jump from hardtail to full sus

marcus Farley

Hi all, my second blog for What MTB is up and running...it explores the link between comfort and performance. Or, in simple terms, how my arse is less sore after moving from a fully rigid kona (explosif pro, remember them?) to a full sus...

all comments appreciated to get a debate going...check the what mtb blog section of bikeradar and drop comments there if you feel inclined.

ta, Marcus

Steve I

Yeah, full sus is kind to your ars* alright, trouble is it's not so kind on your wallet. I can't bring myself to spend nearly a £100 on a service for the rear shock, It only costs me that to get my car serviced ( I should have bought a hardtail).

marcus Farley

tell me about it...still trying to tip the equation to an equal one, where my bike repairs, papraphernalia etc. equals the same amount that the missus spends on her shoe collection!

probably woth having a coil rear shock then...what's your current ride then?

Steve I

Hi Marcus, It's a Marin East Peak circa 2000, still going strong, apart from a rear air shock that fires me off the saddle.

nik30

hi all, just gone from a giant xtc to a giant trance and im loving every miute of it. im more comfortable and get from a to b faster as well.

marcus Farley

great nic - can you tell us what particularly is better - do you have lap times on a fave route?

dirtbiker100

cwmcarn
1:17 on 2006 marin alpine trail - not proper XC bike either (and stopped to adjust travel, seat height and write name in drying cement)
1:19 on on-one inbred 456 with same bits from the marin - its really only the frame thats different (pretty much flat out the whole way no proper stops as far as i can think)

more comfy on the marin but much more of a challenge and fun on the hardtail hence selling the marin frame. offers welcome

RichMTB

I moved from a Stumpjumper HT to a Stumpjumper FSR 120 full sus,

on everything bar smooth climbs the full sus is much faster than the hardtail. A good full sus lets the wheels track the trail much more of he time, giving you more grip more control and therefore more speed. You can also get away with errors that a hardtail (esp a rigid one) would punish you for. Land a jump or drop a bit too much on the nose or the tail and the bike just soaks it, a short travel hardtail would bottom out its fork and ping you into the trees.

Having said all that it takes some of the fun out of it, diluting the interaction between the bike and the trail which is why I'm looking at getting a long travel hardtail

dirtbiker100

RichMTB wrote:

Having said all that it takes some of the fun out of it, diluting the interaction between the bike and the trail which is why I'm looking at getting a long travel hardtail

almost echo's my thoughts above and is exactly what i did!

RichMTB

Yeah but I'm still keeping the full sus!

easyg

Hi guys, interesting topic.

We (my pal and I) are finishing our custom long travel hardtail projects (a Marin & an Orange) and the reasons why we didn't put the money (c. £1200-1400 in total) into a full susser are relevant to this thread I think (or hope :?:).

Having never really ridden a full susser I can't comment on the comfort thing too much but to be honest it doesn't come into for us, at the moment anyway. Dalby can get painful towards the end but I find that kind of exhilirating not to mention challenging. We have both agreed we will buy full sussers for definate, but want to master the hardtail side of the species first. Why? We're patient and don't think we know everything yet and want to learn properly which surely must start with a hardtail?. Sub-conciously I think we feel that just going and buying a £2000 full susser, after 10 yrs of being out of it, is almost cheating and that our hardtails natrually test us in ways a full susser wouldn't. This I think is the thrill and exhiliration we love about riding - its not about getting from one end of the trail to the other in the quickest time specifically, even though we time ourselves and do tear the trails up most of the time. Its more about being out in the natural world, smelling the alpine trees and being challenged by the trail and the elements and developing our understanding of riding through experience and time. On a hardtail you feel every stone, rock and drop and its this intimate relationship with mother nature that is made slightly numb by a full susser, and also the same relationship that makes us appreciate what we have acheived when we've completed a run or something. Ultimately we just want to have fun and we find that in the challenge of blasting our hardtails up, over, down and through any trail we can find come sore anus or worse!

clanton

I started life on a hardtail that I never got on with, upgraded to a very good full suss bike and have now moved on again to a long travel hard tail! (Cotic Soul) So it seems this is a common route!
The full suss is way more comfy, MUCH faster on the technical stuff and after big rides I feel less tired. In contrast the hard tail is more involving and chalenging making me work harder to keep up with the mates, makes me think about line choice and positioning on the bike and in many ways even more fun.
I will be keeping the full suss for big days out and for trips to technical trail centres and the lakes etc but for now I spend most of my time on the hardtail.
Other bonuses for me is that it is easier to clean and service and cheaper to maintain - no suspension bearings or shock to trash in winter mud!

dirtbiker100

did whites level at afan today, thats more of a full sus trail :? hard work on a HT

clas

I find its not so much comfort as speed that it helps. it rests your legs a bit of the descents but its the increase in control and hence speed that I like. I go down a hill faster of a full sus than I do on a hardtail

marcus Farley

these are great, keep them coming...would be great if you dropped your views onto the blog as well, at:

http://www.bikeradar.com/blogs/article/ ... fort-13795

cheers, Marcus