Mountain Biking: FreeRide

'Freeride mountain bike competitions are not so much a race event because they are a competition of mountain bike handling skill and the ability to manipulate the mountain bike. Courses contain varying cliffs, drops, obstacles, and ramps.

Mountain Bikes & Free Riding
There are usually a large number of different lines in which to complete the course, which are created so that they are as varied as possible so that all mountain bike rider styles can be exploited. Scoring is reliant on the competitor's choice of line, the smoothness of riding and the tricks performed (style).

Possibly the biggest freeride event is the infamous Red Bull Rampage, based in the Utah desert, where the biggest names in mountain bike freeride show off their styles and their ability to go big. Drops are frequently in excess of 30ft, with the riders usually pulling a trick. Cedric Gracia of France famously back-flipped off a 30ft cliff and Josh Bender frequently attempts the biggest drops (he attempted a 60ft drop several times).

Mountain Biking & Dirt Jumping!

Dirt jumping is another of the BMX derived disciplines of the sport. Typically the mountain bike riders ride over 'doubles' where he rides at speed into the take off, lifts up to gain as much height as possible, then lands on the landing of the double. This is all about style and pulling tricks whilst in the air, many of the tricks are derived from BMX and the bikes are typically built in a similar way to BMX's in that they have small frame sizes, smaller 24 inch wheels, single speed and usually only have a single rear brake

Mountain Biking Resources