Darren Berrecloth has been at the forefront of the freeride mountain biking scene since the turn of the millenium and has seen it all in the past 12 years.

He’s been on the podium at the Red Bull Rampage, starred in some of the most progressive mountain bike films in history and even hosts his own freeride competition in the heart of Canada’s North Shore.

That’s why he’s the perfect person to talk about the history of freeride mountain bikes. In this video explains how we’ve progressed from riding skinny tyres with rigid forks to the full-suspension mountain munchers that can be seen on the trails today.

It turns out that the bike that changed everything for Berrecloth was the SX Trail that was first released in 2003 and remained identical for the next five years – the longest unchanged bike platform in Specialized’s history.

Today he rides an Enduro Evo and you can see how he shreds everything from massive dirt jumps to downhill trails on it, as well as pedalling back up again afterwards.

We really enjoyed the animation in this video, it makes a change from the constant slow-mo ‘roost’ shots that dominate modern mountain biking videos. And, even if it was a little Specilaized heavy, the history of out sport is always interesting.

Berrecloth will be taking on the Red Bull Rampage as a Wildcard rider on October 17 although we don’t think he’ll be tackling it on the Enduro.