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Freeride Mountain Bikes

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Mountain biking today can be split into a variety of different categories. Downhill, trials, dirt jumping and freeriding are all popular disciplines within the sport, and each requires a bike that exhibits certain characteristics. Freeride mountain bikes are a perfect example of a bike built for a certain style of riding.

Freeriding is a style of mountain biking that combines aspects from a variety of other riding disciplines. It is largely a derivative of downhill riding, but requires the rider to be able to call on skills acquired from everything ranging from dirt jumping to trials riding. The idea of freeriding is that there is no set course or established set of rules and that rider is free to explore the possibilities all around them. It shares a close conceptual relationship with other “extreme” sports such as backcountry skiing and snowboarding.

For the most part, freeride mountain bikes share most of their design characteristics with those made for downhill riding. In most cases they use a full-suspension style frame and aggressively treaded tires. And much like downhill bikes, these bikes are designed to be ridden hard and withstand a lot of abuse. However, there are many notable features that are unique to the average freeride bike.

Frame design is an important aspect of a freeriding bikes. Because of the many technical, low-speed tricks associated with this style of riding, freeride mountain bikes often use a much shorter wheel base for low-speed stability. This often results in steeper head tube angles when designing the frames. The material used to make the frames is also generally lighter in weight than those used for downhill bikes. This is largely due to the fact that this style of riding often puts the rider in a wide variety of situations, including a great deal of climbing, which makes a lightweight bike more practical. However, there is a delicate balance to be had here, as the bikes must also be able to withstand the rigors of jumping and aggressive downhill riding as well.

Freeride mountain bikes will often use a suspension system that offers both a lot of travel and a great deal of stability. This often results in a front fork that looks considerably different than those used on the average mountain bike. The forks used for these bikes are often more akin to those used for motorcycles than for a standard pedal bike. They are strong and perfectly suited to absorbing a great deal of shock without sacrificing maneuverability. Rear suspension is almost always used as well, but in most cases they are simple in design. This helps ensure that they can absorb shock while maintaining the strength and rigidity that is needed for this style of riding.

Though relatively new to the mountain biking world, freeriding is quickly taking over as the preferred riding style of cyclists all around the world. It is a multi-dimensional style that offers something for just about everyone. This being the case, freeride mountain bikes seem to have a bright future.

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