Latest Mountain Bike Designs
Snowbiking – The Extreme Sport of 2010
Winter sports fans are in for a treat this year as a little known activity has been gathering momentum and will make its mark properly this season.The sport of snowbiking involves traveling down a traditional ski run on a modified bicycle. People have been trying to ride their bikes down a snowy run for years, but road bikes were never cut out for very low friction surfaces. Over the years many snowboard and ski enthusiasts have been working on newer designs in the hope of discovering something that worked. Sadly, many of the earlier models were bulky and difficult to steer, and it has only been in the last few seasons that a snowbike has been developed that really works.
A Canadian firm currently offers the best bike on the market and they have announced the first snowbike world championship will take place next year. Snowbikes are not really freestyle or jumping pieces or equipment, but instead built for speed and manoeuvrability. This will be reflected in the world championship events that will be based around slalom and speed competitions. The large majority of snowbikes that have succeeded in the market share many characteristics with snowmobiles. They are lower to the ground than normal bikes and have a blade at the front of the bike attached to the steering column. This enables the rider to turn relatively sharply, but instead of having an engine at the back propelling the device, it of course relies on gravity to build up momentum.
Snowbike manufactures admit that snowbiking is not the easiest of extreme sports to master, but that it is well worth putting in the hours to master. Apparently learning how to snowbike shares similarities with learning to ride basic mountain bikes. The learning curve is pretty steep, but when you got the hours of practice under your belt, its not something that you’ll ever forgot how to do.Snowbikes are now beginning to be made in multiple sizes so that people of all ages can enjoy the sport. A portable fold-up version of the snowbike has also now been made that can fit in a regular backpack.
Although many confident skiers and snowboarders will be keen to try out the snowbikes on the steeper and more difficult runs, it is advised that everyone should have a go on learner slopes first. Snowbikes are much harder to stop than snowboards or skis, and if you haven’t mastered the technique you will not only be risking your own safety, but you may be endangering the safety of other winter sports enthusiasts also.
In fact there have been a number of ski resorts in America who have banned snowbiking from their slopes until they have done their own safety tests. The majority of locations however are understanding to snowbikers, but still suggest that everyone is careful until we know just how safe they are. Whatever resorts think of the bikes, with a reported 30,000 snowbikers worldwide, this one seems like a trend that is going to stick (or slide as the case may be).
IMBA – USFS – Building Mountain Bike Trails – 3 of 9
