Mountain bike help? Scott MTB

harahapcyntia21

So I have been looking for a MTB. I'm interested in hardtail bikes, since they are usually lighter and faster. When I look at full suspension bikes, they seem to be able to sustain more extreme riding. My question is, how much more can a full suspension sustain than a hardtail bike? is it worth it to go for the more expensive full suspension? would I have to worry about the bike jumping off a rock riding a hardtail? thanks in advance!

jimothy78

All depends on what your idea of "extreme" is, and how biga rock you're picturing yourself jumping off, but in reality, I think it's unlikely that as a beginner you're going to be taking on anything that a good hardtail can't handle. I ride a hardtail, and I'm a bit of a wimp, but I can still comfortably handle all of the "red" graded trails at Bikepark Wales, for instance.

You get more for your money with a hardtail - you can get a really good hardtail for £1000, but for the same money any full-suspension bike is going to have real compromises in the spec sheet somewhere. If you're thinking of spending double that or more, then it opens up a whole world of good full-sussers, too.

Long_Time_Lurker

Pretty much what jimothy said.

A full-sus can go some way to hiding a poor choice of line down a trail by absorbing the bouncing that you may get at the back end.
Riding the same trail on my hardtail is harder work than on the full-sus in current conditions (wet, thick mud, lots of tree roots) - I can roll over more stuff that I would normally run around.
But once it dries out, I reckon that my hardtail will be faster but will be liable to rattle me about on the ruts that have formed this winter.
Ultimately both bikes will work - but different bikes will make certain conditions easier. Most importantly, both are fun to use.
I would rather have a well specced hardtail, than a poorly specced full-sus.

Just make sure that you buy a well-specced bike that feels good to ride.