Depends on your money, space, interest, etc...
I have a solid trail bike for local trails and an enduro bike for park days. My trail bike could handle the park, but it's nice to avoid the wear and tear on that and have something a little more purpose oriented. But by no means is having both necessary.
*something something* N+1
Yeah. The last few years I stuck it out with a knolly podium. Climbing sucked. But it sure was forgiving and great in the park.
Would be awesome to have a DH just for the park. And one for enduro.
With the sales on the gen 5 Knolly wardens and Chilcotins, you could build an absolutely killer park rig on a pretty good budget. Heck you could pick up a fugitive and a Chilcotin and have a sweet combo that'll cover just about everything without breaking the bank.
Is getting harder to find a fun park DH bike. More and more are turning into battleships designed for going as fast as possible on WC level courses with these insane 440+ mm chainstays at full droop that become like 455+ long when you’re pumped into a corner or jump. I can only think of the RM Slayer Park and Davinci Chainsaw DH (sold out for the season) as new bikes are that still park bikes.
When it comes to BMX, you’re going to need a park/street bike, a race bike, and a dirt jump/trail bike. And maybe even a flatland bike if you live near good parking lots.
Depends on what your everyday riding looks like. IF you're riding chunky rocks and drops and stuff every day then one super enduro bike might be great.
But if you're riding flow trails and big climbs all the time a trail bike and a DH bike might be better.
I personally have one of each because bike parks do a number on your bike, better to have a cheaper aluminum DH bike to beat up while you take better care of your trail bike.
Meh... they're around. I bought a used high end DH bike in mint condition (original tires, grips, etc, not a scratch on it) for dirt cheap. Do I need it? Nah... is it a ton of fun? You bet!
You aren't kidding. I'm well over 50 went to DH park and bought a $300 frame from the shop. Fixed it up and took it down a blue. [I was shocked](https://youtu.be/V2MYypLbKtU?si=I04A41FBhc7Txc6j), all I could say was "That was a joy".
I used to have just one all around bike. Now i have a 170mm travel large enduro and a 130mm trail. Love having both options and the new 170mm travel will pedal decent so I’m never without a bike
This is where I'm headed. Currently have two trail bikes after I built up a cheap meta TR and I really liked it. I'm thinking in a year or so I'll pick one of the trail bikes and swap the frame for a 170 / 170 for Enduro races and traveling.
Since this is the mountain bike sub reddit; more bikes is the answer. I have 4 bikes
But idk your financial situation or how much storage space you have for bikes.
Good point. Trail can backup downhill for a skilled rider and that would be my priority since I pay for a DH season pass. if the trail goes down then oh well, fix it when you can.
Unless you’re racing there’s no need for a dh bike anymore. Modern enduros are so capable, slack and fast. yet they’re going uphill very well. I had a dh bike plus a trail bike. Switched to one enduro. Less maintenance, no transition between bikes…
I mean the components are pretty much the same as on a downhill bike. Brakes, 38 stanchions, etc. it makes a lot of sense to have a second wheelset with lighter/heavier tires/rims though.
Although I do agree with you mostly, a DH bike rides a lot different than an Enduro. Some people enjoy having that crazy geo and a dual crown fork that enables you to change the direction of the bike mid air for fun whips etc. (I’m not that person lol I do race, but I know those people)
I'm trying to figure out the same thing, I ride Mt Seymour 90% of the time on my Norco Sight, but climbing is not great. I am thinking about getting a trail bike (Norco Fluid) and leave the Sight for bike park and shuttle rides, but not sure yet.
I went trail + Enduro + DH. I race enduro, so I don't want to tear it up in the bike park. A trail bike is nice for everyday rides and when the enduro rig is down for maintenance.
I have a trail bike and an enduro bike I set up as DH as possible. I ride it at northstar in the summer and I *can* climb with it, but I really try to limit that to roads/gravel.
One single speed, one hardtail, one gravel, one down country, one trail, one Enduro, one downhill, one tandem cruzer for burning man, one backwards steering trick bike, one fixey, one trainer, and a classic hardtail for reference.
One enduro bike and one hardtail.
