Just got back from 3 hours hard pounding at the rear.

Usually, whenever I go xc riding I’m on my 160mm full susser. It carries a bit of weight for sure but today, with my brakes out of service on the Nukeproof mega, I took the Blender out instead.

I must have gotten soft as I don’t remember xc riding being this punishing on a hardtail. Every bump, root and innocuous wallow was efficiently transferred to my back end. Stuff I’m used to not even noticing was bucking me forward and generally making it very hard to pedal efficiently and comfortably.

XC on a hardtail. Is it just me or does it in fact suck just a bit?….

How do you do it?!

stand up.

Here beginneth the lesson…

Learn to ride betterer, you’ve lost all your skillz on a big bouncy thing.

Here endeth the lesson…

You’re welcome 🙂

You have to Hover over the saddle a bit more through the lumpy bits,…and MTFU…

were you using flat pedals?

and MTFU

I believe this is the key

How do you do it?!

It’s not rocket science is it! 😕

This is why I’ve had a hardtail for the last 6-7 years or so at any point, as previously I spent 2-3 years with a full sus only. I found when I rode full sus all the time, I became lazy very quickly and tried to plow through everything sat down.

Mix it up more, it’ll make you a better rider, and consequently you’ll enjoy riding both more!

xc on a hardtail is ace.

the climbs are easier and ‘shorter’, the descents are more interesting and ‘longer’.

agree with all the comments but most of all MTFU.

You have to Hover over the saddle a bit more through the lumpy bits,…and MTFU…

This, especially the hover part.

Yeah MTFU ya big Jessie Wallop! 😉

It’s a different technique riding a ht, you have to learn to unweight the bike over bumps, and hover over the saddle when pedalling over bumps, the usual FS style of sit..spin…and pick a line doesn’t cut it, if you do that, your arse looks like this

Practise makes perfect (ish)…. Have fun 😀

XC on a 160mm FS, WTF do you ride enduro/trail centres on a crosser?

But learn to ride while standing and you’ll be surprised just how fast a HT can be for XC and other things too

XC on a hardtail. Is it just me or does it in fact suck just a bit?..

what on earth would you use a hardtail for if it wasn’t XC?

Big fast rolling tyres help too. Using the hovering technique (not really standing) and big tyres you really can ride as fast and nearly as comfy as in a full sus. Got 2.4 nobby Nics on and it makes a huge difference.

You need a nice suspension seatpost.

Or a 29er….

Nice suspension seatpost on a 29er with one of those gel seat covers you get from the supermarket.

Big volume tyres and riding technique are your best friends for XC on hardtail. I did a 4 hr ride around Peaks last week and never had any probs on my boardman 🙂

crush the bumps, full sus is the way to go. Did race last weekend along South Downs Way. Saw the CX and hardtails at the end at they acknowledged that they were pretty sore and beaten up. Full sus on that sort on that of long event and multi day just makes a lot of sense. There are always fatser down hill too. Despite the – get some skill nay sayers 😉

what on earth would you use a hardtail for if it wasn’t XC?

Well its a Blender, so I guess its my ragging about bike. Raced 4x on it, dirt jumps, and short downhill and loamy messing about in the woods. XC? not so much…

Some good comments there, Yeah I have gotten lazy and need to MTFU 😀

I was being a bit tongue in cheek I guess, I spent years with only hardtails but I guess its been a while since I rode any kind of distance on one, especially one with such a slack seat angle.

It is that almost constant hovering that is knackering. You spend so much time looking for bumps and wallows coming up that might buck you that you rarely are seated.

When the trail starts pointing downhill, its all good, I’m fine with that,stand up and be counted, its the ‘alongs’ that are the killers… 🙂

I have fairly large volume tyres, Small Block 8’s but pump them hard to roll better. Like was said above, mixing it up is good. I suppose the Mega has been my bike of choice lately, well, it is new…. 😀

nickswolves – You go near goyt?

Let a bit of air out of the SB8 that will make things a bit more comfortable.

