[Closed] Will I regret a hardtail

Are the trails you mostly ride very rocky? If so you will probably get a shock with a hardtail.

I tend to keep both and keep my hardtail for shorter rides where I want something more playful, and use my fs for everything else.

There are lots of trail hardtails now with travel from say 120mm up to 150mm that will pedal all day but still smash it downhills. If your budget gets a decent one of these then they’re great all rounders.

If I could only have one bike it would be my current trail fs bike (140mm front / 130mm travel rear).

Up until recently I'd have said stretch yourself or go second hand to get a full suss. I used to ride a hardtail back in the day and it was night and day transformation going to full suss and I've been happily getting bigger and bouncier bikes since. This summer I built up a hardtail to make my local trails more fun and it was quite a revelation. It rides nothing like hartails of old and (with some decent forks) still does a fair amount of skill compensation. I'm not sure I'd want it as my only bike but I think I'd be happy with it for 95% of my rides and would probably muddle through on the other 5% (and rent a bike for trips to the Alps)

Yorkshire Dales and Calderdale with occasional trips to the Peak District and Lakes.

There is a certain joy to the instant climbing response and precision of a nice hardtail. If you aren't blasting about downhill on the edge of control on the Genius 100% of the time then you might find more of the ride a fun challenge on the hardtail.

Or you might find it an uncomfortable misery that you feel is going to kill you on every rock. Depends on the person.

I'd reccomend a 140 ish travel slackish 29er, rather than a racing machine.

You can always try it and if you do regret it then just buy a frame and move the bits over

Riding a hardtail is the way to true enlightenment.

I've only had hardtail's for about 6yrs now. I do have a regretful hankering for a full Sus every now and again..... But I realize that most of it is due to marketing hype and for the type of riding I do a hardtail is actually better (the reason I sold the full sus in the first place).

If your doing lots of trail centre red/black runs or uplifts get a full sus.

Thanks everyone. The last time I rode a hardtail was 2005. It had rim brakes and 100mm suspension! So time to demo some I think. I went up to the lakes last weekend and my mate who’s fairly new to mountain biking was quite happy on his rockhopper. I’m never going to be very fast. Just prefer being out in the hills

I went to BPW for the uplift and whilst the runs were all very fun I couldn’t help feeling I’d rather have been an Afan. Don’t think the raw testosterone on display in the bus helped!!

What's your budget?

I'd look for a short/mid-travel full-sus 29er with slack-ish geometry and good pedaling manners.

Budget 2-2.5k ish. But happy to pay less if it does what I need!

You won't go as fast downhill on a hardtail - if time matters. You will still have fun at the slower speeds. You will get more fatigued on longer rides over rough surfaces. You might be less fatigued on rides with less rough surfaces. It will break less and be easier to maintain.

You will get a lot of hardtail for that budget. I'd love a Marin El Roy for that cash, but settled for an on-one big dog as it was supposed to be a cheap shed build.

Yes, if it's your only bike and you mainly ride rocky places. The Peak came as a bit of a shock this weekend and I was reminded of the merits of line choice. Depends what you want from your riding but it made my calves feel weird,to say nothing of back and neck. And it's Ti.

“If so you will probably get a shock with a hardtail.”

Surely the fundamental difference is quite the opposite? 😉

2.5k?

https://alpkit.com/collections/sonder-cortex/products/sonder-cortex-gx-eagle

And you can demo it from Hathersage store...

Cheers!
I.

You won’t go as fast downhill on a hardtail – if time matters. You will still have fun at the slower speeds. You will get more fatigued on longer rides over rough surfaces.

I'd disagree on the first and third parts: I'm faster down my regular trails on my newer steel hardtail than I was on my older full suss - newer geometry is more confidence-inspiring at pace. I'm also fitter from pushing a heavier steel frame around, so the fatigue isn't affecting me as much as it did initially.

I do have fun on both bikes, though 🙂

“If so you will probably get a shock with a hardtail.”

