Technique-Hardtail v full sus

DR1V3R

After riding a hardtail for the last twelve years I have now made the move to full sus-Trek Remedy 8. I had a bit of a play about on the street last night and realised that there is going to be a world of difference when I get properly off road. After trying to do a few manuals and bunny hops I realsised that the wheels just want to stick to the ground and the suspension just absorbs any body movements as its supposed to do I suppose. Either that or my technique sucks!

So before I get out there properly are there any tips on how to make the transition from hardtail to full sus?

Cheers

The Northern Monkey

Just ride it.

You'll notice that you can no longer climb while standing up.. The supension just soaks up all the power, so sit down with pro pedal on.

I miss my HT quite a bit after the change. The ride is completely different, yet the FS is much more comfortable... but better? I'm still not convinced that it is better as a whole package.

Raymondavalon

+1 on the differences. It took me a little while to get used to my full susser, but you'll adapt quickly I'm sure
Hill climbing was one area I noticed a radical change, even with technologies like Equilink and ProPedal, it still requires more work when chugging up hills.
The advantage is felt when tearing along rooted singletrack, the back end just seems to stay put.

Briggo

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Just ride it.

You'll notice that you can no longer climb while standing up..

Ah the joys of lockable rear suspension.

popstar

After riding FS for some time, noticed my pedalling technique got worse from spinning fine circles (on HT) into just stomping on pedals like an elephant. Therefore HT is recommended to ride sometime to cure it. But tearing rocky rooty trails is better with FS, gives option of taking some crazy lines. However, feeling of HT in air gives more grins than FS.

So my tip to OP, play a lot with shocks to find what's most comfortable for your style of riding. Those pressures and rebounds will change character of bike dramatically. Remedy is ace bike, enjoy!

Anonymous

Briggo wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Just ride it.

You'll notice that you can no longer climb while standing up..

Ah the joys of lockable rear suspension.

:? yeah, and the joys of rear suspension that does it's job properly too.

Northwind

...and riders that can pedal while standing not just mashing it.

sheepsteeth

hmm, i though going from hardtail to full sus made everyone a better rider*, it sounds like you are saying you might need a different set of skills for riding a full sus.

seeing as the 2 are different beasts i suppose that makes perfect sense.

its hard to offer any specific advice for riding a full sus bike as they are all so diferent but i would say try and give it a good few rides and most of it will come naturally, you might even find that you plain and simple dont like it and prefer a hardtail, but atleast you are in the perfect situation to find out which you like best.

depending on what your hardtails were, that remedy is a big old difference to most hardtails


*according to everyone

shx8000

I too went from ht to a remedy 8. The transition is simple once out on the trails. It's an absolutely amazing bike, but I have noticed that on ascents I no longer stand up. I remain seated now, which saves energy and I find I'm no slower. Suspension set up is tedious though, I'm still experimenting now with fork/shock and tyre pressures. I'm now on about %20 sag on the rear shock. Anymore than that and I tend to bottomit out. I'm 14stone and running 220psi rear and 120psi up front. 23psi in tyres. Seems pretty good for the last few rides.

CharlieH

It takes time but I can go from one to the other now with no problems, including getting the front wheel up. Only difference is I tend to go downhill MUCH faster on the full susser

mudcow007

i went and bought my self a Kona Stinky in 2008 (2007 model bike) because i had always wanted one and had been riding in Llandegla http://www.coedllandegla.com/

so bought one an it took me about 10 months to realise it was a pig to ride, it was great at smashing into logs (i couldnt bunny hop over them, due to the weight & travel etc) an they let you get away with badly landed jumps, but they do not climb at all not one bit!

one thing i do really love about riding the stinky, is that you feel indestructable when your rolling downhill, i could fly past people on the down sections then have to trya n keep up on the up sections

im thinking of buying another hard tail to be honest

i think if you have somewhere that you can really utilise a full sus, get one, if not you are wasting you money

Northwind

Oh come on, if you'd bought an enormously heavy long travel freeride hardtail you'd be saying the same. The problem there's nothing to do with full suss vs ht. Plus, you should be able to bunny hop it :?

mudcow007

i can hop my stinky but no where near how high i can hop a HT, i *think* i tried a rock walk on my stinky, doenst do the pivots any good though

like i said it just depends where you are riding i dont think i have ever rode a track that really needed a full sus?

Northwind

Need isn't the word though... I did innerleithen's black on my rigid carrera last month, no bother but most rides there I'd sooner have the full suss. Later this year I'm planning to take the hardtail down the fort william worldcup dh route but that doesn't mean I'll be using it when i race there in July I've never ridden anything that needed a full suss but it helps.

Anonymous

mudcow007 wrote:

i went and bought my self a Kona Stinky in 2008 (2007 model bike) because i had always wanted one and had been riding in Llandegla http://www.coedllandegla.com/

Yeah, cause a Stinky is exactly the kind of bike that's 200% suited to llandegla :roll:

richg1979

Briggo wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Just ride it.

You'll notice that you can no longer climb while standing up..

Ah the joys of lockable rear suspension.

And VPP, the harder you pedal the stiffer it gets, even when standing up.

the biggest diffrence when jumping on a full suser to a ht is how easy you can pedal over rough stuff with out the back wheel bouncing and spinning everywhere and the amount of traction the back wheel has.

the latest remedy 8 does have very good pedaling manners and climbs very well too so i dont think you will have any probs.

Anonymous

richg1979 wrote:

And VPP, the harder you pedal the stiffer it gets, even when standing up.

It's not just VPP. Almost all modern suspension designs incorporate anti squat, which does that.

DR1V3R

Thanks for everyones input

I have just got back from a quick blast round Whinlatter and all I can say is WOW :shock:

I am so impressed with this bike, even the climbing is better than on my HT. There is one particular bit on a climb at Whinlatter which I hardly ever got up on my HT, this is a narrow rocky bit that I always seemed to lose traction on, on the Remedy with the propedal on I just pedalled up it. The TALAS fork adjustment is so easy too, just turn a dial and drop the front end down-simple.

Once I got to the downhill bit it got even better as you would expect (once I remembered the fork and shock adjustments :shock: ) I dont exactly hang about at Whinlatter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGR3jhL6V1g

This video is on my HT, the conditions were far wetter today and I will have been easily going as fast as this on my first run out, cant wait for a dry day now!

The Remedy just feels much more stable and will basically go where you point it, with the HT it sometimes feels like you are going just that little bit too fast at times especially when going over stoney ground.

I have got the suspension set up better now and can manual and bunny hop ok now,its amazing what a bit less rebound damping does.

I have seen the future and its got full suspension

DR1V3R