Sick! Was just there. A lot steeper and jumps way bigger in person! Edit: You ever look into a different camera/audio setup? Love watching your vids regardless, just think they could be next level.
Thanks man, I love Mountain Creek, and I wish the GoPro did the trails justice! But yeah a better camera is next on the list now that I've got the new bike. I'm still working with a GoPro Hero 1 believe it or not ;)
NorthEastMTB ... Dude that'll be sick. I watched your video at Brandywine before I even bought a bike. Now I'm knee deep into it, as I'm sure you can relate. I'm 38 and my son rides with me too. He's 14 and he's getting better by the day. I also got my best friend, who hasn't ridden in 15 years, back into it and he's replacing his 2002 Diamondback with a new one in the near future. If you're feeling generous can you give me your email and tell me where that jump trail is in Downingtown near Harmony? If not I understand, and won't hold it against you, LOL.
First of all, I feel like a stalker, but I'm just on a UA-cam run the last 48 hours! It'd be cool to get footage either behind you so we can see you ride, and/or just a standstill, like a person holding the camera from the trail and recording you hit a section. What style do you like better? More like Nate Hills, or would you ever want to take a similar direction like Seth (who IMO has THE best UA-cam channel)
You have a lot of good suggestions! I would love to get footage of me either following someone, or someone following me, but unfortunately I don't know anyone who likes to ride the kind of stuff I do, I'm usually alone. In this video I was actually there with a buddy, but he doesn't like to ride jumps. As for just sticking a camera off the side of the trail, I would do that too, but my riding days are very limited, and it would take a lot of extra time and effort to carry the camera around, set it up, walk back up the hill, take it down, etc. Again this would be easier with a friend, but I am limited in the riding buddy department haha. I will eventually put a video up with some third person shots of the bigger features I can hit, namely the Cabin Drop, the Airlines, and this big drop at the Newark Reservoir near my house, but other than that I'll probably have to stick mostly to the first person raw footage. That's why I at least need to make the most of it with a better camera!
So far its awesome. I don't have much experience with downhill bikes so I can't really compare it to others, but there are a few things I can say about it. First, it jumps REALLY well, it is unreal how stable it feels anytime it's in the air. Second, it is so. friken. fast. It carries so much speed over everything, and feels extremely composed once you get going really fast. It does struggle a bit on flatter trails, tending to get caught up in the terrain, but it wasn't built to go slow on flat trails. Along with going really fast, it also feels very controlled in corners and slides, and braking is super well balanced in the steep stuff. It is probably important to mention that I am only 5'8" on a good day, and I have a size large frame. I think this is part of why it feels so good on big jumps, on steep trails, and at high speed, and why I struggle with it a bit on the slower, more technical stuff. Overall the bike is a amazing. I think there are bikes out there that may be better for certain things, but none that will jump as well, and few that will be so dang fast.
NorthEastMTB ... I'm 5'7 and I'm looking at a Canyon or YT. I got a medium on my trail bike, and have very little clearance at my groin, but when I'm actually on the bike I prefer the larger frame. 5'7 on their recommendation height sheet suggests a small or medium, and until now I figured I'd get small. Now I'm second guessing that cause of what you said. Would you suggest I go medium. I rode a medium Scott at MC (the rental) before and it felt pretty perfect. I guess clearance there isn't an issue with the geometry. What do u think?
