Hard Tail vs. Full Suspension

"Dean A. Stepper" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:Y6%9e.16044$%c1.14614@fed1read05...

Quoted message said:

"Rainier" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I've decided to get back into mountain biking after a six year
sabbatical. I had planned to buy a Stumpjumper Hard Tail, since back in
my day full suspension was in its infancy. But the dealer doesn't even
stock hard tails and claims they're about as current as mullets. He
also claimed 80% of racers now use full suspension. Not sure if this is
true or a bunch of salesman BS.

So what does the ng recommend? I never had any problems w/ hard tails
when I rode in the 90s. The extra weight of FS is a turn-off. I will
primarily be riding in the midwest although I spend a month in Colorado
each summer, so I am thinking a full suspension may be the way to go
for the mountains. I don't plan to ride competetively.

As for bikes, I am currently debating between the editor's choices on
MTBreview.com: a Stumpjumper, a Trek 8500 & a Gary Fisher Big Sur. The
salesman is trying to sell me a Specialized FSR xc comp.

-rainier

I ride my singlespeed more than my FS bike.

Same here, although I don't have FS, but I do have other bikes to choose
from, including 2 schweet hardtails, another fully rigid, the single cruiser
and the cushy geared tandem cruiser.

CDB

One of each sounds good. Then as you grow you can pick
for the condiction of the trail of the day.

Idiot, birds of a feather flock together or it takes
one to know one. Whos the idiot now.

Per Rainier:

Quoted message said:

I've decided to go for a hardtail. I'm a road biker so simplicity and
lightweight are major considerations for me.

One of my favorite parts of mtn biking is bolting up hills, which would
be difficult to do with some bulky, 30 pound fs behemoth under me.

Sounds like a good choice to me - especially because you'll have a heightened
appreciation for FS and a more critical judgement of same if you decide to get a
second bike.

Personally, I take a lot of comfort in having two bikes (actually three if you
count the "who'd want to steal it?" POS that I use for errands) because every so
often something breaks - like a wheel or a crank - and if one bike is down for a
week or 10 days it's no big deal... OTOH, with one bike I was all bent out of
shape when the local LBS sat on a rear wheel rebuild (cracked rim) for two
weeks. Last wheel rebuild was a couple weeks ago. They'd actually finished it
in three days, but I didn't get around to calling them for a whole week...
greatly enhanced peace of mind...
--
PeteCresswell

Rainier said:

One of my favorite parts of mtn biking is bolting up hills, which would
be difficult to do with some bulky, 30 pound fs behemoth under me.

-rainier

"Difficult" is relative. I ride my 30-lb FS up 10000' of vertical in the
typical good month.

But then, "bolting up hills" is also relative.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"

Rainier said:

Shawn said:

Get in *at least* 20 minutes on reasonably challenging terrain.

Let's put it this way. I asked if I could ride over to the mall next
door and the salesman told me I had to stick to their parking lot, then
recommended I ride over a couple of speed bumps to get a feel for the
full suspension. All in all, not helpful at all but they're the only
shop for a hundred miles.

Bummer. Lame too. If you swing through Salida, CO, Absolute Bikes is
great about letting potential buyers demo. They also have a good fleat
of rentals. (BTW, my only financial interest in this shop is how much
of my finances go to them. :-)

Shawn

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

P.S. Where in Colorado?

San Juan Mountains. Also the Crested Butte area.

It's a personal choice usually based on the type of riding in your
area or that you do. Hardtail is still faster and lighter, plus if you
get chrome moly frame it will last longer than the usually aluminum
full suspension frames.

What I have seen more of is riders putting longer travel forks on
hardtails.

Personally, I like full suspension, if you are trying to keep up with
your friends downhill it's the way to go, but don't be a weight
weenie. A light front fork will slow you down a lot. Even on smooth
curvey downhills.

A hardtail will do pretty good downhill if it's not too bumpy, but has
definite climbing advantages. The penalty is it will wear you out more
by making you feel all the little bumps. This can be a negligible
thing if you are in pretty good shape. Oh, and hardtails are
noticeably cheaper to maintain. No shock or bearings for the rear.

On 21 Apr 2005 14:14:13 -0700, "Rainier" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I've decided to get back into mountain biking after a six year
sabbatical. I had planned to buy a Stumpjumper Hard Tail, since back in
my day full suspension was in its infancy. But the dealer doesn't even
stock hard tails and claims they're about as current as mullets. He
also claimed 80% of racers now use full suspension. Not sure if this is
true or a bunch of salesman BS.

So what does the ng recommend? I never had any problems w/ hard tails
when I rode in the 90s. The extra weight of FS is a turn-off. I will
primarily be riding in the midwest although I spend a month in Colorado
each summer, so I am thinking a full suspension may be the way to go
for the mountains. I don't plan to ride competetively.

As for bikes, I am currently debating between the editor's choices on
MTBreview.com: a Stumpjumper, a Trek 8500 & a Gary Fisher Big Sur. The
salesman is trying to sell me a Specialized FSR xc comp.

-rainier

[email hidden] wrote some funny stuff in a top-post:

Quoted message said:

Hardtail is still faster and lighter

Quoted message said:

Personally, I like full suspension, if you are trying to keep up with
your friends downhill it's the way to go, but don't be a weight
weenie.

Contradiction can be fun, especially in the same post.

Quoted message said:

plus if you
get chrome moly frame it will last longer than the usually aluminum
full suspension frames.

I'm wondering where you have com up with all of this misinformation.
Do you have a crystal ball, or are you throwing chicken bones around?

Quoted message said:

What I have seen more of is riders putting longer travel forks on
hardtails.

Idiots put long travel forks on bicycles that were not designed for
them. Ever hear of a thing called "geometry"?

Quoted message said:

A light front fork will slow you down a lot. Even on smooth
curvey downhills.

This is hilarious! Tell you what junior, you bring your heavy fork
bike to the FFTF and *try* to hang with me on my rigid singlespeed
while dropping the Kessel Run.

JD

Quoted message said:

This is hilarious! Tell you what junior, you bring your heavy fork
bike to the FFTF and *try* to hang with me on my rigid singlespeed
while dropping the Kessel Run.

JD

And now ya know!

"TBF::." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This is hilarious! Tell you what junior, you bring your heavy fork
bike to the FFTF and *try* to hang with me on my rigid singlespeed
while dropping the Kessel Run.

JD

And now ya know!

From the looks of the videos I've seen, it's all you need...butter like
even....

Dave (dare I say, sterile)