bikerinblack

does anybody still ride bikes with no suspension, front or rear? i realize people do with low riders and everything. but im talking mountain biking of any kind, doesnt matter how soft or hard. i recently gave my younger brother (12 yrs. old) my old 13 in. trek 800. the bike is all cromoly with entry level sram shifters, and v brakes. he is only a kid but i am wondering if he should have at least entry level rock shox judys or even some entry level manotuis.

arboc!

mostly all mt bikes now have suspention forks, but there are purests who ride rigids still

Raiyn

I just slapped a Surly 1x1 on my old Cro-Mo hardtail so yes some people still ride with full rigid bikes. Hell some people ride SS off road (not me) so if it works for him while he's this age great. He'll outgrow that bike soon enough

kritter

I see a lot of SS MTB's that are rigid...why is that? It seems the guys need tree stump legs to go up the hills but going down they can only coast since the gearing is so low...is it a speed thing since they cant go as fast as a geared bike downhill that they dont need the suspension or extra weight?

I gave my girl my old trek 8000 which is xt/lx equipped and rigid and she smokes me up the hills!

Raiyn

You got me. The main reason I went rigid was the fact that my old fork was doing nothing for me. The weight savings sure didn't hurt either

C Law

We can't afford gears and high dollar suspension forks.

matheprat

The biggest drops I've ever done are on a fully rigid bike. And I have a 5x5 MTB before you accuse me of being biased!

bkrownd

Some of us like things simple. I got simple suspension - pneumatic tires.

H23

Yes. Full rigid is great for people that actually ride uphill and don't want to drag 40 pounds of bicycle through the woods.

SpiderMike

Single Speed for some is all about simplicity. I have two SSbikes right now. One has a suspension fork and one is fully rigid. I have found riding the rigid is taking me back to basics on the skills (like roots and rocks). For those that buck the categories, I think the award would go to those that convert full suspension bikes into SS.

Tweek

I ride a full rigid, woohoo it's awesome for uphill riding. :-P

SpiderMike

Too bad I am married, this thread has given me an idea for a pick up line. "My bike is fully rigid, and so am I". I should hold onto that for when I piss the wife off, that would get her laughing.

2manybikes

Full sus. fixed gear !! That's outside the box.





You ride while rigid? .............You started it.

robo

I ride a rigid '93 Stumpjumper, although it does have a Softride stem, which gives maybe 1.3" of travel.

I'm looking to upgrade to a front suspension bike though, although i'm still not sure what to get.

chris_pnoy

I rode a rigid mt bike till the late 90's... It was great. I was jealous of my friends full suspension bike, so I got one of those suspension handle bar things... ummm... it was ok... I miss that old bike now. I heard the guy my dad sold it to made it look like crap...

Sebach

I got a 2004 Norco Hardtail that I just converted to full rigid (Surly 1x1). Man, I missed the rigid fork feel. I feel more connected to the trails.

KleinRider

He'll be a better bike rider in the long run by learning on a rigid where the margin of error is smaller (less forgiving). He'll learn skills with the rigid that he can use on whatever sus bike he ends up with in the future and smoke all his friends who just crash through everything.

My Trek is still fully rigid, and the Attitude is front sus only (I don't own full sus; my wife does though). I actually haven't ridden the Trek off-road in a long time (it's got slicks on it know)....I'll have to take it out for some nostalgia (sp?) time.

SpiderMike

This thread reminded me of to call my brother. I got the go ahead to convert my old bmx into a bike for my nephew (8yrs old bikeaholic in training). I am doing this just for the purpose you stated up there. I Going to set the bike up the usual bmx way (freewheel and hand brakes) but putting an extra flat bar I have on it, it will be a small version of my rigidSS. He has wanted to go ride the trails with me and "grandpa". I have a feeling that after he builds the skills, we will be leaving my dad at the trailhead.

buzzwire

I've been getting into trail riding on my old rigid. Tires = suspension! Yes! The only problem is it's not a very good bike, and it's hard to clean up with no sealed bearings, etc.

I'm upgrading soon, but I can't decide between a HT and DS. Everyone seems to have the impression that DS is automatically heavy, but the mid-range HT and entry-level DS I'm looking at from Specialized both weigh about 30 lbs. I didn't expect that to be the case, but we weighed both bikes at my LBS. I know I don't NEED the DS, but I might go for it if I can't find a down side (other than more $$$).

KleinRider

I'd say go with HT as I'm guessing based on your post that your budget isn't too high and I think you'd be disappointed in the long run with a full sus bike in the 30lb range. I'm wondering why the HT bike you're looking at is also near 30lbs.

halfbiked

Suspension is overrated.

Killer B

But HELL coming back down, Huh?

Killer B

Sorry Man, if you've been married as long as me, they've already heard every joke or excuse in the book.... I like trying to play "Hard To Get". Remember those dayz? She always wins at "Holding Out" though. Thank GOD for left hands, huh?

madbiker555

That's why you need strong wrists

Killer B

At least my Left one is pretty strong....