Hi – I’ve noticed on the forums several users who are switching back from full bouncers to hardtails.

Just wondering what people reasoning for doing this might be? financial, maintenance etc. Just interested.

For me, i just got bored of pointing it down a hill and hanging on. Just seemed like a passenger rather than picking lines and stuff. Much prefer my 456 and can keep up with most on downhill stuff just as easy.

Fun

At the end of last year I sold my Orange 5 & bought an mmmBop hardtail when it was on offer at CRC for £155.

Primarily financial reasons (recently married, baby on the way, etc).

It’s been refreshing riding a hardtail again after a decade on various full sussers.

Absolutely no regrets!

I keep thinking about this but then go for a ride on the full sus. Its soooooo much nicer of fast rocky stuff, no way could a hardtail be as good/better and testing it back to back with my 456 SS which has virtually the same angles and same setup as my full sus, it confirms it.

Run both, but they’re equally fun, just different. Hardtail’s better (lighter) on epics.

I’ve ridden FS since coming back to the sport (around 10 years ago now) and built up a HT last year basically because I had most of the parts lying around except the frame.

eBay steel frame and far too many new parts later I had a HT built (way over budget) and it’s now my go-to bike.

Not sure why I like it more, seems to be more suited to trail centres than my bigger travel Iron Horse or the smaller travel Boardman FS. Just seems to work.

I went back to a hardtail,ended up with 2 over the winter – a Cotic Soul and a Charge Blender, addictive and fun for a while and then after a few months i started missing the full suss on the rougher more technical stuff, it did teach me to ride better though and get out of some bad habits.
The Blender has now been stripped down ready to be sold when i get round to it and a Specialized Pitch built up. Having a Soul and a Pitch covers all bases for me with a nice bit of overlap between the two.

For me I just fancied a change – I’d never ridden any of the gypo HTs that people go on about here so I thought I’d give one a try. Picked up a cotic BFe which is a decent ride. Saying that, it’s pretty clear to me that I prefer a short travel FS bike for the UK. I’ll probably go back once I’ve got the money together for something good.

Change is great, though. It was ages since I rode a HT properly and you forget what it’s like. Helps you really understand suspension and what it does when you ride without it for a bit.

Mix of all the above. Stumpjumper FSR kind of takes the thrill out of a lot of runs, but then some runs would be to brown stain inducing to do without it. Find it easier to recover if it all goes pear shaped, and the “flow” factor is higher. And at my age the less aggro on the back and backside the better ….

By contrast a Carbon Stumpjumper Marathon HT with a 1×9 build from the parts bin is just pure rattle factor. You have to look a lot further ahead, and follow through no matter the potential consequence. I always come back from those rides more thrilled out. More of what I remember MTB was in the younger dumber days.

I find similar in the Snowboarding analogy, big long all mountain board for the powder days, with a short stiff board when its fast and icy …

HAve just bought a Giant XTc frame for longer day rides – delivered today – build up over the weekend – can’t wait to get out and ride a HT – it’s been 6years nearly. Sure I will miss the ‘bounce’ and ‘comfort’ but a weird part of me will enjoy being rattled senseless as I fly down the trials! Can’t wait 🙂

Have a FS & a rigid ss 29er ht on the go at the moment.
Pretty set on getting rid of the FS now.
The 29er is just more in tune with my riding these days.
FS just feels dead. Ok, it can carry me down rocky / bumpy stuff at daft speeds, but I’m just not enjoying that kind of riding any more. The ht seems to present more of a challenge, but biggest reason is the bike just feels more alive.

I agree with a lot of what has already been said, for me it’s a cyclical thing though. I love the challenge of a hardtail and the way it forces me to hone my skills and fitness to go fast. I’ll then convince myself that I need an FS bike to go faster/bigger/better and that’ll lead to me getting lazy and eventually bored due to the lack of a challenge. And then the cycle will start all over with me back on a hardtail.

The hype around FS bikes bores me to tears too. The simple fact is that none of them are perfect and they all have their flaws. But with prices skyrocketing of late, now I’ve sold my Five I’ll be looking at a hardtail for reasons of cost as much as for the challenge this time around.

For me it’s primarily financial – Cost of acquisition and maintenance… same reasons as most people, Family, Mortgage, Income, etc, etc…

I’ve always had a HT and the bouncers I’ve owned were the optional “Luxury” so I suppose I never “went Back” to riding a HT simply did away with the option of riding an FS…

The bouncers I’ve had I enjoyed but I think the Smiles per miles per pounds spent ratio is higher with a HT (For me)…
That’s not to say they are Better or Worse, simply Different, Yes Fast DH on a HT is not as Fast as a Full bouncer, But it sure can feel like it, you do learn alot, picking lines, where and how to brake, the best way through/over around roots and rocks, I don’t think riders who Default to an FS bike always manage to maintain these skills (Gross generalisation)…

I think for for alot of people the price of the bike/Kit they can afford is a significant factor so it does form part of the “Enjoyment Equation”…

Would I have another bouncer? Yes but only as a DH bike, and I wouldn’t spend big money on it…

Got a FS and HT. Ride them the same way. Never worry about ‘picking lines’ and ‘challenges’ as they are both ace bikes and that’s all I want.

