Seem to be riding my whyte 130 less and less (shame as its a great bike) as seem to be doing more riding form my house. They feel quite similar in terms of capability. Obvs the whyte can shread the downs better but the HT just eats up the miles.

Don’t have a much time to ride these days so would rather just ride from my house rather than drive somewhere to ride.

Never thought i would say this but think i am going to give up the FS for a while.

Anybody else done the same?

Similar, but keeping the fs xc bike as it’s as fast as the hard tail everywhere except rough stuff in which case it’s faster.

Longer travel fs has been sold.

Since building up a Transition Vanquish HT, I’ve not ridden my Ibis Mojo HD3.

Nah. I have a short travel fs for dry weather and a hardtail for wet.

I have a short travel fs for dry weather and a hardtail for wet.

V sensible.

I thought about selling my Cube Stereo 120 2017 as I was using my Hardtail more. But kept getting ridiculous offers on price for it £250 and £300 😡🤬 so I’ve just decided keep it for fast and dry days. And use my 29er Hardtail for winter slop.
Most of my riding now is cruising the Canal and back lanes, even 120mm is overkill.

Yes.
I ride a 140mm fork, ti 29er.
Hasn’t slowed me on the downs (even in the Lakes) and is brilliant everywhere else

I tried the 29 HT route but if you are going for one bike only I think a decent short travel FS ticks all the boxes. I ended up swapping the components off my hard tail onto a SC Tallboy frame

My T130 is what i use on most trails, the 29er gets boring commutes and benign bridleways, if you can get to the trails then FS is always easier in the long run, but if you have to do it from the doorstep and the trails aren’t nearby, then the 29er is always good for burning miles.

I seem to be addicted to BPW so the 130 travel mega tr is a little lacking. I’m going the other way- looking for more travel, and driving everywhere.

I know it’s heresy on here but despite starting on a rigid and HTs I absolutely hate riding them these days, FS all the way for me.

I sold my Meta AM recently and juat have my Solaris now. Might get a shoeter travel fs at some but I love riding the Solaris and i’ll hire the odd time i’m in the Alps or the like…

I went to HT only in about September 2014. Then back picked up a T129 in July 2018.

I was getting pretty beat up trying to catch friends on their FS bikes so not the bullet. I have a couple of rigid MTBs too for when the terrain doesn’t call for any gnar.

Going the other way personally – been solely riding a 29er HT for the last couple of years but getting a full suss frame to build up as well. Majority of riding is from the door but I’m pining for a bit of squish.

I sold my (26”er) Rocket about 5 years ago.

Ran 29er/B+ hardtails since. Until a couple months ago, one B+ stripped and boxed, one 29er FS built up…

But I live in the highlands, plenty variety to warrant all 3 variations 🤪

I went the hardtail route a couple of years ago and hated it so much i just stopped riding almost completely but was financially committed, as soon as i could i bought a short travel fs and love riding all over again …. the ht was no faster anywhere but far slower on singletrack or anywhere rough i needed to pedal over , I’ll never buy another hardtail ever

FS XC racce bike has gone, ti HT has replaced it and it’s faster.
Still have the 170mm FS but I’ve not ridden that for about a year, been riding the Solaris with 120mm forks loads and starva tells me it’s faster, even on the trails at the Golfie. Still keeping it though as it’s worth next to nothing (decade old Stinky) and I do fancy another crack at the Mega…

I’d sell any of the other bikes before i sold the T-130. Only thing i can see replacing it may be a S-120. But even that’s open to debate.
I don’t get some of the HT logic. Even on long climbs i’m seconds off the pace on the FS compared to the HT, but on the way down i’m minutes quicker on the FS.

I did a test ride in France last year, with a 12min climb, 4 mins descent. Overall i was 2 mins quicker on the T-130.

My best times locally are all on a hardtail. I suppose it depends where you ride the most and why you ride. I like the challenge and extra concentration needed when riding a hardtail. I don’t get to ride anywhere that needs or warrants a full sus bike. I can only have one bike at a time, so I pick the one that’s most useful for my riding. This is currently none!

I’ve never looked forward to riding a specific bike as much as I do my Whyte 905 hardtail.
Keeping the FS for the big (to me) downhill days such as BPW, and when my arthritic knees are complaining

Tried a FS for about three months circa 2001 – been on the HT before and since.

I’m tempted to OP. I currently own a short travel FS 29er (SB4.5) and 29er HT (Solaris). The FS is used for everything from local laps from the front door to trips away in the UK and Europe. The HT is for winter laps, trips out with the kids, it sits on the turbo trainer, etc, etc.

The FS is 3 years old and the HT is 7 years old.

I was intending to buy a new long travel 29er FS bike and donating all of the parts on my existing ST FS bike to a new SolarisMax which I’ve provisionally ordered.

Unfortunately I’m yet to identify a LT FS 29er I like. I’ve demo’ed a few and been left a little underwhelmed. So now I’m concerned about giving up my ST FS with planned trips away to Scotland and Spain for just a HT. I do also like riding my ST FS.

Although so far this year, I’ve done nothing but ride from my front door due to viruses, injuries, family and work commitments, weather, you name it. Plus my both my kids (5 and 2) are really enjoying riding which in turn is eating into my riding time.

Decisions, decisions.

Unfortunately I’m yet to identify a LT FS 29er I like

What have you tried, how do they compare to your existing Solaris, and what are you expecting the test bikes to be like?

I’ve not tried the new SolarisMax but love my old Mk1 bike. In fact it was my only bike for 2 years and it didn’t stop me riding Torridon, Sticks, Ulswater, etc over that period. I did hanker for a FS bike though.

The reviews are good and I can’t imagine not liking the new Solaris.

As for a 29er FS replacement, so far I’ve demo’ed an SB130, SB150, Megatower, Ripmo and Stage 5 (at a recent demo day).

The new wave of LT FS 29ers are different again. There are a few elements to not wanting to part with a lot of money so far.

Firstly sizing. The reach figures are only relevant for out of the saddle and the steeper seat tube angles are shortening the cockpit and for me that meant I felt slightly perched on top with knees a little close to the bars. Some bikes felt and looked small.

I’m sure this is something that you adapt to but at the time felt significantly different. Even though it might not have been. I tried sizing up on a couple of bikes but then they felt too large.

Secondly, I found the slacker, longer bikes to be less playful. Or they certainly were until they started picking up speed on the descents.

There’s also an element of not owning a LT FS before. Up until now I’ve always owned and preferred that ST sporty, trail bike feel.