Too Heavy For Full Suss ?

Glynnd111

Last year i made my return to Mountain Biking after a 10 year break.

Only trouble is in that 10 years ive put on 5 stone mostly from having to leave my job as a postman after a motorbike accident. That now makes me 20 stone :oops:

Me and my friend who is also a bit rotund (he wont mind me saying that lol) paid our first visit to Cannock Chase on friday with the intention of doing follow the dog.

I had a great time despite the rain but when i got back to the shop i saw all the other guys on there very fancy full suss bikes getting ready to start.

I was Oggling quite a bit and got to thinking could i ever ride a full suss being as heavy as i am.

I ride a prety well specced COVE Handjob XC and its a great bike it has its little niggles as i moslty built it from a Voodoo Bokor donor bike and a small fortune on CRC.

So after quite a long whiney story here it is.

Am i to big for a Full Suss :?

peter413

No way are you to heavy.

I bet a lot of DH guys weigh a lot more than that plus the extra weight of the bike

supersonic

Not at all. There are bikes that will cope with that out there.

Steve_b77

Coil shock and burly rims and you're laffing

supersonic

I had a great time despite the rain but when i got back to the shop i saw all the other guys on there very fancy full suss bikes getting ready to start.

Also, I wouldn't read much into that. I know people who ride FTD on road bikes lol.

Your hardtail may be perfect for you with a service.

Glynnd111

I do realy like the cove and if it all worked perfect i wouldnt look at another bike twice but my local bike shop aint up to much and my skills are small to say the least.

I have a new xt rear mech to fit but im not sure if its a job i can handle.

Can anyone reccomend a good full suss i only ride Xc stuff so i dont need anything to extream :?

XxxBFGxxX

dude 20 stone and dont have an issue with suss bikes. ciol shocks maybe a little. but air not aat all.

fletch8928

No way are you too big for a f/s. If you fancy one have a look around and see what you like, then find your shortlist to try or sit on.

On the other hand are you drooling over others trail bling.

I was at 19st when I got back on the bike after 12 years of running pubs, I did go for a h/t at 1st, that was mainly due to the "would I take to it again" thoughts. I got a Scott Scale 50 (08). The perfect clydesdale rider bike!! Granted I am now a touch lighter (16.2) and my f/s is a Cube AMS comp/100 and have not gone through the full travel as of yet. I ride mainly natural xc.

Glynnd111

The thing i was wondering about was the air shock the rear one to be specific.

My Cove has Marzzochi Mx Pro Lo 120mm forks witch are air witch i have to run prety hard around 50 psi i think so as you can imagine they aint the plushest ride.

So if i was to have an air rear shock i would have to maybe have it set quite hard.

I may be wrong ive never ridden a decent full suss only the argos specials that friends have had and boy did they bob about.

But if i did have it set hard would there be a point in having a full suss would it feel better than my hardtail.

Thanks for all the advice so far by the way

Radioactiveman

Having gone back to a hardtail from a full suss I would see how you get on with the hardtail for a good while at least 6 months.

I made the mistake of getting a full suss after 6 rides on a hardtail riding with a bunch of guys who all had full suss in the lake district. Tbh there aren't many rides where a full suss is really required even in the lake district,everything is rideable on a hardtail just not as comfortable or fast. I also think my full suss let me get away with lots of bad technique and line choice which I intend to unlearn before getting another one.

*AL*

Glynnd111 wrote:

.I may be wrong ive never ridden a decent full suss only the argos specials that friends have had and boy did they bob about.

You could always try a 2010 Stumpjumper/Epic ?

The brain system for 2010 is much improved from 09 and on the smooth stuff the bike is basically a HT,
but with the piece of mind that when you find yourself in the rough stuff the brain does the business and the rear end soaks up the bumps.

toasty

Well I'm 15 stone and run the rear shock on my Commencal Meta at 200psi, the max pressure it can take is 300psi (although I wouldn't recommend this as the damping goes to pot). There's plenty of chaps around 20 stone who ride around there every weekend on full sussers.

