What makes hardtails so much fun?!
friendlyfire
Posts: 20
Recently upgraded the factory fork on my HT (recon race solo air 150quid ebay woop) and hitting more and more trails with sky high confidence! However, now I have noticed in comparison just how bumpy the back end is! The edginess of hardtails is part of the attraction for me but I want to know other rider's top HT riding tips for getting the most out of their bikes, any takers? 
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Speed is your friend! When hitting roots, boost of the first one and skim over the rest. Keep your elbows and knees soft, and let the bike do the work.Old hockey players never die - they just smell that way...0
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let your legs take the impact, there's a knack to really letting the bike flow underneath you.
Practice and more riding is probably the only way to perfect it though.0 -
when there are small enough logs or mud puddles i dont want to go through i just husky over them. thats something you cant do very well on a fs0
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Stay very loose. Don't hold you grips tightly, hover your hands over them - bend your knees and elbow, and always be in the attack position for techy bits. Let the rear end slide out but keep it controlled. Unweight the bike for rooty bits.
If you can do all that you'll be alot faster / smoother
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What I love about hardtails is that you know exactly what's happening underneath you (whether good or bad). The frame transmits the information without filtering it, the way a Lotus Elise can but a heavy Audi can't (for instance).0
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Hardtails make you better and faster on a full sussser Oh and they are great fun because of the way they accelerate
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Mongoose Teocali
Giant STP0
Why are MTB economics; spend twice as much as you intended, but only half as much as you wish you could afford? :roll:0 -
captainfly wrote:Oh and they are great fun because of the way they accelerate
+1 , can get the power down quicker.
the other part of captainfly's post was pure speculation. 0 -
At cyb last weekend, on the rock garden descents towards the end, i was clipped in on my duster with my mate following behind on his full sus. He mentioned he didn't know how i did it clipped in on a hard tail. I went back up a bit and did the same route on his full sus. On the hardtail, you pick your line and work hard to balance the bike front and rear and feel a proper sense of achievement at the bottom knowing that you have used a reasonable level of skill to get down without landing a rse up in the rocks. On the full sus, i literally just sat on the seat and rolled down not even really bothering to find a line.
How boring is that? 0 -
go faster then, Liam.0
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You'd struggle with the gate at the bottom if you didyeehaamcgee wrote:go faster then, Liam. 0 -
I'd like to see that.0
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-Liam- wrote:At cyb last weekend, on the rock garden descents towards the end, i was clipped in on my duster with my mate following behind on his full sus. He mentioned he didn't know how i did it clipped in on a hard tail. I went back up a bit and did the same route on his full sus. On the hardtail, you pick your line and work hard to balance the bike front and rear and feel a proper sense of achievement at the bottom knowing that you have used a reasonable level of skill to get down without landing a rse up in the rocks. On the full sus, i literally just sat on the seat and rolled down not even really bothering to find a line.
How boring is that?
I know. Same here but remember that people now start riding on a FS so they'll never know what they're missing. Actually, they're not missing much because they would not have the skills to ride a HT properly. Don't want to generalise but this is happening. Each to their own though.0 -
Hardtail V FS over terrain is like a hot hatch V muscle car. (Hot hatch quick on tight/twisty and good acceleration but the Muscle can can't be matcher for speed/power)
When up at Glentress the past 2 summers, i'd always been on a HT and my bro on his FS.
Over anything very rocky he'd easily get away because i'd have to pick my lines a bit more than he did.
however, when it came to twisty/smooth sections the HT was more maneuverable and I could get the power down much quicker and faster.
So by the bottom of a run we were practically doing the same times!
I'd have to say that a proper all round bike thats going to be good at everything would have to be a light, 130-140mm FS that has little/no pedal bob.
For trails in the uk it would be pretty much spot on. Maybe thats why the Orange 5 sells so well?0 -
I would say it's more like Elise vs RS4. Anyone can go fast in the RS4, not in the Elise.0
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So you reckon the pro downhillers are only fast because of the bikes?nickfrog wrote:I would say it's more like Elise vs RS4. Anyone can go fast in the RS4, not in the Elise.
I see it more like a front wheel drive hot hatch, vs a 4xwheel drive WRC car.
Lots of people can drive quick in the hot hatch (hardtail), but to be truly fast, a talented driver in the WRC car (full suss) will win hands down.
I don't think a lot of people realise just how much faster a full suss can be, or how to get the most out of it.0 -
yeehaamcgee wrote:
So you reckon the pro downhillers are only fast because of the bikes?nickfrog wrote:I would say it's more like Elise vs RS4. Anyone can go fast in the RS4, not in the Elise.
I see it more like a front wheel drive hot hatch, vs a 4xwheel drive WRC car.
Lots of people can drive quick in the hot hatch (hardtail), but to be truly fast, a talented driver in the WRC car (full suss) will win hands down.
I don't think a lot of people realise just how much faster a full suss can be, or how to get the most out of it.
The key word there is "can"
People buy FS for comfort just as much as speed too!
