I think it also depends on the type riding you’re going to be doing I I’ve just moved back to a hard tail after owning a specialized pitch. I loved the pitch, great bike, but it was heavy, cumbersome, riding the Hardtail now feels much more… zippy

I’ve not ridden anything in the UK that ‘requires’ a full sus, though I can appreciate some areas are more comfortable!

If you are going full sus, I’d suggest, as mentioned already, to make sure its a ‘good’ one, otherwise stick with the hardtail

I much prefer fs. Hardtails feel too unbalanced to me, I prefer both ends of the bike to feel the same so would rather rigid than hardtail.

£2k aint a lot of cash on 2 year interest free, £83 a month. Go for it 😀

willard – Member
Python developer? No, infosec, although I have dabbled with Python in the past. Why?

It was the __need__ and __want__. Thats all 🙂

It came down to justification for me…

Presently. , I only ride hard tails however this is as a result of family etc.

I cannot justify the addition expense of a FS over a HT… At the moment but I loved my old Blur LT; it was brilliant

If you want to give a 140mm play FS a go for not-too-much cash… click here…

DrP

I rode a full suss almos exclusively for several years, and then about 2 years ago went to only owning 2 hardtails. Then about 6 months ago I changed my 2nd hardtail back to a full suss (the same full suss as before – the frame was hanging on the wall). So here are my thoughts:

1. You definitely do not “need” a full suss.
2. There is definitely more comfort and control on a full suss. I can ride the same trail faster and more smoothly on a full suss. However,
3. Unless you’re riding very technical teails and riding them fast, a hardtail is generally more fun and more engaging. Certainly on the majority of trail centres red trails, I’m happier and enjoy it more on a hard tail.
4. If I had to have only one bike, it would be a hardtail.
5. If I lived in the Alps and had to have only one bike, it would DEFINITELY be a full suss.
6. If I rode very technical trails and wanted to go faster than my mates, I would ride a full suss.
7. I really enjoy having two bikes – one HT and one FS. I go through weeks or months or enjoying one more than the other, but then, for no reason that I can explain, I gravitate back to the other and it all swaps round.

Having just got a fully rigid bike after years of FS I have realised that I ride totally differently on it.

I have ridden every sort of bike over the years and have been full circle twice from xc race, to Dh bike.

Two of my longest bikes, at times when I only had one bike were full suss all mountain 140mm and 160mm travel. Given that you can make them under 30 pounds they can do it all very comfortably. I also had friends who had hardtail winter bikes, it just made me push harder in the tough times to be even fitter and faster come the summer.

I now have bought an xc 29er for the mud and the occasional long spin round the smoother trails come summer.

But if I needed a few quid in a hurry I would sell the hardtail without hesitation, as long as I can keep the bouncer!!

I must admit if I had to sell all but one MTB (and I wasn’t XC racing) I would have to keep the Patriot. The feeling I get from going stupidly fast on trails I know is just about the best thing I can imagine on a bike. It’s glorious!

I think johnhe covered most things just above. Ultimately if you want it and have the money then why not? But before you do be honest with what sort of stuff you actually ride. If it’s trail centres and the like then I would say overall a hardtail is going to be quicker and more fun. For a full sus to show it’s advantage the trail has be pretty rough, fast and sustained. Also there are hardtails and then there are hardtails. A proper xc hardtail vs something like a slackline, bfe or blue pig will be night and day.

I would ask, what are you wanting to gain from a full sus that you feel you current bike lacks?

FS,as controllable and fun as it is, makes one lazy. I learned this but riding a hard tail exclusively for two years and then rebuilding my FS. Both are fun in their own way and I certainly prefer having the option.

Its easy to just sit on an FS like a sack of spuds and let the bike do the work for you. Of course, this is the purpose of full suss, but if you work yourself AND let and FS work with you, you can achieve some really impressive stuff.

