stumpjumper0

Right now I own a 26 inch stumpjumper fsr. When I'm racing I feel like the suspension is holding me back on the uphill. Would it be worth it to sell the full suspension and go for a 29er hardtail to improve my race times. Will it even improve them or am I going to end up regretting the switch.

pablosnazzy

without all the information, i would say perhaps you should keep the bike you have and maybe work on getting a better set of legs and lungs.

Stealthammer

Tough call because the answer would be different for each course. A hardtail would probably only benefit you if the course was fairly smooth and there were a lot of uphills but few downhills. My guess is that you would be better off to listen to pablosnazzy's advice and ride more.

Svr

The only way to get from point A to point B in a shorter period of time is to expend more energy. Altering the final drive ratio by increasing wheel size won't help. You need a more powerful engine.

corvuscorvax

Of course. 29ers are not just a slightly different wheel size, they're magic. Not only will a 29er improve your race times, it will also make you grow hair and make your dick at least 2" longer.

himespau 

only 2"? What kind of crappy 29er do you ride?

Dilberto

I totally agree....upgrade the RIDER first. Best time/money ever spent!

Daspydyr 

I keep track of the Scott Racing team. They have been winning the last month on HTs. One was in S. Africa, World Cup XC. It surprised me that it was the Rock Garden area where the rider was able to open up a 2 minute lead. I thought a HT would suffer there.

Once you get in Dylan's shape buy a bike like his.

ShimmerFade

I would just get out there and climb, and when a lower gear gets too easy see how you do shifting one up. As you probably know, in order to climb faster you have to put in the hours. I ride an Evil Sov with Sektor coil RL U-turn, not the lightest bike. I also ride a lot, and almost only in mountains, so I am decently strong. I pass guys with nice carbon XC 29er frames every once in awhile, and the first time I have been passed in a long time was by a dude with a shortish travel carbon 26 FS. People don't say it is the motor without reason.

I have also read that your rear shock on a FS is key to climbing, but I don't have much experience with FS bikes. Maybe upgrade your shock to one with some kind of better pedaling qualities?

3speed

^ Like he spelled out, and it looks like others would agree with. I've out ridden people on FS on my local trails and I'm a fairly new MTBer on a HT, though I've been riding bikes non-stop my whole life. I recently got Schooled HARD by a dude I met and rode a little with last time I was out(not just making this up for your thread - it was real and I was pathetic in comparison). He was on a FS 26" bike. I'm 100% sure he would have left me in the dust no matter what bike he was on. He was plain and simple a Much better and much more in-shape rider than I was. Upgrade the engine and you'll be faster. Upgrade the bike if you're already in the best shape you can get into or want to take the easy way to shave a Tiny bit from your lap time. No need for training wheels, though. Stick with a 26".

roccobike

I've got a late model Stumpjumper FSR and a Stumpy hardtail. I'm not as fast as you racers, but on a smooth trail, the hardtail is just flat out way faster (both are 26" as I'm only 5'8") On a typical root laden trail (like Harris Lake), I stopped riding the hardtail because the FSR is smoother and faster there.
If you've got the bucks, maybe you need two bikes.