David wrote:

My bike is actually too big a frame for me. As I have some redundancy m=
oney
I can afford to buy a new bike, but obviously can't spend an absolute
fortune.

Second hand is the place to look IMHO. Fortunately mountain bikes are=20
about the most common things to get upgraded and sold on.

Seems to me that the front only suspension bikes are cheaper. Never hav=
ing
ridden a bike with suspension, what are the pro's and con's of front/re=
ar
suspension both on and off road?

First up, suspension designs for on and off road are usually different=20
beasts, even though the gains in each case are through improved=20
efficiency, handling and comfort (*if* it's good suspension). On the=20
road you're looking at absorbing a lot of very small, fairly constant=20
shocks, where off road you need an ability to soak up very big bumps as=20
a routine thing. Unfortunately the extra travel for the big stuff=20
weighs more and encourages the bike to pogo with pedalling if you're=20
climbing, so off-road suspension is often effectively a liability on the =

road. On road suspension is of some use off, but it'll generally lack=20
enough travel to soak up the routine bumps encountered so it won't do a=20
proper job.
But the above assumes the suspension has been well designed. On a cheap =

bike it generally won't have been, as the design requirement is=20
/looking/ like an expensive bike, and never mind what actually happens.=20
The springing system will be grot, damping possibly non-existent, and=20
though it will soak up big hits better than nothing it's unlikely to be=20
good at soaking up a continuous stream of rough stuff in a way that=20
makes the bike truly more efficient, which is where /good/ suspension=20
scores over rigid.

Dual suspension, where done well, does the above Good Things mentioned=20
better, though is heavier and there's more maintenance. Done badly it=20
takes even more money away from frame and transmission for primarily=20
cosmetic reasons. Same goes for disc brakes: done properly they're=20
superb, done cheaply they're there to look cool but will cost more than=20
V brakes, wear out pads quicker and not work any better.

For dual suspension you're looking at well towards 4 figure price tags=20
for a good job where money has been sensibly spread around the whole=20
bike to make a well rounded whole. It's hard to buy an MTB with rigid=20
forks these days, but I wouldn't want to spend any less than =A3250 on on=
e=20
with suspension forks, and preferably not less than about =A3350. And it=
=20
wouldn't have disc brakes at that price.

I'd start looking hard at second hand.

Pete.
--=20
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/