who rides hard tail?

So, I'm living in BC now, it's been a month - it's absolutely beautiful here, my job kicks ass (for what I do) and I've already been out with a couple beautiful women - I've put about 320km on my single speed dirt jumping bike and am loving the ride but would like something better for longer distances and some trails, I'm missing the trails. I know there's a lot of fun to be had on the north shore with a dual suspension because of fast descents and gnarly features, but I want to know - who rides hardtail? What are the trails like that you ride? For the price of a full suspension bike, I can get a much nicer hard tail IMHO. Probably even carbon frame.. Trails don't have to be fast to be fun for me, I think my favourites are honestly the long town to town single track rides we had back home, they were pretty flat, but technical, all the hills back home are short and steep. So what's it like here? Where do you go? How far do you ride? Tell me all about your hard tail experience, I'm curious :)

Check out the Delta Watershed since you're in Richmond. Should see numerous HT's out there.

(I am not living in BC…)

I own both a FS and a hardtail and I ride them equally. If I were to only have one bike, it would be a killer full-suspension bike (light, nice components, etc.). However, if I was on a tight budget, I'd prefer a nice hardtail with an excellent fork to an entry- or mid-level full-suspension.

You can ride a hardtail on the North Shore. Lower Seymour and Lower Fromme trails are a great place to start your progression. Once you feel comfortable on those the world is your oyster. You can move onto stuff like 7th Secret/Leppard/Krinkum/Kirkford etc on Fromme and then byond that, its basically up to you how far you want to push yourself on a hardtail. I ride a Cove Stiffee on the 'Shore. (I also have the BC quiver of a 180 mm AM bike, a dirt jumper - great for beer runs and dreaming of dirtjumping one day in the distant future - and a former triathlon road bike that doubles as my work commuter).

If you want more, do yourself a favour and go up to the Whistler Bike Park and borrow/rent a decent park bike for a day or two. It will probably blow your mind. Its a good place to progress from zero to hero in a short period of time. But beware, before you know it, you may find yourself trapped - a slave to the Darkside.

SFU is a great place for a hardtail; not much flat though but tons of options for up/down loops. the nice thing is you can skytrain it 90% of the way there depedning where you are in richmond.

the modern (ie, slack [HTML_REMOVED] low) hardtail rocks on the shore. much fun. trails are generally becoming smoother so lack of squish is less detrimental, and bigger wheels certainly help. also - steel is where it's at; takes off the edge.

SFU is a great place for a hardtail; not much flat though but tons of options for up/down loops. the nice thing is you can skytrain it 90% of the way there depedning where you are in richmond.

Excellent. I was kind of wondering what's around that I can skytrain to!

Excellent. I was kind of wondering what's around that I can skytrain to!

you can also combine the millenium line with the 2xx buses downtown to get to the shore pretty easily: http://nsmb.com/4005-car-free-freeriding/

the modern (ie, slack [HTML_REMOVED] low) hardtail rocks on the shore. much fun. trails are generally becoming smoother so lack of squish is less detrimental, and bigger wheels certainly help. also - steel is where it's at; takes off the edge.

this. all of it

Excellent. I was kind of wondering what's around that I can skytrain to!

Skytrain to Waterfront, Sea Bus to Lonsdale, Boom! North Shore (check Translink for info about bikes on Skytrain and Sea Bus). You can't call yourself a North Vancouverite in this town until you've taken the Seabus. A fair climb to the Fromme trailheads off Mountain Hwy, but its relatively flat (but further) to Mt Seymour. Start at the Old Buck Parking Lot. Or as Boomforeal says, there are bus options from the Skytrain. Each bus only carries 2 bikes (all full-sized Translink buses have bike racks), so you may have to wait if the racks are full. Not much fun when the buses run on a 1/2 hr schedule.

PS - When you take your bike to a public place or on transit BE AWARE AT ALL TIMES. Bike theft is a huge problem in the Lower Mainland (I believe it has been called the bike theft capital of the world). Even locks are not a guarantee (but they do help). When on transit watch your bike. If you put in on a rack, sit/stand near the front of the bus where you can see it at all times. People have had their bikes stolen off bus racks at the bus stop. Same as when you go into a store etc. The weird thing about Vancouver (my experience) seems to be that the person who stole your bike is as likely to be clean-cut guy in designer clothes as a guy with a shopping cart and a garbage bag for a raincoat.

My opinion on hardtails for technical trails is they are way better on steeper terrain. I think the worst terrain for a hardtail is rooty/rocky low angle, kinda flat (either up or down). The kind where you'd rather be sitting, or where it's hard to gather speed. Point it straight up or down where you would want to be standing and where gravity is really helping you gain speed when you need it and they rock. The faster the trail is, the less time you'll spend with the back wheel on the ground which is a good thing when it gets nice and rough.

My opinion on hardtails for technical trails is they are way better on steeper terrain. I think the worst terrain for a hardtail is rooty/rocky low angle, kinda flat (either up or down). The kind where you'd rather be sitting, or where it's hard to gather speed. Point it straight up or down where you would want to be standing and where gravity is really helping you gain speed when you need it and they rock. The faster the trail is, the less time you'll spend with the back wheel on the ground which is a good thing when it gets nice and rough.

this too; the board's hardtail game is strong!

PS - When you take your bike to a public place or on transit BE AWARE AT ALL TIMES. Bike theft is a huge problem in the Lower Mainland (I believe it has been called the bike theft capital of the world). Even locks are not a guarantee (but they do help). When on transit watch your bike. If you put in on a rack, sit/stand near the front of the bus where you can see it at all times. People have had their bikes stolen off bus racks at the bus stop. Same as when you go into a store etc. The weird thing about Vancouver (my experience) seems to be that the person who stole your bike is as likely to be clean-cut guy in designer clothes as a guy with a shopping cart and a garbage bag for a raincoat.

good grief: passing opinion and hearsay off as fact, fearmongering, socio-economic profiling, advocating for poor transit etiquette, presenting anecdote as evidence… too early to nominate this for post of the year?

Yes, two hardtails. One very shore worthy the other very XC orientated. I spend more time on the HT bikes than the squishy ones.

From WBP to all the local trails with the exception of Cypress. I never make it that far out…

this too; the board's hardtail game is strong!

good grief: passing opinion and hearsay off as fact, fearmongering, socio-economic profiling, advocating for poor transit etiquette, presenting anecdote as evidence… too early to nominate this for post of the year?

Umm … you demonstrate your ignorance of transit etiquette … the Translink website clearly states

"Sit at the front of the bus and keep an eye on your bike. When leaving the bus, please tell the driver that you need to remove your bike. Exit from the front door."

http://www.translink.ca/en/Rider-Guide/Bikes-on-Transit/Bikes-on-Buses.aspx

If you move to the back of a crowded bus, you have to make your way back to the front to exit. If you DON'T exit from the front door, the driver may have no idea that you are getting off the bus and will drive off with your bike still on the rack. I take it you have no immediate real-world experience in this area?

I will not dignify the rest of your comments with a response, as you don't seem to know what you are talking about.

Just telling our friend here that you need to always keep an eye on your bike (esp, but not restricted to, nice bikes) because nobody else will.

Here is a site that reports stolen bikes

http://vancitybikewatch.ca/

and an instructional video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wemg5_p3sqQ

Hardtails are a ton of fun on the shore. They just love to pop off every little root. Get a nice steel hardtail with a 140-160 mm fork.