There’s always a lot of chatter about the relative advantages of hardtail vs full-suspension mountain bikes. Some traditionalists think there is a finer art to perfecting riding hardtail, while others cite the pure fun factor of unleashing a full-suspension bike on a downhill and letting the shocks front and back take the sting out of the road. The downside of a full-suspension MTB is that with that extra springy-ness, there’s a bit more give when you’re putting power through the pedals – which can make it trickier to rack up the vertical metres. Hardtails will also tend to run a little quicker on the flat.
Nevertheless, you can’t beat a full-suspension bike for riding over obstacles and through technical sections of singletrack, so we absolutely think there’s place for both types of mountain bike in your shed. In fact, we actively encourage you to grow your collection of bikes! In that spirit, here’s a few of our favourite full-suspension mountain bikes from our current range.
Cannondale Habit 650B
The Cannondale brand is all about making riding fun, and what could be more enjoyable than hurtling down a run, smashing over obstacles and generally ripping it to pieces? Their Habit frame is built with aluminium, making it super durable for those occasional moments when you overcook it a little bit. At least we hope they’re occasional! Other great features of the bike include its RockShox Recon Silver front fork – delivering an incredible plush 120mm of travel – and Shimano Deore componentry in the drivetrain.
Trek Fuel Ex 8 29er
Trek claim their Fuel model is the world’s best-loved mountain bike. Now while we can’t definitively confirm or deny that claim, we can say that the Fuel is an absolute stormer of a machine – built to carry you confidently an quickly from the top of every run to the bottom. It’s not just great for downhill though, the 29er tyres mean it can go a t a fair old clip on flat trails, helping you cover plenty of ground in an afternoon’s riding. Some of the advantages the Ex8 has over the model below in the Trek pecking order are its Boost148 frame with extra tech features and the RE:aktiv shock.
Giant Trance 650B SX
Everything about the Giant Trance SX is geared around the 27.5 wheel size. Sure, the 650B fell out of favour a little bit amid the rush for 29ers that happened a few years back, but when it comes to all-round versatility they’re still hard to match. Weather you’re off into the wilderness on an epic weekend adventure, or thinking of competing in Enduro races – this bike has got what you need. This fast and agile beauty of a bike benefits from a lightweight frame, 140mm of rear travel and up to 160mm on the front – ideal for navigating rock gardens, berms and stray branches alike.
Hungry for more MTB bikes? We already took a look at some awesome hardtail MTBs that
we currently stock a few weeks ago.
