tintin40 wrote:
missmyfat wrote:
Cant see the point of riding a bike that the suspension smoothes all the trail out. If you want smooth ride on the road!

Surely the reason for riding offroad is the challenge of the terain?
Have never seen a trail in this country where you NEED bounce. Everything can be riden on a HT.
Full suss bikes also date very fast.
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SPOT ON 100%

Don't you just love sweeping generalisations
I wouldn't fancy taking a hardtail down this (or the rest of the trail for that matter),
I recently rode the new "Punterised" version of this trail with a couple of guys on hardtails. This route is a Munro (4 actually) - this bit used to be at about 3000ft until it was punterised - it's still mental though. Three guys on big full sussers rode most/all of it, two guys on big full sussers walked a few bits, and two guys on big hardtails did very well but were defeated by a few more bits. This goes for the climbs also - my Nicolai is a scary heavy beastie but it is very low geared and is designed to climb, I can winch this bike up stuff almost no other bikers can touch - including bits I could not ride on a hardtail BITD when I was fitter
Although you could take a little hardtail round this route you would be walking most of it, which to me is not the point, you may as well leave the bike behind and get your ron hill tracksters and red socks on
Having said that I spend most of my time riding in the local forest on my Balfa hardtail and keeping the Nicolai for the real mountains. The Nicolai makes the descents in the forest too easy and the short sharp sprint climbs to much like hard work. If I want a distance blast then I take my Lloyd or Trek 8900 and if i'm feeling like a real tw@ then I take the rigid Kona singlespeed.
It's horses for courses in my opinion and there is no room for sweeping generalisations about wether FS is better than hardtails - but it sells mags and galvanises opinions.
If where or how you ride doesn't require a big bike then...

_________________
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Projects.
95 Kona Explosif Singlespeed/Fixie - 100% Thrashed since new and it's still very well loved (and it looks it).
Dave Lloyd C.A.T.S W.I.S.K.A.S - Built, ridden, loved, and sold.