[Closed] Should I sell my FS for a hardtail?

£200

That's my last offer and I am doing you a favour 😉

Having the bike doesn't force you to ride dangerously does it? If that's a concern then its more likely to be more forgiving than a hardtail. If this is just 'over-biked' guilt then I'd say just get over it and continue to enjoy your bike.

Buy a HT frame that will accept the bits off your Stage 5 and try it out whilst keeping the FS frame. If it doesn't work out, swap back, if it does, sell the FS frame.

A good quality HT well ridden can do just about anything....

You just need to give it the suspension through your body!!

There is also the middle ground of shorter travel, playful fun bikes that are not out and out weapons on the trail or XC whippets

Given how more and more fun stuff in the peak gets sanitised, I'd suggest chopping it in for a gravel bike.

No advice about your decision from me… apart from, if you're not going to have a FS bike anymore, so only have a hardtail, and you go Cotic [bias warning], I'd look at the SolarisMAX rather than the Soul. My FS hasn't been touched since I built one up.

If you ride the Peak a lot (despite Onzadog's comment ;)) I find that longer rides can be pretty brutal on a hardtail as the constant battering takes its toll. I don't mind it, I'll be going back to a hardtail soon, but I have friends who have struggled and gone back to full sus just because they have too many aches and pains for the next few days. I do work in an office though.

That said, in terms of actual riding, I probably also crash more on a hardtail.

Buy a HT frame that will accept the bits off your Stage 5 and try it out

This.

What about a sprightlier FS bike? A frame change or new wagon.

I am a fan of one bike. I have done FS, went from Five - 29er HT - Orange ST4 - Steel 26" HT - Alloy 27.5 HT.... I love the HT, it is light, fast, fun, takes skill and just damn works without faffing.

I don't miss the Five.

I do miss the sprightly, low, playful ST4 however. I would have a similar bike back if I could afford it.

(Sadly the kids and mrs_OAB have FS, guess where my money went...

I was going to say what qwerty said, if you really must scratch the hatdtail itch.

However if you like your bike so much just ride it on the trails you want to ride it on, unless you don't actually enjoy it on those trails.

What about a sprightlier FS bike? A frame change or new wagon.

I am a fan of one bike

Yep, me too. My Bronson can do every type of biking that I do, I'll never go back to a hardtail.

I'm knocking on a bit these days (55) but have regularly switched between my FS and HT.

However, I find I can't sustain as long rides on the HT any longer as the body can't take it and I tend to grab the FS more and more.

I've gone the opposite direction - the Orange FS frames are such low maintenance that I ride a Stage 5 all year round for everything (and don't bother with a hardtail any more)

Personally I wouldn’t swap an fs for a ht if it were my only bike. I have a slightly iffy lower back and I find I can’t sustain rides of the same length on the ht as I can on the fs.

I therefore just use the ht for local rides on less fast / rocky trails and of shorter duration. I took it to Cwmcarn in the summer as I could sneak it in the boot of the car (the FS doesn’t fit) so after I’d visited a customer I could do a quick lap of the Twrch trail. God that was hard going on one of the rockier bits of downhill!

Thats not to say I don’t like my ht - just I wouldn’t want it as my only bike.

Despite my FS being a 170/160mm travel enduro beast I still have done some recent days with 50km approx of rising round a big lap. It does perhaps goad me into going faster than my talent can cope with from time to time though. Had a really big off recently when I lost the front wheel.

Id go and test ride a hard tail first to see if you do miss one.

I Think the hard tail frame that takes all your bits is the best suggestion. Ride the hard tail in winter.

Or sell your stage 5 and buy a full suss frame with 100 or 120 travel and change your forks to 120.

Why not buy a 26 inch hardtail? You can pick up a decent bike for small change.

Thank you for all your input folks.

Yeah, I have thought of trying a lesser full suss bike of maybe 120mm travel.

Any good recommendations? The SC Tallboy seems to be a lovely piece of kit.

Why not buy a 26 inch hardtail? You can pick up a decent bike for small change.

Swapping a modernish 29r full sus for an old 26" HT would be a huge leap!! Probably worth looking at time machines 😉

Any good recommendations? The SC Tallboy seems to be a lovely piece of kit.

