Some good points well made, but I still think for the majority of riders that terrain is not normally available to them, and for where they regularly ride the lower complexity, cheaper total price and easier maintenance would be more suitable. For me, i live near the Pyrenees and regularly ride in Millau and at 50ish I can afford either an exceptional hardtail or a mediocre full boing, it was an easy choice as I can only think of maybe two trails in my regular riding areas that are no fun on a hard tail. I even ride with a similar aged guy on a fully ridged carbon Open and he rips everything except the bumpiest shit. All that being said if I lived in the alps or the PNW I’d probably be more inclined to agree with you; on my dopey hardtail I couldn’t understand any part of the vink line in chattel
Oct. 24, 2022, 11:08 p.m. - papa44
Some good points well made, but I still think for the majority of riders that terrain is not normally available to them, and for where they regularly ride the lower complexity, cheaper total price and easier maintenance would be more suitable. For me, i live near the Pyrenees and regularly ride in Millau and at 50ish I can afford either an exceptional hardtail or a mediocre full boing, it was an easy choice as I can only think of maybe two trails in my regular riding areas that are no fun on a hard tail. I even ride with a similar aged guy on a fully ridged carbon Open and he rips everything except the bumpiest shit. All that being said if I lived in the alps or the PNW I’d probably be more inclined to agree with you; on my dopey hardtail I couldn’t understand any part of the vink line in chattel