General Cycling Discussion - Fork suspension or not !!!

Can anyone give me advice on whethter it is a good idea to buy a new bike with Fork suspension ot NOT.

That is to say is fork suspension a good idea if I am only to ride the bike mainly on the road .I am talking Hybrid or Comfort BIke riding here ie a Claude Butler Legend (with Sus)or Specialised Crossroads Sport.(No sus:)
all advice and views welcomed ASAP please.

If you are just riding on the road then a faster style of bike like the Specialized Sirrus is more fun. It can take wide enough tyres to tackle any country lane or bike trail.

Don't get a suspension. You don't need it, and it will just slow you down. The only time you really need a suspension is if you intend to do some downhills on a mountain trail with some serious boulders and giant tree roots. Way back in the stone ages, MTB did not even have suspensions and we did just fine. You certainly don't need it for any road riding. Front suspensions on MTBs essentially enable you to have less technical skill and still not do an endo when you hit that big rock.

I agree, suspension is superfluous on a road bike. (unless you live in an area with cobblestones...)

Heavier, requires maintenance, and is another source of instability as the sliders wear.

On MTBs they make a big difference. I started mountain biking on a ratty old Specialized Rockhopper with solid frame. Pretty decent little bike....Long descents on rocky trails left my forearms about to fall off.

When I got a decent MTB (Schwinn Moab III with JudyXC front end) it was like, "wow, lets do that again!"

When you are young you don't need any suspension on a road bike.However as you get older you really start to appreciate the bump absorbing qualities of a decent suspension.My neck, back and knees would feel every pothole, expansion joint etc on my old road bikes.Even 40mm 700c tires couldn't take enough edge off; my NRS really smooths out our crummy potholed roads and sidewalks.Granted it weighs about 27lbs, but it is worth it.The Carbon Ybike works about as well, but you can feel more bob(25lbs.).The trade off is maybe 7-8 lbs over an equivalent no suspension bike.The price for used bikes is about the same-sus vs no sus.The Dean Titanium hardtail I am selling weighed just 21 lbs 12 ounces-fully built.It has a 3.5lb frame.Wish it was mine, or I had the room and $$ for it!!
Even huge low pressure tires-like 2.35 Schwalbe super motos- don't work anywhere near as well as a decent rear suspension.I'm talking about comfort-not speed.Luck,Charlie

springs suck ass

Unless your roads look the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix or the Tour of Flanders, forego the shocks. In addition to all the listed disadvantges, some of your energy output will go into compressing the suspension rather than moving the bike forward. So let's recap: heavier, energy wasting, added expense, added complexity, added thing to break/need maintenance for something that was designed to use on bumpy single-track, not paved roads. Put the money into more bike (or just pocket the difference) and forget about the suspension.

BTW, this goes double for rear suspension.