Okay prepare yourself this is going to be long... So it’s weird, I used to run my seat slammed as low as it could go on my trail bike because of the clearance issue. On the YT I have to keep my seat pretty high to keep it from hitting the tire with the extra suspension. I thought the seat was going to feel really in the way, but I never notice it. I'm not 100% sure why this is, but I think it’s a combination of the skinnier seat on the YT, and the fact that the YT rides SO much lower than my trail bike so I'm not constantly squatting as low as I can on the YT, I ride it in a much more neutral position. Now another thing to keep in mind is that the seat tube length and bottom bracket height is the same across sizes, in fact the standover height (over the frame) is actually lower on the larger sizes. So, going bigger will not put the seat more in the way at least so long as your arms are long enough to be able to get your ass behind it, in the event that you need to. The size thing is really tough though, it is so dependent on preference and style. But keep in mind you're not buying a trail bike, you're buying a downhill bike. It should be big. If you like the feel of the medium Scott, the YT's are almost exactly the same size, so you'll probably like the medium YT. The bigger bike is going to be better for everything accept really technical stuff, where it will be more of a handful since shifting your weight has less of an effect on the bigger bike. But again, it's a downhill bike, and I think I'd rather trade more high speed stability (something skill cannot give you) for less low speed maneuverability (which you can make up for with skill). Now the way I made my decision to size up was by comparing the carbon and aluminum size charts, and by looking at what sizes the pros ride. If you look carefully you’ll notice that the carbon YTs are about 10mm longer than the aluminum YTs. Strangely, despite the carbon bikes being larger, the carbon size chart actually shifts so that on a carbon bike, someone who is 5’7” is between a large and a medium, instead of a medium and a small on the aluminum size chart. YT does this on purpose for two reasons. First because they figure beginners are going to be buying the aluminum bikes and won’t be able to handle the bigger bike as well as a racer could, and second because the aluminum bike is much heavier, so as I said before shifting your weight won’t have as much of an effect on it, thus you need a smaller aluminum bike to have the same maneuverability you’d have on a carbon bike. Since the carbon bikes are bigger, and their size chart puts you on a medium or large, you will probably feel comfortable on a medium, and you can be sure a small would be too small if you want to go really fast. Now if you look at what the pro’s ride, it is pretty informative. Aaron Gwin is 5’10” and rides an XL, which is a size larger than the size chart says he should ride, and remember MUCH larger than the aluminum large. Angel Suarez is 6’1”, and rides a XXL, which is again a whole size larger than even the carbon size chart says he should ride. Cam Zink is 5’10”, and rides a M for freeride, but a L for racing. Ethan Nell is 5’8” and rides a small for freeride, Neko Mullay is 5’11.5” and rides an XL for racing. Andreu Lacondeguy is 5’3”, and rides a small for freeride, Yannick Granieri is 5’5” and rides a M for freeride. So, you’ll notice there is a pattern. Everyone accept Ethan Nell is riding a size or a size and a half up, even for freeride, and those are on the carbon bikes. You can also get some information by looking at the Canyon Sender size chart. The sender is a very large bike, A Large Tues = a Medium Sender, and you fit smack in the middle of a size medium sender. So, If you buy a Sender, you want a medium, but that would be a large on the Tues. The decision should be clear: SIZE UP, especially in aluminum. You will never hear anyone saying “I wish I had bought a smaller downhill bike” you do hear many people saying they wish they went larger. I’m realistically like 5’7.75” and skinny, and I am so thankful I bought a large. You don’t want a small. I would be more worried about whether to buy a large 😉.
Freakin awesome! ..As usual nice job dude 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
Thanks so much man.
Sick video! Nice meeting you
Thanks buddy you too!
Nice job...solid!
Thank you kindly!
Sick! Was just there. A lot steeper and jumps way bigger in person!
Edit: You ever look into a different camera/audio setup? Love watching your vids regardless, just think they could be next level.
Thanks man, I love Mountain Creek, and I wish the GoPro did the trails justice! But yeah a better camera is next on the list now that I've got the new bike. I'm still working with a GoPro Hero 1 believe it or not ;)
NorthEastMTB ... Dude that'll be sick. I watched your video at Brandywine before I even bought a bike. Now I'm knee deep into it, as I'm sure you can relate. I'm 38 and my son rides with me too. He's 14 and he's getting better by the day. I also got my best friend, who hasn't ridden in 15 years, back into it and he's replacing his 2002 Diamondback with a new one in the near future.
If you're feeling generous can you give me your email and tell me where that jump trail is in Downingtown near Harmony? If not I understand, and won't hold it against you, LOL.
Mike its no problem, my email is ransom.billy@Gmail.com
First of all, I feel like a stalker, but I'm just on a UA-cam run the last 48 hours! It'd be cool to get footage either behind you so we can see you ride, and/or just a standstill, like a person holding the camera from the trail and recording you hit a section. What style do you like better? More like Nate Hills, or would you ever want to take a similar direction like Seth (who IMO has THE best UA-cam channel)
You have a lot of good suggestions! I would love to get footage of me either following someone, or someone following me, but unfortunately I don't know anyone who likes to ride the kind of stuff I do, I'm usually alone. In this video I was actually there with a buddy, but he doesn't like to ride jumps. As for just sticking a camera off the side of the trail, I would do that too, but my riding days are very limited, and it would take a lot of extra time and effort to carry the camera around, set it up, walk back up the hill, take it down, etc. Again this would be easier with a friend, but I am limited in the riding buddy department haha. I will eventually put a video up with some third person shots of the bigger features I can hit, namely the Cabin Drop, the Airlines, and this big drop at the Newark Reservoir near my house, but other than that I'll probably have to stick mostly to the first person raw footage. That's why I at least need to make the most of it with a better camera!
What are your thoughts on YT bike?
