Hardtail Mountain Bikes - Mountain Bike Zen
Why choose a hardtail mountain bike?
Hardtail mountain bikes are still the choice for many professional and leisure rider for a number of reasons.
A hardtail mtb has suspension only in the front forks, the main frame of the bike is entirely rigid. The first disadvantage of this is obvious, you get a bumpier ride on the buttocks! There is also more vibrations that travel through the bike in general so this will also mean more jolting of feet on pedals and more vibrations transferred to handlebars and other areas of the bike. The main advantages of choosing a hardtail bike are plentiful:
- You will get a better quality bike for the same budget.
- Generally, within the same budget the hardtail will be the lighter bike.
- More of the mechanical energy you create by pumping your pedals will be transferred into forward motion.
- There is less equipment to maintain and a little less to go and break.
If money is no object then a full suspension with complete lockout on the rear suspension would be the way to go, if you end up with a cheap full suspension bike however you will definitely regret it. The only type of riding a budget full suspension bike would be suited to is the occasional gentle ride on a flat smooth surface, which begs the question, 'Why bother with the suspension at all?'
If like most people you have some limit to your budget then you should weigh up exactly what you can afford and where you are going to be doing your riding. Most people will start out with a decent entry level hardtail but remember you cannot add rear suspension to a rigid frame later on, the best you could do is replace the frame, although it would usually make more sense to replace the bike completely and sell on your old hardtail.
Riding a hardtail will require some building up of your buttock resistance altough with time you will get used to this, also it means you need to use your standing position on rides appropriately and use your knees to absorb some of the impacts. Don't just sit on your bike downhilling over rocky trails, you may quite literally break your butt!