Now, bear with me …

As my username suggests, apart from a fairly brief dalliance a few years back with a 26er FS bike, I’ve only owned hardtails.

Up until now. Yesterday, a new (to me) Swarf Contour frame arrived in the post.

How do/should you ride a FS bike differently to a HT?

With a HT, I’m used to the constant dance between being seated and being out of the saddle to avoid the solid rear end kicking me up the ar*e, balancing traction on techy/slippy stuff etc. Descending, it’s about being out of the saddle and using your legs as the ‘suspension’.

What’s different about a FS? Seems to me that the best way to load, and therefore benefit from the rear suspension, is to remain seated so the bike is weighted allowing the suspension to move? Otherwise, surely, the rear wheel still skips up over bumps? Or is the weighting of the bike just your body weight through the pedals?

What is the same/different to:
– techcy climbs
– steep, techy, slow careful descents
– fast chundery descents
– pedally, rolling singletrack
– jumping (I don’t do ‘air’ but just little lips, roots and small jumps to pop off)

Sorry, must seem a really basic question but last time I had a FS, I don’t think I always rode it ‘right, and with the new bike, want to get the best out of it.

Riding is local techy XC (singletrack, roots, rocks, mostly pedally stuff, with short but not steep descents), some steeper ‘made’ enduro-lite trails, with a bit of everything (mud, loam, tech, ruts) with occasional rides in Peaks, Lakes.

I would say for descending it’s pretty much the same but you can stay seated far more when pedalling especially on uneven ground so I find my full sus less tiring on bigger rides. I frequently switch between the two so I wouldn’t overthink the change!

Staying seated more often on climbs can help as there is less bobbing.
The suspension works very well at reducing the bumps so lines can be picked over rougher terrain without feeling as rattled.
If set properly you shouldn’t really notice any suspension movement – you’ll be aware it is working but you shouldn’t really feel it moving as such.

3 things I’ve found but suspect those’ll be incorrect for others.

I’ve just made the change from a 27.5 HT to a 29 100mm FS.

You ride it the same but gain a whole heap of extra traction: up, down, off camber, limestone.

You also gain an extra bit of ping when log hopping from the rear end as it decompresses.

And comfort.

The technique is near identical. The timing is different because you have to load the bike earlier when jumping, dropping, hopping, and you can pedal through rougher stuff (and sit more too).

You load the rear suspension through the BB whenever you’re doing anything interesting.

Ride it like your hardtail and you’ll quickly adapt without having to think about it.

The timing’s different, definitley. A FS needs more notice to do stuff than HTs, the longer the travel, the more notice you have to give. A dropper also helps make a FS make much more sense! Other than that, just enjoy the extra comfort. I’ve just done the same thing, HT to FS, for comfort.

watch out for pedal strikes 😉

It’s a bike not a cruise missile. Enjoy!! Your hardtail skills will serve you well ( better than FS > HT )

Weight more neutral over fast/rough stuff where on a hardtail you’d be trying to work the fork as much as possible.

Climbing is 99% seated for efficiency. You can still stand for steps etc, but it becomes more a case of using momentum and popping the suspension, whereas a hardtail you can pretty much ride into them and as long as you can pedal up the wheel will do it.

Don’t get lazy, the suspension is there to give you more grip/control, not make you comfortable. Keep that saddle dropped right out of the way on descents and keep the effort 100%.

You can change your line choices quite considerably. Rather than picking smooth surfaces, pick racing lines. Corners can be taken outside-apex-outside because the rear wheel will follow the front now, not getting thrown about. This is the biggest change I find when swapping either way. Take the typical UK natural trail, off-camber rooty corner. On a HT you’re heading off down the hill looking for the smooth bit or some sort of berm to hold you. On a FS you can take it as high as you dare because the back wheel isn’t going to slip before the front.

Same in the straights, rough sections you previously had to pick a way through, can just be launched, because now if you land mid way the suspension will save you. Or just straight line rock gardens, you legs dealing with the big stuff and the suspension dealing with the chatter.

IME, it’s more like halfway between a rigid bike and a hardtail, than the opposite. In terms of riding, hardtails feel like the niche of the 3 of them as both rigid and FS bikes need you to be much more neutrally balanced. Just that FS riding is more “big picture” leaving the details to the suspension, whereas rigid bikes make you focus on the minute of line choices.

You’re way over thinking it, just ride it and enjoy.
It will all come naturally

You’re way over thinking it, just ride it and enjoy.
It will all come naturally

Lunacy.
Skills course obvs. 😉

It’ll feel funny for a wee while, but you’ll soon adjust.

I definitely ride with my body further forward on FS, as opposed to being back on steep stuff on the HT.

I thought ” like you stole it” was the correct answer

Firstly, congratulations sir on a fine choice of bike. You are going to love it.

The reason I chose the Contour, ..as you know Adrian designed the bike as an extension of his Spline 29 hardtail project and like you I loved riding hardtails and didn’t want a big blobby bike to steamroller over everything.

The Contour with that Monarch RT3 is very sprightly, on less steep stuff you’ll be dropping your heels, pre-loading the suspension looking to hop over roots and rock, seeking out trail features to boost off. It’s a lot of fun. For me I loved the pop of a short travel bike, pushing through the feet into turns/compressions and being boosted forward…

On steeper Enduro trails it’s going to be a lot more forgiving of a bad line choice than a hardtail..it is a short travel bike so you’ll still have to pick your lines.

You are over thinking it, as others says the seated technical climbing will be different because there’s more grip and on rolling terrain you are generally going to be sat down more enjoying the comfort.

Just ride it faster and harder, stop thinking about it.

I would just ride it like you have been riding your hardtail. You’ll probably notice better traction over roots and stuff, but any changes you make to your riding style will come from a combination of experience and instinct. If you’re smiling you’re on the right track. (Confession my hardtail is a fatbike)

It’ll make some of the stuff that scared you a little bit on the hardtail more fun. It’ll make some of the fun stuff on your hardtail boring.

Other than that. Enjoy.

I have 160mm FS and a hardtail. I ride the latter more because that’s my riding. But I love ’em both.

It’s not got much travel on the rear so I’d pretty much ride it the same as a hardtail. 115mm is nothing compared to how much travel your legs were giving you. It’ll just make some of the uphills a bit more comfortable for you where you can sit down. But also allow you to ‘rest’ on descents a little (I’ve switched back to a hardtail recently and have noticed that there’s not option to sit down here and there when descending).

Don’t get lazy, the suspension is there to give you more grip/control, not make you comfortable.

Best sentence in the tread IMO