I know this is an often asked and very subjective question but….

I’m looking to get a new bike to continure my very mixed riding that includes, Trails centres, local natural trails, all day epics, lots of climbing, steep technical DH, some commuting etc.

I’m from a BMX background so have long been a hardtail pruist for the hopping abaility, sense of speed and fantasticly cummincative rear end that a hardtail offers. But these days everyone rides FS and i wonder if i’m being old fashioned and missing something?

I accept FS wins everytime on the knarly stuff but i still think there is nothing that beats the perfect flow of hardtail down a pump track!

But i can only have 1 bike and its needs to do everything and the maximum fun!!

Hire/borrow a FS for a day before you decide?

If you can only have one bike, hardtail all the way 🙂

Perhaps a hardcore steel frame like a dialled alpine or chromag stylus?

funny I’m an fs addict, and six months ago I would say go fs. Since then I have built up my BFe, I would be tempted to say it would be my one and only.. Ohhh the shame.

Love my Evil Sovereign for all the stuff you described. Used it for days at the pump track, 24hr races, commuting and the Megavalanche. It is my only bike and a great all rounder – the only trouble is, now (predictably) I am lusting after more bikes and it sits in the middle a bit too much – too good at everything, sort of thing…

“But these days everyone rides FS “

Really? Of all the people I ride with, I’m the only one who normally rides a FS, and actually I’ve ridden my HT more this year.

I miss my hardtail (ns surge) it was much more fun on singletrack and give me a bigger grin than my current full suss (orange five) but there’s no doubt the FS is quicker, espeically over rough stuff and even at trail centres.

But I’m off to Snowdon on the weekend and I know which one I’d rather ride there.

Having both would be ideal 🙂

Hardtails are hard work, some prople confuse this with more rewarding, even on trail center stuff I think a full suss would be quicker.

2 things I prefer about full sussers:
1) they are quicker even before you reach point 2.
2) the point at which you start dragging your brakes to scrub off speed out fo fear is much quicker.

Despite all that I still ride a hardtail???????????????????

You’ve answered your own question I reckon. Get a hard tail until you’re too old or your back goes, then get an FS when you need to.

I’ve run both and I can see the benefits of both.

FS is quicker, without a doubt

But I prefer the HT for the simplicity and enjoyment/involvement.

Currently running ti but I’m still undecided as to whether I prefer it over steel.

Lofty, if you’re do all/most of your riding in the UK, then a hardtail will be fit for purpose for the vast majority of rides.

I ride a blue pig for everything, never felt it has held me back in anyway but keep thinking about a fs and what extra it would give?

I rode a hardtail as my main bike for years whilst all around me were riding full sussers. Rode loads of full sussers which didn’t feel right but then had a go on a Blur 4X which is just bags of fun. As much fun as my old hardtails but with 4″ of travel at the back to help smooth the rough stuff out. The angles etc are ideally suited to the steep mad stuff I tend to like riding. So I’m a convert… every time I see a Sov, 456 Ti etc going cheap I’m tempted but then I have another go on the Blur and I change my mind.

That said, I’ve had a 456 Summer Season since the start of the year and whilst I prefer the full suss, the hardtail is bags of fun still but its noticeably les comfy and not as quick on rocky stuff. Both bikes have very similar angles, same lengths etc so they’re a really good comparison.

A Brodie Titanium Holeshot 🙂

Cat amoungst the Pigeons time!

I’m not sure I agree that FS’s are quicker….. Yes in some situations they are i.e. pure downhill tracks, alpine length decsents, long prolonged bumpy pedally sections. In the UK I’d say a ‘hard core hardtail’ is just as quick! Lets not forget its more the rider than the bike….. the bike is a tool it takes a skilled user to reach its potential!

I have a BFe with Lyric’s up front and 2.5 tyres, I rarely get dropped on trail and certainly not on the downs more so on the ups but thats more my fitness than the bike.

Objectively, full sussers are nearly always ‘better’, they can go faster, corner better, brake better, nowadays there’s even no real need to suffer a weight penalty.

