Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 49 total)
  • my hardtail rocks; should i cancel the full suss? do i need it?
  • alpin
    Free Member

    should i cancel the delivery of a new Canyon Torque FRX? i was quite excited when i ordered it, but after yesterday i’m having doubts as to whether or not i need it.

    i was out yesterday with a friend and we rode up to about 1400m. the ride up was a (mostly) gentle climb with a 300m carry at the end.

    the path down was tight, tricky and technical. so technical that i was thinking “shit… if this goes wrong i’m fubard”. there were bits that i had to carry down, but these sections were unrideable save for perhaps a few top trials riders. i don’t think it would have mattered had i have been on a big 200mm DH rig.

    but over the rideable technical sections i was faster than my mate. over the flowy sections i was faster. the only place where he caught me up were the longer rock gardens where i couldn’t let the bike storm over.

    now, i am fairly quick on the HT and will ride any trail, man-made or natural. i only suffer when i take it to the bike park, where the tracks are designed to be ridden on big bikes (fat root sections, bigger drops – although i’ll ride many drops assuming the landing isn’t too flat/drop too high, i.e. i’ll ride it if i don’t have to rely on masses of rear suspension). last time in at Leogang i held my own with some fancy fella on his 170mm FS. and i’m not going to be going to the park that often as it’s rudely expensive and not as convinient to get to as the normal trails.

    when riding with other guides, i know of only two that i work with that are “good”. the majority have their FS bikes, but i leave them at the top of the hill.

    i feel that if i take delivery of the new bike i’ll probably feel that i need it. the problem is, is that i know i don’t currently need it. if i ride it i’m more likely to do myself some serious injury as i’ll be pushing myself harder to get more out of the bike.

    help.

    continuity
    Free Member

    Demo demo demo demo borrow borrow borrow borrow.

    Could the money be better spent elsewhere?

    float
    Free Member

    keep the full sus for the big drops, assuming youre not chicken 😛

    but i feel the same. hardtails are most awesome everywhere apart from where suspension can pick up the back wheel over multiple hits, then suspension is definitely faster. im in the same sort of boat at the moment. really want a bottlerocket, but cant really justify it, and like you say, you have to be going warp speed to make a full sus as fun as a hardtail.

    tough choice. if youve got the money id keep it as it’ll be a blast on the right trails.

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    _tom_
    Free Member

    I’m in the same conundrum but already have the full sus! The FS was great for Whistler but tbh it never gets used to its full potential at Woburn, where I ride most of the time. I’ve ridden all the same stuff on my hardtail and tbh the ht jumps better and is probably faster. FS are nice for that feeling of knowing you can probably get away with some dodgy landings though and I feel way more confident on the hardtail after riding the fs.. so dunno!

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    No, but maybe something a little shorter travel? That looks a beast to pedal 1400m up a hill!

    skywalker
    Free Member

    Like he ^ said, looks like you bought the wrong bike. I very much doubt you will need 180mm of travel for anything in the UK, or enjoy riding a 37 lbs bike up hill.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Like he ^ said, looks like you bought the wrong bike. I very much doubt you will need 180mm of travel for anything in the UK, or enjoy riding a 37 lbs bike up hill.

    He lives in the Alps

    skywalker
    Free Member

    Still, pedaling that thing up hill anywhere will be nasty.

    toys19
    Free Member

    I think we often confuse the term “need” with “want”.
    You don’t need any of your bikes, but do you want them?

    z1ppy
    Full Member

    Toy’s +1

    I don’t need any of my fs bikes (3 of them) but I love them and wouldn’t be without them.

    messiah
    Free Member

    Just because you CAN ride a hardtail down something fast does not mean it won’t be EVEN MORE FUN when tackled on a different bike.

    Not just about speed IMHO… riding a big bike opens up a whole different world of line choices.