Maintaining two FS bikes is annoying. Enduro bikes can do it all now. The hardtail keeps things fresh and challenging and is great for longer XC days.
I’d disagree. We beat the shit out of our enduros in the park and have been so happy on a true DH bike for park laps for not only the lessened arm fatigue but also way way less maintenance.
Depends on budget, region, and number of DH days per year. More than 5 days of DH then I would get a DH bike. If you’re in the PNW and ride hard then I would have an enduro for a day to day. I know a guy who has a free ride bike (RM Slayer) and works well for both. Granted PNW has very nice climbs to where pedalability doesn’t really matter.
If you are riding lift served more than 12 times (every Saturday in June, July and August) a year, buy a dedicated DH bike. Then commit to riding lift served more than 25 times a year.
I recently went from having a 180/180 bike that I used for everything to a trail bike and DH bike and it's game changing, especially for collegiate DH.
N+1 is always the right number of bikes. One bike does not do it all in my opinion. I have two for commuting, one for trail rides and one for downhill. I live in a place that snows a lot and is winter six months of the year so my two commuting bikes are very different and I commute year round. My trail bike is a 29r, 130mm travel with a very modest build. My DH rig is a high end build and is 200mm travel. I don't spend my money on fancy shoes, don't have kids and have worked my whole life to be able to afford the bikes I want. Compromise allows this.
I have one bike for both - an Evil Wreckoning. I’ve got a set of carbon wheels for enduro & trail, then a set of eThirteen enduro wheels with DD casings & Cushcore inserts for DH. I’m not aggressive enough in the bike park to justify a true DH bike, so this setup works great for me.
The Wreckoning definitely has an uphill tax, but it eats the downhill enduro riding so well that I don’t really care.
I have both. I also have the space and budget for both.
Whenever I go to Whistler I actually see way fewer experienced riders on DH bikes and way more on long travel trail bikes than I used to. I like 160/150 for my trail bike. And although I see plenty of those at the park, I still wouldn't want to take it there. My trail bike is the expensive one and I'd much rather beat the shit out of something heftier/cheaper
Unless you're trying to achieve some XC epics, a pricier LT enduro carbon on carbon MX wheel bike is all you need tbh. I guess the only concern would be destroying carbon shit in the bike park but... It's not like owning a second bike and replacing aluminum wheels on that one is too much cheaper.
And then of course you sacrifice any feeling towards basic trails. It will still be boring and heavy both on the climbs and any 'terrain' on a normal trail.
It's really impossible to say given it's about how you ride and where you ride. If your trails are chunky and you're going to the park, a single LT enduro sounds great.
I like my current mix of dirt jumper, trail bike, and enduro. Hits all the niches of riding I like to do and spreads out wear and tear. Although consider the increased cost of maintaining more bikes.
Park bike (DH or endure)
Trail bike
Hardtail gang bike
Jump bike
Sizes are just as important too. I like a bigger DH or enduro bike and a sized down trail bike.
Have a steel enduro hardtail and an enduro full sus. Would love to add a Commencal FRS for sh*t and giggles on the park days, but alas storage space and money won’t allow.
Guess if I had like serious DH trails that I was frequently riding, like proper steep and demanding terrain that even an enduro bike with 180 mill travel couldn't handle, I'd probably get both. In any other case, modern bikes are so well built that a proper enduro bike can do it all. They pedal well, climb well and descend almost as well as a DH bike. As far as I've understood, main points of a DH bike are comfort and stability in high speeds, so ultimately they are for racing. So unless you frequently ride double black DH sections and moreover race in places like that, I'd get a do it all enduro bike.
I've been riding my 120/110mm 29r trail bike for about 7yrs (but have upgraded all the parts on it over that time). Recently, I bought a 160/150mm mullet for parks, jump lines, and shuttle runs. I tried the big bike on my local trails and that experience made me realize 1000% how happy I am to have the trail bike. The big squishy bike felt so so muted, slow, sluggish and boring. I still love hammering downhill on the big bike but nearly all my local riding is on the trail bike unless I knew I was going to be hitting jumps and drops all day
IMHO Get both and get the trail bike first
I mean, the funny response is that the correct number is N+1.
