I bought a Giga in '21 and ride it almost exclusively at bike parks. Its long, slack, stable and very plush--perfect for the bike park IMHO. The frame is very burly and rugged so it will take the punishments of the bike park (especially creek since its so rocky). The 38mm fork is plenty rugged enough for me and at 180mm, i personally seldom get close to full travel since i'm an intermediate rider at best. I mostly ride all the freeride trails except the biggest ones and do dabble in the rocky tech trails. Mine is set up to be a bit plush since i ride Creek most often. I added Dh casing tires, an EXT coil shock and tuned the Fox 38 to be more compliant in the rough bits but you can set it up to be more lively and poppy for flow trails. Creek does rattle bolts loose and i have had some pivots work loose but nothing some locktite cant fix. The pivot bearings aren't that great and i've had to replace them already due to water ingress due to a few wet park days. Mine's an XXL and weighs in at 36+ lbs (though likely more after adding the coil, DH tires, flexx bars and other stuff).Looking into all these bikes and availability. Anyone have an opinion on the Nukeproof Giga?
Thanks! Looking into bothI bought a Giga in '21 and ride it almost exclusively at bike parks. Its long, slack, stable and very plush--perfect for the bike park IMHO. The frame is very burly and rugged so it will take the punishments of the bike park (especially creek since its so rocky). The 38mm fork is plenty rugged enough for me and at 180mm, i personally seldom get close to full travel since i'm an intermediate rider at best. I mostly ride all the freeride trails except the biggest ones and do dabble in the rocky tech trails. Mine is set up to be a bit plush since i ride Creek most often. I added Dh casing tires, an EXT coil shock and tuned the Fox 38 to be more compliant in the rough bits but you can set it up to be more lively and poppy for flow trails. Creek does rattle bolts loose and i have had some pivots work loose but nothing some locktite cant fix. The pivot bearings aren't that great and i've had to replace them already due to water ingress due to a few wet park days. Mine's an XXL and weighs in at 36+ lbs (though likely more after adding the coil, DH tires, flexx bars and other stuff).
For shits and giggles i took my 140mm trail bike to the park for closing weekend instead of the giga. The flex and general lower limits of the bike were apparent over the Giga but since its a bit smaller and lighter, it was a different, more playful experience.
Another bike i would consider is the Transition Spire--equally as big as the Giga (maybe a bit more) and so would make a great park rig.
Agree. I enjoy Bluephoria for what I believe it's supposed to be: more of a "pure" enduro trail with mostly descending with a bit of flattish stuff and even some climbs. I wouldn't want to ride it on a pure DH bike.Doesn’t suck, just not a flow trail.
That trail needs to be turned into a Cat and Mouse clone from Thunder Mountain.Doesn’t suck, just not a flow trail.
Why anyone would want to take a chairlift to ride a trail like Bluephoria is beyond me. It’s flat, chunky and slow. I can ride trails like that at Ringwood or Wildcat.Doesn’t suck, just not a flow trail.
That trail needs to be turned into a Cat and Mouse clone from Thunder Mountain.
There's zero blue flow at Creek without jumps.
I am a beginner (2nd season on an mtb / 1st season in park) and, to be honest, the only reason I'm staying upright on the chunky stuff like Bushwack is because of the DH bike. 😁 I don't know what I am doing when it comes to jumps/flow, which in my case (no pun intended 🤣).. the dh bike doesn't really help.Also love that something like "Bushwack" is a blue trail. Good luck to the higher level beginner who is starting to venture out onto blue trails with that one.
It does *seem* that way since the majority of the trails are either/or. But the fact that most creek trails are rather short and end mid-mountain, you can string together a combination of tech and flow. And there are a bunch of those blue tech trails that do have a little of each mixed in like outlaw, the jack and others.That's my favorite aspect of Thunder, and really every bike park that I've ridden that's not Mt Creek. Mt Creek is basically completely binary. Either you're riding a "flow trail" like breakout which will have nearly zero rocks, or you're riding a tech trail like, say "The Jack", which is basically just rocks and most of them are a random jumbled pile that you have to make sense of especially toward the bottom of that trail. Monarch or something like that might be a better example. But there's very little that combines those things. Once you're done with the flow trails at Creek it's like "alright, now I'm going to get the crap beat out of me", which I also enjoy, it just feels like Thunder has a really nice mix figured out. Also love that something like "Bushwack" is a blue trail. Good luck to the higher level beginner who is starting to venture out onto blue trails with that one.
What’s the point of a flow trail without jumps lolThere's zero blue flow at Creek without jumps.
Well, it’s an enduro trail they built for the enduro races…so it was never intended as a “lift” trail or for DH bikes.Why anyone would want to take a chairlift to ride a trail like Bluephoria is beyond me. It’s flat, chunky and slow. I can ride trails like that at Ringwood or Wildcat.
Exactly why they should have a sign stating that. Maybe something like, “Do you even enduro bro?”What’s the point of a flow trail without jumps lol
Well, it’s an enduro trail they built for the enduro races…so it was never intended as a “lift” trail or for DH bikes.
That's my favorite aspect of Thunder, and really every bike park that I've ridden that's not Mt Creek. Mt Creek is basically completely binary. Either you're riding a "flow trail" like breakout which will have nearly zero rocks, or you're riding a tech trail like, say "The Jack", which is basically just rocks and most of them are a random jumbled pile that you have to make sense of especially toward the bottom of that trail. Monarch or something like that might be a better example. But there's very little that combines those things. Once you're done with the flow trails at Creek it's like "alright, now I'm going to get the crap beat out of me", which I also enjoy, it just feels like Thunder has a really nice mix figured out. Also love that something like "Bushwack" is a blue trail. Good luck to the higher level beginner who is starting to venture out onto blue trails with that one.
What’s the point of a flow trail without jumps lol
Isn't tempest a blue flow , jump trail ? Has a mix of everything, and some of the features have go arounds .
If I got a DH bike it would be this.Back on topic...
The Commencal FRS is a dope AF park bike...
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https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Commencal/FRS-Ride,35188
Tempest has a bunch of jumps that have no ride arounds. At least 4 of them are step downs that force you into the air.