GRRRR... hardrocks are not freeride bikes. they are not built for it and dont have good geometry. they are cross country bikes.
Wrong, Hardrocks are all-mountain hardtails not cross country. The Rockhopper is more cross country.
Really? I had never associated a category with it. I definitely treated mine like an all mountain hard tail, but I always just thought it was the overbuilt budget bike that was designed to look cool