[El Chingon]

Had a chat today with Greg from Turner. I was voiceing my concerns about the cramped cockpit of the Large Highline for guys 6 feet and taller. He let me know that they made the mistake of setting the bikes up in DH mode for INterbike, and that since then they have had taller riders demoing them with single crown forks, and longer stems, and sizing is not an issue with that type of setup. He also let me know that the Large weighed in at 10.5 lbs, which is the same weight as the Large VP Free. The two colors being offered will be Raw, and Ano Black. Needless to say, I've got my name on the list for an Ano Black. Greg stated that the first ones should ship out middle of January.

 

[macrider]

Greg stated that the first ones should ship out middle of January.

January of what year?

 

[kosmo]

And, to possibly beat a dead dog, what did you think of the highline's pedalling compared to your VP Free and the 6-Pack?

I'm in waffle mode. Not sure if the 6-Pack/RFX is enough of a step up from the Spot, which I'll be keeping, or if I should go Highline.

 

[shanedawg]

also wondering how you "get your name on the list" I have told my lbs that I want one and when they become available to get me one. Do I need to do more than that?

 

[El Chingon]

I never got to demo one, so I can't really comment on the pedaling performace of the Highline. The VP Free is a great pedaler. This is my 45 day plan:
Sell the VP Free
Run the HIghline for a short while with the 888 RC that I already have.
Sell the 888RC, and put my 66 light ETA on the Highline
Buy a Z-1 Light ETA for my Pack.

The idea here is to drop weight on the 6-pack a little, and build up an FR bike that is a little more trail friendly than the VP Free.

I am constantly lending the pack out to family and friends, which leaves me to trail ride the VP Free quite a bit.

 

[Renegade]

I never got to demo one, so I can't really comment on the pedaling performace of the Highline. The VP Free is a great pedaler. This is my 45 day plan:
Sell the VP Free
Run the HIghline for a short while with the 888 RC that I already have.
Sell the 888RC, and put my 66 light ETA on the Highline
Buy a Z-1 Light ETA for my Pack.

E.C., you left out one line, it comes right after 'sell the vp free'.
It's, "wait 6 months for the highline to reach production".

I'd love to see you huck the highline!

 

[Jerk_Chicken]

Well, what is the general height range for getting air on an RFX? How much duty would be done on a trail as opposed to the north shore park? I thought about the Highline for a sec, but then I realized it's not going to pedal well enough for me to want to make it my trailbike.

 

[El Chingon]

YOur LBS needs to call Turner, and have them fill out a Sales slip for you. That is what Greg at Turner told me, and that is what I had my LBS do. It doesn't cost you anything.

 

[rr]

Well, what is the general height range for getting air on an RFX? How much duty would be done on a trail as opposed to the north shore park? I thought about the Highline for a sec, but then I realized it's not going to pedal well enough for me to want to make it my trailbike.

Maybe DT needs to see a rider resume before he sells the Highline to someone, El C. has shown he's worthy but it would be a shame to see one decked out ala Davide style

 

[El Chingon]

I'm a big boy, and don't really feel comfortable taking the Pack off of anything higher than 5 foot to flat, or 8 feet to tranny. There are days though, when I'll go out to Little Creek or Grafton, and will want a little extra travel for the bigger hits. I also plan on getting up to Northstar or Whistler this summer, and would want a bike with a little more beef. And who knows, I may want to do a DH race or two this summer, and the Highline would definitlely be up to the task.

 

[Dusty Bottoms]

Ok, I was just surfing the pics in that other Highline thread and I have to give Dave some props....that axle bolt-up hanger is a FANTASTIC IDEA. I love how it protrudes to protect the derailleur. I've been scouring the earth for a durable r/d setup but didn't want to sacrifice the sweet features of a sram drivetrain. Now, instead of getting a Rohloff, all I have to do is get a new frame!

Turner riders will enjoy that feature for MONTHS before Tony patents it!

