What happened to the pedalable 7" bikes?

The longevity of the rider maybe, but my 2006 Reynolds 853 frame did a season of guiding in Whistler, endless Shore rides and I only sold it on a year or so ago as I found the head angle a bit steep. Conversely I've seen countless broken alu DH frames during this time period (including my Session 10). Obviously if it was physically possible to ride an XC bike at the same speed down Goats Gully as a DH bike, then the DH bike will last longer but it's not.

I'm sure I'll take my Chromag Aperture into the Park this year, and I'll pretty well guarantee the frame will not fail. Who buys a DH bike for comfort?! If you find it comfortable, you are going too slow.

There's no way you could tell me that after a day in the bike park on a hardtail you're not sorer than you would have been on a DH bike!
Anyway, my point is more to speed, and better survivability when things at speed go wrong.

There's no way you could tell me that after a day in the bike park on a hardtail you're not sorer than you would have been on a DH bike!
Anyway, my point is more to speed, and better survivability when things at speed go wrong.

I rode a hardtail for two days in the bike park many years ago… big mistake…

My point is that if you are riding a DH race bike to it's full potential, you should be going pretty fecking fast and you should also feel pretty beaten up at the end of the day. I've also had days in the park on my Bullit, Nomad and Session 10 and can't remember being any more or less beaten up on any of them. I just went faster on the 10" travel bike and took the gnarlier lines.

I've seen elderly people riding fully rigid bikes complete with racks and fenders and they still look like they are having a good time. So to wonder if taking a 6" travel bike into the Park is a bad idea seems pretty weird to me. If you look at the line-ups, the Pyjama / Monster crew is actually pretty small and most people just take in whatever bike they have and just have a good time anyway!

moar reasons.

https://vimeo.com/41132946

I rode a hardtail for two days in the bike park many years ago… big mistake…

i rode mine back a bunch of years ago aswell.. with a jr.T no less..

you can imagine how that went..

:fu:

I believe Johnny Smoke's still-to-this-day claim to fame is riding EVERYTHING on his HT. So it goes. Guy pops by to say hi to the fam periodically, every shot he's shown us, always hardtail. It's all smooove and tekneek fo'sure.

Just sayin'… Wouldn't catch me on a hardtail again LOL

just because you can doesn't always mean that you should. Comfort and margin for error count for a lot when we're talking about longevity.

In the grand scheme of things, and since I'm still adjusting to the PNW/BC terrain, I guess this is my reasoning for the question. Comfort level and margin for error. But perhaps the question was raised in my mind by the constant hammering of marketing.

"Buy the best gear for your sport. If you do, you'll climb a grade harder, descend faster…" blah blah blah. I remember being in Hyalite Canyon with a new set of Nomics, and watching a guy with dull picks and straight shafts with leashes climbing WI5+.

I mean, they named a bike after the Shore, with 180mm of travel, with dual front rings. But who knows if that's what's necessary. Sounds like to many, it's not.

One day when I'm hardcore like so many others…wait a minute, that's not me, nevermind. I'm originally from the flatlands of Michigan. Yet they're still called "mountain bikes" there, in a land of no mountains.

I'll get better, but for now, I'll take my 180mm bike and smile. And I don't mind pedalling up 36 lbs, just makes me that much stronger when I'm on a lighter bike someday.

Truax, here I come. I'll look forward to laps on Galbraith, Whistler, and the Shore too.

I look at this as two curves on a graph going in opposite directions of each other.
One is how capable the AM bikes are. The bikes are improving at a dizzying rate and must be near the peak for what they are intended. My Stumpy Evo feels like a small DH bike that pedals very well. The best technical climbing bike I have had that descends like rocket.
The other is what I am willing to do on a bike that small regardless if it is capable of it or not. Because im not. I will look at the jumps and drops but just would not feel stoked to do them on a smaller bike. That is where I really enjoy the longer travel and steeper angles. I also have a problem with tech clipped in. When it gets more tech, and you leave the ground I like my flats.
The other change is where I ride. In the valley it was fire road type climbing up Sumas, Ledgview, and Vedder. Now the climbing is way more tech and I would get murdered on my free ride bike (which was a 2006 Shore).

Sometimes you gotta take what you can get and run with it.

I ride a 5.5" travel transition bottlerocket, it's got nothing to do what how much travel you have.
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/210039/

its not the bike. 6 inches with a burly fork, and angleset and well tuned suspension will let you ride almost all of whistler and the shore excluding the really, really gnarly stuff. That being said a friend of mine just purchased a traux and it feels phenomenal.

Im not reall saying it is about the travel. But am not doing this trail on a 150mm trail bike, ever. Im not skilled enough to. It is not a slope style bike after all. The Traux will be a great bike i bet.
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/12942/
Conors vid, or course perfect bike for wonderland. But i would be over my head that fast on the second trail.
Andrews vid, i would opt for the big bike if i had a choice. If i had to climb and it was too tech i would just pic a different trail.Some of those bridges i would rather not fall off. That was a super tough trail in some spots in my book.I would respect that triple black diamond trail marker.

Im not reall saying it is about the travel. But am not doing this trail on a 150mm trail bike, ever. Im not skilled enough to. It is not a slope style bike after all. The Traux will be a great bike i bet.
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/12942/
Conors vid, or course perfect bike for wonderland. But i would be over my head that fast on the second trail.
Andrews vid, i would opt for the big bike if i had a choice. If i had to climb and it was too tech i would just pic a different trail. Lots of other fun stuff to find.

2nd trail?? You mean Ned's?

Your name is SXT sounds like you need a SX Trail, unless you call your bike a SX Truax.

Anywho. Someone needs to post hat Hopkins "Freeride is dead" clip again.

2nd trail?? You mean Ned's?

Im hardly a vet around here. I have ridden Neds but not enough to recognize it from that clip. Dont they hold down hill races on Neds?