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#1
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hard tail or full susser
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 and did quite well but felt he lost a lot on the hills and as the downhill's where not that bad a light hard tail was the order of the day and the fact 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 shift their opinion . What do you think ?... Jim |
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#2
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hard tail or full susser
"Jimmy Hitler" wrote in message
... 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 and did quite well but felt he lost a lot on the hills and as the downhill's where not that bad a light hard tail was the order of the day and the fact 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 shift their opinion . What do you think ?... Jim Why bother having full suspension if its going to be locked out. Its there, so use it. If you want the feel of a HT on a FS bike, then just get a HT and save yourself the hassle. - CA-G Can-Am Girls Kick Ass! |
#3
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hard tail or full susser
On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 20:53:33 +0000 (UTC), "Jimmy Hitler"
wrote: 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 and did quite well but felt he lost a lot on the hills and as the downhill's where not that bad a light hard tail was the order of the day and the fact 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 shift their opinion . You need a full suspension bike for sure. Something like this would be the perfect steed for winning many an XC race: http://home.pacbell.net/psf0/5spot/wayslack.jpg |
#4
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hard tail or full susser
"P e t e F a g e r l i n" wrote in message ... On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 20:53:33 +0000 (UTC), "Jimmy Hitler" wrote: 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 and did quite well but felt he lost a lot on the hills and as the downhill's where not that bad a light hard tail was the order of the day and the fact 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 shift their opinion . You need a full suspension bike for sure. Something like this would be the perfect steed for winning many an XC race: http://home.pacbell.net/psf0/5spot/wayslack.jpg Yeah, that's the ticket! ;^) Mike - I wouldn't ride that thing DH! |
#5
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hard tail or full susser
"Jimmy Hitler" wrote in message ... 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 and did quite well but felt he lost a lot on the hills and as the downhill's where not that bad a light hard tail was the order of the day and the fact 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 shift their opinion . What do you think ?... Jim You need to look into stable platform rear shocks like the Progressive 5th element. It does a great job resisting pedaling input but stays fully active for all the bumps. Their Air shock is one of the lightest out there too. Lock out shocks are a PITA. Mike |
#6
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hard tail or full susser
"Jimmy Hitler" wrote:
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 and did quite well but felt he lost a lot on the hills and as the downhill's where not that bad a light hard tail was the order of the day and the fact 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 shift their opinion . What do you think ?... The more skilled the rider, the less the FS advantage matters (and the FS disadvantage still counts as much). On most XC courses, a HT is the fast way 'round, at least for those who know how to ride well. If OTOH, just pointing the bike in the general direction is about as technical as you wanna get, a FS might make you faster. Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $695 ti frame |
#7
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hard tail or full susser
P e t e F a g e r l i n wrote:
You need a full suspension bike for sure. Something like this would be the perfect steed for winning many an XC race: http://home.pacbell.net/psf0/5spot/wayslack.jpg Heh. I actually saw a guy try to ride something similar to that in a tight, twisty singletrack time trial with as much up as down. He didn't do very well. Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $695 ti frame |
#8
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hard tail or full susser
"Jimmy Hitler" wrote in message
... 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 and did quite well but felt he lost a lot on the hills and as the downhill's where not that bad a light hard tail was the order of the day and the fact 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 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 |
#9
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hard tail or full susser
P e t e F a g e r l i n wrote in message . ..
-8- snip -8- You need a full suspension bike for sure. Something like this would be the perfect steed for winning many an XC race: http://home.pacbell.net/psf0/5spot/wayslack.jpg My irony-o-meter is going crazy, and I think it has something to do with this quote: "I merely wrote that I don''t get the fascination that people have with posting mundane pictures of mundane bikes leaning against the couch" I wonder who could have said that? Donning asbestos suit... Adam. |
#10
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hard tail or full susser
"Adam" wrote in message om... P e t e F a g e r l i n wrote in message . .. -8- snip -8- You need a full suspension bike for sure. Something like this would be the perfect steed for winning many an XC race: http://home.pacbell.net/psf0/5spot/wayslack.jpg My irony-o-meter is going crazy, and I think it has something to do with this quote: "I merely wrote that I don''t get the fascination that people have with posting mundane pictures of mundane bikes leaning against the couch" I wonder who could have said that? Donning asbestos suit... Adam. I see you've graduated from the Alanis Morissette school of Irony. Mike - and your 'sarcasm-o-meter' is broken. |
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