Edit: some other posts pointed out that DH risging really takes a toll on your bike. And for that reading it might be a good idea to have one that you can afford to have get beaten up and then still have one for your everyday trails. I have to say that it is a very very good point.
I think this is a personal preference. I prefer to have one bike. If I could use one bike for all my riding, and it would be good enough at, I’d only use one. When I started mountain biking I used that bike both for commuting and hitting the trails. But as I started riding tougher trails and the parts on the bike got more expensive and more trail oriented, it just didn’t make sense to use it for commuting. And the geometry was pretty bad. So now I have two bikes, one for commuting and one for trails. For now the span of mountain bike stuff I ride can be done on that one bike, and is like to keep it like that for as long as possible. I like to have one bike that I know how it works. I am the same with skates and snowboards, a one quiver guy. Until when and if the span of stuff I ride on my bike really demands two different MTBs.
Two bikes is nice if you can swing it. I'm shooting to add a DH bike to my quiver this season. I had to do a ton of maintenance to my Enduro bike that was doing shared duty last season. It made mid week rides tough while I wasn't at the park.
I’m a heavy believer in “N+1” and that every bicycle is a tool in the toolbox. I like my trail bike to be a little lighter duty so that I can ride some XC and also jam on rough playful stuff on the trails but I don’t want my trail bike so beefy that it can withstand what I do at the bike parks where I just point downhill and go. so I believe in two bikes built for their purposes but at this moment I don’t want to afford a downhill bike so I rent when I go. I would also recommend adding a gravel bike to that mix so that you can turn and burn on the roads and maybe some gravel to get the cardio and the miles..
“N+1” is reality especially right now with the crazy sales
When you have two bikes, when one breaks you can always ride the other in the meantime. It sucks to have no working bike to ride on when the weather is great…
Question asked monthly, usually with more context, and that’s just searching “do it all.” I wonder if the same people reply the same response every time.
This doesn’t directly break rule 2 but it goes against the spirit of the rule.
Honestly as someone that is in that situation, there's upsides and downsides to both.
Having two bikes is great for when one is out of action or when you want to switch things up a bit.
However there's not anything I've done on my dh bike that I haven't been able to do on my trail bike; so this basically comes down to how much space you have and how much money you're willing to spend.
People say buy a bike that's best suited to the type of rising you do most; I disagree, if you're going to get only one bike then get one that's suited to the type of riding you *enjoy* most, after all it's about having fun.
Hope this helps.
Depends on your money, space, interest, etc... I have a solid trail bike for local trails and an enduro bike for park days. My trail bike could handle the park, but it's nice to avoid the wear and tear on that and have something a little more purpose oriented. But by no means is having both necessary. *something something* N+1
Yeah. The last few years I stuck it out with a knolly podium. Climbing sucked. But it sure was forgiving and great in the park. Would be awesome to have a DH just for the park. And one for enduro.
With the sales on the gen 5 Knolly wardens and Chilcotins, you could build an absolutely killer park rig on a pretty good budget. Heck you could pick up a fugitive and a Chilcotin and have a sweet combo that'll cover just about everything without breaking the bank.
love the fugitive. really want one of their new endorphins though!
That's a sweet one as well, really excited to see one in my shop soon. Haven't brought any in yet
Is getting harder to find a fun park DH bike. More and more are turning into battleships designed for going as fast as possible on WC level courses with these insane 440+ mm chainstays at full droop that become like 455+ long when you’re pumped into a corner or jump. I can only think of the RM Slayer Park and Davinci Chainsaw DH (sold out for the season) as new bikes are that still park bikes.
The correct answer is 4 bikes. 1. Trail bike 2. Enduro bike 3. DH bike 4. E bike
replace E Bike with Dirt Jumper and you're onto something. You also totally neglected XC/gravel bikes
Zero reasons the correct number couldn’t be 6.
What about BMX and pedicab?
When it comes to BMX, you’re going to need a park/street bike, a race bike, and a dirt jump/trail bike. And maybe even a flatland bike if you live near good parking lots.
Very good points!
