ive had a marin now since april this year its a rocksprings with full xt and hope minis. i mainly ride xc and a little dh but now looking to go more into full on DH and was wondering weather the marin will handle big drops and v harsh terrain if not is it possible to just change some of the components???... or is it a new frame 4 me??

if the way to go is the second option any ideas about which frame..

Danny
If you decide to take The Marin Lockspings through big drops it will disintegrate within the amount of time it takes someone to cough.
I advise strongly about this sort of behavior,Now go and lie down,Your thinking too much.

Milenko™

Get a SingleSpeed

Basically, the rocksprings is NOT a downhill bike. If you want to do that sort of thing then you should be looking at the serious end of free-ride or true DH stuff. Think SC Bullitt, Patriot 7+, Giant AC etc. If the budget is tight then there's always the club roost DH8/Coyote DH3.

To an extent it depends how much you weigh, and how smooth you are. If you don't weigh much at all, you may be ok, but it is still a bit risky. I'd think hard before buying a DH bike, though, as in the UK where there are virtually no chairlifts etc, they can make riding such an effort that you can rarely be bothered. I know a lot of people who just own DH bikes and hardly ride any more because of this.

Another contender for a DH capable frame is the Spesh Big Hit, though it takes a 24" back wheel.

Dave - there was a guy with a bighit on the ride at Afan I did this weekend. He had Monsters on the front, and it was monstrously heavy. He had to push it up all the hills (it was a lot of pushing) but flew down the descents. There was one quite fast trail that went into a really rocky rutted section before a sharp corner. I'd managed to stay close to him until we got to that bit - he then floated over it all while my vision blurred so much that I couldn't see where the trail went!

my bike is very hard to ride up hills due to the tyres/rims.

now if only i'd got them conti vert pros.............

but then i wouldn't feel safe and couldn't drop as far :)

Tim - I think you really need a 250 crosser with pedals in place of the engine ;-)

Yeah, i know what it's like to ride a bit of a beast around, my FSR must be quite hefty. (though i've never weighed it, and it's certainly lighter than the bikes a lot of guys i ride with own) It can be fun, but unless your fitness is good, it can put you off going out.

i weigh 15.5 stone now!

and i have experience of that wheel rotation theory thingy. thats why i once reverted my front rim from D321CD back to the D521silver i just upgraded it from.

my mates ClubRoost DH8 has lighter tyres, same wheels, forks approx the same weight. his is a breeze to throw about and quite easy to lift the front wheel. mines a hucker that needs both ends bounced at the same time to leave the ground, tried wheelie hops and struggled to raise the rear much (Coyote DH3 does have a slightly longer wheelbase than the CR DH8)

I also didn't mention that the same guy was running a 3" Gazzaloddi rear tyre. Every puddle he rode through seemed to get emptied by his back wheel, but it did make it interesting for him on muddy sections. It was described as being 'like a snowboard' behind him.

i'd say it can handle drops off up to 10ft
coz they are pretty strong frames.
Just make sure ur rear shock is properly locked up.

:| u must be jokeing, it would have to be a nice landing for ti to go throught that my b17 *hangs head in shame* didn't take a 10ft drop, the frames just ain't up to it, they try to make the bike too light and they fail, go to any dh race and i bet u see one busted b17, thats if theres any left.

priss

"Just make sure ur rear shock is properly locked up."

It hope you mean set up - if it's locked up then a frame breakeage is one jump away.

Yeah I was a bit worried about the "locked up" thing for a minute......

If you are going to start droping 10footers or bigger you need a bike that is more up to it.

If you wanna keep the single pivot style you can't beat an Ellsworth Joker or SC Bullit.(Joker prefered) They'll go 10-20foot no probs.

Al

How many 10 footers are there in the average UK DH race though?

If you are wanting to race DH do what everyone else suggested, otherwise you could do what I did and get a tough hardtail - much cheaper, and if we're all honest more than capable of 95% of UK downhill courses, and it can even handle big drops far better than my Rock Springs ever could!

Also, don't do drops over 10ft on the Marin it's clearly not built for it! Even 5ft I think is pushing the frame...

"know a lot of people who just own DH bikes and hardly ride any more because of this."

damn right..my Big Hit has been sitting in my room for 2 months, I ended up selling the forks and brakes 'cause I was using it so little...just waiting for those overseas trips that never come...

rob, we have the original roman wall surrounding the centre city area in York, you can ride the walkway and drop about 5/6ft to transition in at least three places :)

even a DH rig won't last long if you're jumping from heigher than 6ft to flat.