[Closed] Just bought a hardtail - forgot how ‘hard’ they actually are...

Which bit is 'hard'…? (fnarr)

Rubber makes a difference (fnarr) to small, pebbly, in the saddle work, as does seatpost, saddle and wheel stiffness (fnarr). I'm fussy over rear pressures and tyres.

If it's bigger bumps, then yes that is poor technique.

It might take a few rides to adapt your riding style and possibly kit tweaks. Personally, I love a hardtail's acceleration on flowing singletrack and uphill.

Love my hardtail.

Slower on it down rocky shit but it makes easier stuff more fun.

Why can't you own two bikes? Space? Front n back wheels off, turn handlebars, packs down to nowt.

4 bikes, 4 people in a 1 series bmw from blighty to courchevel can't be wrong 🙂

Yeah you'll get used to it. Finding smooth lines and gaping things add interest to the experience.

Hardtails are a great excuse to go back to the ****ing about on bikes you might have done when you was younger. Find all the BMX, pump tracks and flow jump trails localish to you and hone those pumping, sprinting, wheelie/manual and jumping skills. Timed laps and sprints to push your fitness on.

If you put the effort in and stick to it the end result will be good for you on any kind of bike!

Personally, I love a hardtail’s acceleration on flowing singletrack and uphill.

Yep, nothing beats one for power transfer...

But yes, thumping over roots is just painful unless you have uber fat tyres on it.

Stick with the hardtail. Much more fun. Full suss feels like cheating and not really riding when occasionally ride mine.

I've just gone from a 26 inch wheel stumpy full suspension to a 29er orange clockwork hardtail. It's so much more fun.

I agree that setup takes a while to get right. I find the bigger specialised tyres amongst the lightest to keep climbing and acceleration but also the size form comfort. Tubeless too.

Well if it was me and I'd only the choice of one bike i'd be the FS. Simply because it's more forgiving on the body. Essentially it's down to personal preference so my suggestion would be to use the hardtail for your next few spins, then use the FS for a spin. Should allow you to choose what's best for you.

Of course the other factor is who you ride with and how you ride ! The group I ride with are all on 29" FS with 160mm travel and were always super fast (even on 26" 100mm travel xc hardtails). I struggle to keep up on a FS, there's no way I'd keep up on a hardtail.

The old 26" Cotic BFE still gets dusted off for the occasional solo spin and provides plenty of grins.

I go back and forth on bikes and it usually takes a couple of rides on the hardtail to unlearn all the bad habits I've picked up on the full suss, if it's been a while.
I'm always surprised by how my smoothness has degraded due to the forgiveness of the full suss.

They do feel hard - you get used to it surprisingly fast. Some people don’t like them though!

Make sure your bars are high enough - hardtails only sag at the front so if you set it up like your full-sus with static positions you’ll end up with your hands too low.

Bottom line is, it's a personal feeling.

I had my RC529 for about 6 weeks before I sold it on. Had it set up with 150mm Pike and SC Reserve wheels.

The front sailed through stuff so well, I forgot the back had to follow! Really disliked it over roots and rocks (which is most of what I ride). I also like to maintain as much speed as possible on rough/fast stuff, and it just felt like it sucked the fun out of it for me.

On the opposite end, the best hard tails I've had have all been shorter travel. I just don't think longer travel hard tails make sense for me. When that big fork compresses, it's a lot of front end dive with the back staying put! 🙂

If I hadn't fell out with it, I could have reduced the fork to 130mm and had another go.

It was great uphill though and very capable on fast and flowy stuff. It was just too much of a compromise for me to enjoy it.

“When that big fork compresses, it’s a lot of front end dive with the back staying put! 🙂”

High bars on hardcore hardtails!

I’ve just got a new hard tail, it felt harsh to start with, but have tweaked the cockpit, added a token, reduced pressure, slowed rebound, etc.. really happy now. That was replacing another hard tail too. Sherpa for a Solaris mk1 since you asked.

Yep, nothing beats one (a HT) for power transfer…

Other than a rigid bike.

Stand up ... i used to notice how much FS riders sit down. Lazy sods. Lopes and McCormack in Mastering Mountain Bike Skills actually suggest you should never really sit down. Obviously not that practical, but a mate who just won the Australian National SS reckons he makes this part of his training.

... I've got rid of my FS for a SolarisMAX and with a 2.6 front and 2.3 rear it's cutting through rocks and roots faster.

