Jordan Hodder chose to ride two hardtails for 2016. These were the bikes he would ride every day, for fun, for racing, for getting to work. One bike is a Stylus 27.5. The other is a Rootdown 29er. But how do you choose? It’s all about the flavour!
Video and main image - Mike Gamble
Music Mix - Ian Ritz
www.chromagbikes.com
MENTIONS:
@Chromagbikes /
@mike-gamble
116 Comments
That trail was cgi , right ?
I've never ridden one as I always immediately react with "why would I want a slower rougher ride that limits how I ride and the speed I hit my local trails", but maybe there's something more to it...?
I'm open to the idea of it. Maybe I should get one and play around on it when I ride with my gf or buddies that are just there to have a good time?
No idea. Been watching the occasional HT video for years on this site, and Ive slowly built intrigue.
Not in my experience..riding a hard tail requires a more concerted analysis of terrain and line choice. cant just huck and plow through the same stuff you ride on your full suspension.
@nvranka
i see youre from the LBC...really a hardtail is very capable for a lot of the socal trails..with exception of some of the rockier OC / San Gabriels mtn trails. hardtails are plenty fun..they're not slow once you get used to it. granted, we're talking modern hardtails...the ol skool hardtails are indeed rough on the body.
Your right, it certainly requires a different level of precision to ride a hardtail, but no matter how precise and analytical you are with your line choice, it seems to me, that riding a hardtail will always feel faster and more rowdy the riding a full-suspension bike. In reality I´m well aware that it isn´t faster, and you can certainly allow your self to be more rowdy on a fully, but the sensation of speed and gnarliness sure isn´t the same.
I´ve ridden hardtails my whole life, and only tried full-suspension bikes on rare occasions, my local terrain simply doesn´t justify a full-suspension, and that´s why I choose to ride a hardtails.
I started on full suspension bikes...then recently in the past 2 years started riding hardtails to the point where my hardtail is my primary sled. Less margin for error, but certainly just as fun!
Hardtails are unreal, hitting the perfect line on a hardtail certainly takes planning and precision, but when it happens, it feels like mountainbiking.
However I logged in to say : Stop the lens flare. It looked like a chromag video made by JJ Abrams.
Where is that? I rode lord of the squirrels and this isn't there!
Awesome vid!!
@adrock-whistler: um...ok? Doesnt change the fact it appears to be awkward to me... I wasnt trying to hate, I'm just trying to understand the 29er phenomenon, and decide whether it has place in my life.