# Anyone else either ride full rigid or full suspension?



## phoenixbikes (Sep 24, 2010)

Do other riders here also ride bikes that are either fully rigid or full suspension? 

Years ago I took a suspension fork off my custom rigid 26er frame to run it on a full suspension bike instead. Since then, (about 1998) I have ridden bikes that are either fully rigid, or are full suspension. I have not ridden a rigid frame with a suspension fork more than 20 years. Not there is anything wrong with using a suspension fork on a rigid frame of course, that's just what I've gotten used to over the years. Before I made the permanent switch either full rigid or full suspension, I found that sometimes I'd get into trouble with a suspension fork on a rigid frame. The front end would eat up things on descents that the rear end would slam into and bounce off, and sometimes the squishy fork provided me with a sense of false confidence I guess I could call it. I am more conservative these days in general. 



I know lots of folks probably wouldn't want to run a rigid fork on their rigid frame because of where they live, riding style, quiver killing hardtail status, etc. With today's suspension forks that can be locked out, it might be interesting for me to revisit the 'hardtail' idea. Reason being, I used to like to stand up on climbs and grab my bar-ends,.sorta roadie style. Ye olde 1998 Manitou was not terribly stiff and certainly did not have a lockout so I could stand up and pedal without making the fork pogo up and down.


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## Ryder1 (Oct 12, 2006)

phoenixbikes said:


> Do other riders here also ride bikes that are either fully rigid or full suspension?


Yep. I like rigid bikes and FS bikes, but have never had a suspended hardtail I especially liked, my favorite was a 2007 Kona Kula SS with an 80mm Reba - no remote but the lockout dial was far superior to Fox's which I hate, plus lockout isn't too important when you only have 80mm of travel.

My favorite setup is a rigid SS, so a geared FS makes a nice complement, and that's all I need. My trails are natural and endlessly rocky, so if I have gears that allow me to sit a lot, I want rear suspension.

A hardtail with a remote lockout makes sense in concept, but I personally find using it to be tedious and distracting, and one I had still bobbed, another needed endless repairs. Even when the lockout works, your front stack feels tall and you don't get the benefits of a lightweight rigid fork.

I haven't owned a suspended hardtail in 6-7 years and don't see myself riding one soon. But if rigid eventually becomes unridable due to age, I'd could go for a SS hardtail with 100mm travel, a remote, and a super stiff lockout.


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## chazpat (Sep 23, 2006)

I currently have a full suspension and two rigids, one of which I just put gears on. I sold my hardtail a few months ago, though it was a 26er. I do have a fork I might throw on one of the rigids at some point, but I haven't yet. I just got back into riding rigid a couple of years ago and I'm really enjoying it.


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## Bacon Fat (Mar 11, 2016)

I ride a FS and a rigid SS. I am not a fan of hardtail. I like front and back to respond the same. Plus it is nice to have bikes that don't ride anything alike and you need different skills to get the most out of either of them


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## Driverfound337 (Sep 1, 2008)

I started on a hardtail, had a few full suspensions, got a rigid SS and haven't looked back 10 years ago, nothing against FS and I would own one maybe if my wallet allowed me to, but it's just so much harder to ride on challenging stuff and I like that! I got two Rigid SS, love em!
IMG_1913 by driverfound337, on Flickr
IMG_1361 by driverfound337, on Flickr


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## *OneSpeed* (Oct 18, 2013)

Yes, but I spend most of my time on either a rigid SS 29+, a SS hardtail, or a geared hardtail. I spend much less time on the full suspension bikes, primarily use them for out of town adventures or endurance racing only.










I will say modern suspension forks are quite good, and super fun on the right bike. I still enjoy the responsiveness and pedaling efficiency of a rigid fork (recently switched my Krampus back to rigid) but definitely like the hardtails for rowdy riding or trail shenanigans.

A Fox 34 or Manitou Mattoc fork gives a nice plush ride without feeling soft or spongy, good mid stroke support too. The lockout on these two is night and day better than a RockShox fork, but when properly setup I find I don't need to use it very often.

