Freeride Gets Governed - the FMB World Tour announced

[cam@nsmb.com]

Ten events will now fall under the FMB World Tour banner.

Think this is good news for freeride, Slopestyle and Dirt Jump events - and mountain biking in general?

Read more about this and who is involved here...

[the Master Plan Dan]

Wow... my how things come full circle.

Isn't this the very reason why "Freeride" started? To get away from all of this?

In the long run it will help grow the sport.... with organization... of events. But only time will tell.

Dan

[IFO]

agree with master..

that one sentence sums it all up..

"Freeride to be governed"... LOL

[sgarstin]

Say what you will, But this will generate more mainstream interest in the sport = more kids buying bikes = more money pumped into the bike industry.

Freeride is just a word.

[roy]

Isn't this the very reason why "Freeride" started? To get away from all of this?

If that was the case we would never have all these contests in the first place, some folks will think of freeride in its true sense, riding in the woods with your buddies but there will always be those that want to compete at whatever it is and I guess its good that this is done in a legit way, I guess you could say that these contests aren't really freeride at all and should be called something else! Maybe the bicycle gymnastics world tour featuring slopestyle, dirt jumps and big mountain!

[JezzaE]

I think a FMB World Tour is a good idea. It gives those at the top level a chance to see after a year of sloggin it out who is number one. Of course there are going to be those within the sport who do not want to compete in an organsied competition, so then don’t, just keep riding.


On the ‘freeride’ note however, since I started mountain biking there has the whole 'freeride' definition debate and those who just don't like the word. Some say just getting out with buddies and riding is freeriding, but isn't that just mountain biking in general. It is too broad a use of freeriding. That is why I always liked the use of it to refer to the type of riding people like Wade Simmons, Josh Bender, Grant Allen, Gareth Dyer and Berrecloth to name a few were doing. Riding big, riding hard and throwing in tricks. But this is just the evolution of riding. I guess the industry has told us now what it is and the direction of freeriding: slopestyle, dirt jump and big mountain combined. The only thing that kind of doesn’t sit right is throwing in standalone dirt jump comps as part of the FMB World Tour. There are people who just dirt-jump, where as to ride slopestyle and big mountain you need a combination of many riding skills and styles. Just a thought.

[cam@nsmb.com]

The best news is the people involved in this organziation.

It's a solid crew to be sure. This is a group that cares about the sport.

Aaron Chase (pro rider / USA)
Todd Barber (event organizer “Red Bull Rampage” / USA)
Alex D

[Sethimus]

looks like you triggered the "umlaut" trap of the forum software...