WannaGetGood

I was just wondering. I was wacthing one of my friends go off a like 5 foot drop with a hardtail. Is there a big difference between and hardtail drops and FS drops. If I were to go off the same drop, land the same, would I feel a big difference?

Thank-you for your feed back.

shane45

No, you'd feel nothing at all from the waist down for a few days.

Thor29

The key to your question is "if you land the same". Landing a hardtail (just like riding one over rough terrain) takes more skill than riding a full suspension bike. In order to absorb the energy on impact you have to use more body english and weight the front end a little more to get the front shock to handle more of the impact. How you position the bike for landing is much more crucial on a hardtail. But anyway, the answer is, yes, of course there is a big difference between the two - the FS bike will compress at both ends and the hardtail won't. Well, it might, but if it does you're gonna need to buy a new bike...

dirtyamerican

I agree with Thor. Also if the tranny is so smooth that your vector doesn't even change upon landing then suspension is useless. But in the real world, you won't have all those buttery drops/landings repeatedly. So you better learn to be smooth with your style. Don't do dead sailor hucks. And on ANY bike, use your legs to decelerate as slow as possible. Don't just mindlessly jump off stuff and expect your bike/rims to absorb the impact or you'll be buying new parts. Russ Morell is a good example of some one that can ride big stuff on a hardtail because he selects stuff with smooth trannies and knows how to appropriately handle a ht on rad stuff. Of course, some riding like rocky, rooty, fast DH or hard hit riding cannot be done on a ht as well as on a fs bike, and that's a fact that gets argued all the time. There are also so many things you can do on a hardtail that aren't possible on a fs. Just realize that hucking is not all there is to biking. Get both types of bikes and use them for whatever you're in the mood for and you'll be one, progressive and innovative rider.

WannaGetGood

Cuase if I were to go off a drop on any bike I would land on my back tire, so I would try to absorb it on my back by using my legs and when I hit I then fall forword and let my fork absorb that. Do I got it?

Dannihilator

You definately have to be smart to drop on a hardtail. How ever I disagree with having the fork take the brunt of the shock, letting the front take the brunt of it, will send you over the bars. You land a hardtail just like you would a full suspension. To flat, rear wheel first, on a downhill grade, get the bike to match the landing angle so you land evenly, to an uphill grade, you'll break yourself and/or the bike by doing this. Dropping to flat use your legs to take in the hit, this is why you have the saddle slammed when dropping stuff so you can get behind it with out KO'ing yourself via the berries. Do it properly you won't feel it later. Note: Dropping to flat can be done, but it is best to find one with a transition. A cool thing about landing a drop with a tranny is if done right, regardless of bike, you'll actually gain speed after the landing.

In review:

To flat: rear first
To dh tranny: Parrallel to transition
To uphill tranny: Ouch/$$$

WannaGetGood

Yeah, me and my friends build a drop out of a ladder I had build. But some people came and knoked it down. It was really nice. About a 4-5 foot drop with a trany. It was really nice. But I was wacthing another one of my friends do A like, 5 foot drop, maybe 6 feet, with his Norco Torrant(Really has the 2005 one, not 2006. (Hardtail go off of it, he seemed to do it just fine, but he is like 16 and I'm only 14, he has had 2 more years of riding. But this one doesn't have a trany. Cuase we just found it today beside a grocrey store. We don't really like the spot cuase alot of hobos live around there and one of them told us to f*** off his sweet ride. (Street bike that the seat was loose and tires were flat and handle bars wernt staright and the paint was coming off.)

scrublover

nothing to add to what the others have said, other than to pick your landings carefully on the hardtail. a fully will suck up some, if you pick a bad landing spot/mess up a bit, and obviously, the hardtail won't.

the most i've done on my hardtail as a hair over 5', and that with a nice, smooth tranny. granted, it's a hardtail that is built for burly. my squish has 7" in back, and i can do bigger; it's much smoother on my body landing, and much more forgiving if i screw up the landing.

smoothness is everything on a hardtail. practice on smaller stuff to get your take off and landing down. larger tires on hardtails make a nice bonus too. and run enough pressure so as not to pinch flat when you land, as well. that makes for some not so fun times.

only 2' high, with a slight slope up where i'm landing, leading into a small climb up. after the first couple times, got it dialled enough that i hit it every time on this trail.

WannaGetGood

Thanks for the advice, Although I'm still not sure which one to get, I'll go test ride some Hardtails and FS bikes later.