# Interested in starting Downhill/Freeride ( This bike ok for starters ? )



## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

Ok im a total rookie, Im searching another sport i can do. i used to skateboard and was doing it all the time but now im 22 and i don't realy have a sport thats realy active where you can exell and grow. I wanne try something new so tought i would give this a go. who know maybe ill like it and can't realy do nothing but improve my conditioning

What i wanted to know if this crappy bike could stand a little bit of a beating ? its an 8 year old bike i had lying around. Im scared that if i hit a jump the front might give way and ill be smashing my face 
















I know it its a peace of .... mountain bike but im not gonne buy a whole new bike for something i might stop doing a month from now. 

Peace


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## nhrider90 (Feb 21, 2009)

that bike is not ok for downhill or freeride


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

The thing is i have 0 money. So its either doing something with this thing or its sitting infront of the tv


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## spazzy (Aug 15, 2004)

you could go out and ride trails with it, but i wouldnt use it for dh/fr


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## beereppc (Apr 25, 2007)

You are a skateboarder.... have you ever tried to do serious riding on a $15 department store skateboard? Not only is it not a lot of fun, it is a recipe for incurring some real hurt, and thats exactly what you will be doing with that bike. 
These are your options:

First of all, for downhill biking you would go to some lift-serviced resort (most likely); at this place they will have rental bikes, try that out for starters. 

If you just want to start riding, I'm sure there is some xc trails where you live that are not too technical, you could take your bike there and try to ride them. You will find very quickly that you wont be able to get that piece of junk up the hill because its too heavy and the drivetrain wont function (its probably worn after 8 years). Then when you start going downhill things will immediately start to break. However, if you take it easy you might be able to get an idea of how much you like biking before the thing is unrideable. 

Best thing to do is to scrap some money together and get a decent ($400-$600) hardtail and start riding xc. Downhill isnt the place to start for most people because it a)requires a lot of technical skill b) is the most expensive.


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

beereppc said:


> You are a skateboarder.... have you ever tried to do serious riding on a $15 department store skateboard? Not only is it not a lot of fun, it is a recipe for incurring some real hurt, and thats exactly what you will be doing with that bike.
> These are your options:
> 
> First of all, for downhill biking you would go to some lift-serviced resort (most likely); at this place they will have rental bikes, try that out for starters.
> ...


Yea your absolutely right. Its realy a bad bike hehe . I kinda knew it but i still wanne make the best of it you know  But buying a hardtail for downhilling doesnt sound to fun 
. Like you said im just gonne go on a small local xc trail for now and work on my endurance a bit.

How much would it cost to rent a bike at a resort ? Sounds like a verry good idea i might go do that in a month or so. i live about 3 houres away from Winterberg http://www.bikepark-winterberg.de/index.php?id=10


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## nachomc (Apr 26, 2006)

I predict injury.


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

nachomc said:


> I predict injury.


So why don't you give me some advice then instead of that great quote:drumroll:


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## beereppc (Apr 25, 2007)

SimonTemplar said:


> How much would it cost to rent a bike at a resort ? Sounds like a verry good idea i might go do that in a month or so. i live about 3 houres away from Winterberg http://www.bikepark-winterberg.de/index.php?id=10


My german isnt that great these days but rental prices are on the website if im not mistaken: http://www.bikepark-winterberg.de/index.php?id=105
good luck


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## nachomc (Apr 26, 2006)

SimonTemplar said:


> So why don't you give me some advice then instead of that great quote:drumroll:


I think you should work on your basic bike skills considerably before you try down hill riding and free riding. Those guys go _fast_, are jumping, etc, in very extreme terrain. If you don't know what you're doing, and/or you're riding a janky ass bike, you're gonna get hurt.


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

Yea thats true, Gonne ride on my bike a bit more. But when you go to ski or snowboard and your a beginner you still go on slopes where advanced people go and they just ski past you. And its not like i have to learn how to ride a bike from 0. I could just go slower its not like i have to jump over big gaps if i don't want to. What do you think ? I think it would be fun to go for 2 days with friends and just have fun.


