Weight vs Ride Quality?

Gav888

Hi,

I've been riding off road for a while now and go out with a bunch of guys most weekends and I'm now thinking of upgrading my bike or getting something else.

At present I have a Carrera Fury which is around 30lb I was thinking of getting another hard tail but something around 25lb with better wheels and forks, or get a 30lb full suspension bike as it's the same weight as what I'm use to but rides the bumps better.

I have borrowed a friends FS bike that was kitted out with good Fox forks and shocks and is a nice bike around 30lb and over my usual forest trails it felt good to ride, not sure if it was faster but all the annoying roots and little bumps where ironed out nicely, but how would a lift weight HT be, could I expect to be much quicker on a 5 or 6lb lighter HT, would one ride the bumps better?

When I had a race with my mate on his FS bike I could leave him on the climbs but on the flats and downhills he kept up no problem, I could hear him free wheeling a lot!

I suppose I could get something like a Stumpy FSR with it's pedalpro and loose 6lb of gut as I'm slightly overweight! Lol

Any suggestions, mainly around a light weight HT compared to a Fury as I know what a FS is like.

Cheers guys.

sheepsteeth

most people would be quicker on a 5lb lighter bike but there is no way to know if it would achieve what you want from the ride of a bike, as im sure you appreciate, on a HT, ironing out bumps and stutters is about technique and on a fs bike, it one of those areas where you can allow your bike to do some of the work, leaving you less tired and more able to tackle the bits of a trail you enjoy more (i cant imagine there are many folkwho enjoy dealing with the chattery surfaces which can be encountered on a bike)

for me, i would rather ride a heavier fs bike than any hardtail as i know for a fact that for me, the way a fs bike rides is better than the way a hardtail rides.

it is impossible to comment how you would feel but atleast you are in a position to make a qualified assessment about ht vs fs as you have gven both a try.

the best advice is to test ride some of your options on you prefered trails and se what you think.

you might fall in to the camp o those who prefer a lightweight ht, you might find your self in the camp of folk who prefer a fs regardless of weight (like me, a cool dude)

MountainMonster

A hardtail 5lb lighter will not ride much differently over the bumps, at the end of the day it is still a hardtail. I'm a huge fan of full suspension, as I can be lazier and in some cases faster as I don't have to choose the routes as much as with a HT. That said, hardtails do have their place, and I do enjoy a razz out on a hardtail every now and then.

You'll notice the weight difference when climbing and on that flats, but on tricky sections it won't make a difference.

Gav888

Cheers for the quick responses, its kind of what I was thinking.

Yeah the bits that get me is the chattery surfaces where on the FS bike I just stay seated and ride over them nicely, but on the HT I am bounced out of the seat and whilst trying to keep it steady and pedal is a pain, that is the main reason im thinking about a FS.

One of my mates said clip in would help in these situations but I dont use clip in pedals as I just dont like the feeling of being clipped in off road, on my road bike no problem but not off road for me!

I just wasnt sure if a good spec'd lightweight HT would ride the bumps better than the Fury, I will have to have a word with one of the guys and see if I can use there bike for a bit but i guess as you say its still a HT and will still have that annoying chatter...

What is the technique for riding this chattery stuff on a HT?

thel33ter

Basically stand up and use your legs as suspension.

I'm firmly in the FS camp, although I had a go on a lightish Cube 100mm travel hardtail and it was surprisingly fun. That was on a rather smooth trail though, it was much more tiring on the bumpy bits.

Depending on your budget, you could get a 25/26lb 120mm travel full sus which sounds as if it fit what you want from the bike very well.

supersonic

I much prefer lightweight machines, but then again I ride more XC then anything else. But within reason - I don't want to compromise durabilty. I find the lighter weight bikes acclerate out of corners faster, are easier to throw about and jump, much easier on the hills, and better over distance. Basically just more sprightly all around. And this includes some tricky sections, but there is always a place for the bulldoze mentality of weight stability and full suspension. I have bikes for more than one occasion, and enjoy them all, albeit in different ways, but prefer the light HTfor my main riding.

Best thing to do is test some more.

Gav888

thel33ter wrote:

Basically stand up and use your legs as suspension.

