Freeriding? What is it.

numptyfish

As the title says................................what is it?

supersonic

Anything you want it to be!

The manufacturers sort of mean it to be extreme xc, all mountain, bit of dh, hucking...

It is a rather ambiguous term. But to me it is just getting on your bike and riding the damn thing as you please.

clarkson

o dear, started this again. a huge barrage of opinion will follow!

supersonic

Here is my definitive guide*

XC race - racing around flat fields
XC - as above but not racing
Aggressive XC - as above but occasionly lifting front wheel up
Trail riding - as above, but lifting both wheels up
All Mountain - nobody really knows
Freeride - whatever you want
Downhill - riding down a hill
DH - riding down a bloody big hill with lots of rocks, very fast

Amount of travel requires depends on where you live, and if you read MBR, add two inches.

*ish

Wooohooo!

Here is my definitive guide*

XC race - racing around flat fields
XC - as above but not racing
Aggressive XC - as above but occasionly lifting front wheel up
Trail riding - as above, but lifting both wheels up
All Mountain - nobody really knows
Freeride - whatever you want
Downhill - riding down a hill
DH - riding down a bloody big hill with lots of rocks, very fast

Supersonic... Spot on! What a great description of every discipline!

My idea of Freeride...

Riding Freely... Most of the time I end up introducing riding through things :shock:

But then again I end up doing that in most of my riding :roll:

GibboGT

supersonic wrote:

Here is my definitive guide*

XC race - racing around flat fields
XC - as above but not racing
Aggressive XC - as above but occasionly lifting front wheel up
Trail riding - as above, but lifting both wheels up
All Mountain - nobody really knows
Freeride - whatever you want
Downhill - riding down a hill
DH - riding down a bloody big hill with lots of rocks, very fast

Amount of travel requires depends on where you live, and if you read MBR, add two inches.

*ish

You missed cyclo-cross? :roll:

supersonic

Oooh, you really want my views on that?!

Cyclocross: for ruining your off road and on road experience.

switchback18

Never sure what any of the newer terms mean, but never really been bothered either - I just ride whatever trail I happen to be on as fast & fun as I can, so if I wanted to classify it I'd call it freeriding. I suspect the many terms are a way of manufacturers selling more bikes, but this isn't a bad thing - I like the choice that's out there these days.
It's still possible to ride most trails on most bikes though, just at different speeds.

GibboGT

I don't get the point or the entertainment in this

supersonic

Same here! Ruins jogging too!

I really don't get it, except for maybe smoothish off road trails or the exceptionally skilled. They seem to a bit of a fashion statement I think. MTBs can simply handle a lot more, even XC bikes. And those who say otherwise, try riding down an 80 degree rocky chute, on your drops (cos that is where your brakes are), trying to feather your rubbish brakes in that all so ridiculous riding position you now find yourself in as you dodge boulders on your rubbish 35mm tyres that don't grip, and your stupid gears that won't go back up the hill with the all so comfortable rigid forks and daft gear changes. And make the turn at the bottom over the off camber wet roots. And then go on the road slower than a road bike.

Stu 74

Freeriding is pure gravity mountain biking. That is you get a lift to the top of a big hill / mountain / cliff and then ride down it picking a suitable route. Freeriding is done by people wearing lots of protection and on big heavy full suspension bikes with lots of travel! (It also helps if you are nuts!)

Stu

switchback18

Agree that's what most people think of as freeriding - I don't like to worry about labels too much - I've ridden stuff on a fully rigid that's way more extreme than stuff I've seen people bottle out of on freeride bikes.
For a good rider, more travel = more speed on tech stuff.

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

Same here! Ruins jogging too!

I really don't get it, except for maybe smoothish off road trails or the exceptionally skilled. They seem to a bit of a fashion statement I think. MTBs can simply handle a lot more, even XC bikes. And those who say otherwise, try riding down an 80 degree rocky chute, on your drops (cos that is where your brakes are), trying to feather your rubbish brakes in that all so ridiculous riding position you now find yourself in as you dodge boulders on your rubbish 35mm tyres that don't grip, and your stupid gears that won't go back up the hill with the all so comfortable rigid forks and daft gear changes. And make the turn at the bottom over the off camber wet roots. And then go on the road slower than a road bike.

