Are Hardtails dead?

[eddy]

Buck the trend and get a steel 29er hardtail 

 

I should not have sold my P29er.  but at least I still again have my Swiss Cross.  

 

 

Horses for courses and to each his own.

 

I can get out to the spruit/Delta/Alberts/Northcliff tower for a quick hour or two every so often when I can't ride elsewhere and for that a DS is completely overkill. For me the ideal bike is my Cotic steel HT SS because without the mechanical advantage of suspension or gears I can in get a proper workout in a very short space of time.

 

I also have a steel Niner MCR HT with proper XO 3x9 gearing I bike pack with. 

 

Neither of these applications suit my dual sus bike which even lives at a friend's house after she did J2C on it last year and I haven't needed it yet.

 

I know it is different for everyone, but the two kinds of offroad riding I do don't require suspension. (even though I have given up on riding rigid after a eye watering K2C one year and the SID went back on).

[Jewbacca]

 

 

I know it is different for everyone, but the two kinds of offroad riding I do don't require suspension. (even though I have given up on riding rigid after a eye watering K2C one year and the SID went back on).

Putting a SID on my steel bike would make me cry way more than the corrugations.....

[Dadbod Racing]

i hope not because if ht is dead i am a necrophiliac

       

 

You win the internet today! 

[Butterbean]

OT sorry

 

you'll never look at morticians the same way again

Just as easy as cracking open a cold one...

[Hairy]

Just as easy as cracking open a cold one...

You also into spirits?

[T_Boss]

I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one that still enjoys a hardtail.

 

To be honest the post was a bit tongue in cheek, but I was interested to get the other users here’s opinion.

 

I must say I was shocked when the guy at the Spaz store said no one buys hardtails anymore...... and I felt like telling him it’s probably because they aren’t exactly trying to sell them. But it does also seem to be a brand decision from Specialised. The Stunpjumper hardtail used to be a fun bike, but it’s been dropped from the lineup all together.

 

I know there are other brands better suited to trail hardtails, but even then, the shops do seem more inclined to push DS bikes. I wonder why? Is it more work for them with one backs on shock services, or do they make more margin on the DS bikes.

 

I would imagine there would be more margin in it for the shop to sell a decent specced full XT or XX hardtail, than a GX or Deore specced DS. But I may be mistaken.

 

Just glad to hear HT is not dead

[Longbarn Killer]

In the days of 26ers, I remember reading an article in either Bicycling or Ride magazine that hardtails were going to become obsolete.

 

Then 29ers were born. The first 29ers were hardtails. People were saying that full suspension bikes would die as the larger wheels on a 29er had the same effect over bumps as a 26er full suspension.

 

10 years on and neither the hardtail or full suspension are gone. Both seems to be alive and well.

 

The same cannot be said for soft tails though. Other than the BMC, I don't know of any other soft tail on the SA market.

[Hairy]

In the days of 26ers, I remember reading an article in either Bicycling or Ride magazine that hardtails were going to become obsolete.

 

Then 29ers were born. The first 29ers were hardtails. People were saying that full suspension bikes would die as the larger wheels on a 29er had the same effect over bumps as a 26er full suspension.

 

10 years on and neither the hardtail or full suspension are gone. Both seems to be alive and well.

 

The same cannot be said for soft tails though. Other than the BMC, I don't know of any other soft tail on the SA market.

your first mistake was believing anything said in Bicycling Magazine .... unless you want to do a sub 3hr Argus with 2 months training or want rock solid abs while eating a diet of fish and chips.

[Skubarra]

In the days of 26ers, I remember reading an article in either Bicycling or Ride magazine that hardtails were going to become obsolete.

 

Well to be fair, in the days of 26ers the hub wisdom also dictated that 29ers were a temporary marketing fad and that wheel size doesn't make any difference...

[Rigardt@Scott]

I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one that still enjoys a hardtail.

 

To be honest the post was a bit tongue in cheek, but I was interested to get the other users here’s opinion.

 

I must say I was shocked when the guy at the Spaz store said no one buys hardtails anymore...... and I felt like telling him it’s probably because they aren’t exactly trying to sell them. But it does also seem to be a brand decision from Specialised. The Stunpjumper hardtail used to be a fun bike, but it’s been dropped from the lineup all together.

