# DH bike for a short girl



## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

What's a good bike and setup for a 5'-0" girls who weighs 120lbs?

Most DH bikes are made and setup for a much taller heavier rider. My daughter needs a race setup that fits her well and where the suspension works for her weight. 

She wants a V10 but I cannot find a Small anywhere in stock. The SCB website shows the Standover Height the same between and Small and Medium V10 at 29.4". She's tried a M V10 and it's just too tall, so logic would dictate a Small would be the same in terms of standover unless there's a different setup. 

Maybe a Demo 7/8 or a SX Trail setup? Specialized seems to be friendlier for vertically challenged folks. 

Help me out here, I figure someone else out there has dealt with this before.

Time is of the essence. My daughter will be racing at the World Championships in Jr. Women DH and needs a bike. She qualified by racing DH at the Sea Otter on her Nomad and at the Nationals on a rented Demo 8 with a single crown fork. I think she will need a real bike for the Mont Sainte Anne's course.

Please chime in!


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

fat.tires said:


> What's a good bike and setup for a 5'-0" girls who weighs 120lbs?
> 
> Most DH bikes are made and setup for a much taller heavier rider. My daughter needs a race setup that fits her well and where the suspension works for her weight.
> 
> ...


maybe get the small and run 24inch rim/tires front and back


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## 11053 (Sep 19, 2009)

Take a look at the Giant Glory in XS/S.


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## EastBay_Slim (Jan 4, 2007)

jenson has a small intense 951 in stock (signal blue) - 28" stand over and 22" top tube.


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## DeanH (Jan 9, 2008)

wait for the new demo 2011, they come in XS too ? it should hit the shops very soon 

other then that, have a look at the intense SS2, in small, might actually be a much better choice


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## Guest (Aug 15, 2010)

Transition Syren? Freeride/DH bike designed for female riders.


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## supramk388 (Mar 6, 2007)

Small Jedi would work great :thumbsup:



imaorobbie said:


> Transition Syren? Freeride/DH bike designed for female riders.


Not a good choice those frames crack very easy. I know a chic who cracked 3 locally.


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## samdemo (Oct 25, 2005)

My wife has a Turner DHR and at 5'2" and a 120 lbs she loves it. She looked at a ton of bikes before she found one that fit her well. She has a shorter inseam, so stand over was a big issue too. Highly recommend checking them out, but i think Go-ride now only has mediums left, so I guess you would be looking at the used market, if you ended up going that way.


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## kntr (Jan 25, 2004)

ancientwisdom said:


> jenson has a small intense 951 in stock (signal blue) - 28" stand over and 22" top tube.


Im 5'9" and I ride a small.


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## joelsman (Apr 4, 2006)

I have friend who is 5ft 0in and she rides the xs giant glory, 09 i think. heavy but it fits. 
here is the 2010, lighter than 09,redesigned.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/model/glory.0/4027/36669/


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## William42 (Oct 29, 2006)

the new DHR has a super small size, the demo will have a super small size for 2011, the jedi I think has a small size? possibly a revolt?


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## MqtRider (Mar 22, 2004)

*6" travel bike is fine*

My wife is on a transition bottle rocket with a 36 on the front and 24" wheels. Mega stand over and flickability. GEO is what's important. With the Cane Creek ANGLESET headset that's available in Sept...you can now make a 66 degree 6" travel bike into a slack 64.5 degree DH geo frame with a 6" fork. Assuming it's a full 1.5" headtube and you use a full 1 1/8" steerer tube fork. Flex won't be an issue for her anyhow.

Keep the weight ubber low, I mean Weight Weenie. At 5'0, there's no way she can generate enough strength to throw around a 40lbs+ DH bike. It's pure physics with someone that small. Also keep the handlebars super low, no spacers under the stem, 0 degree rise stem, and minimal rise handlebars. Again, physics of a small rider. At her weight, there's no way she's going to break even XC parts.

What I've found after many tries, is girls want as much standover as possible for DH. It boosts their confidence to know they'll never smash their crotch no matter how gnarly it gets and they can get away from their bike.

Oh, and go air sprung suspension front and rear. You'll never figure out a spring combination for someone that light and use all the travel. Air will allow you to make the suspension buttery smooth and allow all the travel to be used.


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## Quarashi (Aug 23, 2006)

Second the Jedi. Low stand over, short chainstay length, great bike.

But the V10 has the advantage of leverage ration though. I don't know if there are springs soft enough for a 100lbs rider on normal leverage rations.


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## supermoto (Jan 26, 2004)

my 2010 small Glory is not very small. My friends' 08 DHR's (still available thru Go-Ride, I believe are TINY and are great bikes.


