[Closed] Never ridden a full suspension

I rode a hardtail for 15 years, then got a full susser in 2008. I miss things about the hardtail like being able to stand up and hammer the pedals and get that instant boost of speed through the trees, but now that I'm old I like the edge taken off the bumps. I can ride over stuff at a speed that would have rattled my eyeballs out on the hardtail quite happily on the full susser. I miss the lightness and flickability of the hardtail rear end though. Ideally I'd like both, a hardtail for trail centres and a full susser for rockier natural stuff.

Don - there are plenty of climbs by me that I could not do on my HT and I could on my FS when I had both.

Best thing is to try one and see if you like it I reckon.

If you haven't already lost the will to live after reading the responses to your query that is.

But I'm not riding there, am I?

If you mainly ride nice smooth routes then I'm sure your HT will be better, not for anything else it won't be though, uneducated fool!

Total agreement random, the myth that a FS will trancend the need for good bike handling skills when the trail gets all pete tong is beyond me.

put a eunuch on a FS still merde i'm afraid, possibly a trip to A&E if they are feeling brave.

FS is faster than HT downhill.

That, apparently, is a Good Thing. I disagree. Unless you're racing, most of us presumably go riding for fun and/or fitness. Most of us, too, are limited by ability and not by our bikes - I'm betting that Peat, Atherton and co. would be able to ride the same course, though slower, on HTs as well as FSs. So is going faster the same as having more fun? Seems unlikely - there's as much satisfaction in cleaning a difficult run on one type of bike as the other.

Climbing is supposedly easier on a FS: again, I suspect the limiting factor is the rider, not the bike. If you can't make it up a climb without dabbing on a HT, but you can on a FS, the problem is almost certainly you!

To the OP: get one, then in 4-5 years time when you fancy a change get something else. I had one, then went back to HT. Now I fancy getting another FS. Can't afford one at the mo, unfortunately 🙁

Just to clarify if you ride trails as smooth as a babies bottom, you will see little difference, this is why my local trails the Cheviots i choose a Hardtail, 70% of my riding time, but obviously you will still be faster on the descents on a FS, the other 30% is spent in the badlands of Ecosse and the Lakes keeping it real.

So is going faster the same as having more fun?

Depends. I quite like speed 🙂

Whether or not you will like a FS depends on tons of factors, too many for us to decide. And far too many for the pillocks on here to say 'it's better/no it's not'

Errr, since when has going slow been more fun than going fast?

Seriously, WTF!!!

I didn't know what i was missing, Im very glad i went and got a FS, most of my mates are converted now, i cant see them going back. I love bombing down hill and and getting the thing in the air and for me and my riding style it feels ace. When i first got it i planned on keeping both bikes but sold the HT as i just stopped using it. I never find my FS heavy (it is) .
Try it you may like it.

flow if that was aimed at me, i feel totaly overbiked in the Cheviots on my big bike, a FS will be faster but not by much, plus the climbs being grassy are easier on the hardtail being lighter comprende!

Not you mate, Mogrim, you are talking sense.

So we go from

OMG where can I get one of these incredible machines that can ride over ALL obstacles?! Cos last time I was on my FS I had to steer around [b]all sorts of boulders [/b]and trees and things,

Just to clarify if you ride trails as [b]smooth as a babies bottom[/b],

Errr, since when has going slow been more fun than going fast?

Seriously, WTF!!!

Do yourself a favour and stop talking utter shite, you are making yourself look like a fool.

Do yourself a favour and stop talking utter shite, you are making yourself look like a fool.

Should you really be up so late on a school night?

Nope, but your mums round and we all know what she's like 😉

personaly iv always riden hardtails iv tested around 7/8 full sussers on week loans/mates rides to see if it benifits me but the way i ride just douse not work with any full suss setups iv tried so im quite happy to keep hammering hardtails.

You crazy fool, rp16v. 8)

rp16v good for you, at least you tried some before you decided, unlike dip shit up there.

Just ride whatever you want.
No one else* cares.

*apart from people that it has nothing to do with.

Hammy, the very fact that you're contemplating a FS bike means that fairly soon you will own one. 😉

Once you're used to how it rides (anyone who's ridden both HT and FS will tell you that there's a bit to learn to get the most from one), it will most likely give you the confidence to tackle rough stuff you're familiar with faster, or push you to have a go at something more challenging. Be prepared to seek out new stuff to ride - the bike will likely cause this too. You should have a heap of fun on it.

Let us know how you get on.

unlike dip shit up there.

singlespeedstu - Member

Just ride whatever you want.
No one else cares.

MidlandTrailquestsGraham
I'll be at Erlestoke 12 next Saturday and I'll be aiming to reach 65km/h down that long chalk track on a hardtail 29er. I'll post the GPS evidence here afterwards. I challenge anyone, on any bike, to post evidence that they went faster.

I need to meet this guy

**** me, it was a simple question from the OP! Grow up children!

I've ridden completly rigid in the 90's, then after a long time off, back on the same Orange Clockwork until about 2 years ago where I got a race type aluminium hardtail with 100mm of travel. Now I've got myself a Giant Anthem X1 and I love it. Is it quicker? Uphill it's my legs holding me back, not the bike, however I do find the full sus will take rocks / roots etc and allow me to keep peddling well. I guess in this it helps me clear the tougher sections of uphills. Downhill, yes I think it's quicker. If, as midlandtrailquest is challanging (and I'll take him up on it) it's a relativly smooth piece of chalk downhill, there will be nothing in it, however as it gets steep and properly technical, then the full sus will make it faster (which I prefer).
Is full sus better? No. Is HT better? No. Is fully rigid better? No.
It's all about the choices. I'm happy with mine, that's it really!