 

[MK_]

I happened to demo the VPFree and the Highline back to back at the dirt demo. I was on a medium VPFree, setup with 888RC, DHX coil (pretty sure) in the rear. I was a bit undersprung, but the bike pedaling characteristics were surprisingly good. And I felt comfortable on the frame, maybe large would have been better, but I felt good on the medium (6'1", long arms, 34 inseam). I did some g-outs, 3-4 foot drops, rollers, high speed stuff and I loved the ride. I then got on a large Highline and my first impression was that I was cramped. I was a bit oversprung, too. The bike felt heavier and less manouverable. It felt more stable at high speed. I didn't care for the Fox40 vs 888RC, neither. It felt good on the drops, but less plush, as I was oversprung. It didn't pedal quite as nice, but the fact that it was middle ring only up front could have something to do with that. It felt burlier than the VPFree. At the end of the ride, I didn't crave to own one, unlike the Free.

_MK

 

[tscheezy]

Funny, but I had almost the exact opposite impressions. The VPFree last year (size L) had a shorter Boxxer fork and a 5th coil and pedaled and handled extremely well. This year I did not like the 888 on the Free (size L again) much as it really jacked the front and combined with a squishier DHX in back the thing had the overly squatty feel of the ASX. It still pedaled great, but the balance seemed off. The handling was slower and a little floppy compared to last year and the Highline (size L), which actually seemed pretty quick to me. The super-stumpy stem on the HL made it fit pretty scrunched for a "pedalable" FR rig, but it was no worse under power than the Free with the way the DHX coils were set up.

I can't say any of them were oversprung because we never hit anything we should have gotten anywhere near full travel on. I did not bring a ruler to check sag accurately.

 

[MK_]

I felt undersprung on the Free because it felt ultra squishy, unlike the Highline, which felt a bit uncompliant of the little stuff and the small bumps came through more than I am used to. The quickness of steering might be due to size difference of the frames. Either way, that was my impression.

_MK

 

[tscheezy]

No worries, just tossing another data point out there. BTW the 5th last year was a bit stiffer and less plush riding than the DHX coil this year. The shock type and setup has a huge effect on the bike's behavior. It would be interesting to know the setup values for the DHX coils off the Free and HL from this year.

 

[El Chingon]

Hey Cheeze how tall are you? What I'm thinking is that I will have to go with a Thomson 90 X 15 stem with the 66 ETA light on the Highline.

 

[kidwoo]

Thomson 90 X 15 ...... on the Highline.

You'll be doing some shuh weet nose wheelies. Intentional or not.

 

[FM]

Well, what is the general height range for getting air on an RFX? How much duty would be done on a trail as opposed to the north shore park? I thought about the Highline for a sec, but then I realized it's not going to pedal well enough for me to want to make it my trailbike.

This has been on my mind as well, since I mainly used my RFX for only FR stuff last summer- the shore, whistler, etc. I did very little trail riding with it. (although I do have it set it up as a 5" trail bike with lighter parts for the winter)

I figure with a 170mm 66 and my burly parts, the RFX can go very large- at least as large as I am currently willing to go. But, would a 8+8 bike be better for my use? Basically, should I make the 5" RFX light my trail bike and spend this years bike budget on a larger ride (VP-Free, devinci 8flat8), or build the RFX as a 7+7" bike with a 66 and my 7.5x2.25" vanilla RC- and then spend my bike budget on a lighter 5" XC bike (5-spot, motolite)?

Jerk Chicken, I can say the RFX has done me very well over the last 2 years of BC use- it's certainly up to the task if you want a bike that can FR and trail ride. I am basically in a quandry as my RFX isn't seeing much trail riding, pretty much strictly FR (although we do often climb for the descents).

Any thoughts, throw 'em my way! I've got 4-6 months to decide....

 

[turnerbikes]

perspective

All the guys that ride DHR's all say the Highline feels too long, even with the shorty stem. All the full time free riders thought the geometry was right on, and long travel xc riders think it is squished. It seems that the Highline and bikes like it are the pinacle of the fit-compomise world. Is it a dh bike with a front deraileur or a xc bike with big travel?

DT

 

[El Chingon]

I"m currently running a 70mm thomson stem on my XL 6-pack, and I'm 6'2, and like to huck, so what will that translate to on the Highline?