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I've been riding the hell out of my 160 HD for over 3 years now on mostly AM / XC stuff but dabbling in DH / FR. I have ridden XC forever and found myself gravitating more toward AM, then a bit of FR/DH-ish riding, but still love XC. The HD was a great do-it-all rig for me, but I was definitely under-gunned at bike parks, especially w/ RP23s.
Now I am building up a sweet new RM Altitude AM rig with the original intent on selling the HD. However, it seems like you can't get much these days for a 26" bike and frankly I have beat that frame up pretty good, but it still keeps rollin'. I was thinking that instead of selling it, maybe I could turn it onto a mini FR / DH-ish rig w/out having to shell out a bunch of coin for a dedicated bike - throw a different fork & shock on it - get a beefer, shorter stem, some even wider bars - I already have DH rims & tires (I just like DH rims on all bikes
) and run 1x10.
I have no illusion that this will take the place of a proper DH rig, but thought maybe it would be a good gateway drug for me and maybe 1 day I would pony up & buy something proper if I get more into it. The other nice thing about doing this is that I could always swap out for some of the old parts and I have an AM rig again when a buddy comes into town.
I'll be honest and say that, while I am somewhat knowledgeable about XC / AM bikes & how to work on them, I don't know much about FR / DH bikes so maybe this is just a bad idea. I read some other threads where others have done similar, but they are old and never really read much about how it worked out.
After all this rambling, I guess here are my questions:
1. Is this even a good idea or just a waste?
2. Assuming it is a viable idea, what forks / shocks should I look at that would fit? I'm assuming I should look at 180mm forks? With some of the great new shocks coming out, would a really good air shock get the job done or should I not mess around and just jump on a coil?
3. What else might I need to consider swapping out if I were to do this conversion?
Thanks a lot for any input or suggestions!
Now I am building up a sweet new RM Altitude AM rig with the original intent on selling the HD. However, it seems like you can't get much these days for a 26" bike and frankly I have beat that frame up pretty good, but it still keeps rollin'. I was thinking that instead of selling it, maybe I could turn it onto a mini FR / DH-ish rig w/out having to shell out a bunch of coin for a dedicated bike - throw a different fork & shock on it - get a beefer, shorter stem, some even wider bars - I already have DH rims & tires (I just like DH rims on all bikes
I have no illusion that this will take the place of a proper DH rig, but thought maybe it would be a good gateway drug for me and maybe 1 day I would pony up & buy something proper if I get more into it. The other nice thing about doing this is that I could always swap out for some of the old parts and I have an AM rig again when a buddy comes into town.
I'll be honest and say that, while I am somewhat knowledgeable about XC / AM bikes & how to work on them, I don't know much about FR / DH bikes so maybe this is just a bad idea. I read some other threads where others have done similar, but they are old and never really read much about how it worked out.
After all this rambling, I guess here are my questions:
1. Is this even a good idea or just a waste?
2. Assuming it is a viable idea, what forks / shocks should I look at that would fit? I'm assuming I should look at 180mm forks? With some of the great new shocks coming out, would a really good air shock get the job done or should I not mess around and just jump on a coil?
3. What else might I need to consider swapping out if I were to do this conversion?
Thanks a lot for any input or suggestions!