"On a FS bike I know I can take gnarlier lines, cheat lines and faster lines because I know the suspension is going to suck up a lot of the ugliness that I would feel on the HT."
YOU know that, but a beginner doesn't. If they accidentally take the wrong line, and they WILL, it's part of learning, then that ugliness is more likely to hurt them or the bike if they're on a hardtail. Full-sus is more forgiving, and a big part of learning is making mistakes with minimal consequences and trying again.
"it’s geared towards the idea that new riders will learn better trail skills on a HT"
You said it again. Better, different, it's semantics. "Better" skills are different, or they wouldn't be better, and different skills are "better" for different situations. Anyway, the steeper learning curve of a hardtail doesn't mean everyone will magically learn skills faster or "better", instead it usually more people will get frustrated as they make minimal progress and eventually give up.
March 12, 2022, 1:43 p.m. - Justin White
"On a FS bike I know I can take gnarlier lines, cheat lines and faster lines because I know the suspension is going to suck up a lot of the ugliness that I would feel on the HT." YOU know that, but a beginner doesn't. If they accidentally take the wrong line, and they WILL, it's part of learning, then that ugliness is more likely to hurt them or the bike if they're on a hardtail. Full-sus is more forgiving, and a big part of learning is making mistakes with minimal consequences and trying again. "it’s geared towards the idea that new riders will learn better trail skills on a HT" You said it again. Better, different, it's semantics. "Better" skills are different, or they wouldn't be better, and different skills are "better" for different situations. Anyway, the steeper learning curve of a hardtail doesn't mean everyone will magically learn skills faster or "better", instead it usually more people will get frustrated as they make minimal progress and eventually give up.