Surely the fundamental difference is quite the opposite? 😉

Very good 😀

Budget 2-2.5k ish.

You'll get a nice FS bike for that, especially if you're open to buying direct rather than from an LBS.

If you do the typical Lakes/Peaks riding then you'll need to be prepared for some sideways/out of control moments on the rocks and boulders! They can be ridden pretty fast down the usual rocky/loose descents but at speed a hardtail always seems on the edge of control 😀

Don’t think the raw testosterone on display in the bus helped!!

I'm quite not sure that's the smell in the bus.

Would sell well though - "Eau de Raw Testosterone, by Dior"

The cynic in me sees a different story. You'd acknowledged yourself that you're not the most techy of people. Is there a chance that your LBS is trying to talk you into buying a new bike, when in fact there's loads of life left in your Genius?

To answer the question directly - hardtails these days are massively capable, esp. and you'll be amazed at the stuff you can hit with confidence you've not ridden one since 2005. The benefits are true too - less to go wrong, better bang for buck vs. a full sus rig, lighter, easier to maintain, makes you ride better, climbs better.

If it were me though, I might be taking the Scott to a different bike shop for a second opinion.

Does always make me laugh the responses on here to this question over the years, basically hardtails are every bit as good, if you ignore science!

It is as other say, you won't be as fast downhill, that's just reality, your rear will be bouncing off every root/rock/hole on the trail and you will have to counter that, same going up with traction being lost on similar things, all that trail vibration will be going through the bike and into you, full sussers don't take all the trail buzz away, but you'll notice it on a hardtail a lot faster!

Saying that, i do love my hardtail for local stuff, easy rides and so on, but wouldn't be doing this if i didn't have the full susser, if you're getting older as well then you'll feel it the next day a bit more.

@rockandrollmark makes a good point. A full service of the bike and slap an angleset on it - cheaper than 2k.

I’m never going to be very fast. Just prefer being out in the hills

You have summed my riding up.

I do ride rocks and gnar, but quite happy to not really jump, not be the fastest, but to have most fun...

Yes it would be more comfy and faster on a full suss - but I can afford a nice HT, I ride it and enjoy it, and yes take satisfaction from the challenge.

If it's your only bike and given your usual riding location, I'd go for a full sus. I love my hardtail but there's always a time when only a full sus will do.

It will be my only bike so I guess it has to cope with the roughest riding I do (prob round Ladybower and the Lake District) and accept its a bit OTT for the Dales! I am getting a bit older!! So perhaps I am veering towards full suss

To be fair to the LBS it’s not them that’s told me I need a new bike, they’d be happy to service it. But after eight years there’s a few knocks etc, it needs a few new parts and a full service so I was wondering whether it was time to bite the bullet and get a new bike

I love my hardtail but there’s always a time when only a full sus will do.

You and I are going to differ on that viewpoint.

Modern 29er hardtail with biggish tubeless tyres is a big step up in comfort from the 26 hardtails I used to ride that needed decent pressure in the tubes to avoid puncturing all the time.

No denying they're still harder work though on rougher ground though.

If you have been riding fs happily for years why change that? My fs has been away in storage for 6 months and I rode it at the weekend for the first time. I’d forgotten just how bloody good it is. Unless you really want a hard tail for climbing/weight/simplicity I’d stick with what you know and like

Just going to add my 2c, I've just acquired a clearance Santa Cruz Chameleon from Stif. This has replaced my 2012 Orange crush and the difference is night and day... the 27.5+ tyres at a lowish pressure take the edge off the bumps but inspire more confidence that the 2.3 tyres on the range. I also have a 2012 Alpine 6 which is TBH isn't a patch on the Chameleon. I went to Aston Hill the other day and I was worried it wouldn't cope, but even on the rocky/rooty sections it was still pretty planted. The only thing I need to get used to is pumping the tyres up more regularly (new to tubeless) as the 10 PSI at the weekend was a bit too squidgy...

