Advice sought for a new rider!

[BlakZ]

Hi All,

I am still very new to this beast of a sport, and now I want to start DH. I live in the southeast suburbs of Melbourne. Nearly 22 YO. Looking for people to ride with too at the moment so give me a holla if you want to help a new guy!

I’ve done all the forum searches I can think of, but please link me somewhere else if it has been covered.

Firstly, I have heard of community mornings/afternoon/evenings that exist for DH clubs. I think this would be a good place to start, meet some people, gather some advice, and ease into it. What clubs and communities can I look at joining in Melb? And how do I obtain further information on them and these DH meets?

I still don’t know exactly what kind of bike(s) I want. So until I make that decision I will rocking my hardtail on the DH to learn the ropes. I have ordered arm and leg armour, and already have elbow and knee pads. I understand the amount of PPE to wear is a personal decision, but because I don’t 100% understand what I am in for, I wanted to suss out some opinions- Should I invest in a full face helmet before my first DH ride, or is it likely that I will be sh*tting myself and going slow for a while anyway? I am extremely safety conscious, don’t get me wrong, just throwing it to the floor... Anyone got any further advice on DH PPE for a new guy?

That will do for now, I’d appreciate any words of advice you have!

This is the machine that will be taking me to the Olympics:



EDIT: Not actually going to the Olympics.

 

[bogada]

I used to ride a hardtail and wear a normal mtb helmet - it felt ok. The first run on a proper dh bike tho and I went straight out and bought a full face - felt too fast and dangerous to not have my noggin covered. I'd say to hit up a few ride days with what you got but if you start going faster or have a few diggers - upgrade.

I think as with most dhers my fullface is the main bit of my kit. Gotta look after old mate Brian upstairs!

Enjoy!

 

[nic1894]

just go riding mate, weather its by yourself or with others the main thing that you need to concentrate on is practice. Finding mates is obviously the first step, with more mates comes more tracks and with more tracks comes a wider skill basis (every track is different and bring out different skills eg. jumps, berms, rocks, dusty and so on)

 

[kellvanex]

I would recommend a full face, definitely and some goggles.
If you have the money, sure go ahead and buy a good DH bike; maybe a glory or something. If not, then continue to ride that hardtail. I ride a hardtail and it's fine, i go slightly faster with a dually but nothing extensive. And ride with friends, it adds so much to riding; sh*tting yourself when they fall off, beating them to the end, finding more tracks absolutely, it's grear

 

[T-Rex]

Definately get yourself a full face, in addition to it providing you with a lot more protection you will feel more confident, which will make you more relaxed, which will make you ride better. Just get a 661, about $100 ish, that will do fine to start with, but do try it on first, don't buy over the internet. Get some decent shinnies, and gloves, and goggles as stated. On the other hand, some $40 ebay body armour will do fine.

Join a club, hang out with some guys who are a bit better than you, you'll learn heaps. You come across as having a sensible attitude, you'll get on fine.

And just run that GT hardtail into the ground. It will have a very short life expectancy in DH, but that's OK while you are learning.

...and you might want to lower the saddle a bit... actually, a lot....

 

[Mattydv]

I would recommend a full face, definitely and some goggles.
If you have the money, sure go ahead and buy a good DH bike; maybe a glory or something.

Ok, I'm actually going to suggest that you should not necessarily do this.

A full face will be a very good addition, but I don't think it is necessary just yet. Learn the (basic) ropes, make sure that downhill is something that you want to do, and then outlay some money on a helmet. Provided the risks of your level of riding is proportionate to the quality of your helmet, you'll be fine. A helmet purchase is not something you want to do in halves. When you buy a full face, you want to be making the purchase with commitment, with the knowledge that it will likely save you serious injury. I believe you'll be more likely to do this (and buy a quality helmet) if you're sure you'll stay in the sport.

Goggles are unnecessary. Don't get them unless you start racing, live in a dusty area, or are likely to cop a branch/rock in the face.

My next bit of (really good) advice, is don't buy a full suspension dh sled for at least 6 months. You're current bike is great, but if you really want to upgrade, perhaps buy a 2nd hand hardtail that is more suited to downhill (some of the older Norco range would be cheap). Your riding will improve by leaps and bounds if you learn to ride on a hardtail. You learn to pick the right lines, you get more of a feel for what the bike is doing underneath you, and when the time comes to switch do a full susser, you're confidence will be through the roof.

Good luck regardless, and welcome to the sport!

 

[T-Rex]

Goggles are unnecessary. Don't get them unless you start racing, live in a dusty area, or are likely to cop a branch/rock in the face.

My next bit of (really good) advice, is don't buy a full suspension dh sled for at least 6 months.Good luck regardless, and welcome to the sport!

