mountain bike. hard tail or full suspension

[pesty]

Im gonna get a bike as I need to spend less time on here and actualy get out of the house instead of sitting on my ever increasing behind.

I need some excercise and a mountain bike looks a good idea. do I need full suspension? or will a hard tail do?

Im not going to be going down ben nevis just local trails. (telford is full of them).

Cheers

[Rob_F]

I used a hard tail wwith some big forks (4 inch travel) and DH bars when i was doing a mixture of trails/jumping a few years ago. Now i dont' do the jumping and only do light trails the forks annoy me so i'm thinking of going back to a full rigid. However, i expect rear-shocks and the frames have got quite a bit better recently so much so i think a lot of XC racers use them whereas they certainly didn't 5 years ago.

I'd say unless you were loaded, save you're money and go for a decent hard tail - for the same money it will be lighter and you certainly don't need full suspension. If you're loaded and you fancy going and blowing a load of cash feel free though as i expect the latest very expensive ones are great, cheap full suspension frames will be utter shit however.

Cheers,
Rob.

[vrooom]

Hard rear but suspesion front is more than good enough for town/trail riding

I own a Kona Shred 2005,
It can do all around. and I find it very nice bike.

There is no point buying low quailty bike ever!

[Roop]

Unless you are for the vast majority riding downhill, get a hardtail. Fully bouncies just sap energy on the flat and uphill. I've got a Specialized Hardrock Sport which is a basic mountain bike, but nicely put together from good bits.

[fid]

I've always had hardtails and found them fine, but have used my friends' full-sus on the same trails and found it easier to go faster just because they're so much smoother.

If you go for full-sus, don't get too extreme...2 or 3 inches rear travel will be fine for most trails, and you'll probably find that the extra comfort and control makes it less energy-sapping than a hardtail over anything rougher than a towpath.

[Trooper2]

Hi Pesty, I've sold and repair bikes for 15 years and I guess that allot of your question depends on your budget. My recommendation would be to by the best spec'd bike you can for the money. You should be able to get a really good hard tail for $400.00 USD and up but to get a full suspension bike with good quality components you will probably spend more like $900.00 USD.

If you are athletic and suspect that you will be bitten by the Mt.Bike bug then spring for the full suspension as it will allow you to ride longer and harder off-road and will make some aspects of riding easier, rough terrain, riding over logs, etc. Because a full suspension bike absorbs a certain amount of your pedaling effort it could be argued that it will give you a better work out.

warning: once you go for a ride off road on a full suspension, if you have ridden a hard tail off road you won't want anything but full suspension.

[pesty]

cheers. Looks like hard tail with front suspension is a good compromise then. the trails I will be going on are some tarmak then hard compacted gravel with some hard dirt in the woods etc. not really challenging.

which is good cos I is well out of shape.

[pesty]

thanks trooper. Im certainly not athletic. I also dont want to spend loads of cash and just have it sitting in the garage and not use it.

I wont be going over any logs or anyything like that hell I will be getting off and walking on any hills

[bilko2]

It's quite funny watching people with full suspension riding on the roads. It reminds me of a clowns bike with square wheels. A good deal of energy is sapped up into the rear suspension.
I know downhill bikes have long travel front suspension but unless you are doing competions etc i would have thought that Hard tail was fine ( also suitable for the road ).
Word or warning though when choosing the front suspension. Don't get cheap ones or youll end up with spongy bits of plastic inside of the forks instead of the piston. I would have thought that £400 would get you a decent bike. Try decathlon just outside Canada Water station. They make their own bikes and suposidly save on advertising etc. I used to have a nice £500 Rockrider from there. Also they have 2 full warehouses of sporting and outdoors equipment for you to browse on site.

[Trooper2]

Start off with what you can fit into the budget and get out there, you can always trade up if you get hooked.






now if I would just follow my own advice.

>> Edited by Trooper2 on Saturday 11th June 13:41

[southpaw]

I would say hard tail, but even a front suspension isn't really needed. Full sus. bikes are good for off road but get on a slight incline and everything gets a hell of a lot harder.