Personally, if I had to have one bike it would be my hardtail 29er. My FS is brilliant, but therein is the problem. Its too brilliant for my local riding, which comprises 90% of all my miles. It’s great fun to break it out in the dry and hit all the sketchiest, most technical local trails, but it’s just too competent for frequent local use. Its sucks the fun from the medium grade riding, I get to the bottom of descents and find myself wondering why it wasn’t as good as it used to be. I realised a couple of years ago that it’s because my brilliant bike takes away the challenge on anything except for the hardest trails.

So, be careful what you wish for!

I deal with the easiness issue by simply going faster. So it’s still a challenge but a different one, which is what I meant earlier.

Although my FS is a different bike altogether to my HT. It has bigger and slacker everything which means it’s still much tasted even on smooth trails. I’m sure there are hardtails which have the same spec and geometry, but I’ve not ridden any 🙂

I have found myself with less and less time on my hands so I find that venturing out to far flung trails is now beyond me. That said, I have found the pleasures of the dark side and taken to road riding but that does not get the same kick so I pop up to Cannock now and again. Cannock is fine on my FS but I borrowed a blue pig for a pootle round and it was so much more fun. That settled my mind and made me realise that I am over-biked and it is now time to get rid of my Canyon FS and get myself a hardtail.

There may be times I regret this but I am sure those thoughts will soon disperse when I am flying round and having to think about my route instead of just poining it and riding through it.

Another plus point is that maintenance time will come down and that means more riding time.

Watch out for a cheap Canyon in the classifieds in the very near future.

Where do you live / ride mostly OP? That might help make your mind up.

I started on a hardtail, bought a full sus (which I love) but then built an Inbred over last winter.

I live in Essex, so it really made me realise how overbiked I was on the full sus doing most the things I do. Rode the Inbred 95% of the time this year and loved it.

I’m fortunate enough to be able to keep the full sus though, and use it for trips to rockier places like Wales. If you can have both, go for it.

Once you’re in tune with the bikes, you’ll love them both for the different things they can do.

Cannock is fine on my FS but I borrowed a blue pig for a pootle round and it was so much more fun. That settled my mind and made me realise that I am over-biked and it is now time to get rid of my Canyon FS and get myself a hardtail

Same sort of revelation for me. I mate lent me his blue pig with lyriks up front. I rode down the same trails in the mendips and thought by god this bike handles well. I was hooked so demoed a stanton slackline for a weekend.. within 2 weeks i’d sold my enduro and built up a slackline.

The enduro was getting a bit boring for me. Remember riding down a descent in the mendips and it was pile down any line, i could hit any line and it would take it. I just thought this isn’t that fun anymore. Maybe if i was doing DH days a lot then it would come into it’s own. I feel with a long travel hardtail i can ride the exact same trails and it’s more fun.

Funnily enough, the Mendip are my local too.

LT hardtail is what I think is best for round there.

Surely you don’t have to worry about your line too much if you’re on a slack HT with decent forks either?

Going from my 140mm 29″ FS to my 100mm 26″ HT means you defo have to think a bit more but that’s down to the geometry and travel as much as rear suss imo.

Horses for courses and all that but I can’t really see why a HT with ‘modern’ geometry and decent kit is much more of a challenge as it’ll gobble up what’s in front of it.

Having had a few more rides on my 140mm Pike-d Genesis Abyss hardtail, I am definitely preferring it, so much more fun to ‘liven up those trails’, though the increased risk of pinch flats is a bit of a nuisance… 🙂

i started with an 80mm full suss, then gradually went up in travel to 160mm Mojo for the trails and a down hill bike for the track.
Sold everything and bought a fat bike. Its not as quick in the rough and the jumps have to be smaller but overall I’m enjoying it more, just as quick on the more groomed single track and super quick to clean and maintain.
not saying you should buy a fat bike just that as I’ve found out you don’t actually need all that suspension, in fact for me the more travel the less interesting the riding was.
So far its held up perfectly to everything the surrey hills has to offer