….there is often an idea that older riders need FS more, so I’ll start it off.

I’m 47

I’m 58,and changed to HT about 3 years ago,but according to my arse,I’m changing back as soon as I get some money.

I ditched full suss when I was 27, then went back to it when I was 30.
what does this mean?

Currently 54 and haven’t ridden the full sus for the best part of a year.

Having said that, I’m not really doing the sort of riding where it would be necessary.

Fs to HT when I was 36

48 have ridden hardtails for the best part of 20 years i’ve just purchased my first full suss
and the first bike with more than one gear for 5 years ….

Went back to a HT as my main bike a couple of years ago, about 37, after about 5 years on a FS. I still have FS bikes but mostly ride the HT.

I don’t really understand the older riders needing FS thing. Though reckon if you are unfit then you’re more likely to prefer a FS.

I’m 37. Changed back to hardtail at the end of last year after 6 years Full-suss.

47 here also.

as a side note I raced bmx Cruiser ( 24″ ) in 2010/2011 age group was 45+ 😀

48, and went to a HT 4 years ago

46!
26″ f/s, then a couple of 29er’s with suspension and now fully rigid and a cx.
Suspension’s for wimps! 😆
What does that mean?
Probably a knackered body!

I don’t really understand the older riders needing FS thing. Though reckon if you are unfit then you’re more likely to prefer a FS.

Complete bollix. Why would you ride a (probably) heavier bike if your’e unfit? HT’s are ‘easier’ to ride IMO but I prefer to take the FS on long hard rides cos it’s miles more comfortable! I’ve done the Alps, Scotland, most of the Dales, the North Pennines, Wales & the Peaks on a HT but I’m 56 now & I know which bike I prefer for the hard days out. Did Torridon last weekend on the FS which is a ride my knees & backside wouldn’t want to do on my HT.

22

43 , went back to ht for xc 5 years ago.

esselgruntfuttock wrote:

HT’s are ‘easier’ to ride

really – do you really mean this? why then do we (well some riders) bother with relatively heavy, expensive FS bikes?

47, went from rigid to full suss to hardtail to hardtail and rigid and the rigid gets the most use as it’s my off road commuter. All I can say is that rigid today with carbon forks wider tyres handlebars that aren’t made of scaffold pipe and the option of bigger wheels means they are a damn site more comfortable than in in 1986. I no longer feel the need for a Flexstem! I generally only use it for rides of below 2 hours though.

44, went for a 29 HT 4 years ago.

I haven’t ditched the FS. I just added a hard tail to complement it 😀

I mix the two depending on the ride or just how I feel. The FS lets me go nuts and hit things fast and hard, but then I like to get the hard tail out and take it down the same stuff and surprises me how I can do much the same stuff. Hard tail alone I’d maybe be more cautious. That said the hard tail is a lot more work. I also use the hard tail for less gnarly things where a stupidly expensive AM bike is a bit out of place 😉

And… 40

Went from 160/180mm FS to 0/0mm 8 years ago (Aged 32).
Got some gears last summer.

im now 52, went rigid hardtail 2yrs ago, no longer feel the need for suspension, do regular rides of 3hrs, ex rugby player with a hard arse, will never go back, enjoying my biking more now than i ever did, might be because i have more leisure time though

HT’s are ‘easier’ to ride

Really? How so? Definitely not my experience. Find you need to work a HT more to go as fast, especially over tricky terrain. You’re out the saddle a lot more, working harder to pick better lines, weighting and unweighting the bike over obstacles that you’d not bother with on a FS. It’s because it’s harder work that i find trails a lot more rewarding on a hardtail. You can of course do all these things on a FS, but to go as fast on a HT is more demanding.

Edit: HT may have a bit of an edge uphill, but they are still not easier to ride if the terrain in tricky as you usually need to work harder for traction.

I am thinking that many of you are confusing easier to ride with faster. It isn’t the same at all. I ditched my full suss bike a couple of winters ago for a fully rigid SSer. It’s not great deal harder to go up hill, its faster on many hills as you attack and much less time is spent fussing over things. Its not faster on rough downhills. But thats not harder, just different.

41 only done last 6 1/2 years racing DH on HT 🙂 did try a squisher last year for a race, to offset that got the urge to do some more DH races on a rigid.
Getting the itch to weld up my own frame now, DIY HT FTW 🙂

I’m 45 I’ve been riding for about 15 years. I’ve tried FS but have never owned one.

