k, 1st off i used to be heavy into xc mtbing (what i thought was xc anyways) then i saw pics in mags and stuff for xc racing etc... their hitting nothing technical the course is laid out like a freegin goat trail and i'm like wtf?! when are they going to hit the rock garden or that log jump or that long scary as piss descent going so f'ing fast they don't even know what their hitting?! i'd see mtb expedition type shows on oln and their riding hairy-as-hell technical stuff and i'm like 'thats what xc racing should be' like playing football on a bike vs. mother nature. then this 'freeride' thing comes along.... wtf!? 1st i'm like alright this isn't like sanctioned racing or anything but its the kind of stuff i like to do; hit a trail with a good xc type pace and format (uphill, flat), hit the drops, the rock gardens, the log jumps, the road gaps (never really had a name just mtbing), climb a hill, hit the dh through rock gardens, gnarly jumps etc...so there, i'm a freeride guy i'm kewl w/that. then i said to myself 'hey freeride is just different for everybody you know?' say you really love hitting hardcore downhill sections, but you love the trip it takes to get there (xcish), and you love the technical ****e in between. you don't want a 50lbish dh rig, but you don't want a 3in bottom out machine for your rides either, this person would fit on a a.) long travel xc machine b.) trailbike (whats the diff?). but hell your paying for that rig so your getting whatever the hell you want cause your a freerider, hell get a rigid ride and beat all your friends asses to the playground.
so there i had the freeride thing all figured right? nope... hard at work in his r&d hole dr. crackhead is developing long travel big hit dh styled bikes as light as he can some as light as a fs xc racer, and he's losing sleep at night trying to make the damn thing pedal efficiently. then the 'freeride' thing starts to change meaning and the margins are getting narrower and narrower. well thats no big deal, just making a wider range of bikes for people with a wider range of interests. i'll be sticking to my vt/575/heckler styled bikes but those bigger ones are cool as ****e if your not doing a big epic run anytime soon and your just going out to do the wicked stuff. its when they start classifying the stuff that gets me, now i don't think i even fit in the freeride category anymore (the one the industry has developed anyways), so i guess its back to hey jerm what kind of mtbing do you do? well, i guess you call it mtbing, really technical, scary downhill, aggressive xc mtbing. how do you do all that with one bike, well you really can't (seriously) but you can compromise. a heavy xc bike with longer travel but not as much as a dh ride etc... i think i'll still say i freeride anyway cept my version of freeride doesn't involve me hitting djs all day and pulling mx/bmx tricks.
btw this half rant half realization of my thoughts is compiled from about 12 years of riding (seen alot of changes) so you high school guys might not understand. i thought about this when i was trying to figure out what new ride to get and was going crazy so this is a bit of an over reaction towards what the industry has done, is doing, and will do to my hobby. i'm not knocking anybodies style or anything it just feels like it takes a while to get used to/understand certain types of riding and types of bikes and when you get it down and plunk down the dough it changes... again. will someone please tell me what those bmx rigs with knobbies and front forks are for? are they dj/urban rides or what...?!?
i guess if that was my style i'd understand that it was combining the best of both worlds type thing. i dunno anymore. don't rag on me too much i'm just complaining and i'm not a puss, just frustrated.. :mumble:
will someone pls give me a cracker... and a beer my head hurts
so there i had the freeride thing all figured right? nope... hard at work in his r&d hole dr. crackhead is developing long travel big hit dh styled bikes as light as he can some as light as a fs xc racer, and he's losing sleep at night trying to make the damn thing pedal efficiently. then the 'freeride' thing starts to change meaning and the margins are getting narrower and narrower. well thats no big deal, just making a wider range of bikes for people with a wider range of interests. i'll be sticking to my vt/575/heckler styled bikes but those bigger ones are cool as ****e if your not doing a big epic run anytime soon and your just going out to do the wicked stuff. its when they start classifying the stuff that gets me, now i don't think i even fit in the freeride category anymore (the one the industry has developed anyways), so i guess its back to hey jerm what kind of mtbing do you do? well, i guess you call it mtbing, really technical, scary downhill, aggressive xc mtbing. how do you do all that with one bike, well you really can't (seriously) but you can compromise. a heavy xc bike with longer travel but not as much as a dh ride etc... i think i'll still say i freeride anyway cept my version of freeride doesn't involve me hitting djs all day and pulling mx/bmx tricks.
btw this half rant half realization of my thoughts is compiled from about 12 years of riding (seen alot of changes) so you high school guys might not understand. i thought about this when i was trying to figure out what new ride to get and was going crazy so this is a bit of an over reaction towards what the industry has done, is doing, and will do to my hobby. i'm not knocking anybodies style or anything it just feels like it takes a while to get used to/understand certain types of riding and types of bikes and when you get it down and plunk down the dough it changes... again. will someone please tell me what those bmx rigs with knobbies and front forks are for? are they dj/urban rides or what...?!?
i guess if that was my style i'd understand that it was combining the best of both worlds type thing. i dunno anymore. don't rag on me too much i'm just complaining and i'm not a puss, just frustrated.. :mumble:
will someone pls give me a cracker... and a beer my head hurts
don't go there, nah i know your being sarcastic but mostly hardcore stuff a little lighter and older rap