What's the best Downhill bike you've ridden and why?

[keldave1]

I have ridden a number of bikes over the years, but, my favorite 2 would be a 2009 V10 and my current ride, 2010 Commencal Supreme DH v2.

The V10 is a good plow bike and they do jump quite well and very forgiving. The biggest reason for getting one was I've been struggling with some vision problems so I needed somthing forgiving when I picked the wrong line. If you get one, take the DHX5 out and install an Elka stage 5.

Recently I had been riding differently as my sight issues are not to bad now, like trying to jump off little rocks and picking lines better. So I tried a commencal. It took a bit of setting up but I love it! It just jumps off everything in rockgardens, drifts well and pedals great. (feel invincible)

I took my Commencal to Illinbah on the Gold Coast recently and its the best bike I've ridden on that track. I did bin it pretty bad on the 2nd run at the bottom fast section because it inspired too much confidence and I relaxed too much and hit a hole in the grass on the second last corner blowing one of my hands off the bars....... Had a head cam on so all good.:very_drunk:

 

[russthedog]

its an interesting way of asking a normally standard question. last year i tried over ten bikes before i bought my then new downhill bike (since replaced) and so have a bit of an idea on what a few different bikes ride like. a few things that i think:

Demo (owned an old one)
Pros: Fast, fun, loves steep trails, very forgiving, good weight
Cons: not efficient pedalling compared to some others. doesnt feel like it wants to tear down the hill/ run away from you if you know what i mean

Rotec RL9
Pros: just felt damn capable and it just wanted to go faster all the time, hard to explain. id love to ride the new ones when they come out. straight line holding.
Cons: heavy as, kinda clunky and noisy when youre riding them

Orange 224
Pros: Super sled, great geom, light...i really like these
Cons: Pedalling (SP i know)..

Glory
PRos: light, responsive, value
Cons: not sure really, you could argue head angle but you can get an adapter....common?

Sunday (owned one)
Pros: feels very fast, like it wants to run away from you, great pedaller, very racy, linear to falling suspension (also below) because of bump eating. cornering.
Cons: not real forgiving, linear to falling suspension because of sitting low in travel unless using low sag, working on it is a nightmare - maintenance in general actually

right now i have a k9 DH-001S so i probably should put that up here too
Pros: very forgiving, very adjustable, bombproof an easy to work on. once you are up to speed you never want to slow down. corners like a demon
Cons: sluggish pedaller - takes a bit of work to get it up to speed. most people hate cromo front end look

v10 (alloy 2010 model)
Pros: so much travel! good pedaller, pretty light and felt bombproof
Cons: felt a bit like an armchair, ie not real responsive. felt like the front end was quite high (may be bike setup, cant remember). the new one with the lower travel setting would be great

Mondaker summum
Pros: head angle in the steep was unreal, very light, good geometry
Cons: felt boring? ie not really a fantastic pedaller, not really exciting to ride. i had the sunday at the time and it felt like an animal by comparison. i rode the last herb on the same day and wow that smoked them both!


Last Herb
Pros: gripped like crazy everywhere. may be settings but bike only had a vivid set up by a hack. it was amazing. jumped well, cornered really well, pedalled well
Cons: long back end took a bit to get used to...not sure what else really?

these are the main ones that stick out, most the others are now redundant - kona stab As far as test rides go, for bikes that i didnt own at the time, the ones that stuck out the most were the sunday, last herb and the rotec.

oops novel!

 

[dw4dh]

The newer model specialized demos,(2011 forward)
Such a good bike for so many different reasons.
-Low BB height and short rear end makes it corner ridiculously well.
-Low center of gravity also helps with cornering and handles so well.
-Its a longer bike which also helps with handling, and its extremely hard to get 'bucked' off, I've owned mine for a year now and I rarely go over the bars.
-The bike sits extremely well on the track(ride one and you will know what i mean).

These are just a few things that make it one of if not the best bike on the planet.

 

[indica]

Kona Stab - was very fast, felt like a rocket, blew me away actually, was noisy and heavy though.
Nicolai Ion - again very fast, long and stable, I had many good runs on it.
Gt Fury - amazing bike. The HA was too steep but Pushie fixed that. Fast, great pedaller, responsive and stiff. The rear felt kinda dead but from my experience with GT it is a trait - it absorbs bumps but you tend not to notice. It is a design that works for me, I have a Force also and am getting a Sanction.
I have recently become a little faster on it, pushing it into corners and getting off the back of the bike.
Also have ridden an old Giant but it was too small for me.

All the top end bikes are fast.

 

[Ryan H]

Thanks for your help guys! Ended up going all out and buying a Zerode.

 

[mic9754]

goood boy i see why you now rang me wanting me to pick it up
but still how'd you get me number.

 

[RainbowofDETH]

It was a Haro DH bike, but I can't remember what it was called.
I'm pretty sure it was custom too.
But it was so nice to ride, and basically my first go on a dually.
I don't really have anything to compare it too other then the hardtail's I've always ridden, so it is of course the best to me.