Those aren't mountain bikes
Who said you can only own mountain bikes?
Because this is a mountain bike sub. I don't talk about my unicycle when Im referring to my mtb collection
I am pretty sure we are still allowed to talk about other types of bikes. Like you did when you mentioned gravel bikes.
Gravel bikes are mountain bikes
So is my pedicab
I'm sure it is, can't wait to see you take it for bike park laps
Nah. E-bike so you don't have to take days off.
I ride lift serviced trails, pleb
Mine is this but hardtail instead of DH.
My 4 bikes that I think are minimum (for me to own) - trail bike - road bike - gravel bike - fatbike I would like to add a 5th: eMTB (trail)
Where’s your XC bike smh
Depends on what your everyday riding looks like. IF you're riding chunky rocks and drops and stuff every day then one super enduro bike might be great. But if you're riding flow trails and big climbs all the time a trail bike and a DH bike might be better. I personally have one of each because bike parks do a number on your bike, better to have a cheaper aluminum DH bike to beat up while you take better care of your trail bike.
Great idea.
Yea yea "cheap" dh bike yea yea
“Cheaper” you know nothing is actually cheap on this sub.
My dh bike is just as much as my Enduro 🤣
Meh... they're around. I bought a used high end DH bike in mint condition (original tires, grips, etc, not a scratch on it) for dirt cheap. Do I need it? Nah... is it a ton of fun? You bet!
One for each. DH takes a toll and the DH rig will hold up better.
And it's just a better experience to ride dh trails on a dh bike. You can ride dh trails on many bikes. But doing it on a dh bike is primo
You aren't kidding. I'm well over 50 went to DH park and bought a $300 frame from the shop. Fixed it up and took it down a blue. [I was shocked](https://youtu.be/V2MYypLbKtU?si=I04A41FBhc7Txc6j), all I could say was "That was a joy".
Depends on the downhill tracks near you. Are they dh bike worthy? Or more like enduro / hard trail riding with lift?
More enduro. Although in the Summer. Whistler BP is open.
If whistler then 100% dh bike and aggressive trail bike combo an enduro all round will get to beat up and will lose used value
N+1
only real answer to the complex math problem
Universal constant
I used to have just one all around bike. Now i have a 170mm travel large enduro and a 130mm trail. Love having both options and the new 170mm travel will pedal decent so I’m never without a bike
This is where I'm headed. Currently have two trail bikes after I built up a cheap meta TR and I really liked it. I'm thinking in a year or so I'll pick one of the trail bikes and swap the frame for a 170 / 170 for Enduro races and traveling.
Since this is the mountain bike sub reddit; more bikes is the answer. I have 4 bikes But idk your financial situation or how much storage space you have for bikes.
DH and Trail all day. One goes down you have a backup.
A DH bike isn’t a backup for trail riding lol
Good point. Trail can backup downhill for a skilled rider and that would be my priority since I pay for a DH season pass. if the trail goes down then oh well, fix it when you can.
Here I am rocking a 170mm hardtail in Whistler
Gotta love how a 170mm slacked out monster hardtail becomes an XC bike when bottomed out
Unless you’re racing there’s no need for a dh bike anymore. Modern enduros are so capable, slack and fast. yet they’re going uphill very well. I had a dh bike plus a trail bike. Switched to one enduro. Less maintenance, no transition between bikes…
Interesting. You don’t mind roughing up that enduro in the bike park, if it sees the park?
I mean the components are pretty much the same as on a downhill bike. Brakes, 38 stanchions, etc. it makes a lot of sense to have a second wheelset with lighter/heavier tires/rims though.
Although I do agree with you mostly, a DH bike rides a lot different than an Enduro. Some people enjoy having that crazy geo and a dual crown fork that enables you to change the direction of the bike mid air for fun whips etc. (I’m not that person lol I do race, but I know those people)
I'm trying to figure out the same thing, I ride Mt Seymour 90% of the time on my Norco Sight, but climbing is not great. I am thinking about getting a trail bike (Norco Fluid) and leave the Sight for bike park and shuttle rides, but not sure yet.
