# Looking for a Freeride bike that climbs



## stunzeed (Mar 17, 2007)

I am considering getting a free ride bike but have a few reqs. I have a DH bike so would prefer something around 6 or 6.5 travel, want 66 degree head angle and needs to be able to climb ok.

Would like something that can be built up sub 35lbs


----------



## Moosey (May 18, 2010)

giant reign, giant reign x, intense slopestyle, rocky mountain slayer SS, yeti SB-66 (or whatever their new AM bike is), trek slash, speshy enduro. stuff like that...


----------



## dkbikes4life (Nov 20, 2010)

I've got an '11 Reign with a few upgrades and love it. I jump it, do drops with it, rock gardens, and flat XC trails. I even did a 62 mile road ride with it. I think my HTA is 67 or 67.5 right now. If you were to switch the stock fork out and put a 160mm Fox 36 on it, your HTA would probably be right at the 66 degrees you want.


----------



## induction (Apr 12, 2010)

I'm in the same situation. I have narrowed it down to Pivot Firebird, Knolly Delirium, Cove G-Spot and Canfield One. I have been on a buddies Firebird a few times and it is an awesome bike. He loves it as well. Haven't had a chance to test any of the others, but all have good reviews. I am trying to set up a couple test rides. Let us know what you choose.


----------



## jfsh (Mar 1, 2005)

I have a Nomad with a 66 on the front and I coulldn't be happier. I think it is around 66 degrees and 35 pounds. It climbs great and decends very well.


----------



## morandi (Jun 20, 2008)

No better climbing/pedaling long travel bike than the Ibis Mojo HD.


----------



## drastic. (Nov 22, 2010)

reign
trek slash
spec enduro
pivot firebird

the dw link on the firebird particularly interests me the most in terms of climbing capabilties, then being able to send it going down


----------



## ehigh (Apr 19, 2011)

Norco range. Absolutely love mine


----------



## cycad (Jan 5, 2011)

i'm also looking for a bike that is aggressive to bomb downhill and ok enough to climb the way up...
so far i'm looking at TR250, Canfield the ONE and 2012 Uzzi....hmmm...


----------



## peterk123 (Oct 10, 2005)

My Version.


----------



## RBrady (Jan 20, 2009)

Intense Carbine will be out end of month. Looks very promising. Its on my list. 5.5 pound frame too.


----------



## stunzeed (Mar 17, 2007)

I had a nomad, I want more of a free ride not am bike. The sx is good looking for options similar to and sx


----------



## Dispatch (May 16, 2011)

I was going to say carbon nomad I rode mine all summer at northstar and mammoth but I am a smaller guy at 5'8" 145lb. Id say look at the cove std for 7" if you want less look at intense ss2. The ss2 is 65 degree head angle and 6-6.5" of travel.


----------



## stunzeed (Mar 17, 2007)

I would love a ss2 or a tr250 but the seat tube angle is too slack which will make for an awful climber


----------



## Magsrgod (Jun 21, 2006)

I'd look into the G Spot, looks to be very promising and it will meet the criteria your looking at.


----------



## bullcrew (Jan 2, 2005)

Sx trail been climbing mine have a wheelset with slicks that I road ride and a set of lighter am wheelset for it along with deemax and dh casings. It literally is a do it all bike for me the dh sled has been parked for over a month for the first time. 
Can't comment on other designs there are a few id like to slap a leg over this season but the ax trail has great small bump and doesn't chop on square edge hits like the early version.

Have a talas180 on it so I lower the front a X0 2x10 drive train (22/36 front 11/36 rear).


----------



## stunzeed (Mar 17, 2007)

bullcrew said:


> Sx trail been climbing mine have a wheelset with slicks that I road ride and a set of lighter am wheelset for it along with deemax and dh casings. It literally is a do it all bike for me the dh sled has been parked for over a month for the first time.
> Can't comment on other designs there are a few id like to slap a leg over this season but the ax trail has great small bump and doesn't chop on square edge hits like the early version.
> 
> Have a talas180 on it so I lower the front a X0 2x10 drive train (22/36 front 11/36 rear).


Bike is sick...how much does it weigh? Looks like a perfect setup


----------



## bullcrew (Jan 2, 2005)

stunzeed said:


> Bike is sick...how much does it weigh? Looks like a perfect setup


Between 34-37 depending on fork and wheelset (deemax and boxxer and dha casings add a little)

I have all stout parts as well at 230lbs it needs to handle stuff.

If your lighter you could go stans wheelset lighter tires bars etc. And could do a 160mm Talas and shave weight.


