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Comment by plq | Hacker News Reader

Are you sure about the rear suspension? Yes, it can save your wheel in some situations (which you should really be avoiding as an amateur), but %99 of the time it's unnecessery weight that also happens to eat some of the power that'd normally go to the wheel. (I'm not a competitive biker, mountain or otherwise, I'm just curious)

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I would say that if you're riding on rough terrain (e.g. rocky, boulder-strewn, heavily rutted, etc.), you would be shocked at what you can do on a full suspension bike. I know I spent the first couple of months with a F/S bike just riding over random obstacles out of sheer amazement. If you're riding mostly smooth dirt trails where your primary obstacle is occasional tree roots and ruts, then a hardtail is probably fine.

I have a hardtail (its a 4 X steel framed tank). Big forks at the front, and a bit of effort, I haven't seen much that full suspensions would make me do that I won't on the hardtail.

http://www.bikemag.com/news/guy-wins-megavalanche-division-o...

(Admittedly, full suspension is probably a bit more forgiving than a hardtail, but I have more fun on a hardtail).

I rode hard trail growing up and now have a full suspension and I think it is definitely worth trying especially if you ride on any sort of roots or rocks.

Technology has improved a lot from the first few generations of suspension and even climbing a modern suspension design that isn't intended solely for downhill will isolate pedal bob from bumps and nicer rear shocks will also have either a lock out or inertial damping/"pro pedal" or lock out feature that helps even more.

I actually just got back from a ride the included some climbs up through some steep rock gardens and I feel the rear suspension can actually help keep traction better so you can stay seated and just grind things out over the bumps instead of having to stand and throw the bike around if that makes sense.

The descent is no contest, the bike just stays much more in control and I don't have to use my knees like shock absorbers as much.

And I'm on a bike I paid $1400 for on fall clearance though it is a more trail oriented then enduro oriented bike meaning it has only 120mm of suspension front and rear (it is an older BMC trailfox tf02).

I'd like to give a hardtail ultralight 29er a try at some point as well though.

It's not about saving the wheel, it's about keeping the rider fresh. Mountain biking on rough terrain is hard on the body. Look at elite level races - most of them switch between hard-tail and full-suspension, depending on the terrain. And for those of us who just play at racing, a full-suspension bike can take the edge off a long day of riding.

"but %99 of the time it's unnecessery weight that also happens to eat some of the power that'd normally go to the wheel."

If by 99 percent of the time you refer to climbing(because going up is so slow and takes more time compared with going down), lots of rear suspension's rigidity systems can be adjusted with your finger in a five seconds operation.

My bike has this mechanism, I just select the "rigid mode" for climbing and change it for going downhill.

Eating the power that will go to the wheel is exactly what I want when I go downhill the Swiss Alps, or Teide or Sierra Nevada.

Sometimes I would love to have "regenerative braking". I have a limit in the velocity I can handle. Over this everything goes so fast.

Also, having family you start re thinking the risk you take.

I am good, but not that good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr5FGOKY3RM

All depends on your terrain. My local trails are rock gardens, often with broken rock ranging from softball to football size. I still ride a hardtail, but I can tell you the shocks & bumps are so bad that I spend a lot of the ride down with zero traction.

In some terrain, rear suspension is advantageous both in climbing and descending. When descending, it keeps wheel planted on the ground for better control and braking. When climbing rough terrain, it similarly can keep the back wheel planted for better traction.

Some folks also get bikes with rear suspension because it limits stress on the torso and knees when hitting bumps.

You don't need it and if you are on a limited budget you can get a good hard tail much cheaper than a good full suspension but if you have it you can stay in the saddle much more of the the time for efficient pedalling. It doesn't lose much of the pedalling power certainly if you spin the pedals rather than stand on the pedals in a higher gear.

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