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## Hellrazor666 (Oct 27, 2008)

You don't wanna use that bike on downhill. When riding downhill better riders wont be able to pass you because you will be sprawled out all over the trail using that bike  Stick to rode riding with that thing. Once your skills improve then save for a better suited bike you will be much happier and in one piece


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## EndersShadow (Jun 27, 2008)

Hellrazor666 said:


> You don't wanna use that bike on downhill. When riding downhill better riders wont be able to pass you because you will be sprawled out all over the trail using that bike  Stick to rode riding with that thing. Once your skills improve then save for a better suited bike you will be much happier and in one piece


I cant help myself.....RODE RIDING? BAHAHA. :thumbsup:


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## zadey1234 (May 7, 2007)

Hahah, I tried to ride a local downhill track with a bike like that when I started riding a few years ago. I snapped the frame on the way down. Now on my chromo rigid, I can fly through it like there's no tomorrow.


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## Call_me_Al (May 31, 2008)

SimonTemplar said:


> Im scared that if i hit a jump the front might give way and ill be smashing my face


That's pretty much what will happen.


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## Hellrazor666 (Oct 27, 2008)

EndersShadow said:


> I cant help myself.....RODE RIDING? BAHAHA. :thumbsup:


I have been lacking sleep latley awaiting knee surgery so I'm a little off  The brain doesn't not function well with an avg of 4 hrs a sleep a night for couple weeks  t(0.0t)


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## Stevirey (Jul 16, 2005)

*ride bike*

Ride that POS!It will be great exercise.Actually I rode a similar piece of work,new,rode it off a curb and was surprised.All be it a 40 pound bike.16 1/2 bike.If you can get it up a trail,might still be fun going down.Just don't push it.You got to ask yourself,How fast do I want to going when a catastrophic failure happens.Head tube could snap off,chain stays,etc.
But I would ride it till I was totally sick of it and get a decent bike and you will feel like you died and went to heaven.


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

Yea im gonne do it a bit easy with this bike and if i still like it in a while im gonne get myself a good bike

But check out these fellas doing some downhill on ridiculous bikes if they can do it why cant i


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## Stevirey (Jul 16, 2005)

*what bike*

Back in the day a lot of bikes were built like tanks.Your bike might weight as much as a tank,,just not as strong.Simple answer.


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## davez26 (Dec 2, 2004)

Like the rest, I have to agree downhill is something you work up to, and the equipment follows the same progression. 
Sorry man, but the bike isn't up to snuff, Spend some time flogging the beginning board, search 'huffy' or 'walmart' to get an ideas of experiences on that level of bikes. You may just want to check the bike. Some actually have a sticker saying 'not for off trail use'.

We are just looking out for you Bro.


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

Yea i know I just went on a little xc trial and the bike is already feeling like a piece of crap. The more i hit little jumps and bumps the more the bike feels like **** , Feels like it could fall apart any second. and the tires role realy bad i have to pedal constantly. This is a bummer I gues i just gonne have to use it on the street wich is not realy any fun. How will i know if i want to start downhill if i don't have a decent bike for it  

What did you guys do to get into downhilling ?


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## JimC. (Dec 30, 2003)

*the facts for you*

that bike is a dept store special, in North America they come equipped with a sticker warning that it isn't intended for off road use. See the STICKY post in 'beginners' forum" at the top on dept store bikes.

Nutshell version: it's intended to look pretty for adolescents. It's NOT intended for off road use.

How to get started: get a job, save your money, and expect to spend at least $1-2,000 on a decent starter DH bike. Top end FR/DH bikes cost $4,000 and up.










If you search around here enough, you'll find videos of unfortunate maroons that had to jump, and broke frames on impact-and on video. The bike is junk, don't use it for anything other than town/city riding.

Jim


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## ae111black (Dec 27, 2008)

go watch some of the you tube vids of people riding/destroying bikes like that and see how easy they break!! I personally would brake that in minuets.....


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## LifeRiver36 (Mar 17, 2009)

use that bike to ride as much as possible to get your legs in shape and by the time you save up enough for an entry level hard tail your body will be able to go hit some trails and it will be like driving a porsche compared to that geo tracker of a bike you have


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

Yes sir i will do that  I got some weak little legs


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## lampy29 (Oct 16, 2008)

If the money is the difference between sitting in front of the tv and getting a safe ride (that bike isn't safe for DH / FR) buy some Asics shoes and run. It'll get you off the couch and puts you in some pretty amazing shape for riding  It's not worth risking your life on an unsafe bike... as soon as you get $400 scraped together pick up a hard tail and shred!


