Big Bike Thread

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It's alright - It's within 5 mins of my doorstep and has an array of jumps, drops and singletrack, but by no means worth making a trip to.

Considering you guys have Gisburn, Stainburn, Wharncliffe, Dalby, Guisborough and the North York Moors virtually on your doorsteps, I know where I would rather be riding.....
 
What made you guys decide on hard tail vs full sus? I had a go on my mate's full sus Specialized Stumpjumper last night so can only guage experience on that, but it was awesome. I/we mainly ride on trails that are quite off road with rocks and tree stumps that make it quite bumpy. These are tracks at Swinley Forest Bracknell and I find a hard tail there gives my bum a real pounding. The first time I got on the full sus it did feel wierd. A lot of people tell me that energy is wasted and not transmitted as directly to the pedals as with a hardtail, but to be honest for the type of riding I do, I swear you easily make up any loss in better rear wheel tracking and hence momentum and speed.

So in conclusion I now want a full sus. :sigh: I want to buy second hand and try to keep it under £500, but most people claim that will buy a poor bike. I have seen some Specialized Stumpjumpers go for about £500 on ebay and thats recently like peak season a week ago.

Advice? What made you guys decide full sus vs hard tail?
 
Full sus is more comfortable for the type of riding I do/prefer
For 500 you will get might* be able to get something nice, but you will need to look hard.
 
Supercow said:
Full sus is more comfortable for the type of riding I do/prefer
For 500 you will get might* be able to get something nice, but you will need to look hard.
Click to expand...

Thanks Supercow. I'm so new to this that I find it hard to define "nice" and I'm unsure why exactly a £300 full sus vs £600 is so much worse. I think I get the main jist of it, but I do wonder if I will notice the difference.
 
I went for a Hardtail first due to 2 things;
1.) Expense
2.) Ease*

* What I mean is that I read and was told to start on a Hardtail to learn the basics of mountain biking before stepping up to a Full Sus. Full Sus bikes are more forgiving and take away some (note some, not all) of the techniques you can utilise more effective when moving from a Hardtail to a Full Sus.
For the kind of riding you will be doing (forgive me here, I'm unsure of your riding ability/experience) then a Hardtail will be more beneficial. You'll be able to ride the full extent of riding has to offer, to some degree. I wasn't flying down DH tracks on my Hardtail, but it helped me to learn how to take lines, approach jumps before moving up to a Full Sus (I'm still not flying down DH tracks mind you :D)

Expense is self explanatory. £500 will get you a great Hardtail. And a rather mediocre Full Sus (which you'll probably have to spend more on as it's older and used)

It's just my experience and opinion (as Supercow said), others willl differ obviously :)

Ask away, you'll get heaps of good advice in here :)
 
I just found the full sus more stable, forgiving, comfortable, less tiring and rode more confidently on it. I did notice the hardtail turn in a bit more sharply and it did seem to handle maybe a touch better.
 
Don't forget that hardtail and that full sus is not representative off all Hardtails and FS bikes :) They'll all handle differently.

Gonna have a look in PS Cycles (Cwmcarn) on the weekend and see if they have any DH helmets I can try on.
 
jaybee said:
What made you guys decide on hard tail vs full sus? I had a go on my mate's full sus Specialized Stumpjumper last night so can only guage experience on that, but it was awesome. I/we mainly ride on trails that are quite off road with rocks and tree stumps that make it quite bumpy. These are tracks at Swinley Forest Bracknell and I find a hard tail there gives my bum a real pounding. The first time I got on the full sus it did feel wierd. A lot of people tell me that energy is wasted and not transmitted as directly to the pedals as with a hardtail, but to be honest for the type of riding I do, I swear you easily make up any loss in better rear wheel tracking and hence momentum and speed.

So in conclusion I now want a full sus. :sigh: I want to buy second hand and try to keep it under £500, but most people claim that will buy a poor bike. I have seen some Specialized Stumpjumpers go for about £500 on ebay and thats recently like peak season a week ago.

Advice? What made you guys decide full sus vs hard tail?
Click to expand...

swinley is what made me buy a full sus :)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPECIALIS...0806151639?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item3cb9420dd7

can get decent 2nd hand stuff for good prices
 
About as old as my that is :D Pitch Pro is a definite choice of bike if Full Sus is the way to go, a good relatively cheap starter option.
 
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