Fully rigid bike

[Catbaiter]

So I just got back from 230km of Scottish bog snorkelling, rock dodging and pushing. It was excellent fun, but by god having a fully rigid bike was hard work. It was great on the road and on road climbs, but I found that the back end chattered on rough climbs (losing traction) and I really struggled on technical descents (much of which was an absence of skill). The drop from the top of the Devil's Staircase to Kinlochleven was absolutely horrific; whereas Jim on his full bouncer, just waltzed down it like an enthusiastic labrador puppy... a ginger one.

So, two questions:

1. How the hell do you lot manage without suspension?
2. Recommend me a lightweight full suspension bike for all duties, from trails to bikepacking (I'm no bike-park warrior, but I may end up there a couple of times a year too)

Cheers!

[GregMay]

1. Practice.

2. Salsa Spearfish.

[whitestone]

So I just got back from 230km of Scottish bog snorkelling, rock dodging and pushing. It was excellent fun, but by god having a fully rigid bike was hard work. It was great on the road and on road climbs, but I found that the back end chattered on rough climbs (losing traction) and I really struggled on technical descents (much of which was an absence of skill). The drop from the top of the Devil's Staircase to Kinlochleven was absolutely horrific; whereas Jim on his full bouncer, just waltzed down it like an enthusiastic labrador puppy... a ginger one.

So, two questions:

1. How the hell do you lot manage without suspension?
2. Recommend me a lightweight full suspension bike for all duties, from trails to bikepacking (I'm no bike-park warrior, but I may end up there a couple of times a year too)

Cheers!

1. Practice and the highest volume tyres (running at a low pressure) that you can fit. My bike's been fully rigid for about eighteen months now since the suspension forks died. Have done quite a few long distance rides in that time, the first couple were hard work.

2. Salsa Spearfish - but good luck in finding one! Other than that quite a few people just ride with what they've got. I'd probably avoid the pure DH type bikes though.

Edit: Greg beat me to both answers!

[Bearbonesnorm]

I believe now is an approprite time to play this card

[GregMay]

My jumper has one of those stickers on it today. Which makes me think I've not washed it since last years BB200....

[Catbaiter]

1. That's just about the expected level of support, thanks . I should add that in 25 years of mountain biking I have never owned a bike with full suspension before (and only briefly owned one with suspension forks). So while I would happily concede inexperience to many (most?) people here, I'm not a complete noob when it comes to rigid bikes. But your variant of Rule #5 is noted and probably a timely reminder, thanks! I guess I'm just getting old and lazy (or I suck).
2. Jim said the same thing on the drive home from Scotland. That's a lot of recommends for the Spearfish. What makes it so good?

[whitestone]

There are descents where the lack of suspension is going to be a real hindrance, Coire Lair in Torridon comes to mind. Most of the Kinlochleven descent isn't too bad from memory but there were a couple of sections I walked where it just got too rough.

The Spearfish? It was designed and aimed at long distance XC riding rather than trail centre type riding.

[jam bo]

I believe now is an approprite time to play this card

what he said ;-)

[ianfitz]

1. Practice.

2. Salsa Spearfish.

This

[Catbaiter]

I believe now is an approprite time to play this card

what he said ;-)

I made it down everything didn't I?* I didn't cry much did I? I only walked the really rocky bits! What more do you people want?!

Anyway, this full sus thing was your idea you swine.

* notable exception being the coffin path down to Strontian, here "making it down" included unexpectedly leaving my bike upright in a bog and sliding down a wet hillside on my back.

[ScotRoutes]

* notable exception being the coffin path down to Strontian, here "making it down" included unexpectedly leaving my bike upright in a bog and sliding down a wet hillside on my back.

I did tell you I'd only "ridden" it in the other direction

[danielgroves]

1. How the hell do you lot manage without suspension?

Used to ride a Commencal Meta 5. I'm faster on my rigid on any gradient than I ever was on that and enjoy riding it more.

As the others said, practice and stop being soft.

[Catbaiter]

* notable exception being the coffin path down to Strontian, here "making it down" included unexpectedly leaving my bike upright in a bog and sliding down a wet hillside on my back.

I did tell you I'd only "ridden" it in the other direction

It was certainly educational!

[jam bo]

* notable exception being the coffin path down to Strontian, here "making it down" included unexpectedly leaving my bike upright in a bog and sliding down a wet hillside on my back.

I did tell you I'd only "ridden" it in the other direction

when you say ridden...

[Bearbonesnorm]

That's just about the expected level of support, thanks

Merely saving you from yourself

[sean_iow]

2. Salsa Spearfish - but good luck in finding one! :

Based on this I had a google and it is a current bike on the Salsa website (the current split pivot model) and $4,999 for the carbon X01

http://salsacycles.com/bikes/spearfish/ ... carbon_xo1

Finding any for sale here is using up too much time I should be spending working See also 'the price of things' thread as I guess that $4,999 will be £6000+ in the uk?

I did a local event on my fully rigid singlespeed at the weekend, mainly muddy rather than rough, but, for all the beating I was taking I could take heart from the cost of the wear on my friends FS geared bikes. My hands are fine again today, their pivots and drivetrain will still be prematurely aged

[GregMay]

It won't be for long.

[sean_iow]

Are they discontinuing it at the end of the year? I've not got one, but I do lust after one, but it's a want not a need.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

+1 for the SF

I won't ride anything beyond gravel trails on a rigid without fat tyres - min 2.8 on the front. Bike components can be replaced when they wear out much easier than my already knackered skeleton.

[Catbaiter]

That's just about the expected level of support, thanks

Merely saving you from yourself

That's my wife's job.

Truth be told, I've been biking for a long time (like most people here). I know how to ride a rigid bike up and down a hill, I've been doing it since the 80s. I used to race XC on rigid bikes. My do it all bike is rigid, my fat bike is rigid... you get the idea. I'm not brilliant by any means, but I think that probably qualifies as "practise", though you can never have too much of that.

But with a busted knee, a busted shoulder, a former broken back (with the accompanying 2 years of staggering painful physio) and half a lifetime of other assorted skiing, climbing and mountain biking injuries slowly coming home to roost, I just want to make my life a little easier. Soft? Yeah, very probably. But I'm not in denial about that!

[whitestone]

To be fair, that's information after the fact From your initial post it seemed to all of us that replied that you'd just headed out on a rigid bike and got beat up.

[Catbaiter]

To be fair, that's information after the fact From your initial post it seemed to all of us that replied that you'd just headed out on a rigid bike and got beat up.

I did.

[jam bo]

did I mention the emotional pain of getting dropped on every fireroad and road section... ;-)

[Catbaiter]

did I mention the emotional pain of getting dropped on every fireroad and road section... ;-)

You deserved that after several hundred km of listening to your f*cking freehub merrily clicking away behind me away as I ground my fatbike along the roads in Iceland.

[jameso]

1. How the hell do you lot manage without suspension?

Look at a rocky trail as a slow, technical challenge rather than a straight-line blast. smooth flow rather than all-out. On anything but a rocky trail I prefer rigid bikes, simpler and predictable and I just like the ride - assuming the bike is well designed for rigid riding, many aren't. Sus is fun though.