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Downhill Bikes

The Best Downhill Mountain Bikes for Freeride Mountain Biking

The bikes that can carry you down the backcountry as well as the trails...

What are the best downhill mountain bikes for freeride mountain biking? If you’re going to be freeriding you need one of the burliest bikes on the market, and a good bit of manoeuvrability as well.

At the big outings like Red Bull Rampage you’ll see the pros sporting dual crown forks, hefty, steel spring-equipped rear shocks, typically eight inches of travel and often riding 26 inch wheels… But what frames will they be on?

Here are just some of the best downhill mountain bikes for freeride adventure, trusted by the pros when they drop off the trail map…

Polygon Collosus

Coming out of Indonesia, the Polygon Collosus was the rig ridden to the Red Bull Rampage win by Kurt Sorge in 2015. It’s also the regular of British shredder Sam Reynolds.

YT Tues

 

The YT is one of the stand out bikes of the past few years – a downhill bike ridden to the World Cup overall by Aaron Gwin and being piloted by freeride legends like Cam Zink and Andre Lacondeguy even further off-road as well.

The bike is affordable, well designed and rides brilliantly. With Zink and Lacondeguy putting it through its paces, you know it can take a beating. Zink rides a custom YT Tues with RockShock suspension with a Vivid R2C coil and a BoXXer World Cup, as well as a SRAM X0 DH drivetrain and GUIDE brakes.

Kona Operator

Antoine Bizet and Graham Agassiz sit on the saddle of the Kona Operator when they’re taking on the trails. Any bike that can put up with the lines that Aggy eyes out is clearly built for the job, and the Canadian’s ride has come in for a whole lot of praise for its sleek look as well.

Canyon Sender

The Canyon Sender has been another big hitter on the downhill market since it dropped in on 2016, offering the impressive premium 9.0 model for under £4000.

Freeriding legend Darren Berrecloth has trusted his rides to the Sender carbon frame and Thomas Genon is also doing his thing on the bike. Berrecloth used the DVO Emerald Inverted Fork, DVO Jade Shock, Spank wheels, bar, stem and pedals and a Shimano drivetrain and brakes.

GT Fury

The GT Fury is a garish frame with a lot of potential behind it. GT has always been a company with big pedigree and they maintain that now with Tyler McCaul riding their rig.

The bike is fast and doesn’t have as much give as some others, but it can cut through any terrain you throw at it.

Scott Gambler

An appropriately named ride for freeride, the Scott Gambler has seen success on the World Cup circuit through Adam Brayton and when you’re boasting Nico Vink and Brendan Fairclough among your pilots further afield in the backcountry, you know you’re dealing with a serious rig.

Brendan rides with a FOX Factory Float 40 fork and a Float X2 shock, Shimano stoppers and drivetrain, Syncros wheels and Schwalbe rubber as well as Deity bars and his own Brendog DMR Vault pedals.

Commencal Supreme

Remy Metailler raced this thing down Rampage like the course was nothing and Kyle Strait has ridden the XXL version of the frame down the guts of Utah as well before.

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