Just curious what type of bike would be best for a beginner,
thinking of getting a full suspention bike
ive a giant xtc 4 at the min, recon a soft tail would be more suited coming down the trails
only a newbee
my advice to you is stick with your hardtail till it crumbles, and then unless you intend to take up serious XC racing , buy yourself a Giant Trance or a Lapierre 130..
You don't need a full suss to get the best out of the trails, a hardtail is where all the really good lads learned how to be good.
But people insist on buying full sussers because they are convinced they make them ride better.
So if you are convinced of that fair enough.
The Cannondale Prophet or Rize are good choices
The Specialized Stumpjumper is another good full susser.
Thats enough choice for anybody..there are loads of different bikes you can buy and loads of people with opinions on whats best....but theres only a tiny number of people who have ridden everything ..
if I could have only one full suss bike,, it would be the Giant trance..no argument...i've been Guiding and Coaching for a while now and its the best all round Spin machine i've seen beginners on.
Richie
Spend at least a year of frequent riding on the HT, it will hone your technical skills no end. When you do switch to a FS you will have more fun but the lessons learnt on the HT will serve you well. As Richie says the Trance is a great all round bike that will pretty much do anything you want, but I am glad a rode other stuff for years before getting mine.
I've had an XTC4 for the last year and it has been a great old horse. I've not improved the fitness as much as I'd have liked, but my bike skills have quadrupled(wouldn't be hard some would say) and i could only put that down to hackin away on a hardtail.