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## atenciole (Jan 28, 2007)

My wife is 5'0" and she rides an XS Haro x.6.75. You will def need an xs frame.


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## Swell Guy (Jan 20, 2005)

Transition Syren.


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## Triple8Sol (Aug 21, 2009)

I think you'll have better luck steering away from full on dh bikes and looking into more of a mini-dh or 4x type bike. Like others have said, you want the lightest frame/build, possible, air fork/shock, and lower standover the better, prob lower bb too.


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## JMH (Feb 23, 2005)

Triple8Sol said:


> I think you'll have better luck steering away from full on dh bikes and looking into more of a mini-dh or 4x type bike. Like others have said, you want the lightest frame/build, possible, air fork/shock, and lower standover the better, prob lower bb too.


Agreed. Look for a mini-dh bike with a *low front end* and *short chainstays* that you will actually be able to steer and control. Low and slack with wide bars will still be nice, but you don't want the height or the wheelbase of a big rig. I think the weight of the bike is the least important of the issues folks have listed, I have found that smaller riders can still benefit from stiff, responsive forks, coil shocks and good tires, etc. as long as the bike is a package they can handle.

At your size, a full DH bike is going to be like strapping a squirrel to a boulder and pushing it down the mountain.

Oh, and if you haven't already, ask in the Women's Lounge.

JMH


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

Some great advice in here, thank you, we have plaenty of homework to do. Been asking around and speaking with other women who are of the same height/weight and riding DH. We did hear from one small woman DH rider that a heavyish bike for her is better than uber lightweight as it helps the suspension work and reduces the pinball effect when she's bombing dh. 

Seems like the best option is to find something designed for that type of rider, and obviously the options are few. The industry is geared toward the average sized rider, and for those that are either short or very tall the options are fewer.

We'll stay away from the 24" wheels under the concept that a 26" wheel can roll over 13" stuff. She needs standover and needs to test ride it. The fit is more important than getting a burly bike. Slack head angle, good fit, 8 inch bike

Time is of the essence for us as my daughter has qualified for the World Championships (jr woman dh) at Mont Sainte Anne in 2 weeks and her current bike - a Nomad, is way too small. She qualfied at the Nationals on a rented Driver 8 with a single crown fork up front. She may end up going that route as that shop is willing to now sell her that bike. Huge plug for Sol Vista, their trails, bike shop and management. great all around experience.

We hear the new DH course at Mont Saint Anne is long (3k )and could be gnarly. Designed to challenge the worlds best male riders.


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## gticlay (Dec 13, 2007)

You should take a look at the Firebird as well. They say it can take the Fox 40/888/etc and has super low standover and a short TT and CS's.


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## dhmatt (Jul 11, 2008)

This is what I did up for my better half. I am sorry for the link for some reason I could not post the pictures.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=603069


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## DiRt DeViL (Dec 24, 2003)

Transition Syren and consider 24" wheels


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

That's a sweet looking rig for sure!

The latest update for my kid is - 
We found one of her buddies (boy) in town who is about her height and exactly the same weight has a V10 that he set up for his weight/height. The standover is a bit tight, but not bad, and once on the bike the sag brings it down to the right level and it looked and rode well for her. He picked up a 300# spring for the shock and a super light spring for the 40 that Fox has for a 90-120 lb rider.

Since she'll be racing a gnarly course at Mont Sainte Anne, and other ploaces, we decided that a full DH rig would be a better route than a smaller bike with a single crown fork. Longer travel, slacker head angle being a better choice - so we think.

She's never been sponsored, so we pulled together her race resume for the past 2 years, and contacted some shops, and manufacturers including Santa Cruz Bikes directly. Most of the contacts based upon this thread and PMs, thank you all it seems to be working.

SCB were willing to work with us on this and give her some sponsorship help and we now have a V10 on order from SCB, which should arrive in time - so they say. Her friend has generously offered to loan his bike to her, so our backup plan would be to borrow the V10 for the race. Craziness continues. 

Fingers crossed. I'll update this post with pics once we get it built up.


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## Kaizer (Jul 19, 2010)

fat.tires said:


> That's a sweet looking rig for sure!
> 
> The latest update for my kid is -
> We found one of her buddies (boy) in town who is about her height and exactly the same weight has a V10 that he set up for his weight/height. The standover is a bit tight, but not bad, and once on the bike the sag brings it down to the right level and it looked and rode well for her. He picked up a 300# spring for the shock and a super light spring for the 40 that Fox has for a 90-120 lb rider.
> ...


All the best sir.


