Hard tail or full suspension

[Taffydoo]

I am a bit un decided on full suspension like I had before or hard
tail like I have now...

Bikes changed a bit since my last full sus..

And there is the weight think


What's everyone else think ?

[sikora]

I think skill level plays alot in it. When i bought my Rockhopper in March, i was tempted by a full sus, but i decided that a hardtail would be better for really getting back into the sport.

Full Sus bikes can have a habit of papering over mistakes, while riding a hardtail forces you to pick the best lines and to control the bike over harsh terrain - rather than ploughing straight through like you could on a full sus. Obviously once you've learnt all that on a Hardtail, it makes sense to move to a full sus.

Then theres the money side of it. A £900 full sus will never match a £900 hardtail specwise.
My Rockhopper Pro is excellent specwise - Reba forks, DT Swiss rims, XT shadow mech. While the same priced Specialized XC FSR comp i also looked at only had a Tora fork, Alex rims and LX mech.

Your also not going to get a light full sus for the money you could by a lightweight, high spec hardtail

My intention in the future is to move up to a full sus, but only when i've exceeded what i can do on a Hardtail

[Oggy]

I love hardtails and never thought i would be drawn over to full sus, but now i own a full sus i dont think ill be going back. Hardtails are great and my ainm is to get one for shorter rides and messing about on but on an all day ride my full sus comes in to its own.

Like Sikora says full sus bikes are very forgiveing and i think the suspension has saved my bacon more than a few times. The full sus allows me to go a lot faster on downhills which results in me having far more fun so if a biek allows me to have more fun then im all for it ;D

The modern full sus bikes dont have all the problems that the earlier versions had eg. Climbing issues, weight and rider induced bob but this does come at a cash price. My mate is getting bike in to his riding and has about a grand to spend on a bike, I have advised them that he should go for a top end hardtail as the kit is much better on hardtails when spending in that price bracket.

Another thing to mention is that most xc and am full sus bikes now come with lockout front and rear shocks for the uphills.

In a perfect world we would all have a garage full of bikes, one for every type of riding, but like most people I can only afford the one and my full sus lets me do most types of riding.

[martinw]

I always have been a hardtail man, I wouldn't have dreamed of getting a full sus, always thought of them as being a lazy mans bike, being able to sit down on the rough downhills and that, (my views by the way!) I fancied getting a full sus at the back end of last year and started looking around.

I figured that if I was going to do it I was going to have to buy a decent one so as to get the full benefits out of it. I got the TREK Ive got because I got it at a damn good price, and I knew that if I didn't like the ride I could probably sell it and make my money back. Just so happens that I quite like it.

I will take my hard tail to trails that I know are not going to smash me to pieces, and where I want a really fast ride where I can hammer into hills,

The full sus comes into its own on the longer all day'ish rides so you don't feel battered at the end! They are a lot more forgiving but it took me a while to get used to swapping over to a full sus.

If your riding & skills on the trail are top notch you will find it a lot easier on a full sus. I was always told that you learn to ride on a hardtail, and if you can do it on that everything else is a breeze.

If you are looking at a full sus its well worth spending from about £1500 to £1600 upwards, anything under that and you start getting heavier bikes with less spec. Its a minefield Defiantly do your homework and test-ride what you can.

Anyone is welcome to have a shot on mine rather than fork out at a hire center.

[taliesyn]

Jun 29, 2008 15:16:16 GMT sikora said:

I think skill level plays alot in it. When i bought my Rockhopper in March, i was tempted by a full sus, but i decided that a hardtail would be better for really getting back into the sport.

I agree entirely with you, and that is my logic too. I recently (well last week actually ) bought a Commencal Combi Deluxe with this in mind.

I've been out of MTB for years, and now I'm back having looked at the options, I thought a hardtail was the way to go

I don't intend to tackle any 4ft dropoffs or anything like that either (well not intentionally anyway!), but I guess I'll eventually go full suss.