That is what I do, the problem is the other guys and still pedalling on there FS bikes and pulling away, I then have to hammer it on the next smoother section to catch up and they are rested ready to take off just as I get to them

I can't ride the chatter, stand up and pedal at the same time....that is 3 things and im a bloke after all LOL

Budget isn't that high, perhaps £600 for the bits? I was actually going to build something up and use some bits off the Fury, but I need to look into forks and wheels more to workout the budget really.

FS wise I was thinking of a 2nd hand 2008/2009 Stumpjumper FSR frame (good reviews and plenty about) the frame tends to go for around £300, lighter forks and wheels are around another £300, again 2nd hand kit, plus using some bits from the Fury.

Or I could probably buy a fully built Stumpy or something else for around £600 as a few have gone for that recently on eBay, but I would need to workout the spec compared to what I could build sourcing bits myself.

I think the next step is to ride one of my mates lighter HT bikes just to see if I like it, then go from there, ie FS or HT. At present im favouring FS....

Northwind

Don't obsess too much on weight... It's less important than many people will tell you.

Having said that, I love my lightweight hardtail, sub-25lbs with 150mm forks, 2.3 tyres and a gravity dropper And it does ride a bit differently to an equivalent heavier bike, you ca pick it up and drop it really easily, force line changes easily... Basically stick it places where it'd be hard to stick a heavier bike. But on the other hand, it can be a wee bit of a handful, it gets knocked around more by rocks so it needs a bit more attention to hold it on a line once it's there. Nothing really troublesome, just a bit of a need to stay on top of things more.

NatoED

a light weight HT is pretty quick even over the bumpy stuff . mostly cos you can float it over the roots/ rocks . I know a guy on a 22lb salsa moto rapido that could quite happily fly past guys up cwm carn on the DH sections eve n when they were on medium travel fs bikes . Bear in mind his salsa had 80mm forks and 1.8 nobby nicks on .
So I guess it's all swings and round abouts' .
fork wise the SR's on the fury are pretty good and the wheels are ace seeing how they come on £2K cannondales . To upgrade the fork your looking at spending £300 - £400 for something much better . Plus it has a qr15 for stiffness .

kenan

I'v got a 140mm forked light HT and a heavy 160mm forked full sus. On the rough stuff the FS is quicker and more confident, but the HT is quicker in almost every other situation.

With the budget you have I would be looking at a HT.

thel33ter

I'd go for the Stumpjumper frame option, and just upgrade bits when they wear out/get broken.

Russ-Tyson

Stick with a hardtail I think you could regret it otherwise,work on your riding a little and weight isnt everything
I have a 456 carbon (light frame)with a saint groupset ,Sram xx revs and halo sas wheels (not light) The bike is about 28lb,Im 17st and the bike still flies up or down hills and through the tecnical stuff.

As mentioned before try getting out of the saddle a little more or if sitting maybe try some different tyre pressures to get some flex or a softer saddle,I get laughed at so much by my mates for my old school style Brooks B17 saddle which I have to admit doesnt look the best on the bike but it has worked so well for me for years and soaks bumps up well.

Gav888

NatoED wrote:

a light weight HT is pretty quick even over the bumpy stuff . mostly cos you can float it over the roots/ rocks . I know a guy on a 22lb salsa moto rapido that could quite happily fly past guys up cwm carn on the DH sections eve n when they were on medium travel fs bikes . Bear in mind his salsa had 80mm forks and 1.8 nobby nicks on .
So I guess it's all swings and round abouts' .
fork wise the SR's on the fury are pretty good and the wheels are ace seeing how they come on £2K cannondales . To upgrade the fork your looking at spending £300 - £400 for something much better . Plus it has a qr15 for stiffness .

Mine is a 2008 I think, it's got rock shox 318 u turn jobbies on the front, about 2nd worth and the wheels are DDM1. No idea what they are like weight wise as I cannot find anything about them. :shock:

NatoED

the hubs are still ok . Fit some DT swiss E540 rims or X450 they are really light but quite strong. and will knock a huge weight off your wheels. should cost you £80 for the rims and £40 for the build of both . yeah fork upgrade would be a good option. there are some great bargains out there .

I've seen pace RC36 evo II go for £50 on ebay .

supersonic

The E540 is not a lightweight rim.

MountainMonster

I second what SS says, the E540 is ca. 530 grams, by far not a light weight rim.

Northwind

Furies mostly come with 317s, almost 100g less than the DT 540s!