Full Suspension easier to ride???

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    • #113806

      as a beginner mountain biker i looked at youtube clips to improve my skills…i’ve noticed with log hops, bunny hops, and steps they all have full suspension bikes and can load and preload the rear suspension to help with hopping over a log…i have a hardtail and you simply cannot do this…i can bunny hop about 8-10 inches above the ground but was looking for more height. i found one where it said to push your feet back on the pedals when in the air and it raised the rear tire up over 12 inches easily although this took getting used to with the coordination of all this during a bunny hop…i can also lift the rear wheel off the ground by itself and this is one way of crossing a log but it uses more energy and i;m simply not comfortable with bunny hopping over logs higher than a foot and a half..also ive noticed by walking over tall logs the crank wouldve hit the log if i had not got off my bike… and it seems like doing these techniques is way easier with a full suspension.. any videos or tips for hardtail bunny hops and log crossings?

    • #113807
    • #113808

      thanks mtbgreg1 i think that was my problem id wait too long for the front wheel to go down the other side of the log then raise the rear tire. also never heard of the twisting your wrists…ill have to wait tho cause my bike needs some maintenance

    • #113809

      Here’s another article I wrote on hopping logs:

      http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-tr … -log-hops/

      As you can see, you definetely don’t need full suspension! 😼 😼

      Image

    • #113810
      "lovemountainbiking12" wrote

      thanks mtbgreg1

      No problem man!

      "dgaddis" wrote

      As you can see, you definetely don’t need full suspension! 😼 😼

      Rigid FTW!

    • #113811
      "lovemountainbiking12" wrote

      as a beginner mountain biker i looked at youtube clips to improve my skills…i’ve noticed with log hops, bunny hops, and steps they all have full suspension bikes and can load and preload the rear suspension to help with hopping over a log…i have a hardtail and you simply cannot do this…i can bunny hop about 8-10 inches above the ground but was looking for more height. i found one where it said to push your feet back on the pedals when in the air and it raised the rear tire up over 12 inches easily although this took getting used to with the coordination of all this during a bunny hop…i can also lift the rear wheel off the ground by itself and this is one way of crossing a log but it uses more energy and i;m simply not comfortable with bunny hopping over logs higher than a foot and a half..also ive noticed by walking over tall logs the crank wouldve hit the log if i had not got off my bike… and it seems like doing these techniques is way easier with a full suspension.. any videos or tips for hardtail bunny hops and log crossings?

      Full-suspension bikes are easier to ride. The suspension means you can ride sloppier and not get punished as much.

      However, for your question, hardtails will get more height (with skills being equal.) The hop in bunny hop comes from the quick "push down, pop up" movement. If you have full-suspension, you have to push through the travel to get the same pop off the ground as a hardtail. Most (all?) bunny hop competitions are between hardtails, either BMX bikes or hardtail MTBs…and most are doing J-hops (raising the front wheel first, then the rear) instead of actual bunny hops (both wheels going up at the same time.)

      dgaddis’s article/video should hopefully help a lot. I know it helped me.

    • #113812

      I’m not trying to start a debate but I disagree that hardtail is the better bunny hopper. Personally, I can bunny hop my full suspension bike higher and further than my hardtail. Pre-loading the front AND rear suspension for extra pop off the ground helps tremendously (like jumping a dirt bike.)

      lovemountainbiking12, if you can get 8-10 inches on a hardtail, you’ll def gain a few inches with a full suspension rig. Try one out at the LBS one day and see for yourself.

      If you use clipless pedals you’ll go even higher! haha. I always laugh at the guys who can bunny hop everything with clipless pedals but can’t get the bike to budge an inch off the ground on flats. 😆

    • #113813

      I don’t think suspension makes it either easier or harder to bunny hop, and I don’t think effects how high you can go. It DOES effect your timing however.

      You can go higher on whichever you’re most used to.

      I’ve cleared 28" on my BMX back in the day, but never more than 24" on a MTB, full suspension or hardtail or rigid.

    • #113814
      "jtorlando25" wrote

      I’m not trying to start a debate but I disagree that hardtail is the better bunny hopper. Personally, I can bunny hop my full suspension bike higher and further than my hardtail. Pre-loading the front AND rear suspension for extra pop off the ground helps tremendously (like jumping a dirt bike.)

      lovemountainbiking12, if you can get 8-10 inches on a hardtail, you’ll def gain a few inches with a full suspension rig. Try one out at the LBS one day and see for yourself.

      If you use clipless pedals you’ll go even higher! haha. I always laugh at the guys who can bunny hop everything with clipless pedals but can’t get the bike to budge an inch off the ground on flats. 😆

      I can get more air with my FS bike also, but that’s because it weighs 2 lbs less than my hardtail 😆

      I think if you could get more height with a FS rig (again, all things being equal), the pros that regularly bunny hop in competitions or shows would be running them.

      And agreed on the clipless riders!

    • #113815

      ya i have regular flat pedals that come on pretty much every bike except for expensive ones..ive heard with the clip in pedals from a friend of mine who used to race bmx said its easier to hop and control the bike i don’t think it would work out for mountain biking especially if you hit your pedal on a rock there’s nothing to protect you.i also use a different method i pull up on the handlebars get the front tire in the air then push down on the bars and push back on my pedals and it really gets the rear tire high in the air…just from my observations that with full suspension it makes going up a steep rock as a step is easier..imagine this front wheel on top of a ledge a foot or so off the ground..rear tire a foot below the front on flat ground how do you maintain momentum and still raise the rear tire up a foot off the ground to get on the ledge ? the guy in a video had a fs and the rear had his wait and when he lifted up from preloading it went right up where he wanted.

    • #113816
      "lovemountainbiking12" wrote

      just from my observations that with full suspension it makes going up a steep rock as a step is easier..imagine this front wheel on top of a ledge a foot or so off the ground..rear tire a foot below the front on flat ground how do you maintain momentum and still raise the rear tire up a foot off the ground to get on the ledge ? the guy in a video had a fs and the rear had his wait and when he lifted up from preloading it went right up where he wanted.

      You can lift the rear the same way you do with a bunny hop, weather the front tire is above or below the rear. Push back and scoop up the pedals of your riding flat pedals, or just pull up if clipped in.

      Most MTB riders do ride clipped in BTW. I’m clipped in in the pic above and in the video in my how to article.

    • #113817

      I’m a hardtail kind of guy. I’ve tried rear suspention in the old days and demoed a new dual suspention 29er. Nothing repeat nothing climbs or comes off a corner like a hardtail. When riding a dual suspended 29er I rode in pro-pedal most the time to avoid the monkey f***ing a foot ball suspention bob. The 29 hardtail is easier on the small chop and minor ruffage. If it gets too rough just upshift and strand up through the ruffage as always. Suspention is necessary downhill no doubt. For me the hardtail is the single track weapon of choice due to it’s climbing ability. On downhill I use my diameter to help over come the need to seat bounce twice on the down hill, carving the corners are faster anyway. 😄 Later,

      Oh yeah you don’t have to ask, What’s that noise when I pedal?

    • #113818

      My 1st 3 bikes were dual suspension. I just got a HT this year and haven’t even thought about riding my other bike. I never knew what I was missing! My next bike will be a SS HT, maybe rigid, after I sell my pogo stick!

    • #113819

      ya i figured a full suspension would be spongy climbing and back from my atv days i just simply stand up over rough stuff and it wont buck you around so much and i love taking corners as fast as possible people ask me how do you go so fast in corners the key is to lean your bike not your body

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