Freeride

I rented a "freeride" bike over at Copper Mountain (for some odd reason Keystone doesn't have long travel full suspension bikes for rent) for the day. It was Giant AC with 6in of travel front and rear. It was the first time I had ever really ridden a full suspension bike on real trails. I think this is about a $3000 bike. It was very nice. The ride was super plush, especially the rear suspension. You could sit down for most of the downhill and not really feel much of the roughness at all. The front fork was pretty stiff, but it soaked up big hits very well. The bike also had hydraulic disc brakes front and rear. These were very nice. They had a very progressive feel and incredible stopping power. On a lot of the trails you are on the brakes non-stop. I was surprised that even these brakes began to overheat at times. I can't even imagine how the brakes on my bike would have howled on the descents. The bike definitely made it possible for me to ride a lot further today than I would have been able to on my hardtail. I don't think I could ever justify spending $3000 on a bike, but a rental for $35 a day plus a $28 lift ticket is not bad to get a taste.