I’ve got my long travel HT as a low maintenance option for winter, or for when I want gears, but minimal cleaning faff on a muddy ride.

Around my local trails it’s almost as fast as any long travel full sus.

No, I don’t regret it, but if I had to have only one MTB it would be a modern long travel full sus.

I have deliberately avoided posting in this thread because each to their own and all that and as has been pointed out it depends somewhat on where you ride and how you like to ride. Having said that I love my hardtail and feel I need to speak up a little about why.
Most of the time when I go out for a ride I like to push my limits, I feel closer to doing this on a hardtail than on my full sus. When I’m on my full sus I do enjoy it, going faster etc but I don’t get the same sense of achievement. A well sorted hardtial is like a basic tool that doesn’t hide as many errors as a full sus so if I land a jump / drop / DH section smoothly then I know that it was more down to my bike handling skills (used loosely…) not the 6″ rear travel. Going uphill is the same, you pick a line, use body english to work your way up the hill getting out of the saddle and moving around, not just sitting and spinning. The only real time I miss a full sus is on slow rocky ground where it’s difficult to get enough speed up to get into a rhythm on a hardtail.
I don’t really notice the unbalanced feeling that some have mentioned either, I have 140mm on the front and probably ride off the back a lot more than other riders and its not been an issue. Whats more of an issue for me is getting the timing right when hitting a jump on a full sus so the back end doesn’t buck up but I’m sure this is my fault for not spending more time on it.
If I only had to have one bike it would undoubtedly be a hardtail.

Back to the original discussion about whether you’d regret going to a HT over a FS rather than the usual discussion about ‘what’s faster’.
I’ve been pondering exactly the same thing. I currently have 2 bikes, a 2013 Cube Stereo HPC 160 and an 2010 26″ Orange Crush. I’ve been thinking for a fair few months about whether to take the plunge and frame swap the Cube to a Switchback and sell on the Orange leaving me with one MTB and one roadie.

I guess the only thing I can say is it depends on what you as a rider expect from your bike and the terrain you ride. Cannock Chase is my local and when I say that I don’t mean I ride the trail centre loop endlessly. I’ve been riding there 20 years or so now so cover a lot of the ‘off piste’ stuff. For me, in my mind I realistically only need a hardtail these days, despite dabbling with Gravity Enduro racing. With a job change (longer commute) and a new baby time for racing has decreased dramatically as has the time to ride anywhere more exotic than the Chase.

I have ridden my HT around other trails such as Afan and yes, it was hard work, but fun all the same. I guess what I’m saying is that peoples circumstances/riding preferences/skill levels are all so different it’s a very difficult thing to answer. Only thing stopping me is the financials, I’ll end up spending more money (knowing me) where going to a single bike should be a saving (Probably won’t get much more for the Cube frame then the cost of the Stanton) and I have a real attachment to my Orange now, I can’t let it go lol! On the upside, it means that I won’t be paranoid about frame bearings getting worn out and ruining parts of the frame (that’s a thing that’s happened to me recently)

I can see me regretting it if I finally get a chance to do an uplift day or get to the Alps but I think those opportunities are few and far between.

If I had to have only one MTB, it’d be tough. For 7 years I only had FS, but then I realised I missed the longer rides I can do down here if I include lots of road – and the FSes are a bit shite on road.

I’d probably be happy with different bikes for different reasons. Currently I’m thinking I could live with my El Mar for one bike but it would need front suspension. Or something exactly the same geometry but with a small amount of rear travel.

Steve slow your rebound

I can see me regretting it if I finally get a chance to do an uplift day or get to the Alps but I think those opportunities are few and far between.

You can always hire a bike for those odd occasions.

Over the last 20 years I’ve regularly switched between a full sus and a hard tail every 5 years or so.
This year – I have both…

Went HT for the last couple of years, and it was ok, but just got another FS (well in june). After the inital shock of going back, there no way I’d swap back to a HT while the trails are dry. I’m quicker up and down on the FS, though only by seconds going by the dreaded strava. For me the HT will only come out once the weather turns or if the FS breaks.
Each to there own, as it’s only a bike and if your having fun, what does it matter what anyone else thinks.