    I swing both ways by the way 8)

    alpin
    Free Member

    no, i need at least one bike……

    yeah, i live on the edge of the alps…. if my laptop had a SD card reader i’d upload so pics from yesterday.

    i think the FS is going to get me into more trouble than it’ll get me out of.

    i’m more in the camp of “skills, not suspension”. i’d rather rely on my skills than the bike’s suspension, i.e. what i can and not what technology can… saying that i do have 160mm upfront 😕

    there is, in my mind, little point in buying a 140mm trail bike. it’s not going to be more fun than my DB Alpine. i can and do ride everything that all the 140mm trail bikes i see ride.

    i’ll ride a lot of what the boys on their big bigs ride in the park.

    like i said, it’s only those sections that are too brutal for anything other than 160+mm FS bikes that i hold back on.

    it’s not a question of saving 2500€. it’s a question of how much fun i’ll have on it and more importantly is it going to make me a better rider: i fear it will not. most FS riders i see are lazy on the bike.

    and fun for me is the challenge of dropping down a steep, switchedback incline, having to think about line choice.

    my DB Alpine in its local environment…..

    edit: the Canyon can be ridden uphill. my mate, with whom i rode yesterday, has one. it comes in 1kg heavier than the Alpine.

    maybe i should spend some of the money saved on a new set of lighter wheels when this set give up the ghost….

    skywalker
    Free Member

    there is, in my mind, little point in buying a 140mm trail bike. it’s not going to be more fun than my DB Alpine. i can and do ride everything that all the 140mm trail bikes i see ride.

    Have you tried one?

    If I lived where you do I would probably be looking at an Alpine 160 or something similar, maybe even a Five. Not to heavy (well not 37 lbs anyway) and still fun.

    flowerpower
    Free Member

    Just because you CAN ride a hardtail down something fast does not mean it won’t be EVEN MORE FUN when tackled on a different bike.

    ^^ this. And

    i feel that if i take delivery of the new bike i’ll probably feel that i need it. the problem is, is that i know i don’t currently need it. if i ride it i’m more likely to do myself some serious injury as i’ll be pushing myself harder to get more out of the bike.

    You’ll ride it , love it, it’ll be your favourite bike. Then for some reason you’ll take the hardtail out again and suddenly remember why you loved that so much… for the next four weeks the hardtail will be your favourite bike all over again…

    Two bikes = twice the fun (of two different flavours!)

    alpin
    Free Member

    Have you tried one?

    yes, my amtes, albeit with a Fox DHX(?) Air shock…

    but the Canyon will be used almost exclusively in the park (would sell the upy-downy post and replace with a normal post). what is the point in having a bike that gets used 5-6 times a year? i could ride it on the same trails i do now, the same trails my friends ride their big bikes, but why would i when i can rule the trails on the Alpine?

    skywalker
    Free Member

    Why are you trying to convince us? I think you know what you should do.

    peasant
    Free Member

    Alpin what hardtail are you riding ?

    I_Ache
    Free Member

    Having recently got a HT (thats not too dissimilar to yours) to complement my 160mm FS. I would get the FS it is so nice being able to choose the best bike for the riding conditions.

    alpin
    Free Member

    small mkI Dialled Bikes Alpine. U-turn Lyrik. 700mm bars.

    pic is up there ^^

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    @peasant – he told us he had a Dialed Bikes Alpine

    @alpin – given you live in the Alps it seems rude not to have some kind of long travel FS ! I suppose your alternative would be to buy a used bike and see if you really used it, if you have the money and don’t mind spending it then go new and just enjoy it.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    As a die hard hardtail fan (untill last year) I’d disagree, minceing on a FS bike might be easier (I’d argue it’s actualy harder as there’s variation in the geometry at low speeds). But the ability to just ride into rough sections without thinking about it is addictive!

    toys19
    Free Member

    Alpin, I’m confused as to your motivation to start this thread. Given your dissembling of FS above, what on earth possesed you to order the canyon in the first place?

    I’m suspicious that this not just another of your willy waving threads of yore, displaying that you have “realised” that you are just too radcore for an FS and the rest of us should decamp to your location and watch/sniff your vapour trail/lick your tender areas?

    manitou
    Free Member

    Just bought myself a carbon HT still have my FS though. find the new bike a blast to ride,super fast and great handling.. but it might just be the novelty of a new bike! i like having both 🙂

    ash.addy
    Free Member

    Just buy a Bottlerocket you’ll have lots of fun, I do. There are some good s/h deals around.

    alpin
    Free Member

    ha… nice one toys…. more a “do i need another bike in the basement that probably won’t be ridden all that often when the bike i have does 95% of what i want to ride?” thread.

    i think my motivation for ordering it was watching too many vidoes over winter and reminiscing about the handful of lift assisted days last summer.

    it all seemed like a good idea up until yesterday afternoon and the bike will be here by friday. i can still send it back within 30 days of its arrival.

    toys19
    Free Member

    Just checking…

    I have a 160mm and a 210 mm bike, no skills, and a broad grin. The 160mm bike replaced my hardtail as my wrists and angles were taking a hammering attempting to do the kind of riding the 160mm bike adores. I use the 210 mm bike at least once a month on local uplift days and 2-3 europe trips a year. Worth every penny to satisfy my wants.