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## TCR1 (Mar 25, 2004)

fat.tires said:


> That's a sweet looking rig for sure!
> 
> The latest update for my kid is -
> We found one of her buddies (boy) in town who is about her height and exactly the same weight has a V10 that he set up for his weight/height. The standover is a bit tight, but not bad, and once on the bike the sag brings it down to the right level and it looked and rode well for her. He picked up a 300# spring for the shock and a super light spring for the 40 that Fox has for a 90-120 lb rider.
> ...


Did you get the bike yet? It has been 20 minutes

Very happy for you and your daughter. Have you seen videos of Mt Saint Anne? Pretty awesome. Should be a good platform for her!


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## MikeyOrange (Feb 25, 2005)

DiRt DeViL said:


> Transition Syren and consider 24" wheels


A little late...


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

SCB was totally on top of this. Ordered on Tue and the bike (minus a wheel set) made it here Thu. I'm picking up a set of WTB SD wheels today, and should have it built up in less than 3 beers. 

We've seen the videos of the lower part of the Mt Sainte Anne course but have not seen a thing of the 1k top portion that is being added for the World Championship. Weather there is 60's with rain showers daily for the past 10 days. We are from CA, SF Bay Area, so we have not seen much moisture since April. We are expecting steep and super nasty root infested rock gardens. 

We dropped her off at her new college crib yesterday, so she will not have a chance to ride this thing until she comes home next weekend. She thinks college is now getting in the way of life, great.... Maybe a day at Northstar next weekend, then off to MSA. Craziness continues.


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## newskoolbiker (Oct 17, 2005)

fat.tires said:


> SCB was totally on top of this. Ordered on Tue and the bike (minus a wheel set) made it here Thu. I'm picking up a set of WTB SD wheels today, and should have it built up in less than 3 beers.
> 
> We've seen the videos of the lower part of the Mt Sainte Anne course but have not seen a thing of the 1k top portion that is being added for the World Championship. Weather there is 60's with rain showers daily for the past 10 days. We are from CA, SF Bay Area, so we have not seen much moisture since April. We are expecting steep and super nasty root infested rock gardens.
> 
> We dropped her off at her new college crib yesterday, so she will not have a chance to ride this thing until she comes home next weekend. *She thinks college is now getting in the way of life, great.... Maybe a day at Northstar next weekend, then off to MSA. Craziness continues*.


Most pro mtb ladies don't really get into racing until they're in college, and that's when they find out just how fast they are. She just needs to try and talk to some of the other ladies racing, and that should help her to figure stuff out. Also, Melissa Buhl is racing this season while completing her doctorate program.


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## TCR1 (Mar 25, 2004)

fat.tires said:


> SCB was totally on top of this. Ordered on Tue and the bike (minus a wheel set) made it here Thu. I'm picking up a set of WTB SD wheels today, and should have it built up in less than 3 beers.
> 
> We've seen the videos of the lower part of the Mt Sainte Anne course but have not seen a thing of the 1k top portion that is being added for the World Championship. Weather there is 60's with rain showers daily for the past 10 days. We are from CA, SF Bay Area, so we have not seen much moisture since April. We are expecting steep and super nasty root infested rock gardens.
> 
> We dropped her off at her new college crib yesterday, so she will not have a chance to ride this thing until she comes home next weekend. *She thinks college is now getting in the way of life*, great.... Maybe a day at Northstar next weekend, then off to MSA. Craziness continues.


HAve her look into seeing if her college has a Club Cycling team. After I finished my rugby career, I spent my last fall of Graduate school racing DH at the University of Wyoming. Got to meet a lot of fast riders, race, and had a good time...and it involved school.:thumbsup: Lisa Myklak (sp?) raced for CU when I was in school (same cycling conference) and she really started to tear it up while she was there. Fantastic rider.


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

She is at Santa Barbara City College and will be riding with the UCSB team. She's already been communicating with them and is fully distracted with riding and racing opportunities.

Melissa will be at the Worlds and Kelsey will have a chance to meet her. Good to know that Melissa is working on her doctorate, and I hope she gets a chance to learn more from the pro women.

What I seeing is that it is difficult to make a living as a pro racer, although some are very fast and do quite well, but that career is often short. Many pro's end up working in the bike industry after their racing career ends, and these companies are a great place and culture to work in. 

Stay in school, work hard play hard, stay in one piece, maybe get lucky, but don't count on it...


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## Guest (Aug 20, 2010)

> Not a good choice those frames crack very easy. I know a chic who cracked 3 locally.


Is this true with their other frames?


