# Another great HT downhill video



## richj8990 (Apr 4, 2017)

Although I'm really glad I did not get the new Fox 32 Step Cast that he's riding. It took a serious beating. And it can't run more than a 2.4. But other than that he did pretty good with that fork and no dropper post. 2.2 tires is super ballsy.


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## AdamR83 (Jan 21, 2021)

Superb! You can see his thought processes in choosing lines rather than just smashing through stuff like you would on a big bike.

Proof we are almost all over-biked.

Proof that faster isn't necessarily more fun.

Proof its the rider, not the bike.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

AdamR83 said:


> Superb! You can see his thought processes in choosing lines rather than just smashing through stuff like you would on a big bike.
> 
> Proof we are almost all over-biked.
> 
> ...


um...? looks like "proof" that DH bikes are designed really well for their intended purpose to me? 

I mean I get that it's also fun to be underbiked and have to work for it. I have a bike for that. All bikes are fun! But I don't think you can say it's proof were all over biked.


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## AdamR83 (Jan 21, 2021)

stiingya said:


> Looks like "proof" that DH bikes are designed really well for their intended purpose to me?


You raise a valid point, and I agree!

Perhaps my thoughts didn't translate into text very well... Still having trouble, but maybe I mean that a lot of people drag round a big burly bike that is a hindrance for 95% of the ride, in order to make the most of the 5% (and my brain made a bit of a leap to 'overbiked'). I guess its where you place your emphasis on fun


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

For sure it's where you place your emphasis on fun! So you have a point there. Just that I think we tend to pick on newbs with enduro bikes a bit too much. I mean if you only have one bike it's not a bad way to go. A LOT of riders prefer and emphasise the decent in their bike set up. Sure your gonna find people that never ride enough and never end up on the terrain an enduro bike is built for. But the flip side is you also see plenty of riders on XC race bikes who never race or ride fast or hard enough and would probably be better served by a different bike. (overbiked, but in a different way)

Some bikes put climbing over descending, some bikes are balanced, a LOT of bike preference descending. I'd have rather been on a honzo, paradox, doctohawk, etc. riding the terrain in the video than what he was riding!!


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## noapathy (Jun 24, 2008)

Too easy...


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

noapathy said:


> Too easy...


Amazing, but no Fort William...


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## richj8990 (Apr 4, 2017)

It's also nice to know that sometimes forks just lose stuff on bumps like his rebound adjust. My 120mm Manitou Machete seems like a great fork for $400, but three things are already busted on it and it's only been about 3000 miles, mostly pavement, gravel, fire roads. As Adam said above, 5% downhill, maybe 10% total singletrack. So if 300 miles singletrack, three things busted on it? Air spring still fine. Rebound knob fell off just like his did, I heard something fall, didn't know for about a week it was that knob. Axle hexlock on fork also rattled off. Luckily a few large spacers and an M10 bolt substituted just fine. Compression adjust cannot click anymore, it works but it moves around a bit. I mean...yes this fork is 32mm stanchions like his in the video but 3 things broken when I don't even do any jumps or drops more than a couple feet high? Maybe it's time for 34mm?


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## AdamR83 (Jan 21, 2021)

stiingya said:


> the flip side is you also see plenty of riders on XC race bikes who never race or ride fast or hard enough and would probably be better served by a different bike. (overbiked, but in a different way)


This is a really good point. Thanks for changing my opinion!


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## noapathy (Jun 24, 2008)

richj8990 said:


> It's also nice to know that sometimes forks just lose stuff on bumps like his rebound adjust. My 120mm Manitou Machete seems like a great fork for $400, but three things are already busted on it and it's only been about 3000 miles, mostly pavement, gravel, fire roads. As Adam said above, 5% downhill, maybe 10% total singletrack. So if 300 miles singletrack, three things busted on it? Air spring still fine. Rebound knob fell off just like his did, I heard something fall, didn't know for about a week it was that knob. Axle hexlock on fork also rattled off. Luckily a few large spacers and an M10 bolt substituted just fine. Compression adjust cannot click anymore, it works but it moves around a bit. I mean...yes this fork is 32mm stanchions like his in the video but 3 things broken when I don't even do any jumps or drops more than a couple feet high? Maybe it's time for 34mm?


Don't blame the equipment. The things you describe aren't going to be magically fixed by going to a burlier or more expensive fork. Bolts rattle loose on bikes, period. You need to check that stuff more frequently than every 3K miles or this will continue. It's called basic maintenance.


