new DH rig for GJ

so i'm taking the plunge.

those who know me, know i've always been a fan of smaller travel,6-7", bikes. (probably because i'm not the tallest tree in the forest).

for '09 i'll be rolling the scott gambler dh. my last season riding a DH rig was '04 on a peeler.

how can i be adjusting my riding style to accomodate the longer travel and slacker HA?

thanks,
gary

back to the darkside? haha

definitely change you body position, way more upright, shoulders boxed out…try and equip it with a short stem, wider bars, etc

lol

Sweet! It'll be awesome to have you back racing DH again Gary. Enns and Starcevic need some competition. All of VI Warriors comments are great. Work on getting your weight forward on the bike and attacking the trail.

Two other suggestions. Ride you DH bike on DH trails over the winter, I'm sure all the skills will come back to you quickly. Buy yourself a current DH Race movie and watch how the World Cup guys ride.

Jackson racing….??? Ohhh its on.

Yep…I am in for another season of laughs with crap weasel…and the masters trash talk crowd

Good to see ya back Gary….all we need now is that crusty Parsons guy, Blog and old man Beatty….ha..:D

No advice on the bike though…what do I know, ha…I can barely change tires on my fancy foes dh bike….:lol:

800 mm flat bars gary. Oh and don't count blogg out hes actually been sighted riding his big bike lately.

I can barely change tires on my fancy foes dh bike…

Stranger: "Wow! Is that a Foes DHS Mono 2:1?"
Riding Buddies: "Oh crap, we're gonna be here for another 20 mins"

gary asking questions about bike riding?!? i thought you knew everything!

whenever you get into a tough section just ride the stem

what about travel and HA

does everyone just set up in long travel all year? or change things around from course to course.

the gambler has an adjustable HA. is 64 the ideal, or should i be messing with the the 65.

800m bars!?! i'm on a 20mm rise 730 bar now and it feels really good. the SUPER wide felt like landing a jumbo jet. how about some feedback from riders under 5'10" on this one..brant, cory?

thanks,
gary

64 head angle for aggressive "pushing" for speed. 65 head angle for better cornering ability. Its your choice really but with a slacker head angle it will make it feel easier and have a lesser tendency to get jerked forward. I can't comment on how much travel though.

I'm using an uncut 745mm wide bar on my DH bike and thats more than wide enough for me and I'm around 6' tall … I think 730mm with a 20mm is probably about perfect.

HA wise I think anything between 64 and 65 degrees would be good. Maybe split the difference and run 64.5 degrees. 64.5 seems to be where a lot of DH bikes are ending up right now. I'd also keep the Gambler in full travel mode unless you're on a smoother more pedally course.

Well Gary, its Eric…I am under 5'9…ride a foes…which is long travel bike…with a Boxxer up front…HA is 65…I run a short straightline stem 10 degree rise and a flat cromag bar that is about 760mm…bit tight in da trees but stable. I found the bike is better with a low front end thus the flat bars…I ramp up the fork/shock air settings a bit on a small courses like the Rat race or Kamloops (the curnutt is good for that)…that gives me a bit of pedal platform of sorts with out killing the travel…but other than that full travel all year round…but what do I know eh?

Jackson, Blogg, Johnnie p, Enns, Cory, Beatty, me….its gonna be a good year of trash talk and hard results!!!!! We gotta beat up on old man Enns! Johnnie tried and broke his hand in the end!!!:P