Been for a couple of rides on my recent addition to my commencal fleet 8). Really enjoyed riding a hardtail (combi disc) after only riding a full sus (meta 55). It does shake you around alot though! And my cheeks took some adjusting! 😕 Can't match the acceleration from the pedals compared to waiting for the suspension to sap up all the energy. Anybody convert to hardtail and never go back, or vice versa? I wont be riding a hardtail as my only bike but it's a different option and a good one!
I only ride hardtail 🙂 I love the feeling of being so connected to the trail
Same here. I swapped all the bits off my 04 enduro onto a 456 about three years ago and have never swapped back. Love hard tails.
I swapped all the parts off my 06 enduro onto a dialled alpine, i think i'll be keeping the alpine for a long time as my do just about everything bike, but i think i'll buy a big bike (7 or 8 inches) at some point in the next year for bike parks and stuff.
Yeh I agree......but..... full sus's are easier to ride over the rough stuff and therefore make me faster. I'm not saying that hardtails aren't as fast and I'm sure you hardtail only riders would trounce me on my full sus. Think my aim is the improve my riding for a bit on the hardtail then get onto my full sus to make me faster again. that make sense?
everyone should have at least one hardtail - it should be law! 🙂
I only have the one bike. Its a HT. Dialled Alpine, does everything from chicksands to a 53 mile XC run last saturday. If anything i am doing more XC so should probably get a lighter frame but cannot give up on the 5% of my riding where i do stupid things 😉
p.s i have never owned a full suss.
yep, using my 456 with a rigid steel fork and its a smack in the face literally - keep bouncing off line and ending up in some scrapes. had a weird crash tonight in fact, but top fun.
had a full suss briefly, imensely fast, but a bit like a magic carpet, it just felt like i was picking lines in a video game rather than actualy riding them.
i've always preferred the ride from a hardtail. Had a number of shots on different ful sussers, but never really enjoyed it as much as a HT.
that being said, nothing climbed as well as my old Palomino ... i do miss it for that.
Yeh I can see your points guys. Nice to be able to have both where some stuff is just a bit too narly for a HT!
Sold two full suss's (reign and blur) recently and now have 4 hard tails, no regrets. Suits me loads better, like the feedback.
I've been saving up for a FS, but after getting more travel out of my fork and adding a silly wide tyre to the front i'm having second thoughts. My Sanderson has become even more fun to ride.
Im going to get a hard tail even though I own an awesome orange patriot - The more aggressive you ride the better on a hardtail - its all about standing up and wrestling it through the rough.
Dunno if i'd manage it on a longer rider. My legs would be ****ed!
Yep. Because I'm planning to get a new HT frame, I've been riding the battered old mongoose recently and enjoying its bull-like behaviour at full speed. It barges its way downhill, kicking and sliding and scaring me half to death while thrashing my thighs. And it looks really rad/knarly with a slack, gussetted front, fat tubes and a slammed seat. (so why do I want a tarty new frame then?)
Learning to ride my FS has definitely made me push limits on the HT. Great fun (apart from feeling beaten up after a ride). I agree that all FS owners should have a HT too, perhaps just to remind them how much effort/knarl the rear sus is saving them.
HT for the short couple of hour runs, Full Suss for the day long and fast rides
Love it! nice to hear all the love for hardtails. May wait a bit longer before goin from my £400 HT back to my £2000+ full sus 😕 Amazing that innit. Been obsessed with all the gear but deffo had no idea! Hehe
i have a road bike for my hardtail, so a bit of comfort doesn't go amiss when offroad. Think i'll be keeping my full susser, anyway climbs as well as a hardtail and you can take lines you wished you could on a HT
Thats not to say that I love the HT more, its just i had fun on it! I do enjoy my full sus just pleased to now have both. A revelation me thinks
I went straight from rigid to hardtail and it was only 10 years later, last year in fact, when I got a hardtail that I realised I'd never needed full suspension.
the FS is sure-footed, faster up, down, more forgiving, and goes better for longer.
the HT is mental, like wrestling with a bull. Some days that's what I want!
Been on mates FS's but only ever had a hardtail...goes to the alps every year, well one month in total, tis quite funny being the only hardtail, bar friends, that you might see on the mountain...trying to keep up with some french mentalist on an M3 is....hard work but very rewarding.
Only ever ridden HT (bar a couple of short 2-hour rides on a full sus). Really don't understand this opinion:
thepodge - MemberHT for the short couple of hour runs, Full Suss for the day long and fast rides
Not critising it, just isn't my experience - i've happily done full day rides, multiday rides (C2C etc) on a HT. I go as fast as fitness/ability allows.
my xc race bike is a scott spark (4" full sus)
for general riding/fun duties i use a ns bikes surge, hardtail.
not found anything i can't ride on it. good fun, as i find i get bored with bigger full sus bikes.
Yeah! Got a Ti456 and promptly sold the Stumpjumper FSR Pro.
