[condemned]

Hi guys! I'm new here, and also new to this sport.

I tried to do some searches for what I was looking for, but didn't find exact answers.

A few friends of mine lended me a suspension bike last week when they were riding a path from the top of a local mountain. We did 10-15 runs, and I got hooked! I thought that it was scary in the beginning, but as I began to become more comfortable with the bike I started to put up some speed, and I had a blast!

I need some advice on what kind of bike I need to get, and what to look for or not.

First question:
Freeride or downhill - what is the biggest difference, and which bike type is more versatile?

I'm 6ft4 tall (193 cm) - what frame size should I get?

I have a $2000 budget.

 

[condemned]

And just for the record. This sport is totally new to me, so don't hang me for being all noobish and stuff

 

[william4269]

do you want to buy new or used? for most companies you'd be looking at a large or xL frame (19-23") are you riding just dh/fr or are you looking to do some climbiung with it too?

 

[condemned]

I think I want to buy used to begin with. I found a $5000 Specialized Demo 8 2011 that I was pretty close to buy, but the guy sold it before I could get my hands on it.

I have raised my budget, because after some research, I've found out that I want something with quality from the beginning rather than spending money on a bike that hasn't been taken care of.

I think I'm more of a DH person than a FR person.

 

[BadDNA]

A good freeride bike will handle a lot of DH terrain and still be something you can pedal around a bit. Something like the Specialized SX or Status would probably be more than enough bike for someone like you who is just getting into the sport. I'm still riding my 2008 Big Hit (the bike the Status replaced) and it's served me very well from DH at Bromont and Diablo to screwing around on my local xc trails.

 

[condemned]

Thanks for the advice! I'll take that into consideration.

How does a freeride bike differ from a downhill bike in maneuverability and agility?