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## BIKESerFUN (Sep 5, 2007)

I see a lot of companies really over-forming their TT's next year and alot are lookin real low. I would wait for the new models. One thing I would recommend if i were selling to her would be the new sx trail as they are upping the travel and the size would accommodate her well with the extensive stand over.


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## 1000-oaks (Nov 15, 2006)

I think a Reign X in XS with a 180mm Marz 66 with soft springs would be a great DH rig for a 5', 120 lb rider.


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## ettore (Nov 13, 2004)

Doesn't Kona make little people versions of a ton of their bikes with 24" tires?


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## sneakyt (Jun 24, 2010)

Please post pics of the bike. Good luck to her!


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## Norcoshore1 (Apr 28, 2010)

fat.tires said:


> SCB was totally on top of this. Ordered on Tue and the bike (minus a wheel set) made it here Thu. I'm picking up a set of WTB SD wheels today, and should have it built up in less than 3 beers.
> 
> We've seen the videos of the lower part of the Mt Sainte Anne course but have not seen a thing of the 1k top portion that is being added for the World Championship. Weather there is 60's with rain showers daily for the past 10 days. We are from CA, SF Bay Area, so we have not seen much moisture since April. We are expecting steep and super nasty root infested rock gardens.
> 
> We dropped her off at her new college crib yesterday, so she will not have a chance to ride this thing until she comes home next weekend. She thinks college is now getting in the way of life, great.... Maybe a day at Northstar next weekend, then off to MSA. Craziness continues.


I wish my dad was more like you. He hates downhill biking and wants me to have nothing to do with it. All he tells me that your going to hit a tree and break your neck and that he doesnt see why i do it. As a result, my parents have completely withdrew any support of my biking activites and if i want to get to the DH trails, I have to ride my own bike their because I dont have a lisense yet and its about a 10-15km ride on a 45lb DH bike with knobby tires. Your daughter is very lucky.


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## bridgestone14 (Mar 22, 2005)

Just think about all of those extra training miles you are getting to and from the hill. A job at a bike shop would probably help too. I does suck to have parents who don't get it.


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

Careful what you wish for...they say I can be a real *******. 

For my daughter, it helps that I'm a die had mountain biker and recovering throttle junkie. I built her first mountain bike up at a point in time she did not want to ride.

Once she got into it, she wanted to dive right in with a DH rig but we both realized it would be better to first build some skills and endurance, and the best way for that was to get a lot of pedal time on an XC or trail bike. Our deal was if she raced XC, I'd support her in her DH efforts. 

So... she has raced XC for the past 2 years with a great coach and team in the NorCal High School league. She's trained hard, tons of saddle time and can drop me and a lot of my buddies on climbs. Her bike skills have improved dramatically, she's learned a lot, and at the same time taken some hard falls along the way. 

As a parent it is difficult to see your kids get hurt or put into a risky situation. We try very hard to avoid that stuff and keep you guys safe from all perils. There have been times when I have questioned my decision to get her into this...

But at the same time, as a parent it has been a hugely rewarding experience to log thousands of miles with my teenage daughter. I am very aware of the risks and potential consequences associated with riding and especially with DH racing. Her passion for this is real and it's important for individuals to have something they can pursue with passion whether it's riding or basket weaving. If you ride DH, you will crash, and hitting a tree can happen, so your folks concerns are real.

Many parents grew up playing the typical stick and ball/ team sports and don't consider mountain biking a real sport. Encourage your folks to get out and ride with you. Take them someplace easy to start with and build from there. It won't be long before they realize it's not as easy as it looks, it's great exercise, something you can do the rest of your life and that you truly enjoy riding. You may influance them this way, or ... maybe not, some folks just don't get it.


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

*Here's a couple pictures*

DH1 build
RC4 and a 40
WTB Super Duty Wheels
WTB Timber Wolves
39.5 lbs with pedals









Here's a shot with her younger sister seated with feet flat on the floor. She's the same height. Her first words were 'cool, I want one of these'


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## sneakyt (Jun 24, 2010)

Sweet bike and she's one lucky daughter.


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## Moosey (May 18, 2010)

Can i be your daughter too?


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## bing! (Jul 8, 2010)

That's a beautiful bike. I have 13 year old daughter that patronizes me with trail ride every now and then. When did your daughter really start taking to trail riding?


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

fat.tires said:


> DH1 build
> RC4 and a 40
> WTB Super Duty Wheels
> WTB Timber Wolves
> ...


This is one great thread and the support you're giving your daughter in this fun yet crazy sport is awesome! :thumbsup:

Of course that without her having the chance of riding it for now, it could be a long run, but from the picture of your other daughter it looks like the front end may be a bit too high for her. Something like the Canfield Brothers direct mount stem could be a cool upgrade to help the fitting (also not sure if the 40 can go lower).


