[Closed] Do i really need a full suss Bike?

Nope - you don't NEED one!

I have both and I love them both - A FS you can go faster and generally do 'BIGGER' with less skill 😉 The HT is cheaper and easier to maintain and better at climbing but less comfortable on long enduro rides.

So again you DONT need one but its nice to have it and I would not be without one unless cash was limted 😉

Edit: Yeh as Krammer said keep riding the HT and it'll make you pick your lines better - I rode HT for 10 years until I got FS!

Edit: yeh keep riding the HT

If you've only been biking a few months stick with your hardtail, it'll improve your skills better than hopping straight on a full suss.

you dont need anything in particular to enjoy riding bikes other than a bike any will do. The more you do the more you will change its a disease that a few of us on here have its called new bikeitis 🙂 ive had road cx full sus rigid front sus big travel short travel even three 29ers and a 69er all good. Some more than others in different areas. But all fun just enjoy it 🙂

You don't need one but there great so get one. Then you can become all evangelistic in a couple of months and get a fully rigid bike!
I bought a full susser 6 months in & have never looked back or regreted it. I did buy a hardtail last year & was out on it last night, great fun in the rain but slow as **** downhill compared to any of my 3 full sussers!

IMO don't waste your money on a full susser, get a really decent hardtail. I have both and hardly ever use the full sussers as i prefer the cheap hardtail.

Having said that you can never really know without trying a full susser if you prefer it or not so see if you can get either Afan or Glencorwg bike shops to let you have a demo on one for a day and then try riding the same route on a decent hardtail and see which you prefer.

yes, er no, er yes, er probably.......er probably not.....

If you want one buy one, if you don't, don't.

If you listen to what everyone else says, you will end up wanting about 4 more bikes.

I have one of each, the FS is way better/comfier to ride on all dayers and anything rocky.

HT is a right laff balsting through woods and for short rides

The answer is No, unless you're really getting uncomfortable on the HT on long rides.
Try a few different bikes when the 2010 BikeDemo days come to Afan in the new year maybe?

Stick with the hardtail for a while longer to keep building your skills. 😉

I'll be a little more cynical. If you have the cash then yes. If not no.

I have both and think Foxyrider's comments are spot on.

When I've got one in the shed then I'll ride my ht 95% of the time. When I haven't got one in the shed I keep thinking 'time to get another FS'.

I ran a HT for over a decade and occassionally thought about a FS, but wasn't really that bothered, as I never found much I couldn't ride.

However, just over 3 years ago, a couple of mates bought FS'ers and I was struggling to keep up downhill and I ended up getting a FS ('06 Enduro). I loved it - the extra speed I could carry through tricky sections was awesome and the extra weight uphill wasn't a problem as my mates were pretty steady.

My riding buddies changed over time and due to ickle lungs and occassional lay off's/general lack of fitness, I found myself struggling on the Enduro whilst riding with fitter people. I'd end up taking the HT out just to try and keep up. This summer I've built up an S-Works Enduro, which has the best of both worlds for me - it descends fantastically well and climbs like a dream. On the flat, it's fast - very fast and my fitness is rocketing - as well as my mojo well and truly returning.

So, to give my advice from my experiences - you don't need a FS, but one day you will be at the point where you will have a lot more fun on one. If your HT isn't hindering your riding, stick with it, and certainly don't buy a low end FS'er - wait until you can find/afford the right bike.

To put this to bed - if anyone comes on here and spouts off about FS'ers being skill compensators, I swear I'll **** em one. 😉

Carrera Furys (Furies?) are great bikes, unless there's anything niggling you about it I'd just enjoy it.

Here's one in Scotland!

[img] [/img]

You should definately [i]try[/i] a full suss... Demo or hire bike if you can lay mits on one, at the very least it's good to know how the other half live.

They're very cool, certainly more capable at some things but it's not for everyone, I like a hardtail personally and I've never once thought "Oh, I wish I had a full suss" out on the trails. I'm faster on a full suss on most interesting terrain, but I have less fun, so since I'm not racing and all my mates would still be faster than me anyway, I stick with my ht.

The only time I have found my Intense useful was riding in the lakes. If I rode there regularly I would defo keep my FS. For my majority of riding though I'll stick with my rigid SS and get a geared HT for harder stuff. B

be honest and look at where you ride and how often.

Sold my FS Flux going back to a geared hardtail, riding the ss convinced me this was what I needed

Of course you don’t NEED one but in my humble opinion they offer a lot more than a hardtail ever can... (it is my opinion and I’m entitled to it 🙂 )....

I started MTB on a HT which i had for a few years before taking the plunge into FS and I’ll never go back. Modern frames offer fantastic reliability in traditional FS weak areas (pivot bearings etc), and modern materials mean you are only marginally compromised in terms of weight. A sorted 3-4inch FS bike will always be quicker round a track than a HT with same rider and conditions as you can simply carry more speed and get away with more.

I do agree that HT is the place to start though, certainly means you’ll be a smoother rider in the long run.

Stick with a hardtail as your skills will improve much quicker and you'll develop into a better rider because of it.

Should you find yourself some time in the future riding things you can't do and falling off because its too steep rocky fast bumpy rooty tc, then get a full sus.

I've flicked between the two for years and love them both but hardtails make you ride better, involve you more and make you pick lines through things you can just blast through on full sus.

shots.
Are you prepared for the firestorm of derision that a comment like "a FS bike will be quicker 'round a track than a HT" brings with it?
I can tell you for nothing that this is complete & utter gibberish.

