I just can’t get on with my hardtail.

I’ve tried for a bit now without posting on here and it’s just beating me up.

Call me a wimp etc etc but I think I’m so used to having rear suspension that I’m just not getting used to not.

I’ve been round Swinley again today and just didn’t enjoy it to be honest. Having to stand up all the time has just taken it out of my legs and I’m just knackered.

Don’t get me wrong it fits perfect and rides well if you have the ability to get the most out of it but I’m going back to a full Susser.

Anyone want a 40mile old massively upgraded Whyte 529 🙁

10 pages and 2 flounces 😉

i do not see this going well. Have you tried one of the mondrakers with a longer top tube?

Having to stand up all the time has just taken it out of my legs and I’m just knackered.

Read this bit and do something about it. It won’t cost a penny.

Do you want an Anthen with a 120mm fork on rhe front?

😉

40 miles? You’ve given it a good shot then……. 🙄 😉

Ther needs ter man up lad.
Can’t stand my FS unless a day of bouncing down hill is on the cards.

i do not see this going well. Have you tried one of the mondrakers with a longer top tube?

It fits well.

I’m just a wuss really.

No beer…. I’ve been doing a lot of strength exercises for my legs lately and seen no improvement with my riding.

It’s as though my mind can’t alter to the fact that I have no rear squish and my body really isn’t enjoying it.

For instance.. there are a couple of not massive drops on Swinley red, I’m quite pants at doing them on my current bike whereas I wouldn’t think twice on a fully.

Let me just re iterate it’s not about how the bike fits for a change. It’s about not gelling with it.

So your looking for a bike that allows you to stay seated over drops then.

Also – 40miles is ~1-2 rides, hardly time to get used to anything (or not)

Renton,

Come borrow my Whyte t130 for the day and see if it helps make your decision before you sell the 529

I think I’m so used to having rear suspension that I’m just not getting used to not.

… 40mile old …

With the best possible intent –> MTFU and try giving it a bit longer, it’ll take more than 2 rides to get used to a bike regardless of how many springs it has or what end they’re at.

Not to mention that you have to/should be standing up even on a full suss, a bit less yes, but the springs are there to help with traction and absorbing bumps, not do it all

Yes I appreciate that. What I’ve wrote has come across wrong.

I never sit down over drops and jumps as that would be silly.

I couldn’t get the landing right and some of the more flowing red stuff I felt as though it was holding me back a bit.

I’m not after 6 inches of bounce or anything like that. I sat on and had a little ride on a t129 that the bike hut had and that felt ideal.

Renton – if you’re not happy with it and have some money get a full suss. After all its about having fun and enjoying the bike and not much else….

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/that-time-again-new-ht

Swap?

I’ve posed the question but not sure he is interested.

I saw this on FB and had a chuckle after the comments on the thread when you bought it.

I do know what you mean though, drops are what I really noticed the difference between a full suss and hardtail, I just have loads more confidence when I’m not taking a pasting through my feet.

If you can afford it go for it.

Perhaps you should give it a little more time to bed in before sacking it off – will take a while to get used to after full bounce.

Would think most of Seinleybwould be pretty good on a hardtail – it’s mostly smooth other than that top section that’s all rooty and cut up with braking ruts.

That said I tried to go back to hardstail after full suss years ago and it put me off mtb for at least 10 years! Not even good full suss in today’s terms – GT lts 1 and Univega Ram 990.

I feel as though I have give it a good chance to be honest done a few local rides and done Swinley twice.

It’s giving me a pasting, my feet are dead sore and my lower back is hurting. Both things I never experienced on a full usser.

This is my first hardtail for a fair few years. Thought I would like it but dont really.

On the lookout for a nice whyte t129.

I don’t understand…the hardtail makes your legs hurt and a full susser won’t? It’s just a different riding style and needs time in the bike. When I jump on my ht after weeks on FS it always takes a few miles to adjust. 40miles is like 2 rides. Perhaps try somewhere different to swinley. Which to be honest is just flat and boring, probably the breaking bumps making the bike feel brutal.

What you need is a salsa horsethief…

Oh.

LOL Renton, should have kept the 5 29!

Oh, and ‘swoon’ at all the ’40 miles, you’ve only had one ride’ brigade. 😆

Renton, I’ve been sympathetic in the past but you need help from yourself IMHO.