As always its just down to what you prefer and how you like to ride 0 -
true, but there was a sub discussion going on there about speed through trails.0
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ive never tried an FS bike but to me it just seems like if your not doing something extreme where FS is without a doubt necessary and a HT is just dangerous ie extreme downhill and freeride than you are just a pansy. if its the type of riding can that can be successfully done on both a HT and a FS than you just look bad being beaten by a guy on a hardtail beating you on the trails. this is my first year of riding and i can honestly say that on tech sections, i have passed and kept up with guys with all carbon FS bikes on my 1000CDN HT!!! its the bike not the rider. if you can ride a trail on both your ht and a your fs and you choose the fs than you are just plain lazy. biking is not supposed to easy. you are not supposed to feel in control 100% of the time. its the adrenaline rush of being bounced around on a rocky downhill on your ht that keeps you wanting to bike not the controlled and monotonous descent of an fs bike0
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I've never disagreed with a statement to such an epic level before :shock:ExTrEmE BiKeR wrote:ive never tried an FS bike but to me it just seems like if your not doing something extreme where FS is without a doubt necessary and a HT is just dangerous ie extreme downhill and freeride than you are just a pansy. if its the type of riding can that can be successfully done on both a HT and a FS than you just look bad being beaten by a guy on a hardtail beating you on the trails. this is my first year of riding and i can honestly say that on tech sections, i have passed and kept up with guys with all carbon FS bikes on my 1000CDN HT!!! its the bike not the rider. if you can ride a trail on both your ht and a your fs and you choose the fs than you are just plain lazy. biking is not supposed to easy. you are not supposed to feel in control 100% of the time. its the adrenaline rush of being bounced around on a rocky downhill on your ht that keeps you wanting to bike not the controlled and monotonous descent of an fs bike
Biking is not supposed to be easy, but it is meant to be fun. For me, fun is rattling down a trail as fast as I can possibly hang on to the bike, and in that respect, an FS is faster.
I've stated on the forum several times that I am more than willing to sacrifice climbing and flat section speed in order to hammer the crap out of a rough descent.0 -
if you can ride a trail on both your ht and a your fs and you choose the fs than you are just plain lazy
I prefer HTs for my riding, but I don't agree with that statement. To some comfort is important as reduces fatigue.
Fun is subjective too. Maybe the FS allows a few more antics with a safety net. Some find HTs more fun.
I sometimes ride the same trails on different bikes, just for change.
Depends what your ride for. And even that can change.0 -
yes, but if you can get away with those antics on a HT, why wouldnt you?0
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Because some like the sus to soak it up, more comfort, less strain on some parts.
Up to the rider to decide what suits best. I prefer doing bigger drops on full sussers.0 -
Because a hardtail has it's limits.ExTrEmE BiKeR wrote:yes, but if you can get away with those antics on a HT, why wouldnt you?0 -
ExTrEmE BiKeR wrote:ive never tried an FS bike
and for that reason your opinion on FS bikes is invalid.
people who ride ht bikes often assume that those folk on fs bikes just crash through everything. this isnt always true.
i find that picking a smooth line on a fs bike makes it faster than picking a rough line but both are faster than on a ht bike. for me atleast.
that said, sometimes it is a complete barrel of laughs to crash through some terrain knowing the bike will do the work, for the folk who havent tried it, give it a go, its mega and far from boring.
people climb aboard fs bikes for a try and think they should be throwing themselves down a trail with gay abandon, this snt true, you still need to select a line a ride intelligently.0 -
yeehaamcgee wrote:
Because a hardtail has it's limits.ExTrEmE BiKeR wrote:yes, but if you can get away with those antics on a HT, why wouldnt you?
So does a FS Take for example a Imperial Soveriegn, or my Torrent - they could well hold up with some FR FSers, even DH FSers. 0 -
lets consider a top level rider, lets say for no particular reason, Sam Hill.
do you reckon he would be "better" on a fs or a HT.0 -
bigbenj_08 wrote:
I'd have to say that a proper all round bike thats going to be good at everything would have to be a light, 130-140mm FS that has little/no pedal bob.
For trails in the uk it would be pretty much spot on. Maybe thats why the Orange 5 sells so well?
so whats changed your opinion on how pointless fs bikes are in the uk?0 -
Depends what you mean by better. With racing it is all about the time - DHers tend to do better on FS, XC racers on HT, and 4x uses a mix.
Generally. HTs still win more at XC than FS, and are more common.
For us though our priorities may be totally different.0 -
I got back into mountain biking 2.5 years ago. I did a whole lot of it in the early to mid 90s and it was all on a hard tail.
So i went out and got a Scott scale 50. What a lively bike that was, it got damaged so I got a Kona Kula as a replacement. I was looking for at F/S but the insurance company were not going to play that game. I virtually stopped riding as the Kula feels really good, but is hard work over all riding terrain. Thats what you find out in the real world. Yes its a nice bike, but not for me.
Back to the Scott. I loved its speed, its prancing ability, the way it responded and it made me want to ride. The Kona is very much a soft touch in cmparison. Where is this leading? Well it is the bike and not the rider.
I mainly use the F/S nowadays, I am more akin to it like I was with the Scott. I will be looking for another hard tail for the reasons the Scott made me want to ride more. I now know that I need something with sharper geometry, slightly smaller frame than I should have and hopefully make me just take it out for a bit of fun.
Sometimes I miss that "WTF" has the back end done or the "whooa" moments.fly like a mouse, run like a cushion be the small bookcase!0
