Freerider 2023: Be free - 5 freeriders with spirit and lots of suspension travel in the test
Team FREERIDE
· 19.06.2023
Test: 5 freeride MTBs in comparison
"Make freeride great again", we demand with a wink on the cover of issue FREERIDE 02/2023. Because the discipline seems to have been replaced by flow addiction and racing hype. Thoroughbred shredders Brage Vestavik is one of the few bike celebrities trying to revive the freeride spirit of the New World Disorder era. His web edits, above all his X-Game film, achieve this in a wonderfully creative way (be sure to watch it!). And they make it clear what a freeride bike must be able to do.
A freerider has to be powerful, stunt-loving, tough and yet playful. They have to master every descent and still be manoeuvrable. Not an easy task. The manufacturers in this test interpret "freerider" very differently.
We tested these 5 freeride bikes:
Click to go to the individual rating
Giant has given its Reign enduro platform a steel rear suspension and a double crown fork. The Finnish label Pole claims to have designed a longtravel trail bike including downhill geometry with the Vikkelä, which weighs over 17 kilos ready to ride.
The Norco Shore weighs even more (>18 kg), but is said to be equipped for "the toughest trails in the world". In contrast, the carbon bikes from Radon and Santa Cruz look like lightweights, but are also equipped with generous suspension travel (170 mm).
Our test area: the bike park on the Geißkopf
Three testers rode the bikes in the Geißkopf bike park in direct comparison on the freeride and downhill trails. Admittedly, one of the softer parks, but still freeride terrain, in our opinion. Here, the bikes not only have to be able to bolt, but also have the necessary amount of manoeuvrability.
On the rather twisty freeride track, we checked the handling, cornering behaviour, how well the bikes conserve speed and how easily they can be accelerated. We also tested the playfulness that is so important for freeride bikes on the run.
On the downhill track with drops, jumps, dirt edges and boulders, we wanted to lure the suspension out of its reserve and see how much speed the bikes could handle. We tested how well the bikes pedalled in the Munich area.
The Giant and Pole felt comfortable on the downhill course, but reached their limits in the winding terrain of the freeride course because they were too sluggish. The heavy Norco also demanded a lot of strength here. It was only on steeper terrain that the 180-millimetre bike with its high-pivot rear triangle really scored and would be our first choice for stunts outside the comfort zone.
It was astonishing that the steel spring shocks (Giant, Norco) did not provide a noticeable comfort advantage in direct comparison. Radon and Santa Cruz impressed us with their liveliness in all positions and yet enough power for downhill shredding. In our eyes, the two fulfil our freeride criteria best.
Conclusion on the Freerider test from the test team:
If we lived in British Columbia, the robust Norco Shore would be our favourite. Here with us, the bikes from Radon and Santa Cruz were the most fun and impressed us with their wide range of uses. The price-performance ratio of the Radon is hard to beat!
Facts, figures and data: The 5 freeriders in comparison
Park ranking
- Radon
- Santa Cruz
- Norco
DH ranking
- Norco
- Pole
- Giant
Geometry for freeride MTBs - Comment
Reach-o-mania! - The longer-flatter-lower trend will mess you up. It's similar to the trend towards wide handlebars. In 2009, I tried an 800 mm handlebar and was certain that it was unrideable. Now I love the wide bars. I feel the same way about the reach. In the past, we didn't even measure the value (we didn't even know it), we rode the test bikes at FREERIDE in size M - done! M with a height of around 1.80 metres, as we testers are, that fits. If I look back in the FREERIDE archive, for example to 2012, and check the Giant Reign we tested back then, it had a reach of ... please hold on tight! ... 393 millimetres! Back then it still had 26-inch wheels, but that doesn't matter. In our current test, we struggled with the Giant Reign because in medium it only measured 446 millimetres reach and felt cramped. We wish we had ordered it in large. Just goes to show how much getting used to is. - Dimitri Lehner, FREERIDE editor-in-chief
FREERIDE-Ranking - for information
The number (maximum 10 points) reflects the overall impression of the testers and is not an addition of the performance points.
- 10 - Test winner, it couldn't be better
- 9 - Very good. Buy recommendation
- 8 - Good. Solid performance
- 7 - Below average. The product has weaknesses.
- 6 - and less: We can only warn against this!