Soften up ya front suspension
let some air out of the rear tyre
or just man up

No Shorty121 I did circuit around Hope, Hayfield etc. with Jacobs Ladder (which I rode the path section by accident – don’t ask, I was tired 🙂 )

Just got back from 3 hours hard pounding at the rear.

Was about to recommend a lube after reading this bit.

Tis just your riding style. I loved my FS but as said, you end up just sitting down ploughing through stuff. I much prefer my skinny steel clown wheeler for xc, in fact its fully rigid & I love the feel of it. Most of my rides are 90mins max though.

Have to pick your lines carefully, & use those four natural suspension joints you have called elbows & knees.

Only ever had a HT, but yesterday early evening I was beginning to feel a bit bashed around on a 2hr XC jaunt – was it time to buy that XC FS???

I have fairly large volume tyres, Small Block 8’s but pump them hard to roll better.

This wont help at all. Lower the pressure quite a lot so they deform properly. You speed will increase as they will roll faster; not be deflected by the trail so much, and stop tiresomely pinging you around, and you will get more grip everywhere and loads more comfort.

I would say man up. I did the Verderers today on the rigid 69er SS with 40 psi each end
And passed numerous full Suss riders

So ht rigid is the way forward, especially when you fancy waving your willy

Seriously though just ride the ht more it’ll soon fall into place 8)

It’s you.

On my Blur Classic I’d sit and cruise, so the suspension could do its best. Yawn.

On my HT (steel frame, ti post, so a bit soft) I’m all over it, it’s a much more involving ride and WAY more fun.

also, hear the man above re tyre pressures

Toughen up your ring with surgical spirit.

I would say man up. I did the Verderers today on the rigid 69er SS with 40 psi each end
And passed numerous full Suss riders

Riding backwards, one handed, whilst smoking a pipe of course?

Otherwise, come on… Purrrleeaase, beating full sus riders on a fully rigid is sooooooo last week! 😉

2.3″ wtb prowlers certainly make hardtail riding a lot easier, although when I was chasing a full suss equipped rider today down an extremely rocky, twisty descent my eyeballs were jiggling so much I couldn’t focus on anything and I could only vaguely follow the trail as it was brighter than the surrounding vegetation.

It was then utter hilarity when I tried to bleed off some speed and my bike just gave up tracking the ground and both wheels broke free, swinging me back and forth, back and forth until I gave up any pressure on my levers, which is quite hard to do when you can’t see properly. I miss posh bikes.

Had my first outing with a Forca Vario uppy-downy seatpost today on the hardtail 29er. Very handy for techy descents as you can hang off the back of the bike with gay abandon and save your rear end a bit of a pounding. Was sceptical how much difference it was going to make but I’m converted.

All said above really. Soften tyres a bit and learn to float the bike along.

On tamer trails to my mind an xc ht is hard to beat for fun. If i wanted to not feel any bumps I would have stayed a roadie or stuck to canal paths.

Love my FS bike too but only for trail centre type stuff where I can get the benefit on the more manmade aspects and theres not one of those trails I wouldn’t be happy to ride on my 456 (note I don’t do freeride or downhill – I am strictly xc / tech xc)

…If i wanted to not feel any bumps I would have stayed a roadie…

… what roads did you ride on?

the roads round here look like they’ve been ploughed.

Small Block 8’s but pump them hard to roll better.

Yep, that’ll work 🙄

When you say ‘hard’, what pressure?

I normally like 22-25psi in mine (2.35’s), nice trade-off for grip vs stability.

No idea what pressure they are to be honest, I normally just do the squidge-test 8)

Went for another 2 hour xc ride today on it and let some pressure out of the rear. Not too much but just enough to feel a bit of difference.

The ground in places in this weather is proper hard but yeah, it was better for sure. I also took a good dose of MTFU 😆

from those photos it looks like you should be on a 160mm ful suss, with a remote dropper seatpost.

Yes bigrich, canal towpaths can be brutal! 😉

Actually, the edge of those fields, absolutely knacked by blummin horses in the recent wet spell and then baked rock-hard would be far more pleasant with 160mm of magic carpet.

Sadly, I can’t afford a bike for every eventuality…