Originally Posted by
JonathanGennick
For many years I rode a rigid bike even on singletrack, which where I live is mostly smooth enough for just some wide tires and low pressures. I did cave in and go back to suspension for the sake of my back. Because getting old's a bummer! I still often grab the rigid bike though, and always do so for anything involving pavement or gravel or doubletrack.
The very first thing I noticed when I went to a suspension fork wasn't that it was more "comfortable"...I always used my legs and arms for suspension. I noticed that control was vastly improved. Where wheels used to get trapped and cause me to either be thrown off line or crash, suspension forks allow the wheel to climb up and over whatever is trying to trap it. That's why I am willing to carry around the weight of a suspension fork and was willing to deal with the bobbing. Modern shocks, especially good air ones, are a bit lighter and they do have lock outs for those times when you don't need the fork to bounce. Sure came in handy over the last 4 days.