I couldn't give a shit what you ride, or how slow you enjoy riding it, hence why I told you to stop talking utter shite about something you evidently know nothing about.

Well that's sorted then. You couldn't give a shit. 😆

Euro - Member
Hammy, the very fact that you're contemplating a FS bike means that fairly soon you will own one.

This.

I usually ride bikes in a loop, starting and ending at the same point, on a Sunday morning. There's no inherent sense to it, I do it for fun, and when I got my Kobe I thought having a HT would be the best way to get it. Same as when I got the FSR before that. Next bike will probably be a FS. I'll still be riding loops, and still having fun. I might be a bit faster on the downhill, maybe a little slower on the flats, and who knows when it comes to the uphill bits?

Do yourself a favour and stop talking utter shite, you are making yourself look like a fool.

I think you made the point perfectly, ill second that, don shut the **** up!

😆

MidlandTrailquestsGraham
I'll be at Erlestoke 12 next Saturday and I'll be aiming to reach 65km/h down that long chalk track on a hardtail 29er. I'll post the GPS evidence here afterwards. I challenge anyone, on any bike, to post evidence that they went faster.

Edit - on reflection, I don't think I want anything to do with this thread 😉

If you can't make it up a climb without dabbing on a HT, but you can on a FS, the problem is almost certainly you!

That applies to me then

But I don't see how walking up the hill pushing the hard tail will help improove things!

...your lardy fat frame...

Checking the threads on here is like being at work (I work in a prison) Grow up you bunch of children.
If you like what you ride, ride it. If you don't, change it. But don't diss anyone for what, or why they ride what they choose to ride.
very entertaining to read though.

I take it you're referring to my own personal "frame", not the lightweight titanium loveliness that I will be riding.

Checking the threads on here is like being at work (I work in a prison) Grow up you bunch of children.
If you like what you ride, ride it. If you don't, change it. But don't diss anyone for what, or why they ride what they choose to ride.
very entertaining to read though.

You can f off, you're a bloody roadie!

😀

Well, well, well...I didn't expect that!!

Just got back after a game of cricket (I got a duck but won!) 8 beers and a comment from the Mrs saying I like my mates more than her! (oops, i was late!)

I appreciate all the input. This really is a sore subject. I need to try and then I can really get stuck into the debate!

Aside from the bickering - my take on this ...

The KEY word in this is "flow" - FS bikes just flow better - you can really carve a berm or land a jump and keep riding without the jarring feeling that comes with a HT.

I currently ride a HT - and it's what I'm most 'used to' - but I do get a massive grin when I borrow a FS bike and point it down hill.

With a good FS, technical climbing is improved - just imagine grinding up a slow tricky climb, and then - *stopped* as your rear wheel hangs up on a rock... FS lets you keep going as the wheel doesn't get 'stopped'.

But the ball-ache comes from the bearing problems, the weird rattles, the loose feeling, the mystery creak, the 'out of date' linkage, the none-existant s/h value, the shock service etc etc.

I like hardtails but I am in the South. RIde fs for DH. Love both really.I would however consider myself a ht rider, who uses FS when I need to (i.e .when a ht is too much of a handful). Love that direct feedback you get from a ht.

Is it just me, or has this thread served as an idiot rod? It seems as though the rest of the forum is relatively goon-free.

I reckon the best part of my full suss bike is being able to pump it into corners (some call it loading)... feels lush & flicks you back out. never felt that on my hard tail. As many have said, yes - it certainly makes a difference what full suss you choose (regarding acceleration). Pro pedal will fix it if you need to.

Test a full suss before buying. Happy riding!

nobody has mentioned mechanical grip yet, which is odd as that's half of what a suspension design is about. people think suspension just means being able to hit bumps harder.

As someone traditionally viewed (with justification) by my riding buddies as a bit of a luddite, but who has just recently bought his first FS in over 10 years, I feel I have to stick my oar in here...

I moved to the Afan Valley in March; I've lived in SW Wales for a few years so know the trail centre pretty well anyway, but now it's obviously where I ride off road a lot. I'm not the fastest person downhill but now I know, say, the last descent off The Wall very well, I found I was feeling distinctly under-biked down there on a HT: getting very ragged and struggling to hold a good line on the rough stuff at speed. Also myself and the bike where taking a fair old beating. A move to FS has been exactly what I hoped - rear wheel tracks better, everything feels much more planted rather than the "hoof the front through and let the back wheel clatter through any which way" style I had on the hardtail.

I use to think I didn't need a FS. I still don't [b]need[/b] one, but it is a lot of fun and worth having as an alternative to a HT if you ride a lot of techy stuff.

But if I moved somewhere with less technical riding or I could only have one MTB, then FS would have to go 😉

nobody has mentioned mechanical grip yet, which is odd as that's half of what a suspension design is about. people think suspension just means being able to hit bumps harder.

Thats strange, you must have missed the post where I said FS bikes offer more grip than HT's over rough terrain.

i guess i probably did.