Thu 31 Dec 2009
Snowbiking Is More Popular Than Ever
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There has been a winter sport that has been brewing under the surface for a few years now, and is set to explode on the scene properly this season.The sport of snowbiking takes place on a normal piste and involves traveling down the mountainside on a modified push-bike. 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. For many years ski and snowboard fans have been working on advancing designs in the hope of developing something that worked. After years of trial and error, and a few accidents, a snowbike design was finally conceived that was both functional and practical.
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. Unsurprisingly, the best snowbikes available today take heavy influence from powered snowmobiles. They maintain a lower centre of gravity and are steered using a bladed mounted to the front which can dig into the snow to change direction. 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 normal mountain bikes. Although a very different movement and balance is needed, once you learn the skills, it will be something you never forgot.Now that adult snowbikes have proved a success, women’s and children’s snowbikes are starting to be manufactured. They also come with some additionally safety features including padded framing and stabilisers.
Given the nature of many daredevil snowboarders and skiers, it is likely that some will attempted the most difficult mountain runs on the snowbikes without much practice, something not advised by snowbike manufactures or ski resort owners. 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.
Certain American ski resorts in fact have prohibited snowbikers on their slopes until more is known about the safety of the things. A large majority of slopes have opened their doors to snowbikes though, stating that if used responsibly, they are no more dangerous than any other winter sport. Whether ski resorts like snowbikes or not, it seems that the popularity of the sport will continue to increase and we could even see some big extreme sports brands enter the market very soon.