Hardtail why?

Yunderover

Yunderover

Likes Bikes
i agree that hardtails create a smoother run and puts more style into a transition. I also find when riding a duallie lots of my leg drive gets eaten by rear suspension.

But overall they both have different purposes and each one has its advantages.
 
josh_hardtail

josh_hardtail

Likes Bikes
exvitermini said:
floody didnt you used to own a very nice banshee scream?(dualie...) but i have herd you building up a new hardtail to play with...
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wrong person, I ment that was the drop i did
 
R

Rik

logged out
That wouldn't be a huck, it'd be a drop.
Splitting hairs over stupid definitions... but still... a huck is done off a drop, but a drop isn't always a huck.
 
Bodin

Bodin

GMBC
shwinboy said:
If I lived in Castlemain and rode bumpy single track lots instead of Melbourne and it's fast buff hard pack I'd probably still have one.

Where I ride has a lot to do with it.

My skills got waaaaaaay better once I switched to HT too. I was a little too rear travel dependant for a while there.
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My current ride is set up almost entirely on the basis of what I personally need to ride the Castlemaine singletrack as well as I possibly can and in as much comfort for as long as I possibly can, so I ride a 100mm dually with tubeless tyres.

I also race this bike because I race enduros and I can't stay comfortable or relaxed on a HT for more than about two hours, no matter how fit I am.

Having said that, nothing is faster than a nice hardtail for every type of XC racing if you're fit and smooth enough.
 
floody

floody

Wheel size expert
exvitermini said:
floody didnt you used to own a very nice banshee scream?(dualie...) but i have herd you building up a new hardtail to play with...
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I certainly did have a scream - first dually I'd owned in 10 years of riding...And it was fantastic, to be honest I just picked roughly the same lines and stuff as on a hardtail (just having gobs of suspension doesn't mean you must be lazy in line selection), and the biggest difference was being able to brake MUCH later.

My last post in this thread was in January 2004, I hadn't got the dually at that stage. I'm now building a P-bike up to ride everything on, as I had to sell the banshee for financial reasons.
It should be fun reverting to a hardtail, I'm already astounded how light it is - I should be able to pick it up, toss it round and place it EXACTLY anywhere on the trail I want it to be - thats THE chief benefit of a hardtail for me.
 
scratchy

scratchy

Farkin Activist
Back in the day... When I got into MTB there wasn't even suspension forks, so the choice was simple. I'm kinda glad it was though. When I look back on the HT's I've ridden, I realised how versitile MTB's can be. Off the top of my head on a HT i've:

DH,
FR (ish)
DJ
Cycle Tour'ed overseas and in Australia with Paniers
Mucked around doing Trials.
Seeing who can make it to the top of a knarly climb without putting a foot down.
Used it as a daily commute. (ST + 10kms of bitumen).
Worked as a courier on it, averaging 90kms a day.
Have done Enduro races
80km+ road rides.
Epic MTB rides (getting out in the great Aussie bush including long road sections to get back to the car).

Because I was riding a HT when I discovered a new experience in MTBing I wanted to try. Cycle touring? no worries, those holes on my frame are panier mounts! If I only had a FS it would have severly limited my experiences. I am now fortunate enough to have several bicycle in the shed. But if I could only have one, it's gotta be HT. Sure a FS is better at some aspects, depending at what it's been designed for. But the beautiful utilitarian simplicity of a quality trial riding HT is impossible to ignore.

*disclaimer* FS are getting lighter, more efficient and longer travel. Hot laps being punched out by Trent Lowe et al on 6" FS Yetis at Enduros races indicate that we are getting closer to the holy grail, a bicycle that does everything. Pity we already have discovered it, it's called a HT! But I like you, want to ride faster, lazier and with more room for error so the search continues...
 
punkfreq

punkfreq

Likes Dirt
Well for me i wish i could say its because its better for dirt jumping, but see I suck either way so... I cant say that. I ride it because its the bike i own and im lucky to even have that! People everywhere are always scoffing and stuff because i ride a NORCO! OH MY GOD A NORCO HARDTAIL! really.... MTB is about fun... MTB is pointless really... so what does it matter if you have a better bike or not? A friend of mine put a good point to me a while ago "Why do you mountain bikers spend so much money making your bike top of the line to make the ride more comfortable, then go to all the trouble of making tracks which are meant to test your skill so they make the ride less comfortable... So why bother either way?" a very valid point.... and one i didnt have an answer to. People can say its so they can hit bigger stuff and get a rush. But doing a less big drop on some POS rigid might be just as fun and require just as much skill.....and now i am completely off topic
 
S

sam......

Banned
naz said:
style, any halfwit can ride a dually, but riding a hardtail with style that is what it is all about, u learn to be smooth, coz u dont have suspension to save ur ass u have to land perfectly
but eh...
hey squid dont u ride a foes nad a gemini 1000, get outta the thread ur poisoning it :p
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yeh, what he said
 
Mahoney_007

Mahoney_007

Likes Bikes and Dirt
1) Pedal kicking/bunny hopping a dually sucks balls.
2) Being able to keep up with the 8" travel bikes down trails makes you feel tough :p (okay so maybe most of them blow me away but meh)
3) I'd rather my dually have an engine
 
J

Juls

Junior Marzocchi Tech
Mahoney_007 said:
1) Pedal kicking/bunny hopping a dually sucks balls.
2) Being able to keep up with the 8" travel bikes down trails makes you feel tough :p (okay so maybe most of them blow me away but meh)
3) I'd rather my dually have an engine
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Pity you can't afford that KTM you wanted, then you wouldn't have to make up excuses :rolleyes:

oh and you forget one..

4) not much point wearing out rear shocks and pivots to walk the Dog...LOL :D
 
T

timmo

Likes Dirt
Wow, this is a blast from the past - I didn't even remember starting this thread!!

Thanks for all the great responses.

Nearly 2 years down the track I've come to my own conclusions about when and where I prefer each, and what suits them best.

I went for a XC blast around Daisy Hill the other day with a couple of mates on their big duallies (Super 8 and VP Free) and I was supremely glad to be riding the hardtail myself.
Then hitting up the DH tracks last week, I was glad to have the duallie (and would love a better one!!)
On the rare occasion when I hit the DJs I also much prefer it on the HT, for all the reasons others have said - more control, less spongeyness, it flows better.

I'm glad to have both - they both have their fun sides. On a quiet weekend I love nothing more than getting out for a bit of single track stuff on the HT and just cruising, then getting out the next week on the dually for a bit of fast-paced DH action.
 
slm33d

slm33d

Likes Dirt
im a hardtailer my self but if i had the money id be riding either an 06 kona stinky or an 06 demo 9 pro an if i wanted a decent ht le toy 4 in chartreusse(i think thats how u spell it. :D
 
T

timmo

Likes Dirt
Bodin said:
...but if you HAD to choose...?
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The dually, no doubt about it.
I CAN get around on it XC style, I just don't like to.
However, IMO DH would truly suck without the dually.
 
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