I'd probably do 25% trail, 25% aggressive trail & 50% road. the last full suspension bike i had, felt like i was losing power while doing uphill sprints. the suspension would compress with each pedal stroke- it felt soft & squishy; I didn't like it at all. I had a hardtail back in the early 90's that I used for doing triathalons that I liked much better in terms of rideability, until I cracked the frame, that is... I'm leaning towarsds a hardtail, but I like the idea of locking the suspension- prolly out of my budget, though...
Pro-pedal is really a crutch for poorly designed suspension. DW-link bikes and several other designs by Chumba, SantaCruz, Intense, Niner and others are so good at preventing pedal induced "bob" even when out of teh seat and hammering that they don't need it. It is nice on road rides though. Lance, I'd buy a good Hardtail rather than a shitty F/S bike. Look at a 29er... The big wheels roll over stuff and you don't need to sweat standover Look at PricePoint.com they carry SETTE and you can buy a RAZZO 29" hardtail frame for $199... (I'll help you you out on a 08 Fox Reba 29" fork) Or... buy a Flite 100mm F/S frame or 150mm all-mountain frame for $499 Then go to Adrenalinebikes.com and grab a "Bonus 2009" build kit for $499... (everything you need) Ok, you're few bucks over budget but you have a good bike!!! Or...... buy a Sette XC bike complete for $1199.... Monte
I have a hard tail . Less stuff to wear out or break . I can break anything :roll: What I really need is some spare time to use the damn thing .
HT +1 on hard tail makes the trails around ohio more interesting and challenging + more bang for your buck, if you dont spend $$ on a FS you get shitty stuff
Lance Found a Great Bike For You A BRAND NEW Marin Alpine Trail 29er. $785 I've been doing some research for you Lance and this is da bomb. MSRP is $785 and it's a hard-tail and comes with a nice build kit. It's no beginner bike.... this is a serious bike and being a hard tail you can do som eroad rides on it with ease. Big wheels work well on the road.
I just got a Gary Fisher with a hard tail and it's great. Full suspension on the front. For me, I screw with all the suspension I want to screw with on my track bike. My MTB works great. Slight adjustments to the air pressure make a huge difference. I still have to tune the compression and rebound on the front forks though. I'm prolly 100% street and urban riding so it's perfect. My last bike had full rear suspension and I don't miss it at all. I think a good quality hard tail is the way to go.