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

Yes your right ! And i think it would be a good idea to get a hardtail because i don't realy think i will need fully right about now at the stage im at 

And i actualy got maybe like 400 / 500 euro's right about now. Wich is 521 / 652 USD

I saw this bike on the internet just now is it any good ? Banshee morphine http://www.bansheebikes.com/bikes/morphine.html


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## stuntz (Sep 16, 2008)

someone may correct me if i'm wrong, but that link appears to point to just a frame...if that is so you will need to purchase a buildup kit of some sort, or purchase parts separately. jenson usa and several other online retailers offer "kits" (deraileurs, cranks, brakes, etc), you will also probably need a fork...you are looking at ALOT more than 650 USD for this bike...

i've not been into this very long, but have done ALOT of looking and research on various brands of bikes, and that is what it appears to be from my perspective....


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## mch0309 (Apr 9, 2009)

You would almost certainly have a serious spinal/brain injury... if not death, that thing would snap in seconds...

Go to your LBS (Local bike shop), check out what they have in used hardtails. Buy a solid bike. Develop skills and tear it up on xc trails or all-mountain. For the love of god don't ride that bike. The general rule is you shouldn't buy a full suspension bike that costs less than ~$1,500-1,750. If your into jumps and stuff, you may want to check out some dirtjumping bikes. They are specifically made hardtails and cheaper, but you will still need solid skills before your should attempt that. 

Good luck and be safe.


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## Hardtail Rider (Dec 21, 2008)

How about this for starters....

http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/hardtails/komodo/09_komodo1.html

P.S

The Banshee is sold as Frame-Only,


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## belowambient (May 17, 2008)

Hardtail Rider said:


> How about this for starters....
> 
> http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/hardtails/komodo/09_komodo1.html
> 
> ...


Those bikes are so much fun... ill probably pick one up for jumping


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

Damn i was hoping it was the whole bike  So what is the diffrence those jump bikes and freeride / downhill hardtails ?


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## nhrider90 (Feb 21, 2009)

the geometry of the frame. speaking from personal experience, you might not want a hardtail for downhill. start with an entry level hardtail riding some xc


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## stuntz (Sep 16, 2008)

i would have to agree on the style of riding...start w/ xc...it's not as easy as it looks...depending on what type of trails are in your area you can still get a few short bursts of "downhill"....i started out looking at vids on youtube and other places on downhilling and thought that was mtb'ing, but i wouldn't trade xc right now for anything...

just ride somewhere and over time, you'll figure out what type of riding you want to do..i would have to 2nd some of the other people on here and get an entry level hardtail and see if that's something you want and work your way up from there...


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

Ok so what do you guys think people gave me some sugestions and these 2 bikes are the ones mostly came to my mind. Also because it seems to be affordable

Also i think it would be more affordable if i break something with a hardtail then with a fully.

Kona - Shred










Specialized p1










What do you guys think ? A kona Five 0 seems verry nice aswell but i think thats a bit to exspensive right now only got like 600 euro's / 776 USD

Does anybody know a good website close to belgium( or in belgium ) where i can order one and maybe pick it up there aswell ?


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## belowambient (May 17, 2008)

http://www.fietsen-loomans.be

http://www.fietsengert.be

im not really sure what your location is but speicalized along with other dealers mentioned have dealer locators from their prospective websites... specialized dealers can be found from this page http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCDealerLoc.jsp


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## ae111black (Dec 27, 2008)

those would both be good choices for bikes I would be partial to the spec....


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## JimC. (Dec 30, 2003)

*here you go...*

hope this helps, Jim

http://www.konaworld.com/09_dealers_int.htm


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

Ok so im gonne buy the kona Shred 2009 in a couple weeks but im wondering what size frame i should get ? how do you know ? Im 1m 71


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## LeeGro (Apr 20, 2008)

those bikes are both stunt jumper style bikes. Dont you want like a mountain bike?


