NSMB - 2019 - DH/Park Bike Thread

10 Year Anniversary

This thread is dedicated to the Downhill / Free-Ride Bike / Slope Style Bike. 

Use this thread to post up your Downhill / Free-Ride Bike and discuss away.

Feel free to share some details on your set-up, weight or whatever makes it special to you.

200K views in 2009 but since then, wheels have grown fron 26" to 29".  Head angles from 66 degrees to 63....things have changec.......Is the "DH bike" dead? 2016 and 2017 only saw a handful of posts and about 1,500 views. My first thread like this was the most popular thread on the NSMB gear forum….ever (200,000 views in 2008 ). Will 2019 see the DH bike disappear on the NSMB boards???

Reserved for my bike.

offering #2 is a bike I have yet to take out for a ride. for some reason years ago I'd bought a DH frame off a dwarf because it was a "good deal". it actually didn't ride too bad for an undersized bike, but last year I was able to score a great deal on a brand new dh frame with modern geo. I built it up using pretty much all the parts from the old bike except for the brakes - Hope Mono 6Ti. I remembered them as great brakes but they needed new pads for sure and possibly piston seals. after chatting with a few people and looking at parts costs I decided to upgrade the brakes. I got some Zee calipers and SLX levers for a song and put one of the Zee calipers on the front of the Knolly for a bit more oomph in the stopping department. After the brake upgrade and doings seals/oil on the 888, total cost came out to $800 and another fuck yeah to min maxing.  I'm going to upgrade the wheels in the near future, but I figure instead of buying a wheelset I'll just pick up some rims and get a truing stand with the money I'll save and build my own wheels. Note the roughly 20yr old SRAM X9 deraileur on the rear end, I scored that for free out of the garbage bin inside JH while talking to Jeff when he was doing a fork overhaul - the thing still works like  a charm.

Wth Syncro, I thought you were only about the climb.

You know where I live if you want to cheat and uplift this summer.

Wow that's a solid build for $800 dude, nice work.

Posted by: grambo

Wow that's a solid build for $800 dude, nice work.

thanks man, it's pretty satisfying to put together a good ride on a really low budget. plus, i don't spend enough time on the dh bike to justify throwing big dollars at it, so with the exception of some new rims I'm pretty much set for another 5yrs or so.

I'm digging the min/max theme.

A question...I am in the market for a used dh/park bike. The last two seasons park riding were killer - but I need a longer and slacker bike than the old Cove I am rocking.

So my plan is to buy a used bike...and I can get a 2017 Kona Operator (blue one) from a bikepark in Austria, regularly serviced, for a little less than half of the original retail price.

What is your guys' opinion on that bike? Input and ideas greatly appreciated.

If its good enough for Fearon its good enough for you.

Seems like a steal.

Posted by: Mic

A question...I am in the market for a used dh/park bike. The last two seasons park riding were killer - but I need a longer and slacker bike than the old Cove I am rocking.

So my plan is to buy a used bike...and I can get a 2017 Kona Operator (blue one) from a bikepark in Austria, regularly serviced, for a little less than half of the original retail price.

What is your guys' opinion on that bike? Input and ideas greatly appreciated.

Can you confidently inspect it in person? Will they tell you how many times it was ridden? I would not buy an ex-rental from a park that was ridden daily personally... demo bike from a high end shop fleet maybe for 50%.

I love my ‘09 Kona Steely and original 2015 Process, but I was not a fan of the 2015 Operator (still 26”, model before what you’re looking at). I came off a Yeti 303RDH that’s probably similar to your cove. The new geo (lower B.B.) was noticeable in the corners, but I just never seemed to click with that bike. It was possibly just because at the time the reach on the Operator was shorter than the Process and had smaller wheels and a longer stem.

I got rid of the Kona and am pretty happy on a longer 2017 27.5 Spec Demo now, but I do wonder about the pulley wheel commencial/gt suspension platform paired with 27.5 wheels for a solid flat-pedal park-bike. I struggled keeping my feet on the demo for months, but eventually ditched the stock specialized pedals for DMR Vaults and stopped blowing pedals as much.

I can’t figurd out how to add a photo via edit from my phone, so new post with attached pic:

Posted by: grambo

Posted by: Mic

A question...I am in the market for a used dh/park bike. The last two seasons park riding were killer - but I need a longer and slacker bike than the old Cove I am rocking.

So my plan is to buy a used bike...and I can get a 2017 Kona Operator (blue one) from a bikepark in Austria, regularly serviced, for a little less than half of the original retail price.

What is your guys' opinion on that bike? Input and ideas greatly appreciated.

Can you confidently inspect it in person? Will they tell you how many times it was ridden? I would not buy an ex-rental from a park that was ridden daily personally... demo bike from a high end shop fleet maybe for 50%.

I can inspect it in person, but I am not sure about the "mileage" they might tell me. But... yes....that is a valid point.

At the moment the prices for used AL park bikes in sizes L or XL are dropping drastically so I might get a different one.