Freeride

Freeride is a relatively new discipline of mountain biking, combining different aspects of the sport such as downhill and dirtjumping which has progressed rapidly in recent years, and is now recognized 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, windsurfing, snowmobiling and Jet skiing. The original concept of freeriding was that there were 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 slightly less suspension travel and 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. A few specialist riders have embraced the sport from their humble routes in dirt jumping, these riders include Darren Berrecloth, Cam Zink, Patrick Taylor and Jack "Tommo" Thompson

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.

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 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, drops, 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.