Originally Posted by
Kapusta
In the strictest sense, suspension movement can eat some power.... this is part of the reason you do not see it being used on road or even gravel bikes much, and when you do, it is minimal.
However, the equation changes once there are bumps involved.... you know, like mountain biking. Flat, up, down, whatever.
The traction issue (which keeps power going to the ground) has already been mentioned.
The other issue is that with a suspended wheel, the whole bike does not need to be lifted over a bump, just the wheel (and part of the suspension).
The underlying reasons that suspension makes you faster over non-smooth ground is fundamentally the same as why lower pressure tires do.
Right...
I bought a full suspension mountain thinking full suspension was inherently "better" around 10 years ago for $1,500. Was a bit shocked at how much power I was clearly losing when riding on flat ground with the shock on vs shock locked out. In a ride with other people I was biking as hard as I could and couldn't keep up with them without them slowing down for me.I remembered I could lock the shock out, and suddenly I had no problem keeping up with them without even trying very hard. It was that big of a difference.
You bring up up good points in your post, but -
I don't spend much time on racing so I googled it:
https://www.active.com/running/artic...ull-suspension
"...
One thing is for certain: More than a decade after full-suspension bikes started popping up in World Cup cross-country competition—think Henrik Djernis and his BMW-Proflex team of the mid '90 - they're (full suspension) still the exception at the highest levels of cross-country racing."
They may have improved rear suspension but it sounds like hard tail is still usually a hair faster even on super expensive bikes with pro riders, for the most part.
For casual riding just pick whichever would make riding more enjoyable for you. But for me I wish I had gone with a hard tail, it would be less hassle when I go riding as I find needing to top off the air shock every time a bit annoying (needs an extra shock pump), and I prefer the more connected-to-the-ground feeling of a hard tail. Also hard tails are much cheaper to buy.