Looking at the
MTBR reviews there are some mixed messages. Pretty much everybody agrees that the bike has an awesome frame that is incredibly strong and can take a large amount of punishment; however, the quality of some of the components leaves much to be desired. In the reviews the front suspension fork was seen as being very low quality. Everybody did agree that the bike IS a good value for the price, it's just that the price is lower compared to other freeride bikes, so that's why you're taking a hit in the quality department.
If you're new to freeride/dirt jumping then this Ryde is a good buy. It's low price means that you don't have to break the bank to get into the more specific style of riding, and the very strong frame means that you can upgrade the components as you get better without having to rebuy a new bike.
This bike does not have disc brakes though, so if you're going to be biking a lot in muddy or rainy conditions, be aware that disc brakes are much better in those circumstances.
As for other possible bikes, are you set on freeride? How about hardtail (front suspension only)? Check out the bikes
here. The ones that stand out are the
Kona Stuff (mtbr reviews
here) and the
Specialized P.2 (mtbr reviews
here). Other than some complaints with the front fork, the Specialized bike gets a lot of praise, it IS quite a bit more expensive than this Norco though.
