Freeride mountain biking

From ExtremeWiki

Freeride is a relatively new discipline of Mountain Biking, combining different aspects of the sport such as downhill and dirt jumping which has progressed rapidly in recent years, and is now recognised as one of the most popular disciplines within mountain biking.

The term is a derivative of freeriding, which originally came from Snowboarding and is now also used in other sports including Skiing and Windsurfing. The original concept of freeriding was that there was no set course, goals or rules to abide by.

The original freeride bikes were modified downhill bikes which utilized gearing that enabled the rider to go up hills as well as down them. Modern freeride bikes are similar to downhill bikes, but feature less suspension travel and are are lighter - which enables them to be ridden not just downhill but through more technical sections, such as North Shore obstacles. Additionally, most freeride bikes feature slightly steeper headangles and shorter wheelbases than pure downhill bikes to facilitate maneuverability on slower, technical sections of trail.

Ski areas have started to embrace the sport of MTB freeriding, adding bike racks to chairlifts to create lift accessed mountain biking. This helps keep ski areas profitable year round, and gives the bikers the ability to ride more runs in less time.

[edit] Video

Downhill freeride mountain bike footage shot from the cable cam rig on Mt.Prevost, Duncan, British Columbia

[edit] Differences between downhilling and freeriding

Due to similarities with the bicycles used and often the riding locations, the divisions between downhill riding and freeriding are often overlooked. For example freeride bikes have a steeper head tube angles and shorter wheelbases for low-speed stability on technical stunts, while downhill bikes have slacker headtube angles and longer wheelbases for absolute high-speed stability at the cost of low-speed maneuverability. Downhill riding is primarily concerned with descending a slope on a given course as quickly as possible. There are often many obstacles in downhill riding, including jumps, roots, and rocky sections.

Freeride is, by definition, a much broader realm of riding. For example, a freerider may often ride a very narrow wooden plank raised as many as twenty five feet above the ground, drop off of cliffs, raised platforms, or other man-made or natural objects onto a landing, or "transition" up to forty feet below. This may involve jumping over a structure below, such as a road or highway. Many aspects of freeriding are similar to downhill riding, with wide open speed and technical and very steep sections, or dirt jumping, with a series of man-made jumps and landings. Another key difference is the emphasis on performing tricks or stylish riding stances while airborne. A freeride course can be compared to a skatepark, where the purpose of the trail is to provide ample opportunities for the rider to become airborne, throw tricks, and create new and imaginative lines on and over the terrain.

[edit] Main features of freeride bicycles

- Frame: frame is made usually of aluminium alloys, and it is characteristically of smaller build compared to a downhill bike. It is almost always equipped with rear suspension systems, and many manufacturers still rely on simpler systems (i.e. single-pivot) in order to preserve strength and un-interrupted suspension travel. Freeride frames are also lighter (weight is an important aspect) than downhill frames, and many come equipped with the new, oversized "onepointfive" head tube standard, in order to cater for increasing demand for stronger, long-travel, single crown forks.

- Fork: as aforementioned, single crown forks are now more popular. This is due to the fact that companies such as Answer Products, or RockShox, have successfully managed to introduce such forks which possess very similar strength qualities as their dual crown counterparts, while having the immense advantage of being single crown - thus enabling significantly wider steering diameter, and, more recently, airborne tricks such as 'barspin' or 'tailwhip'. However, some companies still rely on the older, dual-crown standard.

[edit] The North Shore

See article North Shore

[edit] Freeride Movies

See article Freeride mountain biking movies

[edit] See also

• Pinkbike
• Wade Simmons
• North Shore
• New World Disorder (Freeride Mountain Biking Movie Series)
• Mountain Biking

[edit] External links

• NSMB.com E.magazine based on the North Shore Mountain Biking Scene
• BRMBA Black Rock Mountain Biking Association (Oregon trail advocacy group and builders/stewards of the Black Rock freeride trails in Falls City, Oregon)
• GFRA Gorge Free Ride Association (Oregon trail advocacy group and builders/stewards of the Post Canyon freeride trails in Hood River, Oregon)
• Freer1d3.com Freeride and Downhill specific search engine
• Hick Hucksters Website promoting Freeriding in North Carolina
• Bones Over Metal Video Magazine covering Freeriding, Downhill and Dirt Jumping

[edit] References

Wikipedia article: Freeride