Mountain Biking - Slalom and Freeride

What is the difference between a slalom bike and a freeride bike? They seen pretty similar. I s slalom more like downhill and set up for downhill races? Can you climb up on a mountain on a slalom bike? Also what is the difference between a hardtail slalom and a hardtail freeride bike?

Let's see if I can describe it since I race Dual Slalom once in awhile. There really is a difference between them, Slalom bike are made to be nimble, light but strong enough to land jumps, comes with a chain guide and bash guard so there is no climbing, where a freeride bike is heavier, can have a Bash guard and Guide or it can have a front deraillieur, it is built to do drops and various other things, and can take a Dual Crown while a Slalom bike only uses a single crown.

That is if you are comparing the extreme differences. A slalom bike can handle freeriding fine as long as you aren't going huge. Some people that freeride use a slalom bike due to is strength and nimbleness.

Originally posted by Maelstrom
That is if you are comparing the extreme differences. A slalom bike can handle freeriding fine as long as you aren't going huge. Some people that freeride use a slalom bike due to is strength and nimbleness.

Thanks for pointing that out, I forgot to include that.

Most any hardtail or short travel FS frame can be turned into a slalom bike if you set it up right. If we are talking about the Pro racers, most of them used FS bikes, with a single chainring up front and a chainguide. With that set up, you couldent climb very well with it. Most people will put a lighter wheelset on a slalom bike, hardtail or not. There are too many questions about what freeriding is. Freeriding can be done on any bike, anywhere. You just have to have skill and a bike that will handle what your going to be doing. Everybody has their own definition of freeriding. The guys who go huge could say that a 10 foot drop is tiny, while a kid that has only been riding for a few years would call that huge. As I said before, freeriding can be done on any bike, anywhere. Of course, I wouldent call freeriding riding off a curb, or riding on a curb. You have to catch a little air, and do a good size drop....lets say atleast 3 feet. Hope I helped......at all.

Nice description Klien, alot better than mine.

In order to simplify things,

Think of a Slalom bike as a BMX Race bike on steroids.

Think of a Freeride bike as a toned down DH bike set-up for climbing!

L8R