Hard Tail vs Full Suspension?

[martyg]

Which is your perfect arrow?

https://gearjunkie.com/hardtail-vs-...in-bike?utm_medium=napi&utm_source=gearjunkie

 

[Rod9301]

Which is your perfect arrow?

https://gearjunkie.com/hardtail-vs-...in-bike?utm_medium=napi&utm_source=gearjunkie

Hard to believe people are still takingt about hard tail as being a choice in mountain biking.

 

[ScottB]

Hard tails have their place in my opinion. But full suspension is definitely the better ride for any kind of rugged terrain. I have owned a road bike for many years. About 5 years ago I bought a hardtail mountain bike. I have no regrets on the purchase and sitll ride the hardtail regulary. I ride the East Coast woods which are soft dirt with lots of rocks and exposed tree roots. For the terrain I have gravitated too, I really want a FS bike, but make do with my hardtail with high volume lower pressure tires (29X2.4", 20 psi).

I bought the hardtail because I was riding my road bike on sandy dirt roads on Block Island, RI on camping trips. The road bike was a handful on the sand dirt roads. My first year with the mtn bike felt like I died and went to heaven. Dirt roads were fun and riding on the street was even more comfortable than the road bike, although slower. I started riding fire roads in the woods and that was great with the hard tail. It wasn't til I discovered singletrack with some rugged features that the hardtail became out of its element. Rather than spending $5K on an FS bike, I spent $300 on some better tires and stem/bars and it became fun again.

The HT is definitely the low budget approach to mtn biking and if you select your riding sites intelligently, there is plenty of fun and exercise to be had. The adrenilin junkie in me still wants a FS bike, though.

 

[Crank]

Hard tails have their place in my opinion. But full suspension is definitely the better ride for any kind of rugged terrain. I have owned a road bike for many years. About 5 years ago I bought a hardtail mountain bike. I have no regrets on the purchase and sitll ride the hardtail regulary. I ride the East Coast woods which are soft dirt with lots of rocks and exposed tree roots. For the terrain I have gravitated too, I really want a FS bike, but make do with my hardtail with high volume lower pressure tires (29X2.4", 20 psi).

I bought the hardtail because I was riding my road bike on sandy dirt roads on Block Island, RI on camping trips. The road bike was a handful on the sand dirt roads. My first year with the mtn bike felt like I died and went to heaven. Dirt roads were fun and riding on the street was even more comfortable than the road bike, although slower. I started riding fire roads in the woods and that was great with the hard tail. It wasn't til I discovered singletrack with some rugged features that the hardtail became out of its element. Rather than spending $5K on an FS bike, I spent $300 on some better tires and stem/bars and it became fun again.

The HT is definitely the low budget approach to mtn biking and if you select your riding sites intelligently, there is plenty of fun and exercise to be had. The adrenilin junkie in me still wants a FS bike, though.

I have ridden a fair amount on Block Island and I like using my mountain bike a lot better then my road bike... although I don;t like the extra effort it takes and getting passed by all the roadies when riding out to North Lighthouse.

My advancing age (61) and my tender back are the main reasons I ride FS. I do see a lot of younger guys around here on hard tails.

 

[Philpug]

We have a hard tail, a Klein Attitude Comp..it doesn't get any harder than that. It was my bike when we got back into cycling this past year until I got my full suspension C-Dale Trigger. I took it on a few rides, the longest was with @Tricia, @Rainbow Jenny and @Near Nyquist and while I was having fun, the limits were felt on the 10 mile jaunt. In fairness it was mostly due to the 20 year old design. When we were out at Interbike, I did take out a Haro hard tail e-bike with a modern of geometry, 27.5+, 130 travel and of course a bit of assistance on the climb . I will say that the Haro even with the ePower had a level on playfulness of the Klein with a modern feel, especially on the twists and turns on the decents. While I missed the cushy back half of a full suspension, it wasn't miss as much as I would have expected.

With all that said, I cannot think of a situation where I would choose a hard tail as a daily driver over a full suspension...not in an apples to apples comparision.

 

[Plai]

My first real mountain bike was/is full suspension. I had intended to get a hardtail to learn some skills/basics until upgrading, but .... Anyways, most of the trails I ride would be fine with a HT. Only one of them do I really feel the need for full suspension. I find myself surfing craigslist daily for a modern geometry HT in great condition, but garage space is at a premium right now.

 

[luliski]

I've mostly ridden on the road for the past 20 years, and my mountain bike before that was fully rigid. I've ridden my road bike on dirt and gravel a fair amount. I'm actually more comfortable with the handling of a hardtail on loose surfaces. But I have a full-suspension mountain bike now, and for bumpy, chunky, big rocky trails, it's great. Just need to get used to how it handles on slippery stuff.

 

[Doug Briggs]

I started full rigid Bridgestone MB-5 back in the late '80s, graduated to a HT Ti Voodoo dejab with a Judy SL fork with a full 2" travel and suspension seat post! From there I went FS with a Sugar 2+ and now ride a Santa Cruz 5010 C FS bike. I took a ride last fall on the dejab while waiting for some service to be done on the SC. I had upgraded the fork to a Manitou with maybe 3" of travel. The difference on our trails (rough and rocky) was like night and day. The dejab climbs like a fiend but without a dropper seat post and resigned to 26" x 2.2" tube tires, was really 'active' going downhill. I love love love my SC.