The thing is , people aren’t always objective about these things, I ride a hard tail not least because I don’t have to eff around with all those bearings and pivots, and don’t have to worry about another shock that’ll need servicing or whatever, and for the lack of that hassle I’m prepared to trade off a little performance, and it is in most cases, only a little bit of performance, and besides; not having everything under control in the corners and under braking can be just as much fun as having it all go as it should.

I’d never say one’s right, and the other wrong, they’re just different shades of fun

29er hardtail

or if you want to MTFU – 29er rigid 😀

I used to kick arse on my hardcore hardtail, but then fs trail bikes caught up and in many cases now work out better and lighter; I was struggling to keep up. So I joined the club with 6″ am machine which is lighter than my hardtail was. I am currently still in the honeymoon phase but so far no regrets… the fs is the better bike and I am back at the front of the pack.

depends where you live as well. if its all woodsy singletrack like surrey hills etc then a HT is way more fun and just as fast.

29er rigid ,bit like the crosser I rode on the 3 peaks then

I can’t afford an fs bike all those pivots to wear out and cost a fortune worry me

I should probably add that I live in the mountains of Scotland… I like my hardtail for foresty stuff.

Hardtail I reckon. I’ve done the switch from HT to FS a few times but always end up back on a HT, I’m just finishing building up a Cotic Bfe to replace a full suss.

A full sus will be more comfortable to a point and may reduce fatigue but I have to agree with a mate who points out that a full sus can end up encouraging you to sit down more often which just puts more stress on your back anyway, a hardtail forces you to stand up a bit more which I find makes the ride more involving and fun anyway.

Having had a few full sussers I find them less responsive to rider input and on twisty, techy, rooty trails they can be harder to pump and pop off stuff (if that’s your thing). I’m sure people will be along to say this is just about adjusting your riding style to suit the suspension and pre-loading the shock etc but I don’t really want to change the way I ride to suit a bike.

I have a Specialized Pitch built up big and burly for local downhill riding but I reckon that until my back (currently 2 prolapsed discs) gives up once and for all I’ll stick to a HT.

Having said that it seems that a Thudbuster suspension seatpost works well to remove the worst trail buzz whilst keeping the nimble handling of a hardtail.

IF I lived in the Alps I’d ditch all of this and have a good alround 5-6″ travel suspension bike.

Hardtails are hard work, some prople confuse this with more rewarding, even on trail center stuff I think a full suss would be quicker.

Does quicker matter though? My own research (using lots of GPS tracks of riding the same route on various of my bikes) shows that my Epic is the fastest of all my bikes (including a hardtail which is a couple of pounds lighter), but it’s not necessarily the most fun – hence why it isn’t the only bike I ride (or even the one I ride most).

I’m having the same dilemma. I like to ride a bit of everything but have been focussing much more on DH recently as I don’t really get the same buzz from riding any kind of xc/trail centre.

I’m also from a bmx background and don’t like how sluggish the back end on a full sus feels. But I do like the stability especially over roots and such. Mind you I’ve only tried an Intense Uzzi, maybe something else will be a bit livelier? Only way to tell is to try really. I have found that I tend to be less confident on jumps with rough landings on the hardtail, as I’m so worried about losing my feet or being chucked off.

The £199 blue pig offer at JE James isn’t helping the decision 😆 By the time I’ve made my mind up the bike I decide on will probably be out of stock everywhere.

Get a hard tail until you’re too old or your back goes, then get an FS when you need to.

The man speaks sense. I’d love a hardcore hardtail – a singlespeed one even more so – y’see I love a good fettle but hate cleaning stuff with a passion so the simpler (is that a word?), the better. Sadly I’ve been spoiled over the last couple of years with some rather nice full-squishies and now riding BMX or mtb hardtail has my ankles and back screaming for Paracetamol 😳 . A nice tiny single pivot should do it I reckon . . . watch (again) this space 😉

I’d love a hardcore hardtail – a singlespeed one even more so – y’see I love a good fettle but hate cleaning stuff with a passion so the simpler (is that a word?), the better

Same here, this is my current bike 🙂 Put the seat down and it’s good for a bit of anything.

I’m also from a bmx background and don’t like how sluggish the back end on a full sus feels. But I do like the stability especially over roots and such.

The Specialized Brain is the answer for that.