Best freeride frame suggestions

That was my goal as well....I ended up with a Morewood Zuza with a "DH-build" (Boxxer Race 2010, Codes, Saint cranks - 39.6lbs). It has a straight seattube, takes a front deraileur, and in terms of geometry, pretty much spot on for versatile, all-around duty (sits at about 66 degree headangle with the Boxxer up front). It can be pedalled up (I run it with dual ring cranks 22t/36t), and ripped back down :thumbsup:

The only minor inconvenience (may not be for you) is that it is a bit short in the TT - which you either like or don't. Other than that, it's been everything I expected from it. Jumps well, rails corners, overall very neutral yet agile handling (does NOT feel all flip-floppy like a true DH bike will in tight turns etc)....it sounds like it would do really well for what you are looking for. Unhelpful I know, since you have a short list already...

i'm really diggin the new intense slopestyle. I rocked a bottlerocket this last year, and just have the itch for an inch more travel. something with a 36, roco air, slx crankset, elixir cr, x9 front and rear, drs chainguide, king to 823, and deity everything else. I think it would be the most amazing freeride bike ever, and would weigh in the low 30s. You could even throw a gravity dropper and it would still be amazingly low

and totally agree about the tr...it's def not a freeride bike. one run on that convinced me that, but also that it's the nicest dh bike i've ever ridden in my life. I can't wait to pick it up in a few weeks. the thing is just super nimble and low. kinda like how if you have a bottlerocket you prefer to ride it over bigger bikes even with the 5.5 inches of travel. It was immediately super comfortable. i was blown away

nmpearson said:

i'm really diggin the new intense slopestyle. I rocked a bottlerocket this last year, and just have the itch for an inch more travel. something with a 36, roco air, slx crankset, elixir cr, x9 front and rear, drs chainguide, king to 823, and deity everything else. I think it would be the most amazing freeride bike ever, and would weigh in the low 30s. You could even throw a gravity dropper and it would still be amazingly low

and totally agree about the tr...it's def not a freeride bike. one run on that convinced me that, but also that it's the nicest dh bike i've ever ridden in my life. I can't wait to pick it up in a few weeks. the thing is just super nimble and low. kinda like how if you have a bottlerocket you prefer to ride it over bigger bikes even with the 5.5 inches of travel. It was immediately super comfortable. i was blown away

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They are making it very obvious on the intense forum that the slopestyle is not made to be pedalled uphill. the interupted seat tube and very slack seat tube angle and no front der options make it obvious. Its a point of contention with people who own the older slopestyles and want to pedal uphill. Maybe consider an older slopestlye though. i miss mine.

on a side note, Nate when you TR450 comes in and the weather clears i want to try it out. There is soooo much internet hype on that bike that it better be the best DH bike ever made. Im not saying its not going to be awesome but it would be interesting to ride it side by side with my jedi. Im always trying to find the next bike that will replace my jedi when it wears out but haven't been able to find one that i like more yet.

To the OP
all of the bikes you have listed would work great and with a well thought out build you could easily get them all under 40 lbs. here are some other frames you could consider

Intense uzzi
transition blindside
New turner highline (2011 maybe?)
corsair maelstrom
a few different nicolai bikes

climbingbubba said:

They are making it very obvious on the intense forum that the slopestyle is not made to be pedalled uphill. the interupted seat tube and very slack seat tube angle and no front der options make it obvious. Its a point of contention with people who own the older slopestyles and want to pedal uphill. Maybe consider an older slopestlye though. i miss mine.

on a side note, Nate when you TR450 comes in and the weather clears i want to try it out. There is soooo much internet hype on that bike that it better be the best DH bike ever made. Im not saying its not going to be awesome but it would be interesting to ride it side by side with my jedi. Im always trying to find the next bike that will replace my jedi when it wears out but haven't been able to find one that i like more yet.

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yeah i know they're making it very obvious...i'm not saying i want to do xc on it, but there's a few trails around here(i'll take you sometime) that need like 3 miles of pedaling up, then there's like 4 miles of just flowy, amazing downhill. With a 30 pound 6 in travel slack bike, i think it could be the most amazing thing ever. I'm not sure what it would be like, it's just something that if it could be done, i'd love to do it. It's just kinda an experiment to do e-type derailleur with drs guide, gravity dropper, dhx air so we can have propedal. This would only be done if we do end up picking up intense(we're talking to them), and it would be jamies bike. We're all just getting way more into pedaling just for pure athleticism and we feel it could be better than the covert, which we just loved. I'd love to get your imput if we end up going with intense and doing an ss as a demo bike. You're one of the other super thinkers as far as components in utah, and would love some opinions

As far as the TR, i've only had a few min on it, and it was astounding to me. Now, to put it in perspective, The two bikes i spent time on last year that i thought were the best were both the jedi and the session. The both kinda felt the same to me, but to be honest, i thought the session felt more together. Now, the one i rode needed a good tune, so i kinda felt it was at a disadvantage, but i think your jedi and the session i rode would both just be amazing. i don't really love dh bikes, just because i'm more of a flowy wide open cornering kinda kinda rider but when i jumped on the TR, i just was blown away by the feeling that it was just the most nimble dh bike ever. I think that with the proper suspension, these newly designed linkage driven bikes are gonna perform as well as the jedi. I have a Elka on order, which transition said they didn't advise, but elka is confident it'll be better(i have no reason to think otherwise). I just don't really like the RC4, and i think the elka will really keep it planted. There are some haters on this part of utah. Basically, everyone i've talked to hates it for no apparent reason. I think a ton of us are gonna go out and try each others bikes out. So far i have race demos, sessions, 951s, and then colton/spencer on their jedis. so i'll let you know, and if you can't make it, i'll just go ride with you. My stack is going to be very low, esp with the boxxer on it, and the rest of the build should be very light...so it may not be your style, but i just don't want a plow bike. i'd rather have a nimble, not fully race bike. The suspension will be more stiff. But the build right now is, Boxxer Team, Elka, Saint brakes(never tried them and am interested) and cranks, king to some rim(not sure, maybe 729), Atlas bar(31's baby!) and direct mount(i somehow like it better than my twenty6 direct mount), Deity pedals, Kenda rubber, x9 drivetrain, SRS chainguide. I'm so excited. I think i'm getting the white/red frame(i'm picking it up, so i may end up with a white/yellow)...so yeah, it'll be done hopefully by end of january.