If you spend your entire life negotiating rock-gardens, you'll be happier on a FS. For all else a HT is about all you ever need.

I spend most of my time now on a HT, even racing pairs 'round Bonty 24 last w/end I did not swap the HT at 1/2time, I stayed on the HT. And the full sus that was not ridden was a Turner Flux, a fabulous £3k+ 4 inch travel full sus'.

Apologies I should have clarified further... a FS will of course be quicker around a certain loop so long as it’s not either Tarmac or totally smooth trail....

I fully expect to get blasted but it is completely true, you can take more direct lines and carry more speed on rough terrain with a FS, and rough terrain is of course part and parcel of MTB’ing. Modern refinements in suspension tech only make this more true as there is minimal compromise when going up hill. And indeed on technical rocky climbs (the best kind) a little suspension travel massively aids traction.

HT simply seems faster because your getting jostled round all over the shop and consequently have to focus more on the riding... I’m not knocking HT’s its just the way it is so don’t see this a personal attack on all you HT owners!!!!

At the end of the day if its got two wheels its a bike, which is alright with me!!! 🙂

There was a similar post on the Cannock Chase website.
The question was which was fastest 'round the Red Route.
The HT bikes came out a clear winner & the weapons of choice.
I did 3 days at Afan in February. One day on the HT, one day on the full sus' and the HT got the nod for the 3rd day around the W2 loop.
Around Dalby Forest I've done a similar test.
Again the HT won out.
My experiences are very much at odds with yours.

If you mostly ride trail centres I would have thought a hardtail would be well-suited. For my riding which is mostly in the Lakes, I can't imagine going back to a hardtail really. Def worth seeing if you can demo a full-susser, but it sounds like you are enjoying your current bike, so you certainly don't NEED to get anything else.

Ti29

I guess its choice of trails, when living in the UK I was riding lots of big natural stuff in North Yorkshire and the Lakes, with the odd 7 Stanes visit, for all of this I would say FS much faster and more enjoyable. For the groomed single track you find at most trail centres I guess an HT would prove quicker (although I did say on everything except smooth trails and tarmac 🙂 ). Mind you the last time I rode at Dalby I don’t think it would have mattered what I was on, the mud was so bad!!!

On the natural single track I’m riding here in Oz, which is mostly gravely, rocky and very pedaly, FS is definitely the way to go!!!
!!!

Have I wriggled out of that succesfully...!!!? I do remeber some time ago though MBUK running a comparison of FS and HT round a loop and they found the FS consitently faster.

"...and love it.Its perfect for the trails and runs in Afan Argoed ( 5mins away )"
I was more tailoring my own observations & comments around what he's riding at present, but your comments are equally valid about riding off-piste.
Again, when the Bike Demo season kicks off at Afan, demo some full suss'ers on familiar routes; up Whites, down the Skyline typically. It's also the MBR test route.

PS - I'd say Dalby is pretty borderline FS v HT over which is faster over the Red Route.

Don't get a new bike yet if your Carrera is fairly new, ride some different trails instead.

At some point, get one. They're fun to ride, and you'll see the trails in a different way - the right lines on a HT and a FS are different, etc. I'd wait a while, though: your bike is fairly new, and you're fairly new to biking - you might find that you're more into long XC rides than the gnarly stuff, or vice versa.

I've had both, and currently use a HT, for the type of riding I do it's more than enough.

i feel fastest on my cx then next fastest on my hardtail but slowest on my fullsus but in reality its the other way round when going by time rather than feel

Thanks all!!

Think i'll stay with my HT for the time being.My mates on FS have all been riding for years and i'm nowhere near them downhill, and i'm not really bothered TBH.Up hill I'm on their tails chatting away ( think that annoys them 🙂

Seems that my downhill skills and with it speed would be better honed sticking with my HT.

Cheers all.

CD

Frankly it's an impossible question to answer. Depends on riding style, where you ride, aspirations, age, fitness, mentality etc. If you have the money you should try it because if you don't you will never know. Most people would regard a FS as better for the widest variety of riding including rocky trails and longer distances. A lot of the replies above have been about which is faster, but for many (like me) as long as you can keep up with your mates, comfort and capability are more important.

IMHO you should buy a S/H FS to try it on a variety of trails over some months rather than just doing a demo. You will then be able to work out not just whether you want a F/S but also what sort of spec. Then sell it without much loss and get exactly the bike you want

[i]I bought a Carrera Fury back in May and love it.[/i]

If I had my time again, I'd stop buying bikes after the Kona Fire Mountain in 1998 (which I loved) and would put the [i]thousands[/i] of pounds I've spent since chasing minor incremental improvements in new mountain bikes and bits and spend them instead on trips away [i]riding[/i] the damn bike. 😀

Here in Norway, the big mtb-mag did a test to see which was the fastest. They pitted the top of the line Trek HT against it's equivilent FS model and did several laps on typical XC race courses (technical woodland terrain, rocky and lots of roots). The test riders were professionals and in peak condition.

The FS bikes beat out the HTs by several seconds in every test, which came as a surpise to all.

while it's unlikely you need it, if you can afford it, and it makes you happy then go for it

CD.
Decision made, eh?
Maybe in the future, when the budget is in excess and you've tried your mate's or taken a demo bike out look at having 2x bikes in your arsenal.
You're not losing out except perhaps on very rocky ground, but you're gaining elsewhere, so "[b]the bike you own is the best bike by far" - & you can quote me on that!

no
and you dont need gears or disc brakes or front sus either