I say go for it, throw a suspension fork on there. It's good to switch things up periodically. Even if you end up hating it you can easily switch back, but I'm guessing you'll dig it.


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## jeremy3220 (Jul 5, 2017)

I've never owned a rigid mountain bike but I have ridden bmx and still do to some degree. My first mtb was a hardtail and later got a full suspension. After gaining more and more experience on the full suspension I came to realize that I didn't like how the front and rear of the hardtail behaved differently. It just feels kinda wrong to have the front end diving and behaving so differently than the rear. Even with pumping and hopping, the timing is off between the front and rear. I don't have plans on buying a rigid mtb but I can see the appeal.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I've had a rigid SS mtb in the past. It was great fun on the right trails. 

I'm a spinner, though. Old repetitive stress injuries in my knees really don't like singlespeeds.

My gravel bike is currently the only rigid bike I have. My mtb right now is currently a hardtail. It's a lot of fun, and the fact that the front and rear behave differently do force you to ride it differently than you might ride a rigid bike or a FS bike. It took me a bit to adjust to that.

I could see keeping around a rigid, geared mtb. It would be similar enough to my gravel bike, however, that I'd probably let the gravel bike go.


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## Chris Pringle (Oct 28, 2003)

I started with an aluminum hardtail in 2003 and moved to a full suspension bike in less than a year. I rode full-suspension bikes for over 10 years. In 2016, however, I sold my last full-sus bike and went back to a hardtail. I really enjoy the feedback of a hardtail, especially with all the advancements in technology and geometry since 2003. To me, a hardtail is akin to driving a sports car. You get more feedback from the trail and it’s not totally muted. It forces you to use more your arms and legs - like dancing. The front suspension is welcome on the rowdy stuff one may encounter so you don’t arrive home feeling totally beat up. 

My other bike is a custom steel all-road bike, full-rigid, obviously. I broke with conventions and had this bike built around 26” wheels instead of the standard 700c or even 650b. So, for off-road use, I just make a few changes to the cockpit and tires. This bike then turns into it’s a super capable bike for gravel, double tracks and bike-packing on forest roads peppered with some singletracks here and there. Just a few years ago I used this bike on the entire length of the Telluride to Moab hut-to-hut tour - an off-road bikepacking tour. Most people prefer a MTB for this tour but I had so much fun on my 26” full-rigid bike. On the other side of the spectrum, I completed the 760 miles of the Paris-Brest-Paris (all on-road) using the same bike. LOL!

As far as full-suspension goes, never say never,
but right now the two bikes I own meet 100% of my riding requirements whether on or off road.


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## Funoutside (Jul 17, 2019)

I don't own any suspension bikes & have no real plan to(though curious to try the Fox AX on my gravel bike). For my type of riding a capable-ish rigid plus works. Though I am thinking about getting a modern xc-ish rigid bike that can fit 29x2.6(IBIS DV1 frame would have been perfect if it was still offered). Plus, I don't have to worry about getting my forked serviced.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

2011 Kona Unit and 2012 Giant Anthem.


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## natas1321 (Nov 4, 2017)

I currently have two hightowers to go along with my hardtail fathom and enjoy riding them all, just always happy to have the opportunity to ride.


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## jonshonda (Apr 21, 2011)

I've had hardtails, FS 29ers, fat bikes (rigid and hardtail), rigid SS 29er and rigid 29+. Riding rigid makes you think about and ride trails in a totally different way. Every root and rock is a challenge, and you are constantly lifting and shifting to help the bike glide over, vs bash over as you would with suspension. If you pile single speed on top of that, you really have a challenge on your hands, and have to look much further ahead to keep your momentum.

I have found that riding rigid *and* single speed made me a much better rider overall, as I had to attack the trails using my arms and legs a lot more, vs letting the suspension do the work for me. It also made riding my local trails, which a had done hundreds of times, new and exciting.

So my take away was riding FS *can *make you lazy, and rigid makes you work, equally a much better experience over all.


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## EKram (Oct 30, 2020)

Put me down as rigid, single speed ride. As I lose my youth, it’s starting to eat my lunch. 😭


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