Help with my New Dirt Jumping Bike?

Question

My only mountain bike right now is a 06 Kona Kikapu. Because of the Fox Vanilla coil shock it is basically one of the strongest cross country full suspension's you can have (little heavy of course). I love this bike, but this summer I am trying to improve my jumping game. I want a DJ bike, that I could you know take to Ray's if I went. I am thinking of either the Mongoose Fireball...the Jamis Kromo (i hate hydraulic tho)....the GT chucker or 2.0 or the Jamis Komodo...which I know is built like a jumper, but has 24 d**n gears? Please, any opinions?

Answer 1

Man, there are tons of jump bikes out there now.  While you're shopping, pay attention to frame geometry.  There are a lot of burly hardtails available and they may all look like "jump" bikes, but many of them are better suited to aggressive hardtail freeride and downhills.   The Komodo is one of those.  It has a slack head angle and longer top tube than a good jump bike.  I own a Komodo frame, and built it up very heavy for urban abuse...and I jump with it a little.  It's not ideal for dirt jumps, but it does ok.  Makes it harder to work around than a more aggressive jump geometry.  

Look for head angles of 70°-72°, short-travel stiff forks (80mm-100mm), and the shortest chainstays you can get.  Also look for rear tire clearance....you want to be able to fit at least a 2.3 tire, but clearance for larger tires is better.   If you want to run singlespeed, look for a bike with horizontal dropouts...much easier and more durable for jumping.  

So this is just an ideal.....remember that you can learn to control and jump almost any bike.  Some feel better than others for certain things but they can all be made to do most tricks and maneuvers.  You can take anything to Ray's and have fun!  A friend of mine went up there this spring and took both jump bikes and 7" travel downhill bikes....had a blast!  

Check out the Transition Trail-or-Park, the Kona Cowan/Shred/Stuff, Cannondale Chase, Trek Jack, Specialized P, and anything from Atomlab, Fire Eye, DaBomb, Cove, or DMR.  

There are lots of good ones....have fun shopping and enjoy the new bike!   Also, if you want to consider a used bike, check out the classifieds at http://www.pinkbike.com and http://www.ridemonkey.com .