Originally Posted by
Zephyr11
For the most part, my progression has been pretty steady. However, I saw two jumps in my riding. The first was when I bought a full-suspension bike and could all of a sudden ride things I wasn't able to before. The second was when I bought a rigid and used that as a play bike...and then got back on the full-suspension after that.
As everyone said, you don't NEED suspension. But having one is like playing on God mode!
I would say it is more like playing one of the old Tony Hawk games with the slowmo cheat in. You just seem to have much more control at higher speeds. I'm making the exact opposite transition as the OP. My old bike (along with every mountain bike I've ever owned) has been full suspension, and now I have a hardtail, and my fork has lock out and I sometime try to ride with lockout on. You seem to have 1000X more control at lower speeds, but at high speeds it almost like the tires are never touching the ground and you have to rely on your own skill to position the bike (while in the air) to go where you want it to. Either way, I personally love riding both ways.