Vive La Full Suspension!

[Losidan]

Well,

after returning to riding after 10+ years (BMX) I bought an MTB for commuting. After looking round the web sites and mag's I was amazed just how prevalant full sus is...When I rode they were the main domain of down hill racers...and not all then.

Anyway,

I have located a route to my work which virtually all off road and gave it a whirl instead of the roads yesterday...After just 9 miles having the tracks knock the crap out of me on my hardtailer I can now see why pep's ride full sus....


So, Vive la Full Suspension.

 

[Globalti]

Most of the guys in my MTB club ride full suspension and all of them have constant problems with the bearings wearing out, bits breaking, shockers failing etc.

Just so you know!

 

[GilesM]

After 2.5 years of MTB with a hardtail I made the move to the dark side a few weeks ago and bought a full sus, I have to agree, full sus is good, it makes a real difference, definately quicker on the rough/rocky descents, unfortunately it just means I'll be going quicker when I have my next off. I'll still keep the hard tail and I will ride it to make sure that I don't abandon all good technique and just rely on the good quality suspension to get me out of trouble.

I would not worry too much about the reliability, RR is obviously right that there is more to go wrong, and more to replace, but from what I've seen from all of the people I cycle with who ride full sus bikes I don't think it's that bad, the only guys who seem to have trouble are the ones that never replace anything until it completely fails, then they try to patch things up for as long as possible, but then I knew guys who were the same on road bikes.

Giles

 

[barq]

Most of the guys in my MTB club ride full suspension and all of them have constant problems with the bearings wearing out, bits breaking, shockers failing etc.

Just so you know!

That sounds unusually bad, can you name and shame the makes/models? I assume that club members are probably using quite high end kit as well.

In happier full suss news, I and my group of riding friends have generally not experienced durability issues with Specialized and Kona. So I guess there is hope!

 

[RedBike]

When I came to get my full suspension bike serviced (Stumpjumper) the shop wanted (Can't remember the exact figures) £55 for the service, £45 to service the fork, £80 for the rear shock, £80 for the 'brain' (part of the rear shock) and £15 for new bearings. Not to mention brake pads etc.

Anyway, with parts they wanted nearly £300 just to service it!