Age old question.....FS or HT

Probably a hardtail given your budget and riding. You'll get a decent hardtial for that money but only an entry level FS.

Except you can buy some pretty decent Full sus 2009 models at around 1K at the mo - my LBS was doing Marin Mount Vision 5.7 for under £1,100 and Wolf ridge 5.7 for not much more.

Buy a cheapish hardtail now, then get saving for a full susser for when you've been bitten by the bug.

ive ridden an fsr xc by specialized and it is excellent, it well reviewed and although heavier and poorer spec than an equivalent priced hardtail, i thought it was more enjoyable and allowed me to ride faster and longer due to the comfort and whatnot of the extra portion of sus.

also, fs bikes are better than hardtails. FACT

c'mon, im only joking.

but the rest of my sentiments remain. a bike is more than the sum of its parts so a heavier worse spec could be a better bike if it is better to ride.

i suppose the old advice of make a shortlist and test is the best advice here.

Weight has come down a lot, but also suspension designs are better too so you get lockouts, platform damping, better linkages etc. If I was you I'd be looking at a hardtail mind but modern full sussers, even at this price, can be brilliant.

(that Avalanche looks a bit pricey to me btw, I know nothing about the Trek. Get a Carrera Fury for £500 and spend the rest on hookers)

The problem with this forum in general is people recommend what they bought. I guess its human nature.

The Trek Fuel EX 6.5 is 13kg. 15kg is more common for the chunky end of the FS market, like the Marin Wolf Ridge for example.. Full susers tend to start at around 2kg more than HT and you need to spend at least 30% more than the equiv HT to get the same spec.

My Full sus frame is quite old now, but still has short and long travel suspension settings, flipable linking and lock out. So there is really no debate when it comes to stiffness, unless you ride on the road mostly.

A lot of my riding in climbing flinty, rooty, muddy hills and the full sus has the advantage, because I can get greater contact going up when I try to bump up steps or rocks etc. I can also squash it right down to get the CoG nice a low.

At 1k often 5lbs lighter.

I'd try a few out as the FS models cary so much in feel.

GTs always had a rep of being harsh, being a bit stiff.

I rode a Specialised hardtail whilst on holiday in Spain earlier in `09 and was pleasantly surprised at how well it di as was my mate @ 6.4in and 16st he gave it a serious workout. We both ride Kona Dawg fs and at the time I had my Bontrager ht and he his Cove Handjob ht.

There are a lot of good hardtails around including Merlins own brand, the Boardmans and the Edin Bike co Evolution own brand have been getting good reviews.

I was going to say something along what Charles said, sound advice for a newbie. FS bikes at the cheap end can be fragile and therefore costly to maintain. I do like the EX btw, if I was after another bike I would seriously consider that or the Remedy before any Speccy

I have recently striped the Kona and built the bits onto a Ragley Blue Pig.


Stick with the hardtail for now until you build up your skills and bank balance. Try as many as you can, then try them again. Ended up not liking a bike(Rocky Mountain estx)on a second try.

There isn't a 2010 FUry - 09 is the curent.

Having owned plenty of both (ti, cf, al), I'd much prefer HT. Especially, if your body is still up for it. Weight and design is evolving, but efficiency and maintenance hasn't changed a whole lot. At times, it's too complicated to matter for non-pros like us

How about a steel niner hardtail? Simplicity with plushness. You'll just sacrifice a little flickability, but I don't think you'll be jumping fences or anything