"Jimmy [censored]" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:This has probably been discussed before but I would be grateful your opinion ... it might save a
big fall out . Me mate tried cross country racing last year with a specialized full
susser
Quoted message said:and did quite well but felt he lost a lot on the hills and as the
downhill's
Quoted message said:where not that bad a light hard tail was the order of the day and the
fact
Quoted message said:the 99 % of the riders where using them ...he's now the proud owner of a specialized m5 with lots
of exspensive and light goodies attached to it . Our other mate is adamant that a full susser with
lockout would be a far better option as you have the best of both worlds and the fact that the
world championship was won on a full susser says he is right .. No one
will
Quoted message said:shift their opinion .
What do you think ?...
Jim
It depends a lot on the course and rider skills. I just picked up a full susser this past summer
(after cracking my hardtail). Its a blur, so its a little bit heavy and a little more trailbikish
than a full on race bike. Either way, on most of my local trails I feel much faster, and my times
did improve. Then again, my trails are really rocky, rooty, and technical. It certainly helps that
the bike carves corners much better too.
On some of the courses I raced this past year, the full suspension was definitely an advantage.
When a half mile stretch of the loop is shared with the DH course, you know its got rough sections!
I was able to pass people that were fitter than me through a combination of technical skills (honed
from riding the hardtail with 65mm front travel in some nasty tight stuff) and the extra bit of
leeway I had with the suspension. The BIGGEST difference is when you're riding over a long rough
section at speed. I find it much easier to pedal the fully, and therefore I keep my speed and
momentum a lot easier. I can pedal just fine on the hardtail too, but having my legs serve the dual
purpose of propulsion and all of my "rear suspension" on the hardtail made it very tiring to do. On
the fully I can focus more on pedalling and keeping the fast line, without having to worry about
absorbing in the middle of a pedal stroke.
However, this is rough trails we're talking about here. If there are a bunch of long, non-technical
climbs or smooth singletrack, then I'd much prefer a race-tuned hardtail over a fully. There's
nothing like the instant response and stiffness of a hardtail for smooth stuff, or even easy rough
stuff. And as long as you've got the technical skills, the tech parts of the course can be done
almost as fast as a full suspension bike, although it'll be a small bit more tiring.
Don't bother with lockout. Put a 5th element or a swinger SPV or some other stable platform
technology on your bike if you can, or get a bike like the blur that helps minimize bob (it still
bobs, don't get me wrong, but nowhere near as much as most of the other designs I tried).
So, to sum all that blabbering up:
Fully for technical courses Hardtail for fast, smooth courses.
Jon Bond
