MTB Hardtail vs Full Suspension

Snowballs wrote

I rode across a 25- 30 ft long boulder field SITTING DOWN , rocks like honey dews.

Why?

mattchuck2 wrote

Snowballs wrote

I rode across a 25- 30 ft long boulder field SITTING DOWN , rocks like honey dews.

Why?

Why not ? They were on the trail, (tight against each other), a trail ridden by dirtbikes/atvs, and I wanted to see how the Cake would do. I rode it sitting down cause I wasn't sure how it would go and figured if I tipped over I'ld have a better chance of saving my bike from damage. Turns out, no worries. The suspension even made it nice and smooth.  Not kidding. No jarring or wheel stalls, just rolled right over those mothers like a ride in the park.  

I was really impressed as to what these modern bikes can do. It was wicked cool. I went across them as easy as .....Cake !

Please don't anybody misunderstand. I'm not bragging about my Cake or my mediocre skills, just relating the story so others can see what these bikes, a good FS bike can do.

On that note, I got to join the others and say " WTF is this Harv ? " You didn't think that is a fair example of a FS ride ?   Take that thing down to the RR tracks and let a train put it out of it's misery. Then delete your post so Jersey has one less thing to be embarrassed about.

Harvey wrote

Coach Z wrote

Go rent or borrow a FS 29er.

Now we're talking ! " IF " you do buy a bike, get the money out, don't be cheap, buy a reaaaallllly good one. You'll have it for many, many years and every time you ride it, you'll love it. OR have Matt pick a used one out for a GOOD build. You will not be sorry.

Speaking of MC2..... I love this quote..... way funny and spot on. HEHEHEHE.

mattchuck2 wrote

 That's not a "Full Suspension Bike", that's a piece of shit . . .

Before you buy, just try a fatty. I've taken rides on every kind of bike that's made even custom jobs. The most versatile and fun bike is this 9 zero 7 with 3x29 tires. I run in the woods with between 8 and 10 pounds of air. No suspension needed. It's a pisser to ride in snow too. Sand I haven't tried yet but will hopefully soon.

In other words hard tail for me. With the fatty no front suspension is needed either.

Thehof wrote

Before you buy, just try a fatty. I've taken rides on every kind of bike that's made even custom jobs. The most versatile and fun bike is this 9 zero 7 with 3x29 tires. I run in the woods with between 8 and 10 pounds of air. No suspension needed. It's a pisser to ride in snow too. Sand I haven't tried yet but will hopefully soon.

In other words hard tail for me. With the fatty no front suspension is needed either.

Funny you should say that, I am not a fan of suspension, even the hard tail with front shock.  I have hesitated to comment because I gave up riding anything more technical than fire roads and smooth trails years ago. However I have been eying  a Fatback.

http://fatbackbikes.com/corvus/

This bike ridden by Jeff Oatley won the Idirarod Trail Invitational last year
http://www.adn.com/article/20140305/iditarod-invitational-cyclist-rides-fat-tired-bike-mind-boggling-race-record

This now establishes that the bike racers can do this 1000 mile course in about the same time as the mushers.

Those do look like some nice trails Jeff, nice to have em close.

Hey snowballs they reason I asked a stupid question was because I didn't know the answer.

So back to the well... they had some Trek hardtails, not sure of model and didn't take a pic.

I took a spin or two around the shop and they didn't seem right somehow in the gear box.

So I got another bike from the Mongoose/Huffy line.  The wheels seemed bigger (29er?).

Somehow the ride is better, but I sure it still sucks. Anyway I'm having fun.

Maybe I'll try the Trek next.  Back to the trails.

Are you serious?!?

Stop throwing money out the window. Either buy what you want (a well made bike that will last a long time and help you ride up hills), or stick with the POS you have. Don't replace one piece of shit with a different piece of shit and expect anything to change.

If I bought a $10 coffee maker from Walmart and it made terrible coffee, I wouldn't go back into Walmart to find a $12 coffee maker from the same manufacturer. I would do some research and see what coffee makers make good coffee.

Saw a fatty with 4 inch wide tires the other day. Wow. Looked like car tires. Wonder if the extra rotational mass makes it feel sluggish ?

They also had a 27.5 bike. I believe it was a Giant. The placard claimed 27.5 doesn't feel sluggish " like " a 29er,IDK.

No worries, Harv. JK.

mattchuck2 wrote

Are you serious?!?

Stop throwing money out the window. Either buy what you want (a well made bike that will last a long time and help you ride up hills), or stick with the POS you have. Don't replace one piece of shit with a different piece of shit and expect anything to change.

If I bought a $10 coffee maker from Walmart and it made terrible coffee, I wouldn't go back into Walmart to find a $12 coffee maker from the same manufacturer. I would do some research and see what coffee makers make good coffee.