 

I know there are other brands better suited to trail hardtails, but even then, the shops do seem more inclined to push DS bikes. I wonder why? Is it more work for them with one backs on shock services, or do they make more margin on the DS bikes.

 

I would imagine there would be more margin in it for the shop to sell a decent specced full XT or XX hardtail, than a GX or Deore specced DS. But I may be mistaken.

 

Just glad to hear HT is not dead

 

 

It's a Spaz SA thing... not global. Specialized have revamped the Fuse platform last year, and it is a ripper, seriously capable bike - but I have not seen it in any of the concept stores yet.

 

As for the Stumpjumper hardtail, it was always their XC race bike, it hasn't been dropped - the naming convention just changed to Epic hardtail to align with the DS platform.

[slickjay007]

I bought a Specialized Chisel Expert 1X hardtail from Bell's Cycling in Nelspruit (they are a Concept store) two years ago. I see they are still selling them. The only difference is that the new model now has NX components, where mine has GX, and the new one is 1x12 where mine is 1x11.

 

If you look at the specs, this is a good bit of bike for the price: https://www.bellscycling.co.za/product/2019-mens-chisel-expert/

 

After two years, mine is still going strong.

 

If you get to that Spez store again, ask them if they can get you a Chisel Expert 1X

 

Pricey for an Aluminium frame but otherwise specs are good

[thisismyotherbike]

Didn't read your whole post, but no, most certrainly not dead. As an XC bike they don't make sense to me - they are uncomfortable, and slower than dual suspensions on everything except for smooth climbs.

 

But as a hooligan trail bike, nothing is more fun. Of all my bikes I reach for my trail hardtail more than anything else just because it is so dam fun. Long, low and slack HTs are very capable, low maintenance, and make even mellower trails more lively. They have a next to cult following - but you are right, they are not as poppular as they once were, and the reason for that is simple - full suspension bikes are faster (whether that is climbing or descending) and more comfortable.

 

Although my HT is my favourite bike, it would not be the bike I would choose if I could have only one bike.

 

Could somebody explain to me why full suspension bikes climb faster on non-smooth climbs?

[gummibear]

Depends on the hardtail (cos there's hardtails and hardtails..).

I'll take any excuse to show this off

My only MTB now is this steel Niner, I use it for long events (100 miler etc) and for blasting the singletrack around The Cape. I had two other Niners, an Air9 RDO which was lighter and a Jet9 RDO which had 120mm/90mm. I'm a few secs slower up the long climbs than on the carbon HT and faster downhill than on the FS. Overall faster all round. It's more comfortable than the carbon HT but way more forgiving and it's more direct and responsive than the FS but just as capable. I sold both other bikes, as the ROS made them redundant to me. Admittedly, the spec is quite high end which helps keep the weight down, it's now at 12kg ready to roll. 

The spec, to those interested:

Niner ROS steel frame

SRAM XX1 Eagle

RS1 fork

Tune hubs

AM Classic 3834 rims

Maxxis Ardent 2.4

RS Dropper

Fizik Tundra2 carbon

Niner RDO carbon bar and stem

Formula Cura brakes

Damn nice looking bike.

[Rigardt@Scott]

Could somebody explain to me why full suspension bikes climb faster on non-smooth climbs?

A hardtail's rear wheel gets hung up on rocks and ledges and potentially loses traction while a dual suspension's rear wheel moves up and out of the way of obstacles allowing it to maintain traction. The climb will be smoother on the DS.

 

Of course, I am generalizing a bit because there are many climbs where a HT will be faster, and I am assuming we are comparing a very efficient dual suspension bike rather than a enduro or trail bike with lots of pedal bob and/or extra weight.

[henningvr]

Hardtails are far from dead. Horses for courses, I say.

 

On a similar note, I just bought a 1992 Diamondback steel frame hardtail for R500. It's a rigid single speed (cro-mo fork) with cantilever brakes. This will be my daily commuter/shack bike/coffee shop bike.

 

I'm 49. I should not be allowed anywhere near a full sus.

[MORNE]

We've all heard it. "The apocalypse will not be motorised people!".

 

Similarly - squish, pivot bearings and linkages wont survive either. 

What you'll need is a cockroach...

A real bike...

A rigid bike.