New bike? Hard tail vs short vs longer travel

frankspencer1979

My current bike is a Vitus Zircon, hardtail with 120 mm fork

http://www.vitusbikes.com/mountain-bikes/zircon-01

I've had it about a year and it's been great, we've had some good times! But I'm starting to think I fancy a full suspension, a bit of extra comfort and maybe a more quality fork to help boost my riding a bit. The Vitus Blitz has had favourable reviews and I expect it'll be a reet bargain later in the year if it gets reduced any further.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=67800

But what I'm wondering is whether I'll regret not going for longer travel? My riding is mostly trail centres, Gisburn/lee/whinlatter and XC in The Lakes. I'd like to get a bit more confidence to tackle a few jumps and drops, but I'm not fussed about getting too high!

Is a Full sus, particularly short travel, a worthwhile buy, or will I not notice that much difference from my current ride?

rapid_donkey

I have just made the transition from a 120mm fork hardtail to a Giant Trance X3 (125mm front and rear).
I fancied the change to FS, just so I could take on gnarlier terrain and for a bit more comfort on those all day rides.
I got the Giant last week, and have had it round the local red route twice, and my god what a difference.
I am floating over all the rough terrain at twice the speed I was on my hardtail. Its lovely not being bucked out of the seat every time I hit a bump or rut.
I went for a Trance as I want to do some more adventurous riding this year. The Trance seemed to sit in the middle between cross country and all mountain.
I would say try a few full sus bikes out, and see if you prefer the ride.
Im not looking back

delcol

i have a choice of 2 f/s and a hardtail,, 99.9% of the time i will go for the hardtail over the f/s bikes.. my excuse is the hardtail is easier to maintain and keep clean,, but there is something about the raw feel of the hardtail i like...

i am a firm believer in learning to ride on the hardtail then transfaring over to a full suss.. as rapid donkey says you will be faster and possibly a better rider...
as for longer travel slacker geometry will give you more confidence especially on the steep downs and the teccy stuff roots rocks drops etc. but i guess it depends what you ride my 2 f/s bikes are my whistler bikes so they 180mm park/dh bike and a 160mm all mountain/xc bike,, i had my santacruz ooooopppp leequarry a few times and it is good fun pinning round the big bike..
i had the demo up there to and it was overbiked for the quarry there was no feel for the trail the susspension just flattened everything out, it was like riding a magic carpet..

would it be possible to try a f/s bike before you buy to give you a idea and help you make a decision...

long travel hardtails are so much fun....

1mancity2

As the guys say, try a couple, something like a Trance, Stumpy would be a good starting point, more bike than you currently need but one you won't out grow off to quickly.

You can get round any trail centre easily on a short travel hardtail but it's all down to what you want out of your bike, me I have a DJ 100mm travel which is blistering fast round Gisburn/Lee and the 160mm Reign which just floats over everything.

A hardtail will always require more from the rider but they are great fun, but if your after long travel get a full suss, I wouldn't bother with a long travel H/T, it does exactly what your short travel H/T does, imo.

If your heading up gizzy this saturday, I will be there from 7 till 11 so you can have a go on my Reign to see what a full suss is like down the hope line.

blister pus

Depends what you class as long travel these days. There's a reason 120 - 140mm hardtails are popular choices. Decent 120mm - 140mm hardtails are some of the most fun bikes on planetary Earthoid. Personally, I wouldn't bother with any hardtail below 120mm unless it was an xc racing whippet and I was using it for it's intended obvious. But then I ride hills and rubble slag heaps of the Peaks. Horses for courses.

So I guess you can't really make blanket statements about travel without mentioning frame geometry, intended use, etc. Not sure you'd be wanting to do yer average 'gnar' trail centre shit on anything less than 120mm hardtail unless you were used to it though.

And there's a knack to riding a hardtail at times which doesn't involve being sat with full weight on saddle. That seems to bypass a lot of people, those people should definitely go FS. ..but be careful what FS you get. As stated above, they can iron the fun right out of a trail. Again. Horses for courses.

frankspencer1979

Thanks very much for the replies, and the offer of a test ride! Unfortunately can't get out this weekend as my bike is shifter-less until the replacement comes through the post. Frickin itchin' to get out as well!' :x

Sounds like the first thing I should do is have a bash on a FS before making any decision really. From what I've read, something like the Blitz would suit me coz I'm not likely to be headin off to Whistler or The'Alps anytime soon. I just don't want to end up another year down the line thinking I should've bought something bigger hitting. Although, I get the feeling I'm always gonna want another bike, and another one, oh Christ.... I want one of those too. Damn. :?

frankspencer1979

blister pus wrote:

And there's a knack to riding a hardtail at times which doesn't involve being sat with full weight on saddle. That seems to bypass a lot of people, those people should definitely go FS. ..but be careful what FS you get. As stated above, they can iron the fun right out of a trail. Again. Horses for courses.

I'd like to think I'm not one of those people, I've defo got a lot to learn but I reckon I've got the basics, just not the confidence to launch myself into the air too high yet! :shock:

blister pus

frankspencer1979 wrote:

From what I've read, something like the Blitz would suit me coz I'm not likely to be headin off to Whistler or The'Alps anytime soon. I just don't want to end up another year down the line thinking I should've bought something bigger hitting. Although, I get the feeling I'm always gonna want another bike, and another one, oh Christ.... I want one of those too. Damn. :?

Only you know you, but if you feel like you're going to grow into the sport and want more from it further down the line then obviously go for some 'future proofing'. It's a judgement call we all have to make and it's about knowing yourself and how far realistically you want to push it. What you realistically want is a do it all bike that covers most eventualities for most UK riding that you are going to encounter. For your 'average' rider that's going to be your standard 140mm up front all mountain type FS.

blister pus

frankspencer1979 wrote:

I'd like to think I'm not one of those people, I've defo got a lot to learn but I reckon I've got the basics, just not the confidence to launch myself into the air too high yet! :shock:

Speed / practise gives technique and breeds confidence, but in general it's easier to learn all that on a budget hardtail than a budget heavy weight FS. But "speed / practise gives technique and breeds confidence" is true whatever you ride, which is demonstrated by any skills rider showing off on an 80 quid half ton Halfords Trax bike.

The Rookie

Try and either get to a demo day, or be a member of a club where you can convince some generous person to lend you a bike or to to try, one of the regulars in my club just bought an FS, started out by borrowing 3 FS's of other club members to get a feel for them (on a 'you break it, you fix it' deal), all with different 'natures'.

Personally I find 100mm of travel on my HT enough for where I ride locally and Cannock, though dare say my knees would appreciate a FS!