If you want something for trail center riding, I'd have a look at all the 140mm type trail bikes about at the moment. Demoing an Orange Five from there would be a nice test to see if you get on with it for example.

You can ride it on a cyclocross bike, I know, I've seen, maybe 2 in my 3 years of regularly riding there, both of these riders seemed to be fairly nuts though. I ordered a Specialized Tricross Comp on Saturday though, so I'll be able to comment on this a bit more soon :P

Oh and Argos/Halfords specials are basically just springs, they will bob. Proper suspension will be damped, which smooths it out a lot.

eyepic

Hello

You are not too heavy...well at least for some FS bikes... although like me you probably count as a fat bar steward.

I am a regular rider at Cannock and bizzarly also have a handjob... but I also have a Trek EX9... now I am a skinny lad being a mere 18stone 10pounds this morning but have been 21stone and ridden a FS around the Dog.... and whilst I am not the fastest on the trail.... I try not to hang around and certainally pass many more people than pass me. You can be fat and fit.

I checked the maximum weight that Trek say a rider should be for one of their bikes ...300 pounds so no worries.

Glynnd111

If u dont mind me askin if you have ridden both around cannock witch did u prefer ?

maybe tell me what the benifits and downsides to each ride if u dont mind ofcourse

hyperman

i don't agree with all the start off with a hardtail rubbish, simply because i took everyone's advice and got a hardtail first, and you know what? they were all wrong!! i rode it six times and went out and bought a full susser which i much prefer. i'm 17 and a half stone and the hardtail knocked hell out of my back to the point where i could hardly ride it, no such problems with the full susser, my point is that everyone is different and nobody could possibly tell you which is best for you, only you can do that by trying one out.........and i run my rear fox rp2 shock at 250psi without any issues.

bails87

supersonic wrote:

I know people who ride FTD on road bikes lol.

.

I saw three guys going round there on unicycles the other week. Seriously!

eyepic

Sorry this is not a simple yes/no reply, but I don't think there actually is a correct simple reply.

I prefer both of them on different days and in different ways.

It depends upon my mood, the weather, who I am riding with etc.

Let me put it this way Section 2 (through the woods to the first rocks) the FS is easier and for me a bit faster ... You don't tend to lose the tail on the shiny pebbles so much and so I fell I can push it a bit more. Section 6 and 7 not really bothered either way although dropping of the end of the bridge (presently closed) I prefer the FS.

The fire road climb ... Cove all the way ...it is just soooo very much better at climbiing.

Section 8 FS first part Cove second part for the climb.

This sort of thing just carries on some parts the Cove others the Trek.... What I would say is that I started with a hard tail then shortly after got my first FS.... This made me lasy and I spent a load of time sitting on my arse, got into a load of bad habits. Then I chopped the FS in for my Cove .... Dear god I had to learn to ride all over again... spent time sitting down when I needed to stand up... The saddle used to hit me in the bum and try and eject me over the bars (especially on the chain slapper). All my mates told me that I needed to go back to a FS .... eventually I learned to ride the hard tail... to stand up as much as I could and to pedal a poo of a lot more. Really started to enjoy myself...

So once I had started to come to grips with the hard tail I went out and bought a FS. This for me is the right way around .... leran to ride on a hard tail so that you don't get too lasy.

I now find that I spend a whole lot more time standing up and resist the temptation to sit as much as I can and as a result I get loads more out of the FS bike.

As I said before there is no simple rule of which bike I prefer to ride the Dog on .... I swap them around ... Today I did the Dog a couple of times on the Trek... last week it was the Cove... both of them are great in different ways...... that is except for the chain slapper.... that is and allways will be better fun on the Trek.... having said that I still can't do it anywhere near as fast as my son does on his hardtail....


It is not about the bike... it is how the rider, rides the bike, that counts.


I would stay with the Cove until you can ride it well and then think about a FS.

(Having said all of that..... the Dog is going to change beyond all beleif in the next few weeks with phase 2... ride that for a while before making any decisions).

All the very best

David