formicaman

I've been wating to try out full-suspension riding since I just have a hardtail rigid fork bike mountain bike right now (along with five vintage road/street bikes). This one is available on craigslist for $250 (+10 in gas to get there), but wondering if missing out on 13 years of suspension technology is really worth it.

https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...(23)&Type=bike

formicaman

I've had alvio stuff of that vintage before. It was acceptable, not great.

Hothead286

If it fits, go for it.

Bill in Houston

looks way cool to me, and the price is right...

Dannihilator

Suspension has come a long way in 13 years....

commo_soulja

The Voodoo brand is cool. The URT suspension is really not.

Kinda looks Jekyl-ish and what you'd find at a big box store.

reed523

I'm not familiar with the bike but assuming it was equal to the rivals of it's day, i would jump on it. My Cannondale from the same vintage works great for me. If you can hang with the big dogs, they think you must be a great rider. If you can't, you can always blame the bike.

Have fun!

formicaman

Honestly, I do fine on my rigid, but it would be fun to put on some miles with suspension, especially because descents are my weakness.

dminor 

I suppose since you are looking at an XL that a medium won't fit you? Too bad, because that I-drive GT would be a better choice for the money.

Daspydyr 

You will notice a difference in handling and comfort on those downhills. I think the bike a very nicely priced experiment. If you don't like it you can always get your money back on Craigslist. You aren't over paying. Plus the VooDoo name was a solid name. The comments about being the "iron age" of suspension is very accurate. The same with the geometry, but it still looks fun to me.

formicaman

I ride a 1995 Gray Fisher Wahoo steel hardtail/rigid fork now. That's stone age in comparison, although I like it just fine for climbing the rock gardens and blasting through overgrown singletrack. Then again, I rode some less technical mountain biking trails on a vintage road bike last summer in California. Got some strange looks on that trip, and I did have to wealk it over some dry creek beds.

Zephyr11

The catch with your old rigid though is that while hardtail geometry has changed a lot over the past 16 years, it's nothing compared to the gains suspension has made in that time. Suspension is awesome and I definitely encourage you trying it out, but I think you'll appreciate it a lot more if you can find something a little newer.

dsprehe89

Wouldn't he "technically" appreciate it more if he tries something old first, then tries something new to see how far it really has came and what the differences are? I'm not saying go buy an old suspension bike just to try it out so you can compare it to the newer stuff, but IMO to truly appreciate something I feel you would have had to at least tried out the older stuff to know how they got to where they currently are. Kind of like how many people say to be able to appreciate and know how to "properly" ride a line you need to first ride a rigid/HT before going to a FS because a FS lets you plow over pretty much everything that gets in your way while still mostly having control (even with little skill).

OP, don't go buy it based off just what I said above. I honestly don't know how good of a bike it is. With what most of the people on here said I would like to think that it would have been a decent bike back in the day (which isn't saying that it is currently in good condition). I personally would rather have a newer bike with a more modern (air) suspension, and I have never even ridden a high end older FS bikes. I've ridden crappy older FS bikes, but that is it for FS. However, if it fits you well and you think you will like it and and think that it is a fair price I say go for it.