I got new bike itch recently. Just bought some upgrades for current bike and give it a strip down, new bearings, deep clean, new cables, brake bleed etc. Even with new shock and fork it was a lot cheaper than a new bike and the itch had been scratched. Having said that I then built a new hardtail too so maybe just ignore this advice 😀

@matt_outandabout have you ridden at Revolution? As much as I love my hardtail, I wouldn't ever take it there

Personally at Revolution I haven't, but plenty have.

I did take mine to BPW, Alps, Highlands, Snowdon, Helvellyn, Tweed Valley (including Thornlee), Laggan, Golspie etc

I'm not the fastest, particularly on really tough stuff, but I make it down. It's fun to challenge yourself.

for the last eight years have been riding my trusty Scott Genius 720 – full suss 150mm travel (I think) which does it all for my riding in the Yorkshire Dales and Calderdale with occasional trips to the Peak District and Lakes

Seems quite likely you will regret a hardtail because you've been riding a bike with a lot of suspension for eight years in places where full suspension is advantageous. Dare say you could get used to a hardtail, but are you happy to have to re-learn your riding technique?

My main bike is a hardtail now and I love it, it's great for my doorstep riding but I live in one of the flattest parts of Kent so there's not really any challenging terrain on my doorstep unless I go out of my way to ride it in a way that becomes challenging.

When Spesh first brought the Stumpy to the UK I was loaned one. Loved it but moved back to watersports.
Subsequently bought a FS Cannondale Trigger in 2014 and followed it with Jekyll. And then a couple of rigid MTBs including a Fatty. All great.
Then I “upgraded” the Fatty to one with a Bluto. My first hard tail.
I hated it. And every hardtail I’ve ridden since. They are the unbalanced tools of the devil.

I sold my Stumpy in 2017 and bought a hard tail as a kind of stop gap until I found a new full suss that I liked.

I’m still on a hardtail (Signal Ti) I keep telling myself that I’ll buy a full suss again but who knows. I absolutely love riding hard tails.

I ride all over South Wales, natural and trail centre.

I'm late 40's in pretty decent shape, have ridden mountain bikes for a long time, like and can handle tech, keep my wheels near the ground and ride in the places you describe including hike a bike in the Lakes rather than trail riding. I have a 27.5 FS and 29 HT and both have their uses but if I was limited to one bike it would definitely be the FS and more specifically a short travel 29 FS like the Orange Stage Evo (130mm front, 120mm rear - other makes available). HT is great for quick blasts and longer distance trail rides but for a decent rough or rocky Peaks/Lake/local ride (e.g. Jacobs Ladder loop) it'd be too tough.

Correct answer is two bikes though 😉

i bought a NUkeproof scout last year on C2W. I wanted something for riding my local trails which aren't rocky or super technical. Its a brilliant bike. Big tires (2.6) make a huge difference and mean thats its pretty capable on the technical rocky stuff. I havent ridden my capra all yearin lockdown as its overkill for where i ride locally....but got trips to BPW, the Lakes and FOD coming up and I will defiantly take the capra.
the only thing that i would throw in would be that a full sus bike is always going to be more comfortable to spend all day on if you are getting bounced about.

I live and ride mostly in the Peaks Saddleworth and Calderfornia , ive a 160mmtravel 29er full bounce and a 140mm 29er hardtail with a nice 65o head, Id say most of the time im riding the Hardtail id say %80 of the rides. Im not a full gnaarr but not a trundler neither.

Main benefits for me less maintenance easy cleaning as we all know Saddleworth is nice and dusty 90 days from 100. and tbh im not much slower on the HT. A good hardtail will bring your riding on no end as you pick your lines more. and remember n+1

Riding a hardtail is the way to true enlightenment.

You, sir, are a connoisseur!!

if i rode where you have stated i`d definately have a full suss as an only bike.

it will be much much more tiring on a HT and if you just like being out rather than being gnar then go for the comfort option every time.

it doenst need to be loads of travel but some will definately be better than none.

by a giant anthem or giant stance and be done with it.