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## William42 (Oct 29, 2006)

bike looks awesome, and best of luck at MSA, thats super rad!


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## William42 (Oct 29, 2006)

hafnz said:


> Of course that without her having the chance of riding it for now, it could be a long run, but from the picture of your other daughter it looks like the front end may be a bit too high for her. Something like the Canfield Brothers direct mount stem could be a cool upgrade to help the fitting (also not sure if the 40 can go lower).


Actually, the canfield stem is pretty long. I think its a pretty awesome piece, but its quite a bit longer then a regular stem, so it doesn't really make reach any easier. the raceface atlas stem might be a better bet, since its 10-15mm shorter? and doesn't go quite as deep. The canfield stem is 18mm deep I think, and the raceface (when flipped, it has two settings) is 8mm deep. Either way, hope she has a great time on it!


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

William42 said:


> Actually, the canfield stem is pretty long. I think its a pretty awesome piece, but its quite a bit longer then a regular stem, so it doesn't really make reach any easier. the raceface atlas stem might be a better bet, since its 10-15mm shorter? and doesn't go quite as deep. The canfield stem is 18mm deep I think, and the raceface (when flipped, it has two settings) is 8mm deep. Either way, hope she has a great time on it!


According to specs they're both 50mm in length, but the ability to flip the Raceface and fine tune it could be nicer, indeed.

Edit: Just saw that they do have a 30mm option too, Raceface 2 - Canfield 1.


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## Norcoshore1 (Apr 28, 2010)

ohhhhh damn thats a sweet ride. Your daughter is so efffin lucky. Makes my dh bike look like a piece of crap.


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

Hey Bing - it built slowly, have patience. She was on a Trailabike at 2. Pulled both my daughters all over the place. Then a geared bike, then 24" mtn bike. They were ridden a little bit. Mostly fun rides to cool places.

I built her first 26" bike, a SC Superlight when she was 13 in 8th grade. She did not ride it much, at all. None of her girlfriends rode, XC is not cool like DH, so the bike just sat there. She played Varsity Softtball in 9th grade and at the same time raced XC in the high school league and began to ride a bit more, although not much on her own. She podiumed every race but wasn't much into it. She took the year off from riding (mostly) in 10th grade and focused on dance and cheer. 

11th grade - burnt out on softball, dance and cheer, she picked up the bike again and started training and riding regularly. She raced XC all season, I bought her a Nomdad. With the Nomad she raced her first local DH races, Sea Otter DH, and DS and did well. Hooked. Her enthusiasm was fueld by some of her guy freinds who absolutely hammer on XC, DH and DS. Racing XC was tolerated for fitness. She has some very fast and talented guy friends.

12th grade - Started dropping me on climbs, realized that diet and excercise will carry you a long way. Got me off the couch more times than I should admit. Ride, ride, ride....She had a great coach (not me) during her 2 yrs of XC racing that really helped her understand what it means to be a good all around rider. She's off on a long road ride today, on the Nomad, just to get some spin time.

My younger daughter is now 13 and like you say, patronizing me with ride every now and then. The boys are pushing her to get on the high school race team. I hope she does.


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

Dang, just when I thought she was dialed. Ok, help me out the stems. The kit came with Sunline 50mm, which appears to have arise fo about 1 inch or so. What's the 50mm mean, 50mm in front of the steer tube?

The Canfield seems to be lower, with a 50mm length. I did not see a 30mm option.
The Race Face - http://www.raceface.com/components/stems/106/ looks to be a bit higher but does have a 30mm option.


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

fat.tires said:


> Dang, just when I thought she was dialed. Ok, help me out the stems. The kit came with Sunline 50mm, which appears to have arise fo about 1 inch or so. What's the 50mm mean, 50mm in front of the steer tube?
> 
> The Canfield seems to be lower, with a 50mm length. I did not see a 30mm option.
> The Race Face - http://www.raceface.com/components/stems/106/ looks to be a bit higher but does have a 30mm option.


Yep, the Canfield doesn't have a 30mm option their only model is the 50mm.
The Race face though has a 30mm version and can be flipped giving two different rises that she could try.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not familiar with the V10 and Fox 40 combo, but you can probably drop the crowns a couple of mm, also making it lower.

I was thinking about this today, Emmeline Ragot which is also quite short (not sure what's her actual height) doesn't use too many "gimmicks" (from what I've noticed) apart from the small frame (she used to ride a Turner DHR, then an Intense 951 and now an M9 all with the Point One Racing direct stem which is a 0º). And now she actually wins world cup races in addition to being world champ.

