people will nick anything.ihad a hack bike.it was a rust cover old jap £80 new job but it had been i someones garden all year. it trully had no redeaming features!my son borrowed it and left it lying on a mates driveway for 2 mins unlocked and someone had it away! i half expected it to be 100 yards down the road as the bb was so knackered-but it wasnt!?

any body else have anything to add.
would you say a hard tail tends to bonce and buck a lot from the rear or can a good rider keep a lot of that at bay?

jond youve had a simular experience and op to me.

“However, a hardtail’s fine for me – realistically you’ll probably rarely ride a trail that’s got lots of big dropoffs/landings, and anything smaller, you don’t need the knees flexing through large angles I’d have thought – unless keeping a flexed knee on a long descent is a problem in itself.”

you are right in saying the drop off’s will be rare around my way but keeping my knees flexed probably is closer to the problem.locked straight is fine and bend for a while is fine. im thinking more of riding through and over rough terrain seated would be far more comfy on a full sus but its an interesting point others have raised about the seat position being further back in some bikes.can anyone explain or expand on this as it would again be painfull for long times? i ride fine in my bum up high and head forward and low so i can get my legs out straight and power along (in the ideal world)

why would you recommend a hardtail first?

its not too bad and i doo most things.damaged the cartilage and had keyhole to remove some tiny bits and tidyed it up inside.i can ride fine but monster hill climbs wouldnt be good.i can do hills but i have to get right up in the low gears and spin like crazy.theres fore i recon if i had sus on the rear end it would be more forgiving if a drop off is bigger than anticipated etc.

Another one from the previously mentioned KMC website –

“NEVER EVER use a so-called’chain washing machine’ in combination with solvent. This is the one and only sure way to instantly ruin your chain.”

Can’t see the problem myself.

and this is from a chain SELLING company, suprise ,suprise(!?)

thanks for all the help guys im gonna grill the people at work!