I recently did the DH at Cuwcarn on my Yeti 575, I had a nice time but a bit scared in places. So I want a slightly more robust bike to try a bit of freeride/DH. (still keeping my trail bikes, I could'nt give that up). I've been offered a custom build Santa Cruz VP Free at a good price (£2600), but i don't Know if Ineed A bit more of a big hitter. Want else is ther for the same value. Please discuss....
they come with a free ferrari pit crew to swap aprts in 12 seconds and a model holding an umbrella on summer/rainy days as part of their warranty for hte first year
A mate of mine just picked up a nice 07 Sunday Expert for £1600. it did have pink forks on it tho'. If you're only going to use it for DH then buy a DH bike as anything else will hold you back and throw you off for no apparent reason every now and agian. Buy something second hand and you can get a proper DH bike for £1500 - £2000.
Gonna have to disagree with you JJ, i think with the right build the VP would be more than up to the job. The quick ride i'd had on one felt good, only very slightly steeper and higher than my Socom, and that was with single crowns. With a decent set of forks it'd be fine.
I know where you're coming from Dean. You aint gonna break it that's for sure. And if I could only have one bike then it would be pretty high on my list, but... if it's only gonna be used for DH then I wouldn't even consider one.
DH vs Freeride. I suppose the main differences are headangle, bb height and wheelbase. Although freeride can be anything from a northshore hardtail to 20ft drops but neither of them are gonna be fast downhill. Two mates recently moved from freeride bikes to DH bikes and suddenly started keeping up where they would've been 30 secs to a minute behind.