----------



## stunzeed (Mar 17, 2007)

Yea I got a saint group i would be running, 34 would be perfect


----------



## bullcrew (Jan 2, 2005)

Bike rips Im more than impressed with it. It seems to be the right compromise between pedaling and dh. It can go up really well (not xc race well) and it descends fast corners on a dime and stays smooth on the hits which I was impressed with. 
It feels totally comfortable on the steeps and drops I did some dirt jumping o it and its really well balanced.

If I had only 1 bike this would be it.


----------



## Deerhill (Dec 21, 2009)

bullcrew said:


> Between 34-37 depending on fork and wheelset (deemax and boxxer and dha casings add a little)
> 
> I have all stout parts as well at 230lbs it needs to handle stuff.
> 
> If your lighter you could go stans wheelset lighter tires bars etc. And could do a 160mm Talas and shave weight.


What coil did you end up using on the RC4?


----------



## Pedal Shop (Dec 14, 2006)

Marin Quakes ----- sick climbing machines.

Been selling Transitions for years, they climb nice too.... 

l have move the same build kit from one frame brand to another -- took the products to the same place often test ride bikes. 

no doubt about it, Marin's design out climbs



one of the days l'll have to video the Quake climbing (tough to get a true perspective of that unless you know the steepness first hand).


----------



## bullcrew (Jan 2, 2005)

DeerhillJDOG said:


> What coil did you end up using on the RC4?


Rcs titanium #700 so weight could be lost there if you used a normal coil. Lol

Here it is with ti coil and deemax dh casing set up. Headed out for a nasty ride the other day didn't want to smash i9s.


----------



## ///M3N (May 30, 2008)

stunzeed said:


> Yea I got a saint group i would be running, 34 would be perfect


I have a saint set up on my sx and it probably weighs a little over 35 lbs. (bathroom scale weight) but that's with a coil fork, dropper post, dh tires. This is my do it all bike.


----------



## genemk (Sep 15, 2009)

stunzeed said:


> I had a nomad, I want more of a free ride not am bike. The sx is good looking for options similar to and sx


What about the Norco Truax? Seen a few people pedaling those and there seems to be practically NO pedal bob. They seem really stoked on riding them down as well.


----------



## bullcrew (Jan 2, 2005)

///M3N said:


> I have a saint set up on my sx and it probably weighs a little over 35 lbs. (bathroom scale weight) but that's with a coil fork, dropper post, dh tires. This is my do it all bike.


Id like to see that on a shop scale. Not knocking it but coil and dropper with dh tires if its 2009 + I say close to 37.
Im running a Talas with ti spring on shock and thomson now granted mines a large that's a light weight for it.
my08 was 34.4 and thatwas without a set an 180 coil coil ti on shock and Thomson post. Old frame was a smidge lighter.


----------



## crossup (May 13, 2009)

*One all the way*

Well I put my money where my opinion is...Canfield One V2...hands down, no contest
34 pounds 10 oz in DH config except wheels. Add 8oz for HD DH wheelset.
Best pedaling bike I've ridden, including my Giant OCR road bike.
All I can say is, if you havent ridden the Canfield, you just don't know how good it can be.


----------



## ///M3N (May 30, 2008)

bullcrew said:


> Id like to see that on a shop scale. Not knocking it but coil and dropper with dh tires if its 2009 + I say close to 37.
> Im running a Talas with ti spring on shock and thomson now granted mines a large that's a light weight for it.
> my08 was 34.4 and thatwas without a set an 180 coil coil ti on shock and Thomson post. Old frame was a smidge lighter.


Yeah, that's why i said it's over 35 lbs, it was over the 35 lbs marker on the bathroom scale, it may even be 38. It's a medium 2010.


----------



## stunzeed (Mar 17, 2007)

Think I'm gonna for a 10 sx, it's a lil less travel then the 11. I plan on running a 160 fork possibly


----------



## nightofthefleming (Jun 14, 2009)

if you dig the SX, look into the Knolly Delirium.


----------



## monstertiki (Jun 1, 2009)

nightofthefleming said:


> if you dig the SX, look into the Knolly Delirium.


:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Might be hard too find in certain sizes right now.


----------



## DucJ (Aug 14, 2009)

*38 lbs. large frame in this pic.*









SLX cranks and Stans Flows knocked really close to 2 lbs. off of it.
Did 20+ miles and 3.5k+ feet on it yesterday
Tires are SX casing
SXT is a damn good bike.


----------



## ryan_daugherty (Oct 8, 2006)

Wildcard. You can find a cheap one. It has 5" to 6.5" of squish. Geo is adjusted with the travel. It's a very well thought out single pivot.


----------



## altadank (Mar 19, 2006)

monstertiki said:


> :thumbsup::thumbsup:
> 
> Might be hard too find in certain sizes right now.


^^^3rd'd my Delirium absolutely kills!

that being said (IMHO) really the only other rig to consider, if I wasn't looking to be budgety, is the one V2.


