Going for full sus for a beginner?

CTML
CTML Posts: 53
edited April 2009 in MTB buying advice
I have been looking to get a singletrack/trail bike for a while now, I have only ridden hardtail bikes and am considering a big purchase but i have minimal experience with off road riding. Therefore as a beginner will it be silly to dive straight in and get a full suspension bike like a stumpjumper fsr? or should i start from the beginning with a decent hardtail?

Comments

  • papasmurf.
    papasmurf. Posts: 2,382
    well the perceived wisdom is learn your skills on a hardtail...but as always theres probbaly much debate either way on here about that.
    Meta5.5
    Duster
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    Yeah, there's no one best way IMO. I do think hardtails can teach you better, basically since it makes things a bit harder, but at the same time a good full suss can make more technical trails more approachable meaning you can potentially get more out of your riding, faster. Hardtails can have a steep learning curve if you want to get stuck right in, and that might hold you back a little. Equally, some people are happy to let the bike do a lot of the work and so get a 5" full suss and then just bounce over everything, but that doesn't mean that you can't learn to ride every bit as well on a full suss as you can on a HT- you just have to want to learn a little more i think.

    There's also the fact that a good ht is cheaper than a good fs- you have a decent budget but there's always the risk that you don't enjoy it ;) An awful lot of bikes end up stuck up the back of the garage, better to do that with a decent quality £500 hardtail than a £1000 full suss!

    Don't worry too much about it, just get a bike that's going to be suited for the sort of riding that you intend to do, and which you like the look and feel of. Unless you go for some bendy race lightweight or gigantic heavy long-travel bomber, most bikes can do most jobs.
    Uncompromising extremist

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