Hardtail

[Random84]

I'm thinking of taking advantage of some of the deals on Chain reactions website and getting a cheap hardtail mountain bike for riding in all the mud over winter but it looks like I'm in between sizes.

Are these two bike measurements miles apart? The first column is the hardtail I'm looking at and the second is my current full suspension MTB.



Unfortunately the hardtail is only available in one size, I usually just pick the biggest as I'm 6ft 3 but this is the first time I'm on the upper limit for a large and lower limit for extra large.

[GravelBen]

Hardtail geometry gets longer and steeper as they sag into the suspension (unlike full sus), so the geometry of that bike in your actual riding position (usually around 20% sag) will be a little longer than your full sus.

There is a handy calculator here: https://madscientistmtb.com/sagged-hardtail-geomet...

You can punch the hardtail geometry numbers into along with a sag % and it will tell you the effective sagged geometry, then you can compare the sagged geo numbers with your full sus for a better comparison.

[OutInTheShed]

Sort of going through this myself.
I think, if you're prepared to change stems and maybe consider a cranked seat post, one can adapt and survive on the margins.
People 6'3" vary from long backs to long legs.
If you are enthusiastic about particular sorts of trails, you will be more picky than someone who is open minded abour 'different' and runs with what he's got. Having blagged a few rides on diffferent bikes and measured a few things, I think it's a trade off, optimum for the woods is not the same as optimum for bike parks and optimum for long trails across the moor is different again.

Optimum for a fit athlete with something to prove may be different from optimum for a retired bloke having fun.

I'm fairly open-minded, but I've hacked-out a view of what is not 'right' for what I want.
If you're pushing yourself on 'bike X', you might know what you want from 'bike Y'.

[Random84]

I think you're right and the style of riding really makes a difference.

I'm used to road bikes where it's generally better to go for the smaller size if you're in between as you can fit a longer stem etc.
Mountain bike sizing seems to be the other way around as you can fit a shorter stem on a bigger bike but a long stem would look odd if you had a frame that's too small.

I found the following website which is really handy as you can overlap bikes to see their geometry:

https://bikeinsights.com/

Thanks both for your input, it's really helped.