Had some good times on it, but I got sick of the maintennance and the constant fettling with shock pressures. The Ti456 is nice and simple with no bounce at the back and coils at the front and a bendy ti seatpost means that its more than ridable all day.
Would definitely entertain a FS if I was rich enough to employ a bike butler/mechanic, but I think on 90% of my riding I prefer the greater involvement that you get with a HT. Its also great feeling to clear technical or fast/rocky stuff with as little assistance as possible.
I've only ever ridden one FS that I would keep. HT all the way for me, rigid is just fine too.
Changed my frame in February and went through a real dilema over this. Decide to go for the full-suss.
A mate of mine was getting mega back pain after riding his HT. Swapped to a full-suss and stopped straight away, so no-brainer for him.
As for me, I only have one bike and it's a 4"FS, Which serves me really well for the riding I do (Exmoor, Quantocks, SW stuff). I remember when I switched over from my hardtail and it was a revelation how much more enjoyable the bouncer was to ride. Blasting into a tricky root section just made me laugh out loud. I find 100mm is plenty for a bit of extra control and comfort without de-sensitising the trail. My mate had a 150mm and dropped down in travel as he reckoned it made everything a bit boring but didn't feel he actually went any faster.
But, I'd really like a HT for racing, riding local trails (which are pretty smooth) and for winter, 'cos they're so much easier to clean when it's filthy. I also really like the idea of all that trail feedback. I just wouldn't want one as my only bike. If I lived somewhere like the South-East, I reckon a hardtail would be spot-on though.
Your right with the cleaning and maintenance issues. Got to have the bushings done on my meta as theres play in the them which you certainly wouldn't get on a HT! Don't even know where to start with changing them. The meta's linkage is a bit of a mine field to a not too technical minded person.
only got one bike built up - HT. i'm liking the idea of a 4" FS at the mo for razzing duties though.
FS has its place. the trails i like to ride in wales and the lakes wouldn`t be half as fun oh a HT.
i've got a yeti arc that i love, ride it in the winter to save my rear suss bearings from cornish grit. its a great great bike, but the joy of getting back onto my intense 5.5!!! : ))
I have a hardtail, been riding for a year now. I love the connected feeling a hardtail gives. I rode a Trek Remedy 7 last night, and whilst I think it's a stunning bike, It would take a bit of getting used too!
I've been riding rigid's or HT's for the last 13 years and also a FS for the last 3.
Give me the FS any day - in fact I've just sold both bikes so I can have just one 6" FS. Soooo much more fun.
I enjoy riding a HT sometimes, but for the choice of just one bike, there's no competition for me.
After a good few years on hardtails only I am currently best liking 7 inches of heavy big tyred wallowyness
Rather than the usual 'full suss made my trails boring' I am finding it a refreshing change and just going faster instead. What line? Any line I ****ing want thanks.
And the climbs are just resistance training right?
I have never spent more than about £1,500 on a mountain bike. At that price, I have never been convinced that a FS was going to be a great improvement, so have never really made the jump. You don't miss what you've never had, although on my current effort (Pace RC305 with Pikes) I can see why you'd want the rear wheel suspended when the front end works so well. 🙂
I swapped from HT to FS in 2005 after doing MM on a HT a few weeks after being knocked off my bike by a car.. my back took a pounding, so I bought a XC style full sus.. thing is, I kind of rode it like a HT - the rear shock was always set harder than recommended, last year I got on a mates HT, the full sus was sold a few months later and I was back to HT. I agree with what's been said already, I feel more connected to the trails on my HT, I feel my riding is better and singletrack is more fun.. although, with a deep pocket it would be nice to have both 🙂
I'm amazed that people start riding on full-sus, but I geuss the prices are such nowadays that most people will think 'why not?'. Truth is that you'll develop trail skills on a hardtail, which will make you ride much better when you upgrade to FS.
I've swapped between the two over the last 10yrs. I ride faster on FS, but have just as much fun on a HT.
Conversely, riding FS for a while will make you a better HT rider too - I find it makes me more confident at speed, and you look at the terrain differently. I'm currently HT only as they need less looking after.
HT's rule....
plus you havent got all the expense of shocks leaking/servicing, bearings going etc.....
there is nothing i cant ride on the HT that i used to ride on the full suss
Yeh suppose your right, to be honest, my full sus is probably capable of more than I ever will be but we earn money to spend and spend I have. I agree with improving riding on a HT, it makes you work but once you blitz a line makes you feel better. Still keeping my FS as main bike though haha
I have never spent more than about £1,500 on a mountain bike. At that price, I have never been convinced that a FS was going to be a great improvement
my intense 5.5 cost me 1500 (give or take a tenner) last year - everything new and xt/x9 spec. ok i was lucky with some cracking deals and recent price hikes would nail it these days but i still believe you can get better value with self builds than completes.
for what its worth (excuse the pun) i'm just about to rebuild it having scavenged some parts for my yeti and sourced new stuff, build now is xt, juicy 7s, pike 454 airs and hope am4 plus obligatory thomson, and i still reckon i'm a little under 2k.
