Hi Hubbers! I have gotten into cycling, specifically mountain biking, over the past year. At the moment I have two bikes, a 26er hard-tail and a 29er dual-suspension. I have also spent a lot of time on a hard-tail 29er which is a friend of mines. As per the title I weigh +-100kg's, 6ft2, with not much body fat. I live in Cape Town and do most of my riding on Table Mountain with the dual-sus 29er. When I am in other provinces I use the 26er and hard-tail 29er respectively. What I notice is that my worst rides from a struggling with getting up hills point of view and just getting around in general are on the dual-sus 29er. I don't know if it is just because it is much heavier than the hard-tails or if it is just not setup correctly (although I was fitted on the bike), but I really don't enjoy my riding when I ride with the dual-sus 29er. To give you an example, while in Durban I had the pleasure of riding at Holla Trails, the yellow route (48km's) on a hard-tail 29er and it was an absolute pleasure. Back home in the Cape I often cycle to the blockhouse on Table Mountain +-20km, and I also took part in the Xterra in Grabouw which was a difficult 28km's but it felt like murder on the dual-sus 29er, and the blockhouse ride sucks until I start the descent. At the moment the thoughts going through my head are sell the dual-suspension and move to a hard-tail. Carrying 100kg's around is already difficult as it is, am I being foolish trying to do it on a heavier dual-suspension bike? The type of riding I do is recreational, table mountain, the odd off-road triathlon and I am hoping to do some stage races next year like sani2c. Having said that could it be that I need more experience on the dual-suspension, my legs need to get stronger, the setup needs to be looked at? All of which I am going to do regardless before making a decision. I find that it feels like I am riding quite low even with the suspension locked out and my pedals often make contact with objects, which when on a hard-tail, would normally not happen unless the pedals are vertical when going over an obstacle. I climb hills like a demon on a hard-tail and like a rookie on the dual-sus. I would just like some insight from experienced riders like yourself, perhaps this is a normal learning curve. The 29er is a Scott Spark 940. Thanks! milo
