Ride Invite - Grafton Mesa Downhill - Oct. 29th, 2011

[Kent K25]

My downhill bike should be here by Thursday so I'm looking to shuttle Grafton Mesa on Saturday. I've got a truck but need someone else to shuttle with me. Any DH riders here interested.

No need to be intimidated as its my first downhill run so you're probably better than me. I won't slow you down if you're way fast either as I don't mind being left in the dust.

[REDFOX]

What bike did you buy ? If I lived closer to St. George, I would shuttle with you. I forgot about Grafton. I did some shuttle rides back in 1998 and 1999. I haven't been back because of the lack of knowing any downhillers or people to shuttle with in that area. Looking forward to your downhill reports.

[Kent K25]

I'm picking up a 2007 Specialized BigHit FSR III off of KSL. I'm on a budget so I had to go used and read really good things about this frame vs. the newer BigHits.

Details from the ad

"hussefelt cranks, ns pedals, fox dhx 7.0 rear shock, a BRAND NEW marzocchi 888 world cup fork, white diety bars with a marzocchi dropper headset, avid code brakes, green scott grips new this year, brand new tires and latex lined dh tubes, and a F.U.N. seat."

My bro in law is a downhiller in Orem and went and checked it out for me and said I had to pull the trigger on it. Got it for $600 plus my old xbox 360.

Shipped the xbox up to my bro in law and he's picking it up for me since my sister is coming down on Thursday anyway. Good timing since the market for bikes is pretty weak down here in St. George.

[mfshop]

Nice bike for the $. If the weather stays nice & you still want to shuttle on the 29th, send me a pm. Haven't been up to grafton for a while & I'm no DHer, but I end up making it down to the bottom eventually.

[Kent K25]

I'm probably going to just plan on doing it the 29th and just taking the bike on a familiar trail to get the feel of it this weekend. I'd love to shuttle it with you and anyone else. I'm no DHer either as this is my first DH bike so I'll get to the bottom eventually too :)

[blueeyes]

I have never ridden Grafton and would be interested. No downhiller so I will ride it slow maybe walk depending on how technical it is.

[Kent K25]

Here's a video of it...it's not pure downhill at all and I was told by someone on UMB that they have taken XC bikes there, they just had to walk several spots. To be totally honest I'm sure I'll be walking several spots even with a downhill bike as I learn to ride it and get the guts to step up.

[blueeyes]

Well I have been curious about this trail for a long time. It is not a trail I would go check out by myself. I may just drop the two of you off and go ride the loop if in person the ride looks too sketchy for me.

[Kent K25]

Glad to have you with either way

[REDFOX]

That is a great price for a used dh bike. I hope that it has the components that it says. I have never heard of a fox dhx 7.0 shock. I have the 5.0 and specialized used some lesser models (dhx 3.0 and 4.0 ) on their bikes from the factory. It is still a great price and custom painted. Thanks for the video. That brought back memories of the trail. It looks a lot smoother than when I rode it in its earlier stages. The video shows the most technical parts. I am guessing that approximately the other 2/3 of the ride are double track easy riding for any mountain biker. They added the drops and the jumps at the end. Josh Bender and his bike mechanic were trying to design the lower portion of the trail and jumps back in 1999 when I was riding with them. We rode with pads but we had just our cross country helmets for this ride, which seemed adequate. As always with your seat lowered, there is less of a chance of going over the bars. I remember my white brothers ud150 6" travel fork blowing up toward the end and it actually shot me in the face with dark black oil. If you can ride slickrock or amassa back in Moab this trail shouldn't be too difficult. If you have ridden the Portal trail or porqupine, you should be comfortable doing the grafton trail minus the stuff at the very end.

[Kent K25]

Yeah my bro in law said it was a 5.0, just a typo. The rest of the info checked out.

[RedSpecialized]

Love the BIG HIT I have an 02 with the 24" rear tire. I think you'll really enjoy it!! Mine feels really solid and balanced. You can also change the HT angle and BB height by moving the lower shock mount.

Here's mine



sent from Samsung Epic 4g

[Kent K25]

^Sweet!

Just got it delivered last night...just needs a new tube up front and it's ready for a warm up ride Saturday

[REDFOX]

Nice ride. I have ridden Redspecializeds bighit as he posted above. I think that it handles very well on downhill, jumps, and freeride. His front fork is an older super t. I have 2 of 888 models one of them which has had extensive customizing to the internals and I am still not content with the performance. How long has the bogley sticker been on the dakine tailgate protector ? I have been thinking about getting one of those for my chevy shortbed. Since putting a large weatherguard box in the back, I don't have much room for bikes.

[Kent K25]

Bogley sticker has been there a few months...I really like the DaKine pad. We fit 8-10 bikes in my truck on one bogley outing.

[REDFOX]

I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of how the bike sits inside of the bed of the truck. I wondered if the pedals or chainrings would rest on the bed floor of the truck causing wear.

[Kent K25]

I'll shoot some pictures tomorrow with both of my bikes in there to give you an idea. Either I'm totally oblivious, or nothing but the back tire hits the bed. Pretty sure it's just the back tire that hits the bed.

[Kent K25]

Forgot to toss my other bike in there after the ride, but you get the idea. No clearance issues. Nothing but the frame, front fork, and back tire touching anywhere. Nothing fragile.

[Kent K25]

Just bumping this back up...so far it's me, Chere, and mfshop (sorry, don't know your name). Anyone else want in?

[mfshop]

For the record, the last half of that video shows an alternate 'advanced' line that is closed. The actual last half of the trail is much tamer. I haven't ridden my bike for a while, so the more people that show up for this ride, the better for me

Here's a video of it...it's not pure downhill at all and I was told by someone on UMB that they have taken XC bikes there, they just had to walk several spots. To be totally honest I'm sure I'll be walking several spots even with a downhill bike as I learn to ride it and get the guts to step up.