I currently own a Bfe and I love the way I can feel the trail as I ride along – someone said it earlier in this thread, I think it’s more involving and whilst more difficult to go as fast downhill it is more fun trying 8)

43.

Moved to HT 1½ years ago after over 10 years of thinking that Full Suss was the only way. Just one MTB now and love it.

The trails last longer – very important when you get grey and wrinkly.

Thanks matsccm, you’ve answered for me. I didn’t say ‘easier’ is ‘faster’, they have nowt to do with each other.
I still ride both but there’s no way I’d do say, Torridon on my HT when I can do it on my FS. I mean after 22 years of riding… why?

41… But feeling Old right now, so may use a geared susser to ease me into fitness for SSUK

47 – just about take deliver of a new genesis and going to break down the full suss to built a fast little hardtail that I dont mind bashing down Golspie, Balblair or Torridon

I’m 37. Had hardtails since I did paper rounds when I was 14! I had a Spesh Enduro S-works frame but built it up with a really bad mix of parts (Coil Toras!) and it was more of a bike than I knew what to do with. I’m contemplating getting another fully sus but there’s too much choice. I love the look of long travel enduro style bikes but will probably get something more XC short travel as that’s the kind of riding I prefer.

40 ride a HT and roadbike and rigid SS 26er.. next bike will be a CX type tourer with disc brakes if I ever have any monaaay. oh, I had a couple of goes on a FS once.

41. I ride both. Not at the same time, obviously.

37 don’t ride hard enough or often enough to justify an expensive FS sitting there, espescially with how tame the terrian is where I live.

34. Still love and will use my fs when the need arises…but looking to get the technique and finesse back I seem to have lost when riding my fs.

48 and recently returned to MTB after moving out of London. Last bike was FS. New bike is a Fatty.

I still have my FS, (2010Enduro) it goes to the Alps with me every year.

Ht gets to ride everywhere else.

Last year I started off on the FS, picking lines as I would on the HT. To be fair the Enduro is pretty much set up to rip down Alps and I found myself going faster and faster until my eyes and brain simply couldn’t keep up so I just pointed it to the fastest line and held on.

Fast, not much finesse, the frame removed any actual requirement for skill. The thrill of the speed was good but I was only steering the thing. Slightly unrewarding, which is why it never really gets a ride in the UK.

I’m 43, riding for about 20 years and have owned several FS bikes, the last being a Cannondale Gemini about 5 years ago. I’ve only just built up a GT Avalanche which I intend to take out on it’s maiden ride this weekend at Llandegla. FS lets you go very quick downhill over virtually anything, trade off being if it goes Pete Tong it’s going to hurt a lot more. HT winds that enthusiasm in a little and concentrates the mind on neater lines and the climbing is should be a little easier.

Not me, I’m a comfort subscriber. Back pain during races forced me off hardtails when I was 32 in the UK to a raceable 4″ full susser, and now I’m 40 in Australia I’ve just added a trail 5″ 29er full susser partly because it’s more comfortable.

I do wonder though if a carbon 29er hardtail would be comfortable enough, but I’m not going to win any races any more so there’s no point for me. The ground is harder and rockier where I ride now since emigrating, for example it can really knock it out of you when you have a crash, but the weather is mostly dry and I only see mud for a month at most each year.

51
Went HT two years ago. Started by building HT to go with FS. Ended up using FS for pootles with the girlfriend, so brought another HT frame and swaped all the parts across from FS.
Living in the Brecon Beacons most of my rides are longish XC, with occasional trail center.
Th group I ride with are on average 15 years younger than me. They reacon I’m quicker on the HT, up and down.
But main thing is I’m a lot happier and it just feels right for me.

interesting replies and kind of align to my own feelings. I enjoy my FS but ride the HT more often and feel more engaged on it. High speed and jumps are not my game at 47 and the HT does all I want of it, at perhaps a safer/more controlled rate. 😆

Ex Roadie, I like my bike(s) rigid, light and fast. Never owned a FS, always been HT MTBs/29erSS though I did look at a TallBoy last year to compliment my 29erSS but for some reason I’ve just not got that feeling for one (yet)
Next bike I change is my Roadie for another super sexy light climbing machine.
Mid 40’s if that makes any difference to anything.