Most of the guys that ride HTs around here are racers and go for the agility and weight savings a HT provides. I love the dejab but it is going to be a gravel bike not a trail bike for the rest of my riding career.

 

[martyg]

Hard to believe people are still takingt about hard tail as being a choice in mountain biking.

Most of the crew here - which is to say some of the best in the world - train intervals on FS roads on a HT, or on a cross bike. In races however they are gravitating more and more to FS. It hard not to trust Ned Overend's or Todd Well's opinion. Most days when I run into Howard Grotts he is training on a HT.

The HT in the article is just a blast to ride. Super crisp. If I go out and do hard laps it is my choice. We also have a track style (i.e., team pursuit, 1 kilometer, head-to-head sprints) here on a dirt track that the HT is great for, and you get to ride against the athletes mentioned above.

 

[skibob]

We have a hard tail, a Klein Attitude Comp..it doesn't get any harder than that. It was my bike when we got back into cycling this past year until I got my full suspension C-Dale Trigger. I took it on a few rides, the longest was with @Tricia, @Rainbow Jenny and @Near Nyquist and while I was having fun, the limits were felt on the 10 mile jaunt. In fairness it was mostly due to the 20 year old design. When we were out at Interbike, I did take out a Haro hard tail e-bike with a modern of geometry, 27.5+, 130 travel and of course a bit of assistance on the climb . I will say that the Haro even with the ePower had a level on playfulness of the Klein with a modern feel, especially on the twists and turns on the decents. While I missed the cushy back half of a full suspension, it wasn't miss as much as I would have expected.

With all that said, I cannot think of a situation where I would choose a hard tail as a daily driver over a full suspension...not in an apples to apples comparision.

I can.

My "around town" bike. An old Soma Juice (Reynolds CrMly) 29er. 2" hybrid tires. 1 x 10 drivetrain. Cheap manual discs. White Bros Carbon Fiber fork.

Rides with the kids. To the store. To work. To (kids') school. To the pool. On road, off road, on trail, off trail.

Basically, the bike I use for everything that is NOT a) serious single track MTBing and b) serious road riding.

Thing is frigging awesome. Quick, snappy, comfy, ugly. Perfect. Bought and assembled the various bits. Mostly used. I think I have about $350 in it.

 

[Philpug]

I can.

My "around town" bike. An old Soma Juice (Reynolds CrMly) 29er. 2" hybrid tires. 1 x 10 drivetrain. Cheap manual discs. White Bros Carbon Fiber fork.

Rides with the kids. To the store. To work. To (kids') school. To the pool. On road, off road, on trail, off trail.

Basically, the bike I use for everything that is NOT a) serious single track MTBing and b) serious road riding.

Thing is frigging awesome. Quick, snappy, comfy, ugly. Perfect. Bought and assembled the various bits. Mostly used. I think I have about $350 in it.

You have as an "and", not as an "or" or as a substitute for a full suspension.

 

[scott43]

Hard to believe people are still takingt about hard tail as being a choice in mountain biking.

Yeah I threw mine away and walk now..

 

[François Pugh]

The question that remains is "What's the better option if you only have $500 to spend?"

 

[skibob]

You have as an "and", not as an "or" or as a substitute for a full suspension.

Quite true!

(but I learned from you that the ideal quiver size = n+1)

 

[Josh Matta]

daily driver no....

but I love a hardtail on trails like this...


ID rather ride a hardtail than not have Tubeless tires, or modern Geo.

 

[luliski]

The question that remains is "What's the better option if you only have $500 to spend?"

Neither. JK, sort of.

 

[Tom K.]

We have a hard tail, a Klein Attitude Comp..it doesn't get any harder than that.

Unvarnished truth statement of the day award!

Modern FS: Faster, smoother, funner. -- and expensiver for a given level of quality/performance.

I do love my HT for rugged gravel riding, though!

 

[Mike Thomas]

The question that remains is "What's the better option if you only have $500 to spend?"

Yeah I threw mine away and walk now..

That'd be the < $500 answer- a nice pair of trail running shoes.

 

[martyg]

Hard to believe people are still takingt about hard tail as being a choice in mountain biking.

Smoother trails - definitely.

Most of our top guys - which is to say some of the best in the world - trail intervals on FS road climbs on HT, then connect them to single track descents.

I regularly see Howard Grotts - who won the Cape Epic, the Leadville 2X, Olympian, 15th in the world cup, multiple national championships - pass me on the climbs around our house. He's on his HT.

Watch the 2018 UCI world championships on YouTube. Plenty of racers are still on HT, though on that day, on that course, it was likely not the right tool for the job. Lots of rocks and roots to loose the time that you made on punchy climbs.

 

[ScottB]

The question that remains is "What's the better option if you only have $500 to spend?"

I would answer with the HT. I had a limited budget and I spent $800-900 on a new hard tail versus a very cheap or very old FS. If you can find a used FS for $500 and its decent, that would be a good buy. I started out to buy a new HT for $500, found some, looked at used FS, and wound up buying a new HT for $800 and I am still happy about it. If I had $2K to spend, I would buy a FS.

$500 really only gets you a new low end HT that is not very trail worthy (will do fine on gravel roads, though) or a used HT of good quality that is trail worthy. I actually road a new $700 FS bike before my purchase (bikes direct or something like that) and that conviced me to go HT. It felt like a piece of sh*** quality wise, it was not even subtle.