Yes the whyte may not be right and a full suss may suit you more but you need to make better decisions. Don’t buy something off the back of sitting on it or going up and down the road. Have a decent test on your next purchase – a days ride if you can or at least go around swinley if that’s your local. And don’t get upgraditis like you are prone to without settling on the bike – all those bits you’ve added to the whyte won’t sell for what you bought them for.

Good luck.

What you need is a neon yellow alpine five 🙂

My full suss felt like luxury today after several weeks of riding on a rigid MTB without once touching the FS*. Definitely need to ride the full suss more. Taken me 5 months and numerous days of achy wrists to get to that conclusion.

*tell a lie, I rode the FS once last week.

Build up your core strength to help with achey back – planks, side-planks, reverse planks, bodyline/holds, etc.

Renton, I’ve been sympathetic in the past but you need help from yourself IMHO.

Yep I am my own worst enemy mate.

Should never have sold my Orange 5 29 and none of this would of happened. 🙄

I’m kind of the opposite, I prefer hard tails as it’s better for fitness and a bit of general strength.

Bounding over stuff like a sack of spuds on a full susser would take the fun out of it for me.

I ride a HT 90% of the time, but for Swinley I take the full suss. There’s just something about that surfacing they use there, like riding on corrugated concrete. Take your HT to the Chilterns and you might like it a lot more 😛

Seriously, i don’t think you can make a judgement on a few aches and pains after a couple of rides.
You just need to get out and ride the thing, you’ll get fitter and you’ll get stronger.
When you’ve done 50mi a week on it for 3 months then if your still feeling beaten up by it at least you know you gave it a good shot.

Renton – if you’re not happy with it and have some money get a full suss

This. Nobody else is riding your bike for you, so their opinions of what you “need” to do, are utterly, utterly irrelevant.

FWIW – my 2017 Giant Trance 2 is the best £2.4k I’ve ever spent. I knew before the end of my first ride that it – and not any of the HTs I’d also been considering – was the right choice for me.

Totally agree with Squirrel ^^^

Swinley on a hardtail is awful (IMO). Go and ride it somewhere else on a more natural surface before you dismiss it.

How much? (Serious question…)

I think Swinley is horrible to ride a hardtail round – I’d rather ride uplift venues on it than suffer the relentless niggling little bumps and excessive pedalling, with sitting or standing never being right.

However I should point out that feeling knackered at the end of a ride is normal!

I don’t really see the absolute need for a full bouncer round Swinley TBH, maybe if you’re looking to threaten the KOM tables? And it might take the edge off of a few rutted flat sections but suspension is hardly a necessity there…

There is a bit of a a different technique to riding a HT well, I’m not saying that I am actually qualified in it, but when stuff clicks, you nail your lines, carry speed, lay off the brakes and do it ‘right’ you’ll know it and it beats having £3k’s worth of mechanical damping doing half the work for you…

For the extra effort and cost of maintaining a bouncer… Nah, done that, really not worth it for SE trail centre trundling…

TBF a 529 is probably a very good Swinley bike… Some of us are still riding (gulp) 26″ wheels, just imagine how bad our knees and backs are…

But yeah, maybe just invest more time in riding, rather than more money in a talent compensator…

If it’s not cars it’s bikes. I’m starting to feel sorry for you seeing as you are never happy with anything in your life.

I would echo what other above have said, Swinley isn’t great on a hardtail, fast and smooth into rock hard breaking bumps is a bit hard going.Ride somewhere else and take the time to get your arms and legs back in the game.

I think Swinley is horrible to ride a hardtail round – I’d rather ride uplift venues on it than suffer the relentless niggling little bumps and excessive pedalling, with sitting or standing never being right.

However I should point out that feeling knackered at the end of a ride is normal

Probably the heat but I was absolutely done in yesterday.

Renton when was the last time you rode a bike and just rode? Not thinking about this is not right this is hurting,I am not going fast enough, my lungs hurt and so on?

When did you have a ride you enjoyed?

Wyre forest or Glenlivet on my Orange 5 29.

Been off the bike really for two years due to work commitments.

Is it possible that you just enjoy the act of buying bikes more than actually riding them?

No, definitely prefer riding them.

You can’t buy fitness or skill.