    (as I said before your use of the word need is misplaced, you don’t need it in your basement, but if you want it then keep it)

    alpin
    Free Member

    alright…

    do i want a 180mm FS?

    toys19
    Free Member

    do i want a 180mm FS?

    You are asking other people to know your own mind? Only you can answer this question my friend, if you don’t recognise your own desire then you are probably in deep shit.

    deanfbm
    Free Member

    Just because you CAN ride a hardtail down something fast does not mean it won’t be EVEN MORE FUN when tackled on a different bike.

    Depends what you find the fun in.

    On the downs (why’s it always the downs?), what EXTRA fun can be had on a full sus?

    It’s fun gritting your teeth, holding on for dear life, on the edge of control, you can get that sensation on a hardtail on less gnar terrain. To get that sensation on a 180mm+ bike, I myself have to be riding some pretty serious terrain.

    I say they’re fun in different ways. I don’t say a full sus is fun because it allows you to monster truck over stuff (that gets old pretty quick), and cover rough stuff quicker, i get the feeling that’s why lots of people find it more “fun”, the sense of being “good” and achievement.

    Hardtails are fun, full sus are fun, fun in different ways. Now i’ve got a hardtail again to go with my full sus, i wouldn’t be without it. The hardtail has made a lot of the local riding fun again.

    I’m in the camp of if you’re doing things right, you don’t need a full sus, though it’s still fun to ride a full sus.

    OP – Get the big bike, thrash it on the bike parks, just use them for different things.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Only you can answer this question my friend, if you don’t recognise your own desire then you are probably in deep shit.

    Wait? Are we still discussing bikes, or whether Alpin should join the Jedi?

    toys19
    Free Member

    What! You are saying owning/riding isn’t a deep philosophical experience?

    scuzz
    Free Member

    What! You are saying owning/riding isn’t a deep philosophical experience?

    I was mysteriously drawn to this thread, I now know why… Carry on

    jameso
    Full Member

    Hold on. You live there and you’re debating over whether to have a FS?

    I love HT/rigid as much as anyone and I’ve taken a HT on a 2 week alpine trip before. Great fun. But if I lived there? FK, I’d have a proper FS bike as well as a tough 120mm HT, and my bikepacker, my road bike etc.

    As much as I love hardtails, when it gets techy long forks can get on my wick anyway. >140mm forks are ok, after that I’d rather have the balance of a FS or a lighter HT.

    ART
    Full Member

    The fact that we’ve got this far down the thread and no one has taken you to task for ordering an ugly (ish) bike shows a dereliction of duty on behalf of the STW collective.

    Other than that it’s all been said.

    You ordered it cause you wanted it.
    Now you’re wondering if you need it which comes back to

    You are asking other people to know your own mind? Only you can answer this question my friend,

    Imagine you didn’t have the choice, would you still be happy on your Alpine … yeah probably.

    turbo1397
    Free Member

    I dont think you need this bike.. ive been on one of your guided tours in gran canaria and you were way faster than anyone else and they were on full susser’s! 😉

    faz083
    Free Member

    Like he ^ said, looks like you bought the wrong bike. I very much doubt you will need 180mm of travel for anything in the UK, or enjoy riding a 37 lbs bike up hill.

    you can’t get to 1400m anywhere in the UK….

    Steve77
    Free Member

    If you’re going to buy a bike you won’t ride at least buy a good looking one

    sam69
    Free Member

    YOUR HARDTAIL LOOKS THE DOGS,

    skywalker
    Free Member

    you can’t get to 1400m anywhere in the UK….

    No shit Sherlock.

    sangobegger
    Free Member

    Loved my full suss till it broke. So while new full suss is being prepared, I’m back to my old Cube aim frame with bits from here and there thrown on. I love it!!! – its fast,direct and its short arse dimensions mean that on Sunday past in the Cairngorms the run down Meall a Bhuachaille was a total hoot.However on a long run, I’ll take full suss any day. Horses for courses.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 49 total)

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