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With the coming of full suspension bikes, are hardtails now obsolete?

Home » Mountain Biking » Hardtail Mountain Bikes » With the coming of full suspension bikes, are hardtails now obsolete?

If you read mountain biking magazines or journals or blogs you can always find content on the debate over whether or not hardtails are a thing of the past. Within the past ten years full suspension bikes have become the industry standard bike. With technology becoming more available to the masses the price of full suspension bikes has dropped drastically, making it possible for most people, even with tight budgets, to own a full suspension bike. On the other side of the coin, you have the mountain bike purists. The purists argue that there is a certain feel when riding a hardtail that is impossible to get while riding a full suspension bike. The idea here is that while riding a hardtail the rider is able to feel the trail in truer way than someone riding a full suspension bike. Someone riding a full suspension bike does not feel the curve of the trail or other nuances that heighten the experience as well has make the rider better.

How can a rider become better while riding a hardtail as opposed to a full suspension bike, you might ask? Expert riders will tell anyone starting out in the sport of mountain biking to use a fully rigid bike or a hardtail before moving on to a full suspension bike. The reason for this is that riders who start our riding full suspension bikes automatically begin to rely on the bike to get them over obstacles or absorb jumps. This translates into a lack of skill development. A rider who starts out riding a hardtail or even fully rigid bike will be forced to master certain moves that make it possible to jump over logs and rocks, navigate a technical ascent or descent, or learn how to handle high speeds. The hardtail allows the rider to feel the trail better thus forcing the rider to hone their riding skills. The argument against starting out on full suspension bikes is that it produces riders that rely more on the bike than on the skill and art of riding the bike.

No doubt this argument will continue as long as there are hardtails out there to ride. If you begin to follow mountain biking at all you will find what are called trials riders. These riders are the guys you see hoping on their back tires up stairs backwards. They are balance experts and can manipulate the bikes to their liking. There are guys out there who can ride on railings two inches wide and on chains as well. Most, if not all of these riders use hardtail mountain bikes. The hardtail gives the rider that extra feel element needed to navigate a risky jump or drop. When it comes down to it, feel has a lot to do with riding styles.

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