Also, if Mount Saint Anne, turns out to be steeper than what she's used to, a higher front end can help to avoid the feeling of going over the bars all the time (having the Sunline and the Race Face for instance could be a good idea to dial the overall feel when she actually gets there).

Bottom line, any option (lower, higher), will be something to get used to (while I guess that if she's shorter the lower will probably make her have a more natural attack position), specially if it's a whole new bike, since she already raced with a Driver 8 and being on the short side, it will probably be something that she's more or less used to. :thumbsup:


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## jason6142004 (Mar 1, 2009)

best of luck to your daughter! how I wish my parents would help me get started with bikes earlier! :thumbsup:


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## MqtRider (Mar 22, 2004)

Flickability she won't have. I'm sorry, but that thing is going to ride her, not the other way around. She will have a heck of a time pulling the front end up when it get's gnarly. There's no way she will be able to wheelie drop a tight gnarly 3 ft drop that requires it. Nose dive city.

Again, like I said earlier, it's pure physics of A.) women's muscular physique (especially a petite women) B.) someone that small 5'0", C.) A bike that weighs 39lbs+. 

This happens way too often, a male gets jacked up for a amature female getting into DH and buys a bike THEY would ride. They end up having a ***** of a time riding it, and either get hurt or get frustrated and give it up. THEY aren't us, and THEY need a different type of rig then a 180lbs, 5'11" male. Also, the pro level DH women aren't 5'0 120lbs, they are 5'6-5'9 and 150+ lbs and lift crazy weights. They can manhandle a 38lbs+ bike.

Nice bike however in itself.


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## CRASHDOWNHILL (Aug 22, 2010)

*V-10*

I have a small Santacruz V-10 with a custom fox coilover airshock with external reservoir (Rear) and a MRD manitou that was just custom tuned for a lighter rider (lighter spring and oil). Perfect for a lighter rider and completely tunable externally. shoot me an email i have photos and details if you like!


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## trboxman (Jul 7, 2010)

Looks like a much more reasonable seat angle too...the other one looked way more fashionable than functional....


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

Maybe, yes, maybe not. we'll find out. What we do know:

She practiced 2 day at Nationals on her Nomad and went OTB a number of times on the 2-3 foot wheelie drops, so we rented the Driver 8 she practiced one day, raced it the next. It got her through the race but she felt under biked with a single crown Totem up front. Nomad set up light at 31lbs, and the D8 at about 39. Her feeling was that bigger would have been better.

The V10 is her choice, not mine. She rode one last week set up for her weight and decided she would prefer a V10 style on a steeper more technical course.

On this topic -
The first email we got from USA Cycling was - Congratulations, blah blah blah.
Second email - her's a copy paste:
_I want to inform you that all the DH riders at the World Championships will race on the same course and the course is primarily designed to challenge the world's best Elite Men. In the past when we have taken a junior woman DH rider to the Worlds they have not been able to race due to the severe nature of the race course. I don't want to assume that you would not be able to handle the Worlds course this year but it's something to think about. I wouldn't want you to get yourself out there to Eastern Canada and then not be able to compete. I guess what I'm asking you to do is be honest with your ability and if you don't think you are up for racing on the course then the most prudent decision would be to get some more years of racing in the US under your belt and even try a World Cup if possible before committing to racing the World Championships.
_

He's right, it's a long shot for her, but all this did was light her fire. She's stubborn and highly competitive and has been working he upper body hard the last couple weeks.

So what's better in helping to pull up on nasty wheelie drops - Bars as is or slightly lower? I was thinking lower would give her more leverage but I guess it also puts her weight more forward


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

fat.tires said:


> So what's better in helping to pull up on nasty wheelie drops - Bars as is or slightly lower? I was thinking lower would give her more leverage but I guess it also puts her weight more forward


The weight does play a part in it, yet I'd say the momentum coming into a drop is far more important, to be able to preload the suspension/body and keep the whole bike balanced instead of nose heavy. And that comes with practice.

In her case, lower (by our standards) is still better, 200mm double crown forks have an axle-to-crown that probably suit average height riders better and there's no real way around it, apart from getting used to it, try and tune it with tools we have (different heights stems) and build some experience.

I don't think anyone here is having ilusions or high expectations and saying that she's going to kill it on course, yet she'll get experience, see other girls with more skills ride and above all learn from it all. Hopefully it will indeed get her fire for DH burning even more, and maker her want to train more, learn more and have more fun while doing it.

