[JMP]

Hi all,
I used to ride everyday up to 2yrs ago when my bike got jacked. I'm finally in the position to spend some money on a good rig. My last bike was a hardtail XC. Towards the end I was breaking parts weekly doing freeride stuff on it. Used to dirts jump BMX and ride motocross. I want to buy a legit freeride bike but am not sure weather to go hardtail or FS. I will be doing most of my riding in Capitol Forest near Oly, WA for any locals that might read this. There will be a lot of climbing and logging road peddling and the massive amount of suspension on some of the FS rigs is driving me towards hardtail. I will however be going to Whistler/Northshore/Bellingham/SeaTac reasonably often. There are spots in the woods in my backyard that I can build board track, jumps, and reasonably big drops. Basically I'm worried that if I go hardtail I will be held back from going as big as I possibly can. I've been told that getting a cross genre bike, such as a Kona Coiler might be the way to go. Any and all information would be much appreciated. Feel free too contact me through email , personal messages, posts etc.. Thanks!

 

[allsk8sno]

yeah i had a stinky 5 (older style like coiler) and it jumped and dropped well
handled some pretty good size drops (10ft or so)

 

[carbuncle]

I'll let others comment on the dual suspension possibilities, but I just picked up an Iron Horse Waka Gashira freeride hardtail a couple of weeks ago. I've hit Tapeworm, St Edwards and South Seatac on it so far, and I have to say it's a great all around bike. Built in the Shore hardtail style, it has a heavy, gusseted and braced hardtail frame and a great parts spec. The single crown fork gives you all the maneuverability you need, and at SST today it was super fun on the drops and jumps. Very stable in the air, and solid as a rock to land on. This bike can do a Jekyll and Hyde in about three flat minutes: drop the seat and open up the fork to 150mm and you're ready for action, raise the full length seat post and crank down the travel to 120 mm and you've got a heavy but sturdy and responsive bike for all around trail riding. Can you tell I'm into it? Supergo is selling the Waka's off for $1099 right now, and for the parts spec you get it's definately worth it if the bike fits your needs.

 

[Kntr]

If you have the skills you can do just about anything on a hardtail that others can do on a FS.

A Coiler would be sweet. You could convert the 66 to the longer travel and FR with it. There are a ton of FR/DH trail bikes these days.

Check out Transition bikes. They make some tough shorter travel bikes for a good price plus they are in your area.

 

[moondog]

Transition Bikes!