I like my hardtail,

I like my full suss,

Think it boils down to I run out of fitness on the full suss, and I run out of skill/bottle on the hardtail. For example sprinting out of a corner on flat pedals with 6″ of mush is a sluggish affair, the hardtail may corner slower, but you can be on te gas and pedaling a lot more efficiently out of it. Bizzarely I find line choices harder on the full sus as often they’re so much less obvious, maybe thats just becasue I’ve been on a HT too long and can’t visualise just going straight through something that looks unridable.

Ride both.

But in different places…

The Heckler is way overkill for 90% of my riding.. ( Possibly 100%.. )

But having moved and having Delamere on my doorstep, kinda realised that a HT was more than enough for the local area.

I think as humans we like change

often we can’t change our local trails so we change the bikes weride them on

people love going FS people love going hard tail

Oh and hard tails are alot cheaper (£200 on shock servicing this month, the bike was only £800!!!!)

I’ve tried a few bouncers and although I found them good on the downhills (sometimes even a bit of an overkill) they just seemed to be a drag on everything else. A hardtail seems more direct when putting the power through the pedals and climb a lot better.

Thanks for the replies – I’m not looking at this as one is better than the other.
Interested in people that have ridden full sus, and then decided to go back to a hardtail – and their reasoning.

[hijack]

sorry, but teetosugars, can you mail me about the bars please? been trying to contact you for ages.

cheers

[/hijack]

I got rid of my hardtail last year, wasn’t riding it any more, FS bikes do everything better IMO.

Financial for me, hardtail is a lot of fun, also due to moving, changing riding style to suit the pumptrack in my back garden and a bit of xc

I’ve gone from a hardtail to 4″ travel and to be honest, it’s much more fun. Faster through the rough stuff with a higher grin factor. Sorry, but the HT just rattled my bones…

I only have FS. I don’t get bored. If I do I make myself go faster 🙂

A trail ridden faster on an FS becomes different.. different skills, challenges and experience. When I did have both I went a couple of years without riding the HT at all.

Do you think the severity of injuries on a FS would be higher than a HT given the ability to ride roughshod over risky areas, that would have you slowing down on a HT ???

Obviously not the be all and end all when it comes to injury, but just had an epiphany of the “at 30 MPH you will bounce off … at 50 MPH you will kill her …” adverts

it’s been over 15 years since I haven’t always have both, would never ditch a hardtail for a full sus. I have 3 full sus bikes but don’t use any of them locally, I’m not fit enough to pedal enough to make them worth while here. (ie. I ride for fun)

I swap between the two depending on how I feel and whether I’m exploring, doing epics, blasting rough downhills etc.

Some times I just get bored of one or the other.

My two bikes are a Kona Coiler and a Merida Trail.

Do you think the severity of injuries on a FS would be higher than a HT given the ability to ride roughshod over risky areas, that would have you slowing down on a HT ???

Definitely!

I binned it going flat out down the Gap on my fully rigid 96 P7 back in the day. I rolled and got up laughing, must’ve been doing all of 15mph hanging on for grim death. Nowadays I can probably beat 30 down there, and we all know what can happen then (see Russ Pinder crash for details)

I have several bikes, the full sus I love but it never gets used. 456SS I criticise on the uphills but use the most as no damage matters. HT is like a GF you had when you were 15 – use, abuse and ditch 😉

Financial, although i am changing from a modern hardtail to a mid 90s hardtail with v-brakes (i will put a disc on the front) and gripshift gears!

Having a Soul and a Pitch covers all bases for me with a nice bit of overlap between the two.

Wisdom.

It does depend on what most of your trails are like I think. While there is rough stuff here, there’s a lot of smoother trails that feel more fun on a lively HT, and larger volume tyres help too. But for DH trails, the more armored trail centres, and rocky mountains, I prefer the FS for it’s security and comfort – it’s not like it pedals badly anyway.

If you forced me to choose, I’d sell both bikes, and build up a slightly more ‘core HT – probably a Sovereign

I’ve recently moved back to a HT, because I’m Awesome mainly.

It’s so much more fun smoking riders when I haven’t got a skill compensator.

Got both(2/3 of each) & like riding all of them………

Not on this thread, but have never understood why so many people feel you can only be in one camp or t’other…..

At the end of last year I sold my Orange 5

😯 😮 👿 BURN HIM!