We have a mixed quality of advice here.

The first bit is bad advice. You don't need to be racing to get a rock flicked up by your mate in front of you. I have copped numerous rocks from following riders, including one lifted out of the ground by a pedal strike, it was the size of half a brick, it nearly took my head off. Another near miss was landing face down on a dead tree on the side of a track, a branch glanced off the goggle lense and got jammed between the helmet and my skull. Come to think of it, that might have been a near death experience. For the sake of a $30 pair of moto goggles, it's not worth risking your eyesight.

The other bit is good advice, don't rush out to buy a DH bike, just thrash what you've got, it will make you a better rider.

 

[Shredden]

Goggles are unnecessary.

Personally I would say that they are more necessary than a fullface for a beginner DH rider. I know 2 guys personally that have had smallish crashes and had really really bad cuts to their face from a stick coming through their fullfaces. I would never ride without goggles after seeing how close these guys were to potentially losing their eyesight (like 2cm).

And also. Ride that bike into the ground! I have an e13 Lg1 chainguide you can have for the price of postage, when you do your first DH run and find that your chain always falls off you will be keen for one.

And, have a look at the vic downhill series website, come along to a race for a look. You will see a variety of riding skills, make lots of friends and get a great idea of how downhill works...

Bike wise, get a chainguide, lower the seat and run around 30psi in your tyres, dont go much lower unless you have dual ply tyres.

When you first go dh riding dont be put off by the posers with matching kits and $10,000 bikes, you will be having more fun than them purely off the fact that you are chilling and not too worried about results!

 

[Mattydv]

The first bit is bad advice. You don't need to be racing to get a rock flicked up by your mate in front of you. I have copped numerous rocks from following riders, including one lifted out of the ground by a pedal strike, it was the size of half a brick, it nearly took my head off. Another near miss was landing face down on a dead tree on the side of a track, a branch glanced off the goggle lense and got jammed between the helmet and my skull. Come to think of it, that might have been a near death experience. For the sake of a $30 pair of moto goggles, it's not worth risking your eyesight.

For $30, yes it would be worth it. Admittedly I have not purchased MX goggles for ~5 years, therefore I was making my judgment off snow goggles which are $100+ for anything worthwhile.

Additionally, mixed experiences. In 6 years riding, I've never had an incident due to not wearing goggles. I also can't recall any riding buddies having an injury. There's enough proof they've happened, just not around me.
I would have also thought that a rider just starting out would not be getting himself in situations where he would be capable of following a rider moving at such a speed to flick up half a brick at him. Also, I would have thought that by the time he is at a level where injuries such as this could be common, he would be capable of making his own decisions.
You're certainly right about crashing though, which is why I made mention to it. Certainly if goggles are accessible for that price (2nd hand?), it's a good bit of safety gear. Broken bones will heal, corneas not so much.

 

[Shredden]

Perfect example: this crash could have happened to anyone. He went OTB into a pile of sticks and stabbed himself in the face. Goggles are GOOD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tLuBkWqoLJc

 

[T-Rex]

Broken bones will heal, corneas not so much.

Now THAT'S good advice..... I might quote you. irate:

 

[Andy.]

Hey BlakZ.

Because I've only ever raced one Club event at the You Yangs, I can't really give you much advise as to how you should go about racing (I too, am in the same boat). I asked the same question about getting a bike when I started to get into it. Most of the replies I recieved were along the lines of what many have suggested before, however some suggested that once I had gotten the hang of that kind of riding, I could even purchase a cheap shorter travel bike (this is what I use now, and I love it). Again, don't rush into it though. I have friends who have bought some pretty expensive bikes and it makes me really angry to see their bikes get negleted because they have "better" priorities or just didn't get into it.

Don't be afraid to explore your local area too. Because the closest DH track is about 1hr away for me, I do heaps of riding around the streets. I've found so many obstacles that help me learn the basics, and when I do actually get to go Mountain biking, I know how my bike feels and I can put the skills from riding around the streets to the test. I also feel more confident when I've practiced stuff on familiar obstacles, so the obstacles on a DH track are less daunting.

If you live around the Bayside area, I would happily go riding with you after my Yr 12 exams and show you the places I've found. Whether or not I can help with skills, It's always nice to have someone to ride with.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[BlakZ]

Not quite finnished!

Confirmed:
Buying fullface and goggles.
Riding GT into the ground
(and Considering Chain Guide)
………………………………..
Thankyou Kindly for the great responses. I feel well looked after and appreciate it! Sorry it has taken me a while to reply – been a busy week and haven’t had time to get a meaningful response happening.