Never had a bike with front sus. forks and hard tail, only full hardtail or full sys, but if the roads round you aren't in decent nick then a full hardtail will leave you with a sore a*se and bollcks.

Ooh, and disc brakes would be a good investment if you can afford them.

[Trooper2]

bilko2 said:

It's quite funny watching people with full suspension riding on the roads. It reminds me of a clowns bike with square wheels. A good deal of energy is sapped up into the rear suspension. I know downhill bikes have long travel front suspension but unless you are doing competions etc i would have thought that Hard tail was fine ( also suitable for the road ). Word or warning though when choosing the front suspension. Don't get cheap ones or youll end up with spongy bits of plastic inside of the forks instead of the piston. I would have thought that £400 would get you a decent bike. Try decathlon just outside Canada Water station. They make their own bikes and suposidly save on advertising etc. I used to have a nice £500 Rockrider from there. Also they have 2 full warehouses of sporting and outdoors equipment for you to browse on site.

Unfortunatly it seems as most currently available full suspension bikes are "free ride "types meant more for downhill and boulder drops etc.

I'm lucky enough to have an older Schwinn with a unified rear triangle design. when you stand up to climb a hill the rear of the bike automatically locks out so it climb much like a hard tail. This isn't my bike but a similar model, sory about the bad pic.






As you can see the entire drive train is mounted on the rear triangle so the bike will ride more like a hardtail.

[pesty]

Thanks guys.
Ive just ordered one. I had my eye on it for a while but then noticed some full suspension ones and thouht they might be better.

To be honest I didnt want to spend too much so you guys made my mind up for me.

this one seems to tick all the boxes Im sure it will be fine for what I need. it wont be getting a hard time well apart from me sitting on it.

must go buy a comfy seat

OUR PRICE £299.95.

BUTTED LIGHT WEIGHT 6061 ALLOY FRAME WITH INTEGRATED HEAD SET. SR 60 ADJUSTABLE FORK 75mm TRAVEL. SHIMANO 24 SPEED ALIVIO /DEORE COMPONENTS. GIANT MPH HYDRAULIC DISC BRAKES. BIKE OF THE YEAR AT £500 – WHAT MTN BIKE MAG.





>> Edited by pesty on Saturday 11th June 14:13

[Suckmychrsitmas]

I'd recommend a softail as a good compromise.

www.castellanodesigns.com/

[pesty]

Suckmychrsitmas said:

I'd recommend a softail as a good compromise. www.castellanodesigns.com/

looks great out of budget for me I would imagine. didnt want to go over £300 realy.

like I say ,this might just be a flash in the pan.

[Trooper2]

Looks great Pesty, it's spec'd out nicely for the price. I'll take going for a long ride on my bike over a health club any day.

Enjoy riding it!

[Suckmychrsitmas]

Looks like a pretty nice deal you got there. I hope you enjoy it.

[fid]

A Giant, good choice that man!

[oddman]

Good choice

Giant make some of the best bikes at any price point on or off road.

If you find you're mainly on tarmac then get some slicks and a nice track pump to take the pressures up to 70psi or more.

You'd have needed to spend 700 notes on a similar spec full sus and it would have been a bag of shte

Tim

[oddman]

Trooper2 said:

I'm lucky enough to have an older Schwinn with a unified rear triangle design. when you stand up to climb a hill the rear of the bike automatically locks out so it climb much like a hard tail. As you can see the entire drive train is mounted on the rear triangle so the bike will ride more like a hardtail.

But what happens when you stand on the pedals (as most people do when their going downhill)? All your weight is borne by the suspension rendering it inactive. Unless you're going to ride around everywhere in the saddle unified rear triangle is a stupid design which is why it's never been seen on a credible full sus bike. Turner, Santa Cruz, Marin, Orange etc.

Quality rear suspension bikes don't 'bob' that much as long as they're well set up.

T