I just don’t think longer travel hard tails make sense for me. When that big fork compresses, it’s a lot of front end dive with the back staying put!

I'm sure there's something in this, and why Whyte spec their 900 series with less travel.

To the OP, presume you've got the 529 set up with skinny 29" tyres. Try it in 275+ flavour, with a tough rear tyre, an insert and sub-20psi. It'll feel more forgiving.

My 529 has 140mm pikes. I also have a specialized enduro 150mm front and back. I ride steep stuff in and around tweed valley. So mud, roots and some rocky bits

Got the pace in August the enduro has flat tyres. It's not been out since July.

I hate hard tails, spawn of the devil as far as I'm concerned. And before any questions, I started on fully rigid and progressed thru hard tails.

Went from a 26" FS to a HT*.

Fun, Fun, Fun FUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

*The HT is now rigid and still fun.

I love the concept of HTs, love the looks of them, but i can't yet find one i can ride down things as quickly as i can my T-130. Until that happens, they're a bit pointless IMO.

Stay off the saddle unless coasting or on smooth sections. Get the saddle out of the way except for climbs. Legs and arms are great ‘full suspension’.

And play with tyre pressures/widths.

Full disclosure: only ever owned a couple of them but I couldn’t get on with fullsussers. Felt like I was being robbed of all those little unconscious decisions, lines, unweighted ‘floats’ (micro-jumps) and compensations that made singletrack so fun, challenging and interesting for me.

i can’t yet find one i can ride down things as quickly as i can my T-130. Until that happens, they’re a bit pointless

I only ride hardtails and I've heard this comment before.

It kinda implies that 'speed' is the only important thing - is that really true?

I love the concept of HTs, love the looks of them, but i can’t yet find one i can ride down things as quickly as i can my T-130.

He who has most fun, wins.
I'm not bothered about being the fastest, but my HT more often than not puts a huge smile on my face. More than it batters me anyway.

It kinda implies that ‘speed’ is the only important thing – is that really true?

On that sort of terrain yes. On most rides, not really. But if i go to FoD/Afan/BPW/Alps then i want to be scooting down at what i percieve as a decent pace, i don't want to be hanging on, clattering down, trying to pick my way down around every root/rock and concentrating so much my eyeballs explode, i want to be flying down (in a relative context) enjoying the 'flow'

Ride my Soul a lot more than the T130 since I had it, I find with the T130 I appreciate it more after being on the Soul. Very similar but very different bikes at the same time. Soul is immensely fun and fast, but the T130 feels more agile yet more forgiving at the same time. Both are awesome bikes, it's nice to have the choice!

Every time I swap from full suss to hardtail I find for the first few mins the back wheel is off the floor when you don’t want it to be. Then after about 10 mins you get back into the swing of things really pushing the back end down and pumping through rollers. Feels a lot more fun on easy flow trails hen the full suss and it’s very playful.

On bigger stuff I prefer the fs and also for long days in the saddle it’s way easier on the lower back.

So for me I have the 2 bikes and use them for different places / moods. If I only had one bike it would be a mid travel fs I think.

Stick with the hardtail. Much more fun. Full suss feels like cheating and not really riding when occasionally ride mine.

You see, without n+1 we get HT vs FS comments like this. Now go and keep the other bike.

I find tyres make a big difference to any bike, but are more critical on a HT as there's more to stop them pinging off things on a FS.

That said, your timing and approach to things do vary. I've a FS and a HT or two, and I often use them for different things, although I can set up the HT to take on pretty much anything I'd ride, it does have to be ridden differently, and you do get battered to pieces. Don't bother trying to add flex to things, you could go for bigger/lower pressure tyres but lower pressure on the rear of a HT is a recipe for punctures if it gets rocky. If you want the comfort/compliance, just keep the FS.

I find both my main HT and my FS are good trail bikes, but the HT is more suited to fast XC stuff, the FS did to ten under (with faster tyres on) last year though, but that was after previous experience of doing it solo on a HT.

Pity you can't keep both as the hardtail will help improve your technique for the full suss.

