Have you ever ridden a fully rigid mtb in anger?

bike-a-swan

by the time I started mtbing seriously I had to hit a curb at full pelt to get maybe an inch out of them, does that count? The bike used to weigh noticeably more than a coil sprung coiler too, so it kept me fit. Got me serious about it though!

stomith

Does my old Grifter count?

The only suspension it had was the sofa sized saddle.

starseven

Most of my youth was spent riding a 29er ss rigid. ......well it was actually a peugeot racer with cowhorns and broken der but pretty much the same.

llamafarmer

Yep I had a Barracuda as a lad back in the late 90's, this one I think:

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=1997&Brand=Barracuda&Model=A2F&Type=bike

I doubt I'll ever put more miles on a bike and the only thing that ever broke was a bottom bracket. Upgraded it to v-brakes too

Rigid steel ftw!

robertpb

I had 24 years of riding rigids till I decided my knees had had enough.

On the full susser seem to spend more time on the saddle, also can see where I'm going most of the time.

Stevo_666

I reckon my hybrid gives me a reasonable idea of what a rigid MTB would be like (just add nobby tyres and take off road). Given what it feels like hitting even moderately sized drain covers/potholes etc on the road, the idea of a rigid MTB does not appeal at all...

Northwind

Stevo 666 wrote:

I reckon my hybrid gives me a reasonable idea of what a rigid MTB would be like (just add nobby tyres and take off road). Given what it feels like hitting even moderately sized drain covers/potholes etc on the road, the idea of a rigid MTB does not appeal at all...

Well, hybrids tend to be pretty stiff, and tend not to have fat tyres on. I'm running 2.1s on wide rims at both ends and that takes a lot of the sting out. It depends on the surfaces of course.

The big point of the rigid to me, so far, is that it effectively ups the difficulty level and level of terrain- so a boring local XC trail becomes a bit more involving. Just like the difference between riding a long travel and short travel full suss, or a full suss and a hardtail. Though it also reduces comfort a bit, but then so does a hardtail.

Surf-Matt

Oh and I never ride/rode my rigid Stumpy in anger - I was generally in a pretty good mood when riding it.

Kiblams

Surf-Matt wrote:

Oh and I never ride/rode my rigid Stumpy in anger - I was generally in a pretty good mood when riding it.

+1

Did I just agree with something Surf-Matt wrote!?! :shock:

Stevo_666

Northwind wrote:

Well, hybrids tend to be pretty stiff, and tend not to have fat tyres on. I'm running 2.1s on wide rims at both ends and that takes a lot of the sting out. It depends on the surfaces of course.

The big point of the rigid to me, so far, is that it effectively ups the difficulty level and level of terrain- so a boring local XC trail becomes a bit more involving. Just like the difference between riding a long travel and short travel full suss, or a full suss and a hardtail. Though it also reduces comfort a bit, but then so does a hardtail.

I've swapped the standard 700cx28 tyres for 700cx37 on my hybrid to get a bit more complaince over London roads, though I'd still want wider tyres for off road ! The frame appears to be the same as the one on the hardtail MTB from the same manufacturer.