question for all you mountain bikers out there.
 

I'm getting back into mountain biking after a few years, but hardware seems to have excellerated to new levels of trickness, which seems to make my hardware feel a tad aged.
I currently have a ridgeback MX30 which I purchased new a few years back at a premium price, and have not really used it alot until recently.
It's a really good piece of kit to be honest, strong and very light, with a good overall range of gear ratios for heavy off road and medium road work, pretty well bullet proof so far.
Front suspenders etc , but fixed rear end.
my question being, are all these new full suspender bikes with all there disk brakes and go faster paint really any better than what I've got.
they must have a much higher weight factor etc, which would make them a harder bike to ride over certain types of terrain.
Are fixed rear bikes better over fast rough terrain than full suspeders.
I was told by a mate the full sus bikes absorbe a lot more energy when travelling and require much harder work to move them forwards than fixed rear frame bikes, is this true.
I do most my riding over Ash ranges, and anyone who knows the area will know that it has some serious hills and rough areas which would test even the toughest bikes.

I do approx 20 miles of off road work per evening door to door, on the present steed. Would a newer tech bike give me any real advantages , in overall speed and wear and tear.

any input would be nice.
cheers
red...

Rigid rear will give better 'feel' and drive but full sus will ride better over really rough stuff and will allow you to keep going at full speed. Full sus bikes do tend to 'bob' when you are powering but you get used to it.

John

Disks are fantastic. No more grinding away your rims after going through the muddy stuff. I've got Hope disks front and back and they are well worth the money. My bikes a hard tail and it climbs wonderfully. Full sus bikes do tend to bob but the design is much better and you can often lock the shock out so its not that much of an issue. The two big problems are weight and maintenance of the various bearings.

Yep, you'll get more bob with full sus but depending on model, you can lock them out. Full sus doesn't necessarily mean heavy either, but it all depends on budget. Mine weighs in at 27lb which is pretty damn light for a full sus.

yes, it'll allow you to do more with the bike, ride stuff you wouldn't attempt on a hardtail and leave your body less beat up on longer rougher rides. Disks mean you can stop when you want, don't worry about buckled wheels as much and can do long downhills safely.


The bob you get from suspension feels like you are losing energy but the benefits if you are riding true off road trails not on fireroads or tarmac more than out weigh that. Shock design is probably more advanced than motorcycle with additional low speed compression circuits to remove pedal induced bob this has allowed frame designers to return to simpler 1 pivot systems and reduced servicing costs. Remember FS has travel ranges from 3 - 10 inches so theres a lot of choice and a DH bike won't pedal like a short travel XC bike. A hardtail will sprint away quicker than a full sus bike so feels faster but once you hit rough terrain and downhill the FS bike is quicker. its a different riding style, on a hardtail you are out of saddle a lot on an fs bike you can sit and spin, getting out of saddle creates the dreaded bob.



I work for a UK MTB manufacturer, we test in the big rock stuff in Arizona and Spain during winter and the Alps in summer, these trails can be ridden on hardtails and we produce rigid bikes that can do it but personally I'd always ride full sud when its rough. I live in Lakes and my usual bike is a 6 inch front, 5.5 inch rear XC bike, its about right for the rougher UK riding of Lakes or Glentress/Mabie, Welsh trails


your current bike is doing al you ask of it now, why not find a good local dealer who can offer test rides of full sus bikes and see what you think. theres lots of demo days organised. You can then see what performance gains/ losses are and whether its worth the extra money.

hope that helps

sounds like pretty comprehensive answers guys, thanks for all your inputs.
looks like a test ride is needed.

cheers
red...

My full susser doesn't bob, even without lock out. They don't all do it.
I believe the benefits far out weigh the downsides, and some of them climb better than hardtails too.........:)

You can set the platform type shocks up really well now. Manitou Swinger Airs and Fox pro pedal series do virtually eliminate bob but are still active when you hit bumps. I'd rather climb a technical trail on a FS bike than a hardtail, the tyre stays hooked to the trail not slipping and spinning.

I'm guessing all FS bikes these days do this, but my last MTB was FS and the rear end pivot point was such that as you pedal it pushes the swingarm towards the group thus applying more force to dig in when pedaling

Theres a load of different theories/marketing BS about pivot placement and axle path. On a single pivot bike the closer the pivot to the crank the more active the suspension will be. I've got bikes with slighlty different pivot locations and using an identical shock setup you can feel the difference when you ride.

The new breed of platform shocks with valves that remove low speed pedalling forces has allowed designers to make a more active system which pedals well, reacts to bumps and gives good traction. Technology came from those big 20 inch plus travel baja race buggies where they need the travel but it causes problems on the flat with chassis roll.

once you get into linkage designs like Santa Cruz'es Virtual Pivot Point it gets way more complicated, becuase it uses the movement of a virtual pivot and the effect it has on chain to improve traction, well thats the markeitng BS anyway :)