I was also a FS only rider for about 8 years but last December I bought a cheap Voodoo Hoodoo as a winter mudplugger, took me a few rides to get used to unweighting the rear but once I got that figured out it's so much fun! Every time I went back to the FS bikes I was riding so much smoother and safer it was a revelation. I even did a day at Windhill on it and it was so much fun it was unreal, went back the next week on the FS and my technique was so much better! It does beat me up on the rough stuff as it's a 27.5 alloy frame with cheap wheels and skinnyish tyres so I tried a few HT's at the FOD Steel Is Real event last weekend. There may well be a new arrival in the new year.

I love the concept of HTs, love the looks of them, but i can’t yet find one i can ride down things as quickly as i can my T-130. Until that happens, they’re a bit pointless IMO.

Why?

Full disclosure: only ever owned a couple of them but I couldn’t get on with fullsussers. Felt like I was being robbed of all those little unconscious decisions, lines, unweighted ‘floats’ (micro-jumps) and compensations that made singletrack so fun, challenging and interesting for me.

I think until you get used to a FS then this will always be the case, you have to adjust your timing etc. and to an extent your riding style to get the best out of it.

Also there's a range of FS bikes from mega travel plough through everything/"fun sponge" depending on your outlook, to super responsive "playful" things, across a range of travel.

Give it time, choose a more "playful" FS, and you'll see the benefits. Or just keep to HTs, they're fine, just limited. No other vehicle has suspension at one end only.

Which bit is ‘hard’…? (fnarr)

Rubber makes a difference (fnarr) to small, pebbly, in the saddle work, as does seatpost, saddle and wheel stiffness (fnarr). I’m fussy over rear pressures and tyres.

Ok, I'm in.

[saunders] Hardtails do batter your rear harder (pffft) than a FS, even if you use big rubber (pffft) you have to be sure your rim (pffft) can take the pounding. [/saunders]

I love HTs, they're just waaaay more fun (for me) for the riding me and OH usually do. Faster isn't always better or more fun 😎

No other vehicle has suspension at one end only.

Hmm. Hardtail motorcycles? They're ridden for shits and giggles as well 😉

Definitively will take you four/five good long rides to familiarize yourself. My full suss was out of action for 6 weeks during the summer, so was back on my 2006 Kinesis Phase which Ive not ridden really hard off-road in a few years. With a 150mm fork from Marzocchi Mike, short stem and wide bars I was surprised how relatively modern it felt, but it certainly took a few weeks to realise I couldn't just sit down and plough through everything.

Noticed that you tend to use slightly different muscle groups too, front of my thighs were definitely a bit achey for the first few weeks.

Persist with it and you will definitely be rewarded! Even with the full suss back in action I've found myself migrating to the hardtail more and more for short spins.

I am running hefty tyres (Der Baron Projekt 2.4) which help with shock absorption and pinch flats!

Enjoy it mate, sounds like a fab piece of kit!

Hmm. Hardtail motorcycles? They’re ridden for shits and giggles as well

Not down rooty trails...

and there's about 0.00001% of the motorcycles sold that are HT.

Hmm. Hardtail motorcycles? They’re ridden for shits and giggles as well

OK I though someone might bring that up, but that's just an anachronism/Harley/custom thing.

I'm pretty sure it's more a stylistic thing than anybody really wanting a less comfortable motorbike with less predictable roadholding and traction at the rear?

I think the speed plays a part (in my head), and I don't sit down when descending rough trails 🙂

I've had hardtails that I liked, my first proper bike was a Voodoo Hoodoo that I threw money at and it was ace, same with the On One Inbred I had. The only two I didn't get along with was the Commencal Meta and the Pace RC529.

In hindsight, the Pace may have been slightly over forked. I wouldn't class myself as someone who is scared of hitting a descent, or technical trail at speed, so standing is pretty much mandatory.

But at the same time, I'm not someone who will blindly say "all hard tails are shit and everyone is wrong". I could have probably tried adjusting the riding position and shortening the fork, but I'd thrown my toys out of the pram by then 🙂

You never know, the DV9 that I've just finished may make me a firm believer hehe.

"But if i go to FoD/Afan/BPW/Alps then i want to be scooting down at what i percieve as a decent pace, i don’t want to be hanging on, clattering down, trying to pick my way down around every root/rock and concentrating so much my eyeballs explode, i want to be flying down (in a relative context) enjoying the ‘flow’"

An appropriate hardtail (ie modern geometry, proper fork, gnarly tyres, dropper post etc) will let you enjoy the flow (if you stand up and stay loose!) They do require a more active riding style (but full-sus bikes go better like that too!)