Yeah heard great things, easy to demo, there is plenty around in that market though from Giant/Spec and loads more to sling a leg over

Not quite the same but I transferred the parts from my full suss to a Stanton switch and it’s great , perfect for the U.K. (did 2 days at BPW last month and clocked up 23 runs mainly on the reds) I’ll be keeping a full bouncer for the Alps but for everything else a steel hardtail is a great option

I'd go with 'buy a frame that'll take the bits from your FS' to try it out. I did a similar thing, I bought a (relatively) cheap used FS frame to use the bits from my Switchback to keep the cost down to scratch a FS itch. I've since stripped the FS back down and rebuilt the Switchback but the FS frame's waiting for parts to be built back up now I know I like it and get on with it ok. Hardtails are great fun though 🙂

I was in a similar position at the beginning of the year and I sold my Orange Four and bought a new Cotic Soul.

Do I think I it was the right thing for me to do, maybe, maybe not - I ride mainly on the SDW and QECP so the Soul is certainly enough bike for the job, however there is no doubt a FS is smoother and more comfortable to ride.

In hindsight I should have probably gone for a lighter weight carbon FS 29er or maybe the Solaris over the Soul..........

You are also very likely to take a big hit financially if you sell the Five (assuming you bought it new).

Saying that the Soul is a very nice bike and maybe just right for you.

As said above try and test ride some HTs and see how you feel after.

If I was to only have one bike it would be a FS around 120mm fork travel. I've just built up a Tallboy frame and it came out at 29lb ish so heavier than I thought it would be.

Would be interesting to find out what you end up doing.

ride the bike you got, save huge amount of money. If your an older guy you might still appreciate the rear suspension. I do.

Can I suggest demoing a HT just to remind yourself what the difference is before you buy. Cheap £30 I suspect will get you a day/half day. Might just change your mind.

Im going the other way, I have a Transition scout which is my do it all bike, its the perfect thing for most UK trails in my opinion. Have a Mondraker vantage HT which I used for winter but haven't ridden for months (found my knees can't take the hammer anymore) so getting rid of that frame and going for a big enduro rig for when I race, uplift, ride more tech trails.

I have just done sort of what you habpve thought about. Giant Trance X went an and bought a Cotic Bfe frame and moved most of the decent parts over. It rides really well and gave me loads of confidence.

however, I have also now gone and picked up a Transition. It is too much travel, but great for when the trails are running dry or the area I am riding in is rockier. I am not sorry that I got rid of the Trance, but I would personally keep your full susser. You can get away without one of course, but but it’s nice to have the option of both.

For me the peak is good any which way but a light trail full suss is about the best bike. I’m a die hard hardtail rider, but I’ll accept the nature of the peak makes 50k+ days a bit arduous on the ht, especially as you start to hit longer descents toward the end of a ride. Conversely 160mm either end makes it a slog. If your prepared to relinquish the big bike then I’d look at 120mm ish light trail fs bike for that kind of riding. A cheap hardtail might be a good start though.. a £500 hardtail second hand would save you losing on the sale of your stage, and if you don’t like it you won’t lose out selling it.

Hardtails are particularly fashionable right now but I'd resist if you can only have one bike.  I've got a Five and P7 - both great, both versatile, and both capable of pretty much anything I ride in the Pennines and Lakes - but if I had to keep only one it would be the Five every time.  Might depend where you ride though.  In Calderdale, a Five is the perfect fun do-it-all.  P7 is close to it, but it's less comfy for big rides.

Out of curiosity do the new crop of plus tires/wheels make a hardtail more of a contender for an all day comfortable weapon? (thinking Sonder transmitter)

I've got a Trigger but contemplating going down the same road, just unsure how much of a comfort blanket plus tires are over a normal non plus bike - my last hardtail was a ragley mmmbop and its was stiff as hell!

Speaking as an occasional hardtail only owner, I wouldn't, it can be pretty limiting on the wrong sort of rocks and/or force you into slow/heavy tyre choices.

Just go for some lighter tyres or something if you've dialled back your riding and want something more XC suited, it's not like you're riding a DH bike.

Your bike as now around 140 mm travel fork / rear?

If you bike right now "tamer trails" - bike with more sag and maybe faster tyres?

Have full suspension bikes an an 130 mm hardtail. Wouldn't be happy with "only the hardtail". You would miss your Orange for sure!

Thank you everyone for all your feedback and input.

After a bit of thought and consideration, I think the best thing to do would be keep the Stage 5. I bought it for its simplicity and useability, and the extra few mil of travel may get me unstuck somewhere, at some point.

I guess I was just swayed for a brief moment by all the droothworthy hardtails around at the moment. I owned a Cotic Soul a few years ago which I absolutely loved but it eventually got sold on for a 2013 Five which was as equally amazing. It seems I like Oranges haha

Sounds like a sensible decision to me.

If you get tempted again, get over to Cotic and demo the SolarisMax though.

It seems I like Oranges

Great!

And 140 mm travel is neeeeeeeeever overbiked!