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## Ray Lee (Aug 17, 2007)

Rent a bike at the DH/FR parks, I go fast enough to have a ton fun but I would consider myself very SLOW in the grand scheme of things and even at my speeds it was much much more fun with a big bike mainly due to the extremely slack head tube angles and amazing brakes and not the huge travel (4 feet is about as high as this old dude wants to fly )

I see some pretty low cost bikes on the single track (sometime passing me on the way up:madman dont let that discourage you just keep in mind as you get better and better your bike isnt and at some point you will need a stronger or better ride..... also know that upgrading can end up costing a ton more that just sucking it up and buying a decent bike.

Keep and eye out for good used "trail bikes" or "all mountain bikes" not free ride or downhill but can take a surprising amount of abuse and work great going up and down... if you do live in an area with enough DH trails and shuttle spots (lucky you) it seems like people over buy... I see a ton of barely used DH bikes on Ebay and Craigs List.



SimonTemplar said:


> Yea i know I just went on a little xc trial and the bike is already feeling like a piece of crap. The more i hit little jumps and bumps the more the bike feels like **** , Feels like it could fall apart any second. and the tires role realy bad i have to pedal constantly. This is a bummer I gues i just gonne have to use it on the street wich is not realy any fun. How will i know if i want to start downhill if i don't have a decent bike for it
> 
> What did you guys do to get into downhilling ?


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## vertex112 (Nov 23, 2008)

I agree, you should just get a "General Purpose XC bike" that would be capable of getting a taste of all of the different types of mountain biking before you take the plunge on a purpose specific Dirt Jumper bike. The difference is in what you are able to do with it. The dirt jump bike are great bikes, but I wouldn't want to ride that thing up a climb. Something with a burlier frame, but with XC design integration would be perfect for what you want to do.


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## stuntz (Sep 16, 2008)

i would agree with the above 2 posts...you can ride those bikes on trails, but you will notice a BIG difference in how and shred or P1 handles on certain aspects of trail riding as opposed to say a spec rockhopper or a trek 4/6 series bike...the later are good entry level bikes that are within your price range. 

then again, it is your money and you'll find that a bike that works for one doesn't work for another, so you may be happy with one of the two prospects that you have in mind...


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

vertex112 said:


> I agree, you should just get a "General Purpose XC bike" that would be capable of getting a taste of all of the different types of mountain biking before you take the plunge on a purpose specific Dirt Jumper bike. The difference is in what you are able to do with it. The dirt jump bike are great bikes, but I wouldn't want to ride that thing up a climb. Something with a burlier frame, but with XC design integration would be perfect for what you want to do.


Yea i don't realy wanne do much uphill riding tough  i wanne go down with some jumps here and there

i wanne get to riding something like this -> http://www.pinkbike.com/video/15424/


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## [email protected] (Feb 3, 2008)

SimonTemplar said:


> Yea im gonne do it a bit easy with this bike and if i still like it in a while im gonne get myself a good bike
> 
> But check out these fellas doing some downhill on ridiculous bikes if they can do it why cant i


lololololol great vid. check out the bike at 00:58min. the toptube fracture just behind the headtube lol


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## nhrider90 (Feb 21, 2009)

could be done on a hard tail, not by a beginner. also, if you're going to do stuff like that, you need to find a local mountain that has jumps like that. if not, your gonna wind up hiking and building, alot more work than biking up hill then down for xc.


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## SimonTemplar (Apr 11, 2009)

nhrider90 said:


> could be done on a hard tail, not by a beginner. also, if you're going to do stuff like that, you need to find a local mountain that has jumps like that. if not, your gonna wind up hiking and building, alot more work than biking up hill then down for xc.


Yea i got some locations around my erea where some bike parks are not to far a drive


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## vertex112 (Nov 23, 2008)

Then get a more freeride designed frame? My old 08 Norco Wolverine was a great beginner bike, because it allowed me to try out everything. It could handle light freeride and light DH. Even so, it's not a full-on DH/freeride rig. What you want to get into will take years to get to that level of riding. I bet you will soon find out that even simple trail riding will be a challenge for a beginner. Bike handling skill like what you want comes with time. You can't just get on a BMX bike and know all of the tricks of that sport. So in my opinion, learn how to ride a bike first, then wait until you are capable of DH/FR, and buy a bike designed for those respective sports. I remember when I first started riding, I thought that I was "all-that" because I thought I was pretty good on a bike. Turns out to be a big disappointment, because riding in your local neighborhood on a huffy bike is incredibly different from riding in the trails efficiently and safely.


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