Captlink

I'm looking into a full suspension bike to ride mostly paved and some non paved trails do you guys think that's over kill.I was thinking of a Heckler
Superlight 29 My soft tail is asleep.

Tulok

both are overkill.
https://sheldonbrown.com/pain.html
read this, I bet you could do a few adjustments to your bike and be much better off.

For mild dirt roads and paved paths I would get an entry level hybrid and call it good.

lubes17319

Extremely overkill. The Heckler is more at home descending after riding chairlifts, as one of my friends has done with his.

Captlink

I'm looking for a soft ride and a little performance to keep it interesting.My main ride is a custom sport touring bike I built 30 years ago.TNX for the input

LarDasse74

Look into 29er full suspension mountain bikes. Cross-country versions are light and efficient, and you can slap on a set of 700 X 35 road tires and have the broken-pavement monster speed bike.

dminor 

Did someone say "softride?"

Daspydyr 

^^^Why is my Oh Crap alarm ringing so loudly? Great wheels though!

3speed

That's... interesting. At least you could still stand up and climb well...

Captlink

That sounds like the ticket.

alexaschwanden

A comfortable seat and less air pressure would help.

chicken0207

I own an older hardtail gary fisher and it is a dream on the trails as long as i keep off the saddle on the big stuff, i can keep pace with full suspension bikes on the down hill and out climb them on the up hill , im all about the hardtails.

TiBikeGuy

If you are riding on roads, then change to slick tyres. Those big aggressive knobs are useful for climbing off-road as they dig into the earth. But on paved road, they give out a lot of vibration. So smooth tyres = less vibration = more comfort.

But if still want to do a bit of light off-road riding, use those tyres which are narrower and with smaller knobs.

DiscTruckerMF

you also may need to adjust the tilt of the seat either up or down as well as sliding it forward and backward to get your position dialed in. last but not least, you just gotta ride more and get those parts conditioned to the seat.

rnorris

As others have said, you can raise a bit off the seat to ease the worst of the bumps, and in time you'll start doing that naturally. I'm often off the seat when riding my hardtail on technical trails, much more so than when riding dual suspension.

I agree with lowering the tire pressure too, particularly if you aren't a really big guy (yet). I run as low as 20lbs front and rear on 2.2" tires, but I'm lightwieght. Wider MTB tires can help too, but they will slow you down a bit.

2bigwheels

hard tail up hill, and easy trails, full suspension technical trails, beach cruiser paved path.

rolliepollie

If you're only 14, make sure you'll fit the bike a few years later, unless you plan on replacing it, in which case I'd suggest a hardtail - more bang for your buck.

I sometimes ride my full suspension on road and smooth trails for the plushness when I don't mind slower speeds.

rolliepollie

wth is the point??? Why not just get a suspension seatpost..

dminor 

^^ I think the whole world asked that. Softride was a mostly tri-bike company that I guess thought they had the hot ticket for MTB too. Not.

LarDasse74

There were numerous companies who built frames based around their older flexible carbon fibre beam suspension. Ritchey, Otis Guy, Cyclops... and a few others. THe concept and original beam design predates the age of modern suspension seatposts. ANd except for the few decent linkage style seatposts (like the Thudbuster), most suspension seatposts don't offer enough suspension to comfortably ride over a cigarette butt.