Andy -PM me when your exams are over mate, I am not particularly close but am still keen!
Shreddon – Expect a PM from me sometime soon!

Feel free to help answer the questions below, just thought I would relate them back to previous posts….

In regards to T-Rex’s comments –
Saddle has been lowered significantly! I bought the bike second hand (it is an 08 expert..), after 10 hours riding the seat came lose (issues with the connecting bolt)…it was translating left and right but I could not adjust it at all with the allen key. There was an washer on the bolt, and the bolt had slightly bent. It took me 3 bike shops, bunnings and 2 steel suppliers later before I considered simply removing the washer instead of replacing the bolt – simplistic thinking is key? I think the previous owner put on the washer for some other reason… The pic was taken the day I bought it, so I guess you could say it is slightly more pimped now.

In regards to Shreddon’s comments -
I have been doing a bit of reading on chain guides. Am I right in saying it is a device that secures the chain such that it is less likely to come off, however limiting riding to only one front ring? Are there any other benefits?

In regards to Mattydv’s comments-
What makes a hardtail more or less suited to DH? So my GT vs a Norco, what are the key differences that would make the norco a better choice? Geometry?

A new question- Where are some good places in Melbourne to buy downhill gear? A few LBS’s seem to have limited DH apparel (Fullface and goggles in particular). I also need to invest in some shoes and clipless pedals – As soon as I hit tough stuff I lose grip on my flats and I cop pedal to shin action (P2S action?)…and that is just on single trails.

 

[merc-blue]

hey mate to answer a few questions. most chain guides will do 2 things
1 keep your chain on your front ring
2 protect your front ring from rocks and stuff

a DH hardtail is likely to be longer in wheelbase than a XC hardtail also have a slacker head angle (the angle the forks are one) both of which make it more stable and speeds and also handle bigger front on hits, and keep you from going OTBs. also a DH hardtail would be built much more robust.

with your grip issues i would look at some 5.10s and some good flats instead of clipless unless you have been doing a heap of riding on clipless you will axe your self HARD.
I have just got clipless on my XC bike after 6 years of riding and its a steep riding curve

the 'best' LBS will vary just depends on whos working and what day of the week it is, I have gone to one of the most downhill orientated stores in Melbourne and not been able to get a 2.5 minion DHF.

 

[Shredden]

Invest in some grippy pedals (wellgo MG1's can be found on ebay for $40 brand new) and a pair of 5.10 shoes (grippy sole) and P2S action will never occur. Come to think of it if your keen to be cheap I have a pair of DMR V8 pedals for $20 posted in my garage sale section, you may be keen?

And yeah, a chainguide will only work with 1 ring...

 

[Get Mounted]

Two bike shops in Melb that stock DH gear:

http://www.yarravalleycycles.com/

http://mymountain.com.au/

 

[BlakZ]

What does the 5.01 refer to? I can't find any shoes that match in a search...

Are the shoes that can be used for clipless (with cleats right?) a completely different type of shoe to these 'grippy' 5.01s? Or do these 'grippy' ones become clipless ready too? Someone school me in MTB shoes !

 

[mr chicken legs]

i hit a tree took a big chunck out of my nose on a branch right between the eyes. i brought goggles after that. just get out and ride you will make friends out there.

 

[Shredden]

What does the 5.01 refer to? I can't find any shoes that match in a search...

Are the shoes that can be used for clipless (with cleats right?) a completely different type of shoe to these 'grippy' 5.01s? Or do these 'grippy' ones become clipless ready too? Someone school me in MTB shoes !

It is 5.10. They are just another brand of shoe, such as adidas, nike etc. But they are really really grippy and long lasting. Grippy shoes ("flat shoes") cannot be used with clips, and clip shoes cannot be used with flats as a general rule. 5.10 clipless shoes can be used with flats but they have a stiffer sole than dedicated flat shoes and wont work as well or be as grippy.

http://fiveten.com/

Have a look there, beware that alot of their stuff is climbing shoes. Personally I have used and reccomend: 5.10 impacts and freeriders for flat pedals, and shimano MP66 shoes for clips.

 

[brendonj]

+1 for the DH helmet and goggle. After that knee guards, then elbow guards.

In terms of chain device I would recomend a dual chain guide that lets you keep the first two chain rings and the derailleur. You then replace the largest chain ring with a bash guard. I have this set up on one of my bikes. Not as secure as a single ring guide, but pretty good.
Examples are Blackspire Stinger at http://www.blackspire.com/qs/product/83/5947/263221/0/0 (also need the bash ring)
And E13's DRS http://www.e13components.com/product_drs.html

This way you can still ride your hard tail on most normal trails. Trick is to eventually get a large second chain ring, so your top speed is not too limited.