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

noapathy said:


> Don't blame the equipment. The things you describe aren't going to be magically fixed by going to a burlier or more expensive fork. Bolts rattle loose on bikes, period. You need to check that stuff more frequently than every 3K miles or this will continue. It's called basic maintenance.


Plus for some rockin the home built stuff, don’t forget about the basic saddle maintenance…

😝


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

A DH bike would be 10x more fun on that terrain. Maybe 100x.


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

noapathy said:


> Too easy...


Man, the YouTube effect is real in that video. The squirrel catcher looks like barely more than a curb but in real life it's about a 5' drop.


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## *OneSpeed* (Oct 18, 2013)

It looked like he was really exaggerating the drama a few times. I mean common, 6" high rocks cause you to hoot and holler and give you pause? I get that everything looks easier in a video, just seemed pretty manageable and overly dramatic at times.

I also think it would be a more relevant data point, and more fun to watch, to see this DH run done on a better suited hardtail like mentioned above. Something with a 140-160mm fork and modern geo. A full on XC race bike with no dropper is just kind of silly and taking it too far. Plus that video was twice as long as it needed to be. We all knew it was going to be a terrible idea, no surprises here.


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## dysfunction (Aug 15, 2009)

Nat said:


> A DH bike would be 10x more fun on that terrain. Maybe 100x.


You might still be aiming low. There's not a lot of fun there


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

That was a pretty unsatisfying vid. The rider showed a few moments of smoothness, but overall it looked like his tires were wayyyy too jacked up, and he seemed heavy on the front wheel. Bordering on pointless. Which, I guess, is the point.(?)

Although it highlights what a BIG difference an AM HT would be. ...dropper, slack HA, 140mm fork... that would probably actually be fun.

-F


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## cassieno (Apr 28, 2011)

Agreed - they should have had Blake with his all mountain hardtail. Blake's hardtail content on GMBN is usually pretty good. Because he rides a normal one - and not an XC bike doing non-XC things...


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## Funoutside (Jul 17, 2019)

Would have been more interesting to watch with a modern/progressive geo XC bike rather than the older geo on the Canyon.


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## DGUSMC (Jan 29, 2021)

AdamR83 said:


> You raise a valid point, and I agree!
> 
> Perhaps my thoughts didn't translate into text very well... Still having trouble, but maybe I mean that a lot of people drag round a big burly bike that is a hindrance for 95% of the ride, in order to make the most of the 5% (and my brain made a bit of a leap to 'overbiked'). I guess its where you place your emphasis on fun


I guess it depends on the nature of the “outlier. If the 5% of track is going to kill you, then it doesn’t really matter that it’s only 5%. Hard to swallow a weighted average outcome range when one scenario = death.

I want a bike that lets me comfortably ride the hardest stuff the way I want, and given the variety of difficulty on most local trails here that means I probably have more bike than I need most of the time. I admit to preferring the reasonably high confidence of making it back to the truck, and the fun meter is always higher for me rocking the hard stuff than going fast on simple s__t. 

A big fork on a modern steel hardtail has seemed to be a decent solution so far.


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## jonshonda (Apr 21, 2011)

Lots of critics here that might need to ride a bike like that before placing judgement on the level of enjoyment felt riding similar trails. That is far from a point and shoot bike, which has it's advantages and obvious disadvantages. But the main point is that is is much harder to ride a bike like that on those types of trails vs some all mountain sled. You have to be very very active on the bike to ensure bad sh!t doesn't happen.


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

jonshonda said:


> Lots of critics here that might need to ride a bike like that before placing judgement on the level of enjoyment felt riding similar trails. That is far from a point and shoot bike, which has it's advantages and obvious disadvantages. But the main point is that is is much harder to ride a bike like that on those types of trails vs some all mountain sled. You have to be very very active on the bike to ensure bad sh!t doesn't happen.


What, a xc hardtail? Who _hasn't_ ridden a bike like that? It's all there was for a long time. It's much harder to ride on a DH track because it's not the right tool for the job.


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## jonshonda (Apr 21, 2011)

Nat said:


> What, a xc hardtail? Who _hasn't_ ridden a bike like that? It's all there was for a long time. It's much harder to ride on a DH track because it's not the right tool for the job.


Exactly. Sometime torture is fun!


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

jonshonda said:


> Exactly. Sometime torture is fun!


Pffft. Have at it. On your left!


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## sselhtrim (Nov 6, 2021)

What if it was blake on that xc hardtail? 🤔


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