I’m not sure that an extra inch on the wheels will make up for 130mm of rear travel.

Bfe would be fun though.

I moved from a Five to a Soul to a BFe to a Slackline. Only ever have one bike at a time. Riding ability and technique has improved massively since moving to a hardtail and I’m far fitter than I was (upper body strength and balance)l. 27.5 wheels roll better and newer geometry definitely gives more confidence but only you can decide if you’re going to miss the rear travel/ comfort a full suss gives.

EDIT. If you’re going to buy a BFe, get the new one.

It sounds like youre gonna buy a BFe regardless of what STW’ers say… But…

27.5 Vs 26 doesn’t make much difference at all.

A hardtail will still beat your legs and ass senseless on fast, bumpy terrain. Plus it’ll get a steeper head angle when riding, compared to a full sus that won’t.

With that out of the way, the question is ‘Is a hardtail better for 90% of your riding, compared to a full sus?’.

If that’s a resounding ‘yes’, then get the BFe.

If it’s not, then get a demo day, or see if you can borrow someone else’s.

Agree that this basically isn’t so much about specific bikes but your basic is ‘will I regret shifting my FS for an HT?”

Personally I love both, but I keep coming back to HT’s. Ideally I’d like an FS on hand for when I want it but that’s pretty wasteful. Moving to a house with less convenient space for bikes has forced me to rethink on n +plus1 ad infinitum.

If you loved your old Soul, then you stand a pretty good chance on the BFe as traditionally it was always basically a sturdier Soul that could take bigger headlands and therefore longer forks. The new new BFe is the one to get if you’re buying any. Not sure I agree with rickon completely, yes your lower back will know all about the fact you’ve gone back to HT’s to begin with but that shouldn’t be too bad unless you have a history of problems. Ass, though? Why would you be sitting at speed on rough terrain? So long as your legs can cope with the shock loading, it’s all good!

Depends how good a rider you are. I ride the quantocks all the time and I’m crap and prefer my soul over my heckler. But in exmoor etc the heckler makes a world of difference over a long ride.

Basically I’m saying buy a bfe but also keep the five 🙂

Beg borrow or steal a decent 29″ bike for the day before you make a decision.

I rode the BFe round Lee quarry last week and normally ride a 2012 Five, really liked the feel of the BFe but mainly because it reminded me of the Five. The main difference was a few hits came through on drops. I’d love one as an addition to the Five, but wouldn’t do a one for one replacement as I think on longer days the lack of plush would be tiring, and the gain in jumpiness wasn’t that marked (ymmv, I’m crap at jumping :D). I found the layout of the Rocket wasn’t quite right for me, medium too small, large too big.

Can’t tell the difference and that’s comparing bikes that are basically the same (suppressor vs patrol) no difference in feel or speed.

Massive difference between a hard tail and a fs bike no matter what the wheel size.