So far its awesome. I don't have much experience with downhill bikes so I can't really compare it to others, but there are a few things I can say about it. First, it jumps REALLY well, it is unreal how stable it feels anytime it's in the air. Second, it is so. friken. fast. It carries so much speed over everything, and feels extremely composed once you get going really fast. It does struggle a bit on flatter trails, tending to get caught up in the terrain, but it wasn't built to go slow on flat trails. Along with going really fast, it also feels very controlled in corners and slides, and braking is super well balanced in the steep stuff. It is probably important to mention that I am only 5'8" on a good day, and I have a size large frame. I think this is part of why it feels so good on big jumps, on steep trails, and at high speed, and why I struggle with it a bit on the slower, more technical stuff. Overall the bike is a amazing. I think there are bikes out there that may be better for certain things, but none that will jump as well, and few that will be so dang fast.
NorthEastMTB ... I'm 5'7 and I'm looking at a Canyon or YT. I got a medium on my trail bike, and have very little clearance at my groin, but when I'm actually on the bike I prefer the larger frame. 5'7 on their recommendation height sheet suggests a small or medium, and until now I figured I'd get small. Now I'm second guessing that cause of what you said. Would you suggest I go medium. I rode a medium Scott at MC (the rental) before and it felt pretty perfect. I guess clearance there isn't an issue with the geometry. What do u think?
Okay prepare yourself this is going to be long... So it’s weird, I used to run my seat slammed as low as it could go on my trail bike because of the clearance issue. On the YT I have to keep my seat pretty high to keep it from hitting the tire with the extra suspension. I thought the seat was going to feel really in the way, but I never notice it. I'm not 100% sure why this is, but I think it’s a combination of the skinnier seat on the YT, and the fact that the YT rides SO much lower than my trail bike so I'm not constantly squatting as low as I can on the YT, I ride it in a much more neutral position. Now another thing to keep in mind is that the seat tube length and bottom bracket height is the same across sizes, in fact the standover height (over the frame) is actually lower on the larger sizes. So, going bigger will not put the seat more in the way at least so long as your arms are long enough to be able to get your ass behind it, in the event that you need to. The size thing is really tough though, it is so dependent on preference and style. But keep in mind you're not buying a trail bike, you're buying a downhill bike. It should be big. If you like the feel of the medium Scott, the YT's are almost exactly the same size, so you'll probably like the medium YT. The bigger bike is going to be better for everything accept really technical stuff, where it will be more of a handful since shifting your weight has less of an effect on the bigger bike. But again, it's a downhill bike, and I think I'd rather trade more high speed stability (something skill cannot give you) for less low speed maneuverability (which you can make up for with skill). Now the way I made my decision to size up was by comparing the carbon and aluminum size charts, and by looking at what sizes the pros ride. If you look carefully you’ll notice that the carbon YTs are about 10mm longer than the aluminum YTs. Strangely, despite the carbon bikes being larger, the carbon size chart actually shifts so that on a carbon bike, someone who is 5’7” is between a large and a medium, instead of a medium and a small on the aluminum size chart. YT does this on purpose for two reasons. First because they figure beginners are going to be buying the aluminum bikes and won’t be able to handle the bigger bike as well as a racer could, and second because the aluminum bike is much heavier, so as I said before shifting your weight won’t have as much of an effect on it, thus you need a smaller aluminum bike to have the same maneuverability you’d have on a carbon bike. Since the carbon bikes are bigger, and their size chart puts you on a medium or large, you will probably feel comfortable on a medium, and you can be sure a small would be too small if you want to go really fast. Now if you look at what the pro’s ride, it is pretty informative. Aaron Gwin is 5’10” and rides an XL, which is a size larger than the size chart says he should ride, and remember MUCH larger than the aluminum large. Angel Suarez is 6’1”, and rides a XXL, which is again a whole size larger than even the carbon size chart says he should ride. Cam Zink is 5’10”, and rides a M for freeride, but a L for racing. Ethan Nell is 5’8” and rides a small for freeride, Neko Mullay is 5’11.5” and rides an XL for racing. Andreu Lacondeguy is 5’3”, and rides a small for freeride, Yannick Granieri is 5’5” and rides a M for freeride. So, you’ll notice there is a pattern. Everyone accept Ethan Nell is riding a size or a size and a half up, even for freeride, and those are on the carbon bikes. You can also get some information by looking at the Canyon Sender size chart. The sender is a very large bike, A Large Tues = a Medium Sender, and you fit smack in the middle of a size medium sender. So, If you buy a Sender, you want a medium, but that would be a large on the Tues. The decision should be clear: SIZE UP, especially in aluminum. You will never hear anyone saying “I wish I had bought a smaller downhill bike” you do hear many people saying they wish they went larger. I’m realistically like 5’7.75” and skinny, and I am so thankful I bought a large. You don’t want a small. I would be more worried about whether to buy a large 😉.
NorthEastMTB ... Dude, you're the man. I really appreciate that detailed explanation and it definitely makes sense. Thanks!
Of course, let me know what you decide on!