of cold forged pieces and comapre them to a norco/kona/iron horse at that price. THATS what you are getting from specialized - a frame that is a piece of bike engineering, not just a price point speccing job.

Oh, not only is it sweet to look at (she's a beaut) it is a fantastic ride. :agree:

just get the 04 demo 9s, they are cheaper

yeah - i've seen a demo 9 (04) for 2200 frame + hub only…. which is pretty sweet.

Anyone who says a Demo 8/9 pedals like a hardtail is on crack.

I thought my 02 Bighit DH pedaled quite well on the trail. If I was climbing, I'd just crank up the compression and there was zero bob. The only thing I didn't like about the Bighit DH was that it was quite tall. However, if you put it into slack head angle mode, it felt great on decents, but the BB sat a bit low for technical stuff.

And I agree with Spookymilk. No big sled really pedals like a hardtail. You can lock the shock out to turn it into a virtual hardtail, but the angles and weight really make the bike sluggish.

Anyone who says a Demo 8/9 pedals like a hardtail is on crack.

Yeah but anyone who claims that ANY 8" Freeride bike pedals like a HT is on crack. Demo's do everything else quite well though

my 05 s(e)x trail is all of that and more.
mmuuuuuaaaaahhhhhhhhahahahahahahaha!!!!!(evil laugh)
who needs a demo?!
ahahaha
later

my demo8 pedals outstandingly well; but negating the pedal bob is totally due to shock technology, not Specialized suspension design. I'm sure if I threw an RC on there it would be bobbing around like an old VPS.

my 05 s(e)x trail is all of that and more.
mmuuuuuaaaaahhhhhhhhahahahahahahaha!!!!!(evil laugh)
who needs a demo?!
ahahaha
later

our bikes weigh the same. I've got 4 more inches of travel and mine pedals just as well as yours. not knocking the SX trail.. they're very sweet bikes and I'm glad you're diggin yours, but I'll take the demo8 thank you very much.

my sx weighs 41lbs. I don't think there's any way in the world that your demo is the same unless you have a pretty small fork on it and very light thin rubber.
nice ride, though. i almost bought one, but after seeing first hand what the sx can do, i decided that i didn't need the demo.

my sx weighs 41lbs. I don't think there's any way in the world that your demo is the same unless you have a pretty small fork on it and very light thin rubber.
nice ride, though. i almost bought one, but after seeing first hand what the sx can do, i decided that i didn't need the demo.

Demo 8 with Boxxer weighs in at 42.5 lbs. Saw it at Dizzy with my own 2 eyes after adjusting for the bent pointer on James' scale.
The Pro version has the Fox 40 on it which saves almost a full lb over the boxxers due to the stanchion thickness and ti isprings.
I'm riding a pro version now for about a week.

Unbelievable bike

i saw them both, too at Freedom in Ptown
sick, eh?
ive been on my sx for a week now, too
i guess mostly the choice is BB height and head angle, besides travel.
i do a lot more pedaling than park riding, so the 68.5HA and SC fork suited me better. my buddy goes fricken huge on his sx and the thing is easily burly enough.
sweet a$$ bikes
later

I'm lucky enough to own a 5" travel 26 lb all mountain bite (ets 70), so the Demo is the perfect big hit bike for me.
Unlike Dirty Deeds, I won't use it as a trail bike 'cause I'm already spoiled. Krinkum krankum pinned in the big ring is an absolute blast on that ets. Clipped in, no armour, plain old helmet. In many ways as good or better than the big heavy bike.
Having said that, I love shuttling seymour also, and can't believe how fast I can rip cbc on the Demo. I've got to get up to the 5th Horseman with it. Any one want to join me?

I think the SX Trail is the best all around bike out there. It almost redefines the category imo.

If anyone out there is an expert with that Manitou shock I would gladly beer you for some setup/tuning help. My eyes glaze over when I look at all the adjustments on that thing.

is it the 4way or 6way?