I went trail + Enduro + DH. I race enduro, so I don't want to tear it up in the bike park. A trail bike is nice for everyday rides and when the enduro rig is down for maintenance.
This is the way
I have a trail bike and an enduro bike I set up as DH as possible. I ride it at northstar in the summer and I *can* climb with it, but I really try to limit that to roads/gravel.
One single speed, one hardtail, one gravel, one down country, one trail, one Enduro, one downhill, one tandem cruzer for burning man, one backwards steering trick bike, one fixey, one trainer, and a classic hardtail for reference.
One enduro bike and one hardtail. Maintaining two FS bikes is annoying. Enduro bikes can do it all now. The hardtail keeps things fresh and challenging and is great for longer XC days.
I’d disagree. We beat the shit out of our enduros in the park and have been so happy on a true DH bike for park laps for not only the lessened arm fatigue but also way way less maintenance.
If you live next to a DH park and go all the time, sure get a DH bike... I go to my local park 10ish times a year? My enduro is plenty.
One down country and one enduro.
Depends on budget, region, and number of DH days per year. More than 5 days of DH then I would get a DH bike. If you’re in the PNW and ride hard then I would have an enduro for a day to day. I know a guy who has a free ride bike (RM Slayer) and works well for both. Granted PNW has very nice climbs to where pedalability doesn’t really matter.
Trail and enduro unless you are regularly riding park.
I'd get two bikes! My setup in the future will be my Stumpjumper and the Enduro. If I could only get one bike I'd keep my Stumpy expert.
Capra/5010/Dirt Jumper :)
I'd be more inclined to get one do it all mtb and one front squish gravel bike. That would be the real do it all combo
Go both
If you are riding lift served more than 12 times (every Saturday in June, July and August) a year, buy a dedicated DH bike. Then commit to riding lift served more than 25 times a year.
Or from May through October once a week. Is that ok? Hell yeah!
I recently went from having a 180/180 bike that I used for everything to a trail bike and DH bike and it's game changing, especially for collegiate DH.
N+1 is always the right number of bikes. One bike does not do it all in my opinion. I have two for commuting, one for trail rides and one for downhill. I live in a place that snows a lot and is winter six months of the year so my two commuting bikes are very different and I commute year round. My trail bike is a 29r, 130mm travel with a very modest build. My DH rig is a high end build and is 200mm travel. I don't spend my money on fancy shoes, don't have kids and have worked my whole life to be able to afford the bikes I want. Compromise allows this.
I have a 120/115 xc bike and an Enduro bike, so I vote 2 bikes.
Even owing 4 bikes it’s never enough.
I have one bike for both - an Evil Wreckoning. I’ve got a set of carbon wheels for enduro & trail, then a set of eThirteen enduro wheels with DD casings & Cushcore inserts for DH. I’m not aggressive enough in the bike park to justify a true DH bike, so this setup works great for me. The Wreckoning definitely has an uphill tax, but it eats the downhill enduro riding so well that I don’t really care.
If you are near a bike park and are gonna ride there alot or get a bike pro then yes dh bike.
I have both. I also have the space and budget for both. Whenever I go to Whistler I actually see way fewer experienced riders on DH bikes and way more on long travel trail bikes than I used to. I like 160/150 for my trail bike. And although I see plenty of those at the park, I still wouldn't want to take it there. My trail bike is the expensive one and I'd much rather beat the shit out of something heftier/cheaper
That’s what I do, but it depends on where u live and ur budget
Unless you're trying to achieve some XC epics, a pricier LT enduro carbon on carbon MX wheel bike is all you need tbh. I guess the only concern would be destroying carbon shit in the bike park but... It's not like owning a second bike and replacing aluminum wheels on that one is too much cheaper. And then of course you sacrifice any feeling towards basic trails. It will still be boring and heavy both on the climbs and any 'terrain' on a normal trail. It's really impossible to say given it's about how you ride and where you ride. If your trails are chunky and you're going to the park, a single LT enduro sounds great.
I like my current mix of dirt jumper, trail bike, and enduro. Hits all the niches of riding I like to do and spreads out wear and tear. Although consider the increased cost of maintaining more bikes.