----------



## KRob (Jan 13, 2004)

RBrady said:


> Intense Carbine will be out end of month. Looks very promising. Its on my list. 5.5 pound frame too.


The Carbine climbs like crazy.... but it's not a FR bike by any stretch. Way more on the XC side of AM than FR.

Check out the Knolly Delirium and the Cove G-Spot. Built like tanks. Climb really, really well.


----------



## dropadrop (Sep 20, 2005)

KRob said:


> The Carbine climbs like crazy.... but it's not a FR bike by any stretch. Way more on the XC side of AM than FR.


I agree, besides you can easily build an Uzzi with coil front and rear to be under 35lb's, so with that requirement it's not even a good option for the OP.


----------



## RBrady (Jan 20, 2009)

KRob said:


> The Carbine climbs like crazy.... but it's not a FR bike by any stretch. Way more on the XC side of AM than FR.
> 
> Check out the Knolly Delirium and the Cove G-Spot. Built like tanks. Climb really, really well.


Don't know that I've ever seen a 35 pound Delirium or Gspot. Prob closer to 40 plus for either bike. I guess I'd agree that the Carbine is more on the all mountain side. My Banshee Skythe is a pretty good climber. It just needs a better rider.:madman:


----------



## Magsrgod (Jun 21, 2006)

RBrady said:


> Don't know that I've ever seen a 35 pound Delirium or Gspot. Prob closer to 40 plus for either bike. I guess I'd agree that the Carbine is more on the all mountain side. My Banshee Skythe is a pretty good climber. It just needs a better rider.:madman:


35 pounds is pretty middle of the road for either of those bikes. Full DH build I can see 40 easily. People have had deliriums down to 32ish before, lots of carbon though.


----------



## climbingbubba (Jan 10, 2007)

I had a delirium and it is a very fun bike. They are a bit on the heavy side though (my frame with rear shock was almost 13 lbs!!!). They do pedal great and jump well though. If getting up the hill fast isn't a priority then it would be hard to beat. The problem is they haven't produced any of them for over a year and its looking like they won't be available for another 6 months or even more.

The canfield one is also a great looking bike. Best customer service of all the bikes I have owned (phone number on site goes straight to one of the owners cell phones). Their bikes are unique and amazing. I love my jedi and the one is supposed to be pretty fun too.

The pivot firebird is on my list of bikes that I want to try. Looks pretty good on paper so I am very intrigued to on how it rides.

And the SX trail. My wife has one and I am pretty impressed with how well it handles stuff. We have a 2011 fox talas 180 on hers as well. I love how short the chainstays are. Makes for a lively bike. She pedals it on some gnarly stuff and once we get a height adjust seatpost I am sure she will be taking it out more than her XC bike.


----------



## KAZU (Aug 10, 2011)

My Nomad

Now 31.4lbs



Since I started Downhilling my XC has become a bit more aggressive. I would swap over to my Revelation fork for longer XC rides, but once I did the same trail with my Boxxer I stopped swapping over. Now I'm running my Boxxer exclusively and got rid of my granny gear.

Take this with a grain of salt, I'm a newb, but I do ride at least 4 times a week, season pass at the local lift ride too. I'm not good at it, but I can climb and go down stuff, but it ain't pretty. Love my setup.


----------



## MikeLord (Jan 12, 2010)

I climb this thing the whole way up rocky peak in socal for anyone that knows the road up to hummingbird


----------



## KRob (Jan 13, 2004)

RBrady said:


> Don't know that I've ever seen a 35 pound Delirium or Gspot. Prob closer to 40 plus for either bike. I guess I'd agree that the Carbine is more on the all mountain side. My Banshee Skythe is a pretty good climber. It just needs a better rider.:madman:


Lots of sensibly built 35-37 lb Deliriums show up on the Knolly forum. I don't think the G-Spot we rode at Ibike was much over 35 if at all.

My Delirium T is currently tipping the scales at just under 40 lbs with two-ply tires, coil front and rear and a heavy rear wheel..... and it still climbs amazingly well. I'm continually perplexed and dumbfounded at how it just motors up some pretty ridiculous climbs.


----------



## mykel (Jul 31, 2006)

RBrady said:


> Don't know that I've ever seen a 35 pound Delirium or Gspot. Prob closer to 40 plus for either bike.


I have a Large 2010 Delirium, Coil on both ends with a dropper post and it tips the scales at 35.3 lbs.