I love my hardtail and generally have more fun on it than on my FS, it doesn't work for everywhere and will usually use the FS at uplift venues but the hardtail is more fun at trail centres and doing more xc riding.

I would say it takes some practice, all the people I ride with can't believe the pace I go at on a hardtail when they all ride FS. I just have to think more about line choice and use my legs as suspension.

An appropriate hardtail (ie modern geometry, proper fork, gnarly tyres, dropper post etc) will let you enjoy the flow (if you stand up and stay loose!) They do require a more active riding style (but full-sus bikes go better like that too!)

The closest i've had/tried is my Parkwood, even with decent forks and tyres i'm still night and day quicker on the T-130.

I'm not saying 'never'.... but i'm a long long way from convinced.

“The closest i’ve had/tried is my Parkwood, even with decent forks and tyres i’m still night and day quicker on the T-130.”

My hardtail definitely isn’t as fast as my full-sus but it’s a lot of fun on pretty ridiculous terrain:

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The geometry may look extreme when it’s standing still and it does feel fairly odd around a car park if you’re used to more typical hardtails but it makes sense once you’re up to speed or pointing downhill!

I love threads like this
until May this year i hadn't ridden a bike since the mid nineties, and probably hadn't ridden anything gnarly ever.. bit of bmxing in early nineties in a local woods.. that's it
Ended up on a Vitus Nucleus and rinsing my local blue trail.. lusting for more..
the bike wasn't right for me.. didnt feel right.. kept tweaking and upgrading and looking at FS bikes.. and the budget of which started at £1200 and went up and up and up
And then i thought why? what will a FS do for me? make things easier? make things faster?
and what will that do? make things less exciting? make my crashes hurt more?
So i reigned it in, what if i built an epic hardtail out of the parts i had collected during my Nucleus upgrade.. plus a few extras
So i built up a DMR trailstar, with a 170mm MRP fork, sitting around 64 degrees HA (unloaded).
Forks set soft but ramping up rapidly with lots of LSC.
The bike feels pretty dam comfy to ride.. and surprised me on my first outing.. i could ride sections seated that i was usually out of the seat on.
I could just hit stuff much harder with a little rear weight transfer and let the bike just ride through it.

I haven't ridden a FS.. if i don't ride one i won't miss one right?
Im not lagging behind the guys i ride with massively on the downs..so if im slower it doesnt matter so much...
What i have done is saved myself massive amounts of money..and got myself a bike which feels pretty much as high (as reasonable without diminishing returns) spec as possible to build.. .it also shouldnt be possible to "date".. i dont have to worry about exotic materials breaking or shattering etc...
yes, its heavy (somewhere around 14kg on innacurate scales) but jesus is it fun

I haven’t ridden a FS.. if i don’t ride one i won’t miss one right?

That's me! TBH I can't afford the funds for an FS currently. My mate has offered me a go on his a few times. I don't want to ride it incase I realise I relly need one. Love my hardtail to bits!

I'm lucky enough to have a HT and and FS. After a fast, dry summer getting back on board the HT as the ground softens always forcibly reminds me that whilst they are both bikes, riding techniques are different. The hard tail always highlights that I have become accustomed to sitting and spinning for traction, and standing with straight legs because, well, on an FS you can!

It takes a ride or two to remember to use ones knees as sprung hinges and to spend alot more time off the saddle of spending less time in contact.

I find the the benefits of an FS over a HT in the wet season on my trails are much negated so I'd rather go for the feedback.

The geometry may look extreme when it’s standing still

Just looks like a sorted bike to me, but then, I have form...

I do want a ride on your Pole, it looks so long and fun...

I can't tell you how many times I've heard that. Each of them think it's original too!

Let's be honest, if we could we would all have a variety of bikes for different rides/conditions.

I do have a rigid fatty, XC hardtail and have finally invested in a FS. Nothing flash only Go Outdoors Bossnut it just meant clearing some crap out of the shed to fit it in... 😊

If anyone (who hasn't ridden offroad before) asks me what bike to buy, I always say to get a decent HT rather than a FS.
You 'learn' to ride on a HT which makes a FS even better.
That's what I found anyway after riding for 10 years, including a Chamonix trip, on a HT.
At my age I find a FS MUCH more comfy though!

The closest i’ve had/tried is my Parkwood, even with decent forks and tyres i’m still night and day quicker on the T-130.