Amen to that!  (Sorry Harvey).

Einstein's definition of insanity, "doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results."  Don't do it man...

mattchuck2 wrote

Stop throwing money out the window.

Haven't spent anything. Borrowing these bikes from a friend in North River. Pretty broke right now.

I have a Kona Cindercone that is about ten years old. It's a decent bike, hardtail, but needs new tires and shifters.  Could fix that for $? not sure how much, and then need use the bike rack to haul it from the flatlands. Wanted to bring the boat instead.

Maybe get a bike next summer with tax refund. Still don't have anyplace to keep it.

This bike does seem easier or maybe I'm getting pumped.

Yes to fixing the Kona Cindercone.

Tires are cheap, shifters are cheap, you can do the repair yourself. Do that.

Yea go with that route, you could leave it at HQ then buy a bike for flatlands. One thing about an expensive bike is you have to be careful where you leave it. People will steal it. An older, less expensive bike could be left at HQ.

The Cindercone is basically my all purpose bike for the flatlands. It stays there, I need it all the time.

I have no place to keep a bike in the mtns, and I don't want to run it back and forth.  It's also a little nuts to have a sweet mtb bike here that gets ridden 10x a year tops.  For now borrowing is fine.

I jacked up the seat and going clockwise I can nail the loop. It's so much fun. Eventually I will probably get some kind of nice bike and borrow or build a place to keep it.  I guess then I'll decide on hardtail vs f suspension.  RIght now I am thinking fs. It's fun.

Why don't you invest in one of these:

http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/products/carriers-and-racks/bike-carriers/hitch-mounted-bike-carriers

Instead of a new bike.  That way you can carry your bike and your boat.

I have a two bike model (similar to Parkway I believe) and I like it very much.  It's a little costly to get the hitch and the carrier but it isn't hard to mount up a hitch frame and it doesn't have to be very burly.  You also don't need the electronics unless you do want to have the option to hook up a trailer.

MikeK wrote

http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/products/carriers-and-racks/bike-carriers/hitch-mounted-bike-carriers
That way you can carry your bike and your boat.

That and a boat are too much work for now. What do you do when you need something from the back while you are in transit?

Returned the 29er and I'm currently on Super Linc's hardtail:



This bike seems to have a nicer, more nimble frame.  But the geometry/size of the other bike was more suited.

Great riding all week.

Sorry to butt in on this conversation... Harv, put a few $ into your Kona.  Then buy a rack - most hitch mount racks pivot/swing out so you can  open your hatch.  

That way you can ride a familiar bike wherever. And hitch mount racks are not specific to car models, so it can move on to your next car one day.  

My two cents.

TD

Agree with Dave, stopped putting the bike on top years ago - have a nive heavy duty Yakama that slips into the hitch on the Subi. Leaves room for the boat on top.

I don't want a bike rack. I want a bike I can leave in the mountains.

Two new bike stores in town and I went into one of them today and told the guy what I was interested in.  Told him I was looking to spend $800 (made that number up, but I think that would work for me).

Of course the guy said that was "below the threshold and I should spend $1000.

He recommended a Cannondale Trail 3 29er.  Seemed ok.

But he told me the front suspension has to have the seals replaced every 15-20 hours. WTF? Can that really be legit?  If so I'd be driving the thing back and forth or doing the work myself, defeats the purpose.



Also I think I like the idea of no front derailleur.

15-20 hrs...... He's full of beans.

No front derailleur ...... more beans.

Harvey wrote

 Also I think I like the idea of no front derailleur.

Harvey wrote

But he told me the front suspension has to have the seals replaced every 15-20 hours. WTF? Can that really be legit?  If so I'd be driving the thing back and forth or doing the work myself, defeats the purpose.

Seal replacement every 10 to 20 hours sounds a bit over the top.  Last year, I had to rebuild a blown fork (Fox Talas RL) after my third year on the bike.  Everything on the bike was regularly maintained, except the suspension components .  For the most part, I enjoy maintaining my bikes,  but have always been a bit neglectful with the suspension components.  I do some suspension maintenance, but nothing near what is specified by the manufacturer.  Fox recommends maintenance every 30 hours.  I think their recommendations are a bit CYA oriented, but with my experience... no maintenance resulted in catastrophic failure after 3.5 seasons.  The rebuild kit was $150, and it restored to the fork to "like new" condition.  A full replacement of the fork would have run $800.  I'm not sure which is more practical in terms of cost/benefit... let it go, and rebuild it after a few years, or regularly maintain it, and potentially never need to rebuild it.  I can say, rebuild vs replacement is a no-brainer.  It took me about 2 hours to complete the rebuild... definitely not worth spending the money for a new one.

What does a typical shop charge to replace seals?