Nothing extreme either..
Hope/819s w/ Schwalbe Hans Dampf
Magura Louise brakes 203/180
Reverb seatpost
CCDB / Ti shock
Lyrik 170 coil fork
X0/X9 shifting
SLX cranks
Blackspire flats
Renthal Stem
Easton Carbon bars

michael


----------



## kaneman (Jun 5, 2011)

Its been said already but i hear the Canfield "The One" is as good as it gets for climbing and going back down. Im in the process of saving up for mine  and a close second for me would be the knolly


----------



## kaneman (Jun 5, 2011)

crossup said:


> Well I put my money where my opinion is...Canfield One V2...hands down, no contest
> 34 pounds 10 oz in DH config except wheels. Add 8oz for HD DH wheelset.
> Best pedaling bike I've ridden, including my Giant OCR road bike.
> All I can say is, if you havent ridden the Canfield, you just don't know how good it can be.


I WANT THIS :thumbsup:


----------



## dhprod (Oct 4, 2011)

The Cannondale Jekyll & Claymore are seriously the way to go


----------



## lelebebbel (Jan 31, 2005)

I've got a '11 Canfield "The One" built up as a DH bike that climbs.


Canfield "The One" 2011 by lelebebbel, on Flickr

The frame has got a pretty slack front end (64 degrees or a bit less), long wheelbase and a low, low BB even with the 8" fork, so it feels like a DH racebike on the way down. Depending on what your definition of a "freeride" bike is, that may or may not suit you. I love mine, best bike I've ever had by a mile and a half.

A Totem or a Fox 36 180mm would give you the same geometry.

If the geometry is what you want, this fits the bill. Mine is 37.2lbs as pictured in full DH mode with coil shocks and dual ply minions. 
And it does climb very well. Put a granny ring on it and you can grind up anything with this, the shock doesn't bob as long as you are sitting down.


----------



## crossup (May 13, 2009)

I dont think mine bobs when standing- well it does, but its my pedaling. I know this because the same effort on my Giant OCR road bike causes it to bob- yes the whole bike.
So its my 'square' pedaling causing movement..its not easy but I can stand and mash without ANY resultant bob.
I run any angleset which has a ~12mm lower stack than the 64 deg spec requires. So with an angleset one starts at 64.5 deg and can change to 66 deg or 63 going the other way.



lelebebbel said:


> I've got a '11 Canfield "The One" built up as a DH bike that climbs.
> 
> 
> Canfield "The One" 2011 by lelebebbel, on Flickr
> ...


----------



## big_slacker (Feb 16, 2004)

I've posted my SS1 on several threads. Coils F/R, 1x9, 32 ring in front, 410mm seatpost. It's my only bike actually, and does plenty of XC rides and climbing. You feel the weight going up, but going 2x10 pretty much anyone could climb with it, I'm just a glutton for punishment. :thumbsup:


----------



## stunzeed (Mar 17, 2007)

I am considering a rune now..can run a 7" fork if I want, can slacken out to 66 with an Angleset and not to heavy


----------



## nightofthefleming (Jun 14, 2009)

you could have ran a 7" fork on your nomad and had basically the same bike as a rune......( I know not exactly the same, but very similar)


----------



## CombatMutt (Jan 3, 2011)

Yeti ASR-7. Make sure its got a coil shock and you are in business!


----------



## ryan_daugherty (Oct 8, 2006)

CombatMutt said:


> Yeti ASR-7. Make sure its got a coil shock and you are in business!


That bike is too tall.

Rune is a quality idea since the bushings issue looks to have been sorted. Also '12 runes have a 1 degree slacker HTa than '11. I want to say the BB is lower too but I could be talking out of my ass.

The only other bike that I could suggest is a Pivot Firebird. Cool bike even though it is ugly as sin.


----------



## CombatMutt (Jan 3, 2011)

ryan_daugherty said:


> That bike is too tall.


Haha. Tell that to my girl who's 5 foot 3 inches.


----------



## ryan_daugherty (Oct 8, 2006)

CombatMutt said:


> Haha. Tell that to my girl who's 5 foot 3 inches.


Meaning that bike feels like your riding on top of it rather than in the bike. Much better options out there.


----------



## jstuhlman (Nov 23, 2008)

gotta put in a good word for the uzzi--the ability to adjust the wheelbase is priceless. sits around 33lbs as pictured. pedals well for what it is. came down to this and sxt for me.


----------



## socalMX (Oct 31, 2009)

How about the Yeti ASR-7...Only 7.5 lbs for a 7" travel freeride frame is pretty good!!!


----------



## Turveyd (Sep 30, 2007)

Personally I'd go for the Kona Coilair Magic Link, it will be slack for the downs and upright for the climbs.

I used to ride a 42lb freerider up hills, you get used to it lifting it over gates is the only issue, although fun when you pass it to your mates


----------



## PissedOffCil (Oct 18, 2007)

Nicolai Helius AM (With coil) or Helius AFR? At least it's my latest find in the same category... I love the adjustable geometry of Nicolais.


----------

