Mountain Biking - How do you turn one of these rigs?!?

I've been riding a Hardtail for about 6 or 7 years and feel like I handle it prety well for cross-country. Lately I've been considering going FS. My LBS loaned me a Giant Trance 1 to try on some local trails. I could easily tell that I'm faster on the smooth trail or road climbs with my HT but the suspension helps a lot with the rocky climbs and obviously the downhill stuff.

The biggest issue I had with the bike was tight turns. Getting my weight forward in a flat turn was a little wierd and on downhills it was downright hard to do. The bike is way heavier in the back then I'm used to and I often would lose control in these turns. It always felt like the front tire was floating and wouldn't get a grip thus my turns tended to be wide.

So is it me or the bike or a little of both? Any ideas?

Just face it A hard tail may be out of fashion, they may be uncomfortable, they may be may even be looked down on by your mates, but they work and you know how to use it.

Just face it A hard tail may be out of fashion, they may be uncomfortable, they may be may even be looked down on by your mates, but they work and you know how to use it.

So because you're comfortable you shouldn't consider changing over to something better? That's called complacency amigo and - along with laziness - it's one of the greatest killers of innovation and progression known to man.

To the question regarding how to turn the FS rig: you just have to ride the bike and learn how she works. It may take you a couple of trips out because you're so used to another type of bike but, once you get used to it, you'll realize how the FS bike gives you confidence to take on technical sections faster and smoother than you ever would have considered doing on a HT.

So because you're comfortable you shouldn't consider changing over to something better?
To the question regarding how to turn the FS rig: you just have to ride the bike and learn how she works. It may take you a couple of trips out because you're so used to another type of bike but, once you get used to it, you'll realize how the FS bike gives you confidence to take on technical sections faster and smoother than you ever would have considered doing on a HT.

Is it something better? I ride hardtails- mainly because I can't afford the few FS suspension bikes that work for me, but Hardtails do have advantages over FS bikes, and FS does have advantages over HT. Not tried many FS bikes, but so far, the only ones that work as well as my HT, are not within my price range. The ones I can afford are, heavy, have too low a spec parts fitted, or basically are not a good bike. Now if I can get a Whyte46 for less than £2000 then I may be interested.

Regard to the Technical sections, It depends on your skill, Knowledge and capabilities. Take it you mean downhill, and I don't find that I am slower on any technical downhill than my riding mates. I will forgo the Full downhill speed thing for the ease of technical uphill sections on the XC rides that I do.

The only reason I would change to FS is if it works for me and is better than my HT,and I could afford it. So far those things together have not occured.

Okay before this gets out of hand...

I dropped cash on a Giant NRS (2006) this weekend. I'm really glad I shopped around. To me, their was a huge difference between the Trance that I rode before and the NRS. The NRS handles just like my hard tail but is smoother. I loose a little on non-tech uphills with the FS but when the up gets rocky and bumpy the FS takes a lot less effort. The NRS takes the downhills just like the FS but now I'm going faster and will need to improve my riding technique. I guess that I had gotten about all I could out of my good old HT and was ready for a new bike. I know have a lot more room for technique improvement. The FS won't go away though...I see a single speed coming. :D