is the hardtail a dying breed?

sniper68

I built a HT in 2010 as a second/winter bike.I'd not ridden one in almost 10 years and thought I'd use it every now and then.How wrong I was.My FS quickly became an ornament.I sold my Specialized Enduro then spent a packet building a new FS in 2012 to force me to get on a FS again...it didn't work and I sold a little used Nukeproof Mega in 2014 after using it probably a dozen times in 2 years :roll:
I just enjoy the HT more.
I'm still riding exactly the same trails but it's just more fun 8)

I'm not saying I'll never have another FS but for the foreseeable there are no plans.

welshkev

nightfly33 wrote:

I started with a hardtail but soon realised Id made a mistake when I got more confident. The ht smashed the crap out of me and the fork suspension was too short for the bigger stuff! If you buy a full susser, you can start with the smaller stuff and you'll have the correct bike when your ready to go bigger. Plus you wont have to explain your wife or partner why your blowing another £2000+ on a second bike!

just get a longer travel hardtail? my frame will take up to 170mm forks - personally I wouldn't put them on there, but I could if I wanted to.

As rock monkey said, I think everyone should try a hardtail on some harder tracks. it makes you a
much smoother rider when you move to a full suss as you don't just smash over stuff.

Mike Deere

I'd never be without a hardtail.

kajjal

RockmonkeySC wrote:

If you want a new type of fun try a season of downhill racing on a hardtail. Every mountain biker should try it. You'll learn a huge amount about bike control and line choice and just what you can get away with.
There's nothing quite like riding an 8 foot drop on a hardtail to find that, if done right you still get a smooth landing.

I did that once when i was younger on an XC hardtail. Keeping it smooth while maintaining enough speed was hard work. Once you lost your line and balance it became a wrestling match.

rockmonkeysc

Kajjal wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

If you want a new type of fun try a season of downhill racing on a hardtail. Every mountain biker should try it. You'll learn a huge amount about bike control and line choice and just what you can get away with.
There's nothing quite like riding an 8 foot drop on a hardtail to find that, if done right you still get a smooth landing.

I did that once when i was younger on an XC hardtail. Keeping it smooth while maintaining enough speed was hard work. Once you lost your line and balance it became a wrestling match.

It wouldn't really work with an xc hardtail. Needs to be slack as yer mum. You don't even need a big fork, a 4X frame with a 120mm for is amazing for downhill. Curtis Racelite with a Rockshox Pargyle and Sun Double Track rims is as good as it gets.

paul.skibum

I'm going to adjust the gearing on my Cove Handjob and take it out on some harder trails in spring as part of a skills/cross training effort - I love riding hardtails and love the feeling of muscling a climb on it which never seems to work so well on the FS. Muscle up, finesse down - the opposite of a FS!

97th choice

Horses for course, turn up at an XC race and you'll see predominantly HT, Scott being the preferred bike around here. Most French randonees will be crammed with hard tails. I love my FS but there are plenty of times where I leave it behind because a hard tail is the better choice on the day.

The Rookie

paul.skibum wrote:

I'm going to adjust the gearing on my Cove Handjob and take it out on some harder trails in spring as part of a skills/cross training effort - I love riding hardtails and love the feeling of muscling a climb on it which never seems to work so well on the FS. Muscle up, finesse down - the opposite of a FS!

Depends on the amount of travel and nature of that travel really, my short travel FS feels very little different to an HT apart from the trail being smoother!

97th choice

The Rookie wrote:

paul.skibum wrote:

I'm going to adjust the gearing on my Cove Handjob and take it out on some harder trails in spring as part of a skills/cross training effort - I love riding hardtails and love the feeling of muscling a climb on it which never seems to work so well on the FS. Muscle up, finesse down - the opposite of a FS!

Depends on the amount of travel and nature of that travel really, my short travel FS feels very little different to an HT apart from the trail being smoother!

I had an original boardman full suss, head angle was way too steep so I sold it but in hindsight it was a cracking XC weapon.