Freerider's Opinon Needed Here

If ya ain't planning on huckin off of 10 foot drops, ramps, and such, ya dont need a free ride bike. Sounds more like you are looking for a longer travel FS XC bike. Freeride bikes have come a long way, and some are pretty decent climbers, but XC bikes have come a LONG way in terms of efficent travel and will be much better for the uphill sections.

Depending on your budget, take a look at the various Sant Cruz models, Ellsworth, Trek Liquids, really anything with 4-5 inches of SPV travel will be purdy darn good.

The tires do help a lot. I went from 1.95s to 2.1s and both my climbing and decents improved quite the bit. Ya can even go wider, but I personally don't see much of a need.

Have fun.

Dawson169 said:

Hello Everyone,

I have been moutain biking for just over a year now which was when I went out and bought a Rocky Moutain Vertex. Its a great bike but over the year of riding it I noticed what I like riding now needs a different bike. I was thinking of getting a freeride bike but I'm not too sure and I just have a few question and concerns for all of you that might have more experience with freeride bikes.

1) I'm worried about being able to ride up hills or just general riding around the town. I've noticed that there is only 2 cranks on them instead of 3 which my Vertex has. If I decided to buy a freeride bike could I still be able to ride uphills and around town or are they pretty much strictly for downhilling???

2) If I dont really plan to do alot of drops and stunts, is it worth buying a free ride bike??? I plan to do a little but nothing crazy extreme or anything.

3) The main reason why I want to get a freeride bike is cause my Vertex doesnt really handle too well going down hill really fasst on rugged trails and only front suspension sucks when I'm doing small drops. With Duel Suspension and wider tire found on freeride bikes make it alot easier to keep control rather than feeling like I'm gonna lose control?

Thanks

Andrew

well if you want a good bike for what your doing you dont need to spend the extra cash on a freeride bike, how ever...you can get a Kona Stinky or Dawg pretty cheap and they are great for all around use, duribly for up hill. and can also go down hill pretty easy with the suspension and gears id say take a good hard look at the Kona Stinky or Dawg, they each have there strong points

~Scott