To me, these still sound like great reasons for her to go. :thumbsup:

I keep bringing her up, but again, Emmeline Ragot is short and can do it, so in essence there's no reason why fat.tires daughter won't be able to, in time. (there's some race runs of her up in Freecaster, it could help seeing her in action)


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## m-dub (Apr 22, 2005)

trboxman said:


> Looks like a much more reasonable seat angle too...the other one looked way more fashionable than functional....


I dont think world cup race bikes geo are all about fashion.
The bike/geo keeps evolving to meet the demands of the racers. I don't think slack seat tubes are because they want to look good sitting on it.


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

*Test ride results*

She came home on Friday, we dialed in the suspension, seat height and tire pressure that evening and headed up to Northstar for a half day ride on Saturday.

So far, so good, she loves it and more importantly it has improved her riding and confidence. Quick transition, no crashes, no mechanicals for the day.

1st run - Flameout top to bottom as a shake down - no issues, too easy, boring
2n and 3rd runs - Flameout to Dogbone - no issues
4th run - Flameout to Karpiel - had to session a few sections, confidence rising
5th run - Flameout to Karpiel - a couple stops and dabs
6th run - Flameout to Karpiel - clean and fast to to bottom

We had to head home early because of obligations. She left completely stoked and hungry for more.

Easy to air and land
Can hit stuff at ridiculous speeds
Smooths out rock gardens in a big way
Difficult for her to restart in nasty rock gardens
Tight steep switch backs are challenging

Off to Mt. Sainte Awesome early tomorrow!


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## Quarashi (Aug 23, 2006)

Just to throw it in there. The Legend MKII in small is TINY and quite low as well.


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2010)

2011 Demo 8 comes in size XS now. :thumbsup:


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

fat.tires said:


> She came home on Friday, we dialed in the suspension, seat height and tire pressure that evening and headed up to Northstar for a half day ride on Saturday.
> 
> So far, so good, she loves it and more importantly it has improved her riding and confidence. Quick transition, no crashes, no mechanicals for the day.
> 
> ...


Great to hear! 
Best of luck for her in Mont Sainte Anne! :thumbsup:


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## TCR1 (Mar 25, 2004)

fat.tires said:


> Maybe, yes, maybe not. we'll find out. What we do know:
> 
> She practiced 2 day at Nationals on her Nomad and went OTB a number of times on the 2-3 foot wheelie drops, so we rented the Driver 8 she practiced one day, raced it the next. It got her through the race but she felt under biked with a single crown Totem up front. Nomad set up light at 31lbs, and the D8 at about 39. Her feeling was that bigger would have been better.
> 
> ...


I find that a relatively high front end is generally easier to keep off the ground in my opinion (or to get off the ground. It also breeds confidence in steeps due to the orientation of the bike. If you drop the crowns about 1/2" that may do what people are suggesting. A direct mount stem/upper crown combo is alos helpful in really steep rockin the simple instance of her crashing, the stem will not rotate on the steerer tube. I haven't ridden a direct mount, but i have finished a practice run or two and a race run with my bars all out of whack, heck, I don't even think I fell in the race run, just horsed my front wheel in some rocks.

Bike looks solid and I think that the V10 can actually be built to under 40 pounds. Fit on her sister looks pretty good to me.

AS far as coming around a corner and hitting drops at slow speed, that is technique.

How many races has she done and has she watched a lot of video of riders hitting different sections and different things to see what they are doing with their arms, body, feet, legs, etc> kind of like studying film for other sports, only more fun!


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## TCR1 (Mar 25, 2004)

fat.tires said:


> She came home on Friday, we dialed in the suspension, seat height and tire pressure that evening and headed up to Northstar for a half day ride on Saturday.
> 
> So far, so good, she loves it and more importantly it has improved her riding and confidence. Quick transition, no crashes, no mechanicals for the day.
> 
> ...


Awesome. Thanks for the update. Best of luck to her. Would love updates if possible...but can wait until after te races...if need be.


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

*Worlds day 3 - update*

Day 1 - United Airlines lost her bike. Grrrr... I am never flying UAL again if I have a choice.

Day 1 is the only all day practice day. The rest of the days are 1 1/2 hrs of practice. So on this first day rather than learning lines, we hiked from the bottom to the top and basically removed the mystery from the course. It's long, just over 3km. Longer than any run she's ever done. It's rocky and rooty, and hot. About 90F with a bit of humidity. The bike finally showed up late that evening. I built it up and handed it to the team mechanics for a bolt check and all is well.

Day 2 - Got in 3 runs total. First run, lots of stopping and learning lines. A couple diggers, no real damage. One of her friends, Bryson showed her a few lines and rode the run with her. Second two runs were ok, still learning. Did not hit a couple big features. Watched the Jr girls XC. Watched 4x practice. My wife and youngest daughter arrived last night. Still very hot out.