And his helmet looks too small.

teacherman

Stupid marketing term just like a lot of them. In order to make money manufacturers need to create desire - people want to be asociated with particular styles thast are perceived as cool ie 'All Mountain' . Magazines run features on the perfect 'All Mountain' bike and set up because they need to have things to write about and a new category gives them that and therefore helps them sell copies of the magazines.

It's all BS Just ride your bike - if it breaks, cry for a bit, then get a bigger one

Anonymous

there are only 2 real types of riding,

xc-riding up and down hills with wheels on the ground
DH- riding down hills with the brakes off and often getting the wheels of the ground

thats it, complete, the lot.

everything else is marketing and is more a description of a bike as oppose to the riding it is intended for.

free ride -is downhill on a bike which can be peddaled-ish and has 6 or 7 inches
slopestyle -same as above but with more jumping
all mountain- xc on a 6 inch bike
trail riding- xc on a 5 inch bike
agressive xc (what the fuc.k!?)-xc for folk who are ashamed to admit they ride xc.

for the most part, everyone actually rides xc or downhill, any arguments to contrary suggests something about you.

teacherman

Spot on 8)

Oh no, hold on, what about dirt jumping? And street? Oh yeah and trials and...

switchback18

trials doesn't count because it's not a sport that's done by human beings - you need some kind of superpowers as most of what they do is clearly impossible...

I reckon the different styles of bike suit different parts of the country more than riding styles. When I started MTBing it wasn't a particularly good thing that no bikes had front sus - although it forced you to learn to ride well it was no where near the fun that it is now.
I say let the manufacturers produce any number of styles they like - I only have to buy one that suits me.

Anonymous

teacherman wrote:

Spot on 8)

Oh no, hold on, what about dirt jumping? And street? Oh yeah and trials and...

good point, ok here goes:

-trials= xc but standing still
-street = across the parts of the country which have been tarmac/concreted patio'd = xc/ road riding.
-dirt jumping = bmxing
-bmxing = not mountain biking

John Stevenson

Bah; it's all Going Riding.

Okay, it's off-road, so it's Going Mountainbiking.

That is all.

People who need a new label for every 18mm of suspension travel need a good slap.

But most of them are in marketing and therefore need a good slap on general principles.

switchback18

John Stevenson wrote:

Bah; it's all Going Riding.

Okay, it's off-road, so it's Going Mountainbiking.

That is all.

People who need a new label for every 18mm of suspension travel need a good slap.

But most of them are in marketing and therefore need a good slap on general principles.

Hold on, some of my best friends work in marketing. Actually that's a lie (do they have friends?) - you're quite right, just go riding. Whatever you do, don't allow yourself to think everything will be OK when you get the next flashy bike - if you pin your hopes on that you'll get outperformed everytime by someone on the 'wrong' bike for the trail!

Anonymous

but whatever you do, get more travel

supersonic

Thing is, you'd look a bit of a berk DHing on a women's shopper. Some of these labels get you in the right ball park ;-)

switchback18

If you can complete a DH on a women's shopper I reckon you'd look seriously cool!

supersonic

Be good for XC, you could keep energy bars in the basket!

starsky007

I thought freeriding was someone pinches your bike and rides off on it for free.
I guess i was wrong. :?

numptyfish

Thanks for all the answers to the "what is it "?.
i loved the way the thread flowed from actual descriptions of "freeride", to "just get out and ride", to "marketing ploys to sell more bikes".

Brand whores and haters of marketing people may find this interesting.

www.moneyreformparty.org.uk

(no i am not a member)

synchronicity

Hmmm. No adequate definition for all mountain has yet been given. I thought it meant going up AND down the mountain. It's for people that want to ride primarily down the hill... but still want to ride to the start of the trail and back, and not get shuttled about either. Aim for a light DH-like bike but with triple cranks and single crown fork.

All Mountain is tougher than either pure XC or DH!! :twisted:
(cause you have to climb on a heavier bike than XC, and descend on one with less travel than pure DH)

It's what I'm into most.

Anonymous

all mountain is xc on a 6 inch bike

synchronicity

Then it's not strictly XC. :P

Anonymous

Isn't all-mountain kind of like DH, but without a shuttle?

synchronicity

No, because there is NO WAY you can pedal a full-on DH bike up more than a few hundred metres.