[Closed] Ridable on a hardtail

It's all rideable on THE RIGHT HARDTAIL

It's not about what bike you ride but more about the rider, if you have the balls to stay off the brakes It makes a world of difference to how a trail rides.

Is it not more about the geometry, than whether it's full sus or hardtail?

I've ridden bikes where it feels like I am constantly being pitched over the front on steep descents, where others feel like the front is a lot more likely to roll over a bump, rather than come to a dead stop.

First yr I went to Ciclo Montana, my forks dumped all their oil halfway through the week & were pretty much unrideable. Marco lent me an old set of Marzocchi's which had quite a bit more travel; they were a bit wandery on climbs, but made the bike loads quicker on the descents.

stumpy01 - Member

Is it not more about the geometry, than whether it's full sus or hardtail?

I'd definitely ride things on my Ragley that I wouldn't be comfortable riding on an Anthem or similiar. And I'm a sackload faster on it than on my Camber (which was built with almost entirely the same parts other than the frame) So yeah, it's not hardtail vs full suss as much as big bike vs little bike, or capable bike vs less capable bike.

What I find is that there's nothing I've ridden on my full suss or even my downhill bike that I won't ride on my hardtail, but, there's things I wouldn't have ridden on the hardtail if I hadn't already done them on the full suss.

Having sold a full suss and waiting for my next, I've been riding ht all the time of late. On trail centre level/XC stuff it feels like I'm cheating as the ht is so much quicker. Just jump/unweight for the rocky bits!

Hardtail is so much more enjoyable and more rewarding when you do make it down uber tech sections..... rode gatesgarth, scarth gap, black sail and styhead on my HT last year and loved it. In saying that it makes you a much quicker rider when you return to the full suss. Riding = epic whatever bike.

Link was posted earlier...best video Eva!

Hardly the collective, but brill!

DrP

I'd still say its more about the rider, my local club runs a avalanche style event and last years winner was on a anthem x 29er and he was up against all sorts from hardtails to dh bikes and everything in between.

Love that vid

I haven't seen it before and so thank you for that video.

Love that vid: "my neck still hurts a bit"

Although suspension plays a part in jumps and drops, that is not really where it's designed to shine (think of BMXers dropping to flat...)~ multiple hits and rough terrain is where a full suss will really shine above a hardtail.

A real testing ground for this is super tech and gnarly DH, where even highly skilled riders rely on the suspension to soak up and adapt to the terrain, beyond what can be achieved simply by dynamic body positioning~ if anyone managed a clean full run of Glencoe DH on a hardtail, I'd gladly buy them a pint.

For most people "Rideable" has a lot to do with being comfortable if a 6-7" skills compensator makes someone comfy enough to try trickier stuff then fair enough.

There is something to be said for learning to ride a HT competently before moving on to a bouncer but I can't really stand the pious spouting that some feel the need for on the topic... Yes you can confidently ride a HT through hades and back... It's still only riding a push bike...

I rode a ht for 10 years (though I did stop to sleep and go to work).
I now ride a fs. I find it much more comfortable. I'm pretty sure that everything I ride on it I would have ridden on my ht.

I had one situation where fs was definitely faster - a set of small mud steps down a hill. HT was bump, bump, bump, bump. FS was bang, bang, bang, bang, straight over the bumps.

[IMG] [/IMG]
The olympic XC course has a nice rock garden. If the lycra clad guys could race across then I think people will be fine on a HT suited for something rougher- especially if you take your time.

I'd still say its more about the rider

didnt think that actually needed stating but if I know I'm going to be riding some super technical trail tomorrow I can't decide to become a riding god but I can grab ONE OF the slack FSer from the cupboard instead of the hard tail.

if I know I'm going to be riding some super technical trail tomorrow I can't decide to become a riding god but I can grab the slack FSer from the cupboard instead of the hard tail.

The olympic XC course has a nice rock garden. If the lycra clad guys could race across then I think people will be fine on a HT suited for something rougher- especially if you take your time.

Whilst I totally agree that you can ride anything on a hardtail if you're good enough, in my experience the best way to handle the rough sections is to ride them as fast as possible so you skim the bumps, preloading beforehand so you ride light over them.

I've always thought full sus is cheating. Never liked them.

GB

Burn the man who has a cupboard for his bikes.

What next? A wardrobe for his shoes?

Burn the man who has a cupboard for his bikes.

I've always thought full sus is cheating.

or grow some balls.