So riding a full suspension makes you a better rider LOL

Only on STW….

Oh dear, oh dear 🙄

You will never have too many bikes!

I’ve had every permutation of mtb imaginable and I’ve finally “settled” (yeah right 😉 ) on my current set up:

DH bike for DH
Long travel HT for everything else

Works a treat, I do occasionally miss some bounce on the rear for long days in the saddle, but for most of my non DH riding, the HT is more than adequate. If I want to go fast downhill, I take out the big bike and go on an uplift day, none of this “it’s a trail bike which can be a little hard going on the ups, but more than makes up for it on the downs” crap anymore 🙂

Don’t be daft.

Are you seriously going to trundle sedately about on it? If so, you’ve wasted your money.

If you like to ride as fast as you can, then you will be able to go a whole lot faster on this (on most trails) and have a boatload of fun.

The idea that you can just get on a bike and go faster because there is more travel is wrong.

On a smooth trail, I agree. However big bikes aren’t the same with more travel. They are stiffer, heavier, have slacker angles, wider bars, shorter stems, better brakes, wider rims, bigger tyres, bash rings (often), stiffer forks, better suspension controls etc.

All that really helps you go a lot faster. And if it’s rocky, you can go much much faster.

I have a 63mm XC race bike, a 5, and a 170mm Patriot that weighs in at 31lbs like yours. I love it to bits, and go long periods taking it on my local loops instead of my 5. I don’t notice the weight after a while, and I come from a mid 90s lightweight fully rigid background!

Ultimately I think it will. Some time spent on a bigger bike will get a rider used to bigger speeds, help them hit sections harder, give them confidence to attempt bigger jumps and drops, or hit the same jumps and drops harder. Faster entry speed into corners necessitates better technique to maintain flow etc

When they go back to a shorter travel bike they’ll probably realise it’s just as feasible on a lesser bike, but mightn’t have had the confidence to push those limits had they not had time on the bigger bike.

This is exactly what I experienced.

So riding a full suspension makes you a better rider LOL

Only on STW….

Confidence leads to learning.

**** off troll.

I’ve had every permutation of mtb imaginable and I’ve finally “settled” (yeah right ) on my current set up:

DH bike for DH
Long travel HT for everything else

Works a treat, I do occasionally miss some bounce on the rear for long days in the saddle, but for most of my non DH riding, the HT is more than adequate. If I want to go fast downhill, I take out the big bike and go on an uplift day, none of this “it’s a trail bike which can be a little hard going on the ups, but more than makes up for it on the downs” crap anymore

See I went the other way; from an XC bike and a DH bike to one do-everything six inch bike. I don’t really miss either of the old bikes.

Thought I ought to report back after the first ride. I took round a quick 30 minute loop that runs from the front door as the lights had very little charge.

The first couple of hundred yards I was thinking on some of the comments earlier in the thread. “Pushing up the hills” “Suffering on all but the descents” I though it was all coming to pass as foretold. It did feel very draggy.

Then off the concrete and on the dirt/sand/mud stuff that round here sits on. First mile or so is flat and dry and I forgot to play with the handlebar mounted thing. I actually forgot it was a new bike. Seemed to roll well enough and was not wallowing like a boat in a storm as I peddled. Just another bike. All the ones I have already are all different. Different eras,styles,riding positions and amounts of bounce from zero to 130 so I often feel odd for the first few minutes of a ride.

Down a cheeky footpath that has roots, steps and a Strava segment. Epic fail here, there is a root that I like to jump off and clear the next few. Not really a jump, more of a bunny hop using the root as a “kicker” (I hope that makes sense). The bike went over it OK but I think technique or fork tuning may need some adjustment. All my preload disappeared into the travel.Although thinking about it I seem to remember the same thing when I got the first set of suspension forks and they were a whopping 80mm.

Of course it went down the steps more gracefully than my other bikes. It would be a real revelation if it did not.

Then the climb home. Not really steep just a steady plod with a few steeper bits. Here I found the rear travel reduction a nice touch although I never felt the need to drop the forks down. But it is never going to be steep enough to test for a wandering front end.

So in summary. Its just a bike. Not the one I would pick for this route if it were not new. Its never going to be the fastest up a climb, but then neither are any of the others when I am the motor. Better test hopefully at the weekend. Proper climbs and downs and a lot longer in the saddle. Will report back if there is any interest.

It did feel very draggy.

There’s a lot you can do with tyre choice. These bikes often come with super soft draggy things. The thing that made most difference to my Patriot was going tubeless for much less rolling resistance.

All my preload disappeared into the travel

More compression damping. Longer travel needs more of it, generally.

Cheers mol. I guess a bout of cursing at shock pumps and twiddles knobs will be order.

There’s a lot you can do with tyre choice. These bikes often come with super soft draggy things. The thing that made most difference to my Patriot was going tubeless for much less rolling resistance.

Absolutely.

I used to run 2.5 Highroller Supertackys on a big bike. Add in a couple of DH tubes and you’ve got one very heavy and sticky mess.

Swapped them out for 2.35 Highrollers (NOT Supertacky) a DH tube on the rear, regular tube on the front, and the difference was unreal.

Going tubeless wasn’t really an option for me on that bike since I still wanted to be able to throw on the 2.5s for uplift days.

I guess a bout of cursing at shock pumps and twiddles knobs will be order

A bout? Hehe, it’s an ongoing thing for me 🙂

peterfile – get a spare set of wheels.

Light/tubeless/AM tyres on one set, solid/tubed/DH tyres on the other.