Then you're letting the bike do the work instead of improving your technique.
If you stuck with the hardtail and learnt how to shift your bodyweight around, use your legs and arms more, pick better lines, let off the brakes and float over the top of roots etc until your as fast as you were originally on your FS, then when you go back to the FS you will be quicker again.

It think a lot of us have the same thought.

I use my fatbike quite a lot and if it’s a good ride I want a hard tail. Otherwise I remember the pain and want a FS.

Then you’re letting the bike do the work instead of improving your technique.
If you stuck with the hardtail and learnt how to shift your bodyweight around, use your legs and arms more, pick better lines, let off the brakes and float over the top of roots etc until your as fast as you were originally on your FS, then when you go back to the FS you will be quicker again.

LOL you've never met me, never seen me ride, don't know what i can or can't do on a bike, yet you've analaysed me in depth from 1 post.

If HTs were quicker/better we'd see them in Enduro, XC racing, etc... As it is, we don't.

I notice two big things on my hardtail - how it is VERY hard when seated pedalling over any sort of bumps. And how remarkably smooth it is as soon as I stand up and let my legs be the rear suspension!

I enjoyed it so much on the ridiculously rocky trails of Mallorca during this summer’s family holiday that I’m thinking of taking it on our next Wales uplifty / trail centre trip, instead of my e-monster truck.

Interesting to hear all your views and stories. I think I'm going to stick with the HT for a few more weeks and give it a good go before I make any final decisions. After being on FS for so many years then it's bound to be completely different.

I understand about having to ride differently which is quite obvious really I suppose, so I'll have to adapt my riding style over the next few weeks. A lot more unweighting and shifting of weight to try and get the most out of it. However, if it doesn't click then I'll look at getting the HT up for sale. No point sticking with something if it's not working.

Thanks everyone.
JB

I do want a ride on your Pole, it looks so long and fun…

Aaaaaaaand we're back 😂

There's a prevailing theme in these threads that to be having 'fun' you also have be 'fast' and 'efficient'; it's not a job, it's supposed to be something you enjoy doing, you know, for fun!

Stop measuring things, go and ride your bike(s).

“If HTs were quicker/better we’d see them in Enduro, XC racing, etc… As it is, we don’t.”

Yes we do. Unless you’re riding a WC DH track a good hardtail ridden properly will be only a tiny amount slower than a good full-sus under the same rider. At the pointy end of racing that’s too big a difference for the serious amateurs or pros to race on hardtails (except on some 4X and XC tracks), but in the normal world there’s not much in it.

but in the normal world there’s not much in it.

My personal experience would massively disagree. For example my PR/KOM on a descent in France is 4mins 20 on my T-130. 3 days later i got 6mins 03 on the Parkwood. I was trying on both.

So whilst YOU may experience not much difference, some people clearly do.

Did you have fun both times?

Did you have fun both times?

Not so much on the 2nd one... Hence why i never ride the HT on trails 🙂

“Not so much on the 2nd one… Hence why i never ride the HT on trails 🙂”

I think that’s the crux. If you’re not enjoying your hardtail on a trail then the chance you’re riding it well is pretty tiny.

If you’re not enjoying your hardtail on a trail then the chance you’re riding it well is pretty tiny.

LOL i love this place... it's hysterical. Sheesh.

Not so much on the 2nd one… Hence why i never ride the HT on trails 🙂

Furry muff!

I think that’s the crux. If you’re not enjoying your hardtail on a trail then the chance you’re riding it well is pretty tiny.

I get what Chief means here, but the way he's put it is easy to get offended by, especially if you have a fragile ego.

Fact is to ride a HT well on a rough trail you do need to know what you're doing to smooth it out, more so than on an FS. If you don't have the skills or experience to do this, it's going to be a slow, rough old ride and thus not so enjoyable.

It's not a personal slight to identify this, and it's not such a stretch to imagine FS only riders getting on a HT a couple of times and going 'yuck!' because they've never developed the skillset.

I'm honestly not getting offended... 🙂

Amused... 100%

FWIW i did a decade on HTs, countless miles, trails, woods and even a number of trail centres... Maybe for a decade i was riding all wrong and don't know what i'm doing 🙂

Sorry weeksy, I wasn't addressing you directly, just making a generalised comment.

Although I did just see Your strava KOM comments. I'm slower on my hardtail for sure, but my data mostly shows about a 10% difference, not a 35% difference. Depends on terrain of course.

