free ride = free range sled IMO. if you want to hit the big jumps and drops and do whips this is the sled for you. the beauty is it still has deep snow capability. something that a short track race sled doesnt have. this is basically a cross between the two. it has a stronger chassis, wider running boards, WIDER SUSPENSION, and much better shocks. the one thing that drives me nuts is people buy these with the expectation they will be good for carving around in marginal snow conditions. they arent. plain and simple. wide stance sleds never are. they are designed for other purposes. then they complain that there skidoo cant sidehill or carve worth a crap. well this is why. that is what the SUMMIT is designed for. freeride also only comes in 154 max length. dont get me wrong expert and advanced riders can make these things dance just like the summit because of there skill level. but a new or not so experienced mountain rider WILL have a hard time with this sled if he or she is trying to carve around and bookdock in marginal snow conditions. its just the nature of the beast.
the summit is purely a mountain sled, it doesnt handle well on trails or tight corners but wow does it ever work in the deep stuff. carves and sidehills effortlessly for miles on end and will climb like a goat. this sled is deep snow specific with the 2.5" track from the factory and it is not meant for the big bumps and jumps. although still perfectly capable. that is where the freeride comes in.
Can a person narrow the stance on the freeride? to make it more capable of sidehill/carving? is there a kit or anything? or is it too job specific so to speak?
You can put the S-36 kit on it, to narrow the front stance to 36".
The freeride is a trencher, good and sturdy for droppin, jumpin and trails
so only go freeride if doing the big drops and jumps?
Dont buy either. Everyone should take off thier doo blinders and buy M8s. So there you go.......buy an M8. They can do anything. If you dont agree obviously you are just drinking doo-laid.
That's the way I feel. Because you pay more for the freeride and you will end up spending more to turn it back to a summit by the sounds of it.
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K. i know love talkin doo. Summit X? Summit SP? Diff?
There are lots of guys riding Freerides who will never use the sled to its potential, that being said, there are lots of other sleds never being used to their potential.
Freeride is heavier due to the added bracing as well. Not interested in 50 foot drops? Stick with a Summit.
A Summit X is a spring order sled. You can only get them in season if the dealer had extra orders that never were filled. They do have a better shock, different graphics, have had better gauges and sometimes some other small items like a lower windshield and bar set up but in recent years the shocks have been the biggest difference in terms of upgrade costs. There has been a track option on the X as well that has been cheaper to buy upfront than upgrade later on, but if going to a 3" or longer than a 163 don't waste money on something you are taking off the sled.
There used to the the X and Everest. The Everest is now the SP. Some people will argue that an X will have a higher resale. Maybe in the first 2-3 years but after that all sleds tend to depreciate at the same rate regardless of model and options.
SP, Everest, Skummit, X, XM, XX, XP, Freeride, They are all the same = HEAVY they don't even hold a balance point on flat ground. I had the liberty of jumping on one of those XM's at the demo tour last year in Eagles and it was actually hilarious that I could stand effortlessly on one ski and hold it their for as long as I wanted on my PRO but could not hold a balance point for longer then 5 seconds on the new XM - great engine I will give them that but why would you want to muscle around something and fight it all day is beyond me? I also tried out one of them freerides last year and returned it after i found out it does not side hill very good at all. Again great power and can climb but no fun to ride. why so many different models that are all the same? Pretty confusing if you ask me...