Mountian bikes : Are Hard-tails really lighter that full sus..?

richmck · 12-13-2007, 10:14 AM

I have been reading various answers to a question about the two types. So 'M R' is saying that there really is a difference in weight then ? Can anyone specifiy ? I bought a double this summer ( stumpjumper fsr expert and it moves well as I was a sprinter before and wanted to continue to punish & push my legs so to speak. Did I choose the right type then ? i actually was thinking of a Ibis Mojo SX : Ideal for speed , or just posing on the trail ??? And finally, I did not see any mention of '' ENDURO '' bikes What exactly is this type of bike ?
Many regards

Roberto · 12-13-2007, 10:14 AM

Comparing similar quality bikes, a hardtail will be lighter, since it has less components than a full suspension bike.

Bike weight is not the most important consideration on a bike, within reason. A full suspension will be more versatile than a hardtail since it can take more variety of terrain. Probably where a HT will do better than a FS is on paved roads or for dirt jumps where the rams and landings are smooth. For other type of terrain, a well designed FS bike will provide better traction and that stuff about pedal efficiency it's not that on spot now with better designs and better shocks. More and more FS are used at world cup races for XC, which is the 'easiest' courses in the difficulty of terrain (but not for the lungs and legs, because they're usually long and fast).

I don't think that the Mojo is a special bike for speed (not that it's slow), but the review's Ive seen are pretty good. But also the Stumpjumper is a very good bike, congratulations.

About type of bicycles, there are several categories:

XC or cross-country, which is like the marathon type in the cycling world. It's long distances, going fast, not so technical terrain, no jumps or drops. Bikes are pretty light and designed to go fast, on suspension, they usually have like 3" or 4" of front and rear travel.

Freeride, which is sort of the stunt-stuff, which involves jumps, drops, ladders, etc.. Bikes are a lot tougher than XC, designed to take more abuse than XC bikes, weight is not a big deal. Usually the bikes have around 6" to 8" of suspension travel. Other than dirt jumps, most of the FR bikes are full suspension.

Between XC and FR there is another category wich some manufacturers refers as "all mountain", trail bikes, enduro. These are bikes that are designed to go both up and down the mountain, take a certain amount of stress, not as much as a FR bike, but considerable more than XC bikes.

The lines on this ridings are not black and white.