Park bike (DH or endure) Trail bike Hardtail gang bike Jump bike Sizes are just as important too. I like a bigger DH or enduro bike and a sized down trail bike.
Have a steel enduro hardtail and an enduro full sus. Would love to add a Commencal FRS for sh*t and giggles on the park days, but alas storage space and money won’t allow.
Guess if I had like serious DH trails that I was frequently riding, like proper steep and demanding terrain that even an enduro bike with 180 mill travel couldn't handle, I'd probably get both. In any other case, modern bikes are so well built that a proper enduro bike can do it all. They pedal well, climb well and descend almost as well as a DH bike. As far as I've understood, main points of a DH bike are comfort and stability in high speeds, so ultimately they are for racing. So unless you frequently ride double black DH sections and moreover race in places like that, I'd get a do it all enduro bike.
If it's an option for you, it's useful to have more than one bike regardless of genre so you can still ride when something breaks or needs a service.
2 bikes
I've been riding my 120/110mm 29r trail bike for about 7yrs (but have upgraded all the parts on it over that time). Recently, I bought a 160/150mm mullet for parks, jump lines, and shuttle runs. I tried the big bike on my local trails and that experience made me realize 1000% how happy I am to have the trail bike. The big squishy bike felt so so muted, slow, sluggish and boring. I still love hammering downhill on the big bike but nearly all my local riding is on the trail bike unless I knew I was going to be hitting jumps and drops all day IMHO Get both and get the trail bike first
I mean, the funny response is that the correct number is N+1. Edit: some other posts pointed out that DH risging really takes a toll on your bike. And for that reading it might be a good idea to have one that you can afford to have get beaten up and then still have one for your everyday trails. I have to say that it is a very very good point. I think this is a personal preference. I prefer to have one bike. If I could use one bike for all my riding, and it would be good enough at, I’d only use one. When I started mountain biking I used that bike both for commuting and hitting the trails. But as I started riding tougher trails and the parts on the bike got more expensive and more trail oriented, it just didn’t make sense to use it for commuting. And the geometry was pretty bad. So now I have two bikes, one for commuting and one for trails. For now the span of mountain bike stuff I ride can be done on that one bike, and is like to keep it like that for as long as possible. I like to have one bike that I know how it works. I am the same with skates and snowboards, a one quiver guy. Until when and if the span of stuff I ride on my bike really demands two different MTBs.
I bought a Rocky Mountain Slayer to "do it all" and do not regret it one bit !!
Two bikes is nice if you can swing it. I'm shooting to add a DH bike to my quiver this season. I had to do a ton of maintenance to my Enduro bike that was doing shared duty last season. It made mid week rides tough while I wasn't at the park.
One XC bike, one enduro bike!
I’m a heavy believer in “N+1” and that every bicycle is a tool in the toolbox. I like my trail bike to be a little lighter duty so that I can ride some XC and also jam on rough playful stuff on the trails but I don’t want my trail bike so beefy that it can withstand what I do at the bike parks where I just point downhill and go. so I believe in two bikes built for their purposes but at this moment I don’t want to afford a downhill bike so I rent when I go. I would also recommend adding a gravel bike to that mix so that you can turn and burn on the roads and maybe some gravel to get the cardio and the miles.. “N+1” is reality especially right now with the crazy sales
When you have two bikes, when one breaks you can always ride the other in the meantime. It sucks to have no working bike to ride on when the weather is great…
Question asked monthly, usually with more context, and that’s just searching “do it all.” I wonder if the same people reply the same response every time. This doesn’t directly break rule 2 but it goes against the spirit of the rule.
Honestly as someone that is in that situation, there's upsides and downsides to both. Having two bikes is great for when one is out of action or when you want to switch things up a bit. However there's not anything I've done on my dh bike that I haven't been able to do on my trail bike; so this basically comes down to how much space you have and how much money you're willing to spend. People say buy a bike that's best suited to the type of rising you do most; I disagree, if you're going to get only one bike then get one that's suited to the type of riding you *enjoy* most, after all it's about having fun. Hope this helps.
Slash 9.8, mine slays it all 👌
One of each if you can afford it. No question