Day 3 (today) - in the morning she got 3 practice runs and a seeding run at 1:36. She hooked up with one of the Australian girls (Heather) and learned a few more lines. She hit the big rock drop on the upper part of the course, and is beginning to feel comfortable with the bike and course. The seeding run was her first top to bottom non-stop run. She did not pedal much, did not push it, still learning lines and her goal was to stay relaxed and put together a top to bottom clean run. Her time was a 7:25, towards the bottom of the pack. Top Jr Woman time was a French girl, cannot recall her name, with a 5:37, which should compare with some of the Elite women. Some of these girls are smokin fast. She is happy with her results and knows she can shave off lots of time between now and Sunday. The weather is beginning to change. Rain is forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

All the riders are very supportive. So far this is a kick in the *ss and a hugely rewarding experience for all.

Happy to get the timed run at the Worlds over with!


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## hafnz (Aug 22, 2007)

Stoked!


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## trailadvent (Jun 29, 2004)

DW Turner DHR :thumbsup:


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## TCR1 (Mar 25, 2004)

Good deal. Get those fast lines figured out and ride'em smooth!

Keep it up!


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## TCR1 (Mar 25, 2004)

fat.tires said:


> Day 1 - United Airlines lost her bike. Grrrr... I am never flying UAL again if I have a choice.
> 
> Day 1 is the only all day practice day. The rest of the days are 1 1/2 hrs of practice. So on this first day rather than learning lines, we hiked from the bottom to the top and basically removed the mystery from the course. It's long, just over 3km. Longer than any run she's ever done. It's rocky and rooty, and hot. About 90F with a bit of humidity. The bike finally showed up late that evening. I built it up and handed it to the team mechanics for a bolt check and all is well.
> 
> ...


http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=5382

Congratulations! Apparently that V10 seemed to work pretty well for her! Excellent showing.


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## 62kona (Mar 25, 2008)

Wow, very cool! Congratulations on her first big race! That's amazing she did that well and hasn't really ridden much dh before. Wishing her the best of luck for her next races.


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## airwreck (Dec 31, 2003)

great story fat.tires
looking forward to hearing more about the race!


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

*Thanks All!*

She had a great experience at the Worlds. We all did. Someone already posted this link, but I'll throw it up here again. There's a short post race interview with Kelsey here on the USA Cycling site, and you can tell how happy she was. Scroll down a bit to the third video...

Who knows for sure what the right bike is or would have been but the V10 did get her through it all in one piece, which in the end was my goal. She used up every bit of front and rear travel, and the bike performed perfectly. I wanted my little girl to be safe and figured bigger was better given her background and level of DH experience. No regrets.

During practice runs she learned most of the features and A lines and struggled cleaning a few of the bigger and more technical drops and hucks. The big rock drop up top was one of them that gave her trouble and she decided prior to the race to use the go around as it would likely not save her much time and crashing off that thing is time consuming and potentially painful.

The weather turned from hot and dry to cool, windy and wet. She got in 3 more practice runs on Day 4 (dry), and 1 practice run on Day 5 (Saturday) in wet conditions.

We woke up on race day to wet and windy conditions with the pool furniture being blown into the hotel pool overnight. She got in 1 practice run on Sunday morning at 8am, we washed off her rig and the crew gave it the once over - all was well. She put on a fresh jersey and a set of tear-offs then headed up for her race run. I watched her at the 30' hip jump and down that steep fast section. Hind sight being 20/20 it would have been more fun to watch her in the rock garden in the trees just below the high speed hip section as she hits the rocky stuff better than jumps and high speed drops. Her race run was clean, no crashes. She knows where she can make up time and improve and is very motivated to work hard to get faster.

Random observations:
The venue - Mt. Saint Awesome has some exceptional terrain and the DH run looked like a blast to me! The locals were friendly even though my French non existent. The local french bread, cheese, beer and pâté de foie gras - yummm! We met lots of great riders, ladies and men, US and other countries. Melissa Buhl entering med school, Neven Steinmetz a Chemical Engineer working on her Phd. Both exceptionally talented smart individuals that would motivate anyone. Kelsey made new friends that may last a lifetime and is more stoked than ever to continue training and racing. The USA Cycling crew worked like a well oiled machine and was very supportive throughout. UCI throws a really nice closing cerimony and party. People were straggling in at 3-4 am then heading off to the airport with no sleep.

United Airlines - Still sucks. The bike did not make it to MSA with us, and did not make it home with us. Still waiting for them to deliver the bike to my house. Heck even a phone call would be nice. Grrr....


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