Buy a nice bike then, ive got two, ones a 1998 kona with almost full xt and xtr, and ones a 1993 with lx and xt, both are properly fun to ride, the 1993 Lava Dome cost me about £90 off ebay and has about £50 thrown at it, and is just as fun offroad as the 1998 one, its not always down to what you ride, we did a 24 mile local ride at the weekend (which took in lots of the biggest climbs, which equated to over 2000 feet of climbing) and one lad rode a 1992 raleigh activator and was at the front of the pack all the way round, i kid you not!
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See i have the prob i want the best. I love DH, do i want a full sus downhill bike..Almost bought a GT from Leg on here..
All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one PepsiFar from suicidalStill I get them tendenciesBringing back them memories
That I really miss when I reminisce
For normal riding, no you do not want a dh rig, and most likely you don't need a full bounce (plus with us larger gents they areally aren't capable of taking us either). A decent spec hard tail will more than see you right.
im in a middle of the range bike and it too, shed loads of time off my rides compared to the old heavy thing I had before.
I like the upright riding possision you get from a dh bike, so i find riding them much better.
All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one PepsiFar from suicidalStill I get them tendenciesBringing back them memories
That I really miss when I reminisce
In which case you want a modern hardtail, theyre all set up in the 'sit up and beg' position these days, go into your local shops and have a nosey, just avoid bikehut/halfords
I really wouldnt suggest a DH bike as there is only one thing you can do with it, go down hills, fine you might think, but what about going up the other side?
I rode Dalby forest a few years back with a mate on a DH rig, struggled to keep up with him on the downs, but i was stood about at the top of every climb whilst he walked up them, bored the crap out of me and ive never ridden with him again!
My modern ht isn't sit up and begthen again I found one with a long top tube to get my lean on
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Getting told this morning that ill never use my work van again because its a death trap, (I have been telling them this for 6 months), it went in for a service and a few repairs yesterday but the garage have said they're surprised the front suspension hasn't collapsed and folded under the van already!!
yay new van for me!