It's all good matey 🙂 It's a forum, that's all 🙂

I worked my way from rigid local trails up to long travel FS on alpine descents. After a couple of years of that I found I just wasn't going out in the UK anymore, all the trails were either incredibly tame or being made into BMX tracks with all the doubles, and boardwalk boredom.

I stopped mtbing altogether.

Took me nearly a decade to try again, I brought out my FS, hit some local trails, felt deflated. Everything was just too boring and I was not fit enough to push the FS quickly anymore.

So I built up a hardtail using an old used steel frame and loved it. So I sank some cash into a carbon 456 frame and parts and it's so nice to ride I get excited every time for every local ride. Feeling the trail, using my body, scaring myself on stuff id have flown over on the long travel bike. All so much better now, in my situation at least.

A couple of years ago I got my last hardtail, one of the very first Pipedream Moxies available. It had a very cheap build kit, I never got along with the Fox 34 and ended up selling it to a relative shortly after in order to finance a FS enduro bike. Also my skills were a far cry from what they are now, so I guess I never pushed the Moxie to it's potential.

Fast forward to today and I now have a 160/155mm travel FS (Stumpy Evo) which I love, it's crazy fast and composed everywhere as it is comfortable, but I sometimes get a little annoyed with all the cleaning and care taking.
I wonder how would the Moxie be with a better build, 160mm Fox 36 included combined with my current skillset and the trails I ride now. Plus expanded bikepacking capabilities from the HT frame.
My relative is now selling the bike (I'm actually managing some of the ads) and he's willing to let me have the frame back for a very good value.

So now I'm fighting this urge to build the ultimate aggro hardtail, but still considering the FS would have to go

You’ll get used to it and stand a lot more and it’ll be excellent fun at times.
Pace make quite a stiff frame dont they? Thing of beauty a nice simple hardtail for sure. And a lot easier to clean and maintain.
Good for Winter?
Well, lovely (if you stand up so legs are working as suspension, which I do anyway. Rarely is my dropper extended) but how about the stealth roots hidden under those wet leaves?
FS just simply has more grip. Yeah it’s comfortable, but that’s not the important thing IMO. Grip on loose and slippy terrain and particularly on climbs is hard to give up for 10 mins less cleaning and an occasional pivot service.
Reading this, you can see I’ve decided. I’m sticking with the Geometron G1 as an only bike.
I hope you enjoy the hardtail. Better find room to keep the FS though.

The last FS I had was probably 20 odd years ago, HT / CX only since. I would have appreciated a big FS in Samoens last year, and I'd really like to try out Ninos FS Scott or a high end Cannondale around my local trails - but that'll never be a reality!!!

You adapt your riding to your bike and trails, what works for one won't another. All should be well unless you decide to ride a CX bike on a black run or a DH bike at a CX race.

I guess I may borrow the bike for a test ride this weekend, just to see how it feels on a test loop.
I genuinely can't remember how it is to ride a hardtail, as dumb as this sounds. Even worse that I now ride flat pedals full time, curious to see if my feet will stay in place

I only ride for fun and after trying full suspension twice I’ve always gone back to hardtails. I just love them. Everyone is different though so do whatever is best for you. I’m down to one bike at the moment and it’s a rigid. Really miss having a nice hardtail and regret selling my Stif Morf 😕

Hardtail only for me since 2006. The trails I ride most often are fun, and bigger stuff presents a challenge. This year I made my first trips to real mountains in Alps and Pyrenees, which have been great. I actually prefer the slower technical stuff which is where a hardtail has less of a disadvantage. It's only when trail are both fast and very bumpy trails that I have to consciously slow down compared to others. If I ride big mountains more often then a FS might become a more attractive proposition.

I'm weird, i kinda like the physical input required to ride a hardtail, in the same way i like riding a singlespeed, they require more concentration and rider input. I'll often follow someone on a trail with huge spread of gears and a full sus and they are just sat there spinning along, rarely getting out of the saddle. Whereas on hardtail/ singlespeed, you are having to look more carefully at the trail coming up, and you have to be out of the saddle and trying to keep momentum.

Its not better riding, its just different and i like the physicality of it.

Ive always rode both. If I'm out in the peaks / lakes i always grab the FS. If we are going to a trail centre then its always the HT.

Both different. Both good.