shimanopower

I know nothing about mountain bikes except that they have fat tires and straight handlebars so... What is advantage and disadvantage of both choices?

(i already read most of the faq and I still don't know)

zx108

well, they all dont have flat bars.
i think this thread does a good job of summing it up
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...9&page=1&pp=25

WannaGetGood

Well, it depends what you want to do on your bike. If you are going to be going off dirt jumps then you should get a hardtail. If you are looking for Huge drops, and trail riding. Then you might wanna hardtail. But I would suggest a Hardtail. Cuase you can do it all on a HT. It's harder to dirt jump on a Full Suspension cuase when you go off the jump your coil or spring sucks in all you lip. A HT Doesn't. The only big differnece is that you can't really go over to many rocks with a HT. But a FS can do that kinda stuff for you.

Well, that's my input.

bobflyer

it really depends on what you want to do.. if you want to use your bike for road and hit the trail every weekend.. then i would suggest a hardtail.. but if you want to get serious about mountain biking.. there are many acpects.. like downhill,XC,trail and so on.. but since your new.. i would asume that you would want to do some trail or XC riding.. FS could do more technical and eneven terrian than HT..

robo

As someone who rode a rigid hardtail for years, and recently got a full suspension bike, i think this is not really true.

What suspension does is lessen the jarring your body (and bike frame) gets from stuff you ride over. This means, basically, that you can ride faster before getting to the point that you are bouncing around too much..

You can ride the same stuff on a hardtail, but you have to be a bit more careful - if you just blast over stuff, it will hurt!

The funny thing is, i feel like i'm going slower on my FS bike sometimes, because it's smoother. It was actually more fun to ride the hardtail, since you had to pay a lot more attention, and it actually made it seem like you were going faster.

If you don't race, a HT is not a bad idea at all, i think.

bobflyer

thats why i said could.. and not can..

shimanopower

FS = racing?

isn't this HT intended for racing?


HT seems more appealing to me because FS almost sounds like a comfort thing.... And when given a choice between comfort and speed/efficiency, I go with the speed. Keep in mind... no road ridng for my moutain bike, if it's going to have fat tires then it's has to use them.

harris

i have found that you only need full boingers if it is really rocky where you ride, or if you do huge jumps and drops. i can go down any trail that any of the fs riders in my group can, yet i can out climb them on just about anything. full suspension lets you go faster with more control over bumpier terrain than a hardtail. the big deciding factor for me was price. i could get a hardtail with awesome components for way less than a full suspension rig with ****y components.


peace
harris

Matt Gaunt

I don't like FS bikes. Maybe because I've never had one, only ever ridden crappy ones where you bounce around all the time.

I like my hardtail because it's handling is predictable and therefore dependable. I always fear that a FS bike could grip one minute then let go the next on the same corner. I may be paranoid, but that's my thoughts on it all!

WannaGetGood

I would just like to say there isn't a good FS bike out there. They all suck.

thejoe

All of them suck? How do you come to this conclusion? "Can't go over rocks on a hardtail" I beg to differ. I have done that and more. I would like to learn how you come to say that all FS bikes suck. Please educate me because I am thinking about buying a FS.

WannaGetGood

With the 5 FS bikes I have ridden I go off the same drop to trany. FS bikes just throw you off. A Hardtail actuly lets to land and it won't throw you off. Unlike a FS. They are only better in that they can go over rocks. Big woop, if you aren't going to go on rocks with a Hardtail you are on the worng trail, or pick up your bike and walk over the rocks.

zx108

that is total bs. fs not good for drops? yea that might be why most high end freeride bikes are fs. throw you off, it isnt a trampoline.

that is just ignorant comment.

Dannihilator

Are you complaining for or against, I just can't pick up a sense from this post.

Dannihilator

You're fighting a loosing battle here. Full Suspension is easier to drop with, it's harder to drop on a hardtail, because you have to be picky with the landings. The only thing a hardtail can't do is have the full pogostick feel. You just have to be smarter on a hardtail.

You must have went on a FS bike at first, because it sounds like the skills weren't there. Or, the first FS bikes were crappy designs.

thejoe

I read WannaGetGood's posts about all FS's sucking and then read his post about how a hardtail can't go over rocks. I wanted him to back up his posts with an intelligent response.

Dannihilator

I'm just wandering.

What was awkward for me was that I argued for a FS bike and I'm a dedicated HT person.

cod3man

FS do suck.

The only thing they are good for is downhill. period.

That being said I would like to own the new carbon epic...

Dannihilator

All in one's taste I guess.


I'd like to get my hands on a Transition Vagrant to try.

thejoe

I'm 32 with a bad lower back. If a FS will take some of the pressure off and still allow me to power up hills (with pro-pedal or rear lockout's, then I'll take it). I ride at a park that has me standing on my pedals 80% of the ride due to excessive rock's. I'll climb anything but I'd rather have some comfort at certain points in the ride.

Maelstrom 

Where do you live? In the praries? ...

jeff williams

FS is traction @ high rate of speed also. Tire goes down rear =more traction.
Comfort jumping fer sure. They suck climbing =lockouts.
Gravity racing is bike handling skills, XC indurance.

That bike....if alu..and I raced, one season and retired.
Bet I'd mess the frame in a year normal riding.

WannaGetGood

I'm just a little pissed cause I crashed on mine today. I went off a drop to trany, (4 Feet Down, 4 Feet Wide. I landed fine but then it threw me off. I was in the air from boucing up. And then hit another drop ( About 5 Feet) And then came down and hit my head on my handle bars. And now I can't see out of one eye. And 8 Hours later I still can't. And my arm has a long line of blood comeing from my elbow half way up my arm. And when I landed, my calf hit my un-guarded crankset. Not the whole back of my right leg was a long line of red going up it. And my head is throbing from hitting the ground so hard from falling from the drop. And it all happened cause I friggen cased my back tire from not going fast enough. And it pisses me off that all my friends can do it on all of thier hardtails, and I'm stuck with a trampoline. It's ture they don't all suck. I was just tryin to blow off some stem.

jeff williams

^